storytime:29.03.2026

 

 

Back in December, a small group of us headed out to Meknes for the day to go a huge Carrefour run as it's the nearest hypermarket to us. Meknes is about an hour's drive, and the landscape changes from mountains (here in Ifrane) to the plains. As well, the Carrefour Cave (alcohol shop) is quite extensive, compared to where we dwell...

I usually have my quiver of reusable bags, but this shiny object caught my eye while waiting in line. I mean, look how colorful the bag is! Look at the Moroccan designs, and look at the football and accompanying words announcing (predicting) Morocco will be bringing home the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in the championship match against Senegal. 

I proudly purchased it and continued on with my day- fully knowing that the future date of 18 January, 2026 was a long, unpredictable way off... 

Fast-forward to game day, Senegal had a 1-0 lead, but...towards game's end, the referee made a call that Senegal protested. Like petulant children, they stomped off the field in protest.  Back on the pitch 15 minutes later, 30 minutes extra time was added to clock because the score was still 0-0 (after Senegal's previous goal was 'disallowed.' 

Senegal soon after scored a goal, so now the score was 1-0. The game ended & Senegal was awarded the trophy. Soon after, Morocco officially protested, saying the the 16-minute walk-off was against rules. 

On March 17, the CAF Federation Cup ruled in Morocco's favor, saying that Senegal leaving the pitch meant that they had forfeited the game.  Thus, the score was changed to 3-0 Morocco, the champions...

Senegal has, so far, refused to return the trophy while they wait for some 'super judges' to make a final decision. What a pickle all involved are in!

My university students relayed the story to me last week- when I used the AFCON game as an example for something. Suddenly they all perked up and couldn't stop interrupting each other to let me know the 'real deal.' 

Getting back to the picture... Every time I have used the shopping bag since Morocco 'lost', I've had to laugh- just at a company would pre-order and print up bags as such claiming the championship only to 'lose' the game. But now... they are 'winners', so I can still laugh each time I use the bag. The story's not over, so I guess we will see what happens. 

It's just a little story that makes me smile. That's all.

 

Quietude of the soul: Sleep is the Best Meditation

 Music to accompany my words: Round Midnight by Thelonious Monk to help express my sleeplessness becoming a state of mind... 

 Leonardo Da Vinci mused that the greatest joy of sleep came from the satisfaction of a day fully lived. Well, I've lived nearly a fully-lived week without a full night of sleep...Ugh

Settling back into my routine here in the mid-Atlas Mountains, it seems that the last thing to fall back into place is...sleep. How much our bodies can endure is a result of how we train not only our bodies but our psyches. As I roll along through life, I realize the increasing importance of the latter; psyche. 

I'm a person who hasn't experienced a lot of fluctuations in endurance- mostly because of how I was raised- I guess. My overarching approach to life's challenges is to look at situations as challenges to conquer with both interest and pessimism. This pessimistic approach, somewhat limiting of just letting pure joy pulse through any occasion, has served me well, and is a direct result of what I consider being raised by stoic parents. 

Let me explain. When new experiences/situations manifest, as they do throughout life, there is excitement, and that drug is a good drug. Bodies crave endorphins and the after-party residue remaining. I crave this, so I go into any situation at the onset looking through it in only what I can describe as the 'cup half empty'. Because I don't wish to create dis-ease for myself, I respond proactively to situations by breaking down a whole into individual parts that can potentially result- an assessment of sorts. When I understand potential challenges to anything, I work through them better- to avoid, as much as possible, unfavorable results. As a result, I am able to fill up on endorphins that I so crave. And how beautiful it is. As I analyze my behavior more (what else would I be doing at 3:30 am lying in bed), I see that I approach any situation cautiously at first, and then when I've assessed all potential 'risks', I can then feel relief and satisfaction to let pure joy fill me. 

This approach, or whatever one calls it, is not only a result of my upbringing but also through a career in scientific theory. Yes, archaeology. Scientific theory also uses this approach. So, my learned behavior and my trained behavior confirm 'me'.

Now, that being said, I have worked a lifetime to train myself to ignore this logical-ness at times. Sometimes I just need to simply stop this madness of logic. Turning off the mind, consciously, takes mindfulness. For example, I go to a yoga class. I go because my body craves relief from daily stresses. One thinks you go through a series of movements to shed daily baggage one incurs where your only focus are postures, holding the postures, and breathing. This is pure bliss to experience. But... as I am breathing in and out, my mind wanders- to the scientific mechanics of yoga: What this pose is allowing my body to release with each exhalation; what muscle groups are being worked; what vibrational level is pulsing through my body. All these micro-tasks are conscious challenges. You don't just unconsciously splay out your toes so you feel completely 'grounded', you have to be conscious about it. Achieving Uddiyana Bandha ('abdominal lock') is a conscious act. Bla bla bla. My point is, to achieve the ultimate state of liberation ('nirvana' or whatever your preference), it has to be a conscious effort. That's all.

But I digress... there are a few more 'creative' ways to unlearn my learned behavior, but they are for another time. Another storytime. 

All this is to say that I'm undergoing a new stress right now and adapting to its challenges.  I think I've almost worked through the 'cup half empty' scenarios, so I'm ready to experience the joy of the situation! The 'cup half empty' has been manifesting itself through sleepless nights, but yesterday was a beautiful breakthrough; I got home from work and took a 2-hour nap. This is amazing for me.  I woke up feeling completely exhausted, took a shower, made tea, and immediately went into my bedroom and crashed. As Jim Morrison sang, "Break on Through to the Other Side"; mission accomplished. 

So, yes. I experienced the great sleep, following the great sleep deprivation. Of course, I woke up from my slumber at 3 am, and I am here now pounding my keyboard at 4:30 am. Perhaps it's time for another nap now so I can wake-up feeling 'fresh' for work. Thank goodness it's Friday!  

Bewitching Hour Musings: 23.03.2026

My musical recommendation to accompany my words: This groove doesn't disappoint. Pure magic.

3:00 am

Cool crisp air. Barking dogs in the distance. As I look out my window, the man in the moon winks at me. The mountains sleep. Not I. I live for the Bewitching Hour, still. Even in such times of resistance, such as now as I've barely slept for a week now, I can't deny the playful, sensuous power of being awake during this thin porous veil separating life (awakeness) and death (sleep). Roaming the halls of my psyche, I explore ancient chambers of my pulsing vitality. Unexpected discoveries along dark paths delight my being. I learn so much about MYself during the Bewitching Hour. 

Tuning out and turning inward, I get greedy; hungry with desire to possess all knowledge.  Shakespeare, in Hamlet, called it "the witching time" where "churchyards yawn" and sinister things result. Silly man, but I'll give him a pass due to the religious and political taboos of his time.

Throughout time, the Bewitching Hour, specifically between 3:00 - 4:00 am, has been used as a metaphor for seduction and liberation of suppressed desires. I would add to that to encompass 'it' as a time when darkness and lightness conjoin in a union of opposites. Powerful creatively, mystically, and sensually indeed. 

 A paradox? Thinking cosmically (and perhaps even rationally), midnight can't considered to be 'today' or 'tomorrow'. A suspension in time. Do what you wish, conjure up your wildest fantasies, masquerade, dissolve your ego to manifest your most intimate desires creatively. No one is watching. Perhaps listening, though. Egos dissolve and what manifests to take up that constrained 'space'? Whatever it is, run with it. Pure vitality pulsing through one's being, drink up this elixir. 

 Poe wrote that the moonlight distorts. Where erotic meets the macabre. Things that frighten us the most (such Puritans). Jung believed repressions awaken when the ego sleeps. This resulting 'shadow' wanders around freely living its best life during the Bewitching Hour. Everything is about sexual repression with that man...I don't know enough about Jung, though.  I'd like to delve into some of his specific archetypes other than the Shadow- especially the Trickster as I'm becoming more interested in analyzing some of my more vivid and confusing dreams (when I can remember them, of course). 

 I've long held a delightful relationship with my Bewitching Hour. It manifests. With eager participation, I enjoy the ride. 

And just like that, it's 4:00 am. POOF, it's gone. Was it just a dream? A delicious dreamy dream.  

 Stay Spooky 

What happened to 2025?

 It's happy hour here in the Atlas Mountains. Nothing sweeter than a Friday afternoon when you're a workhorse- working for another's horse... 

Fall 2024 turned into winter, into spring, into summer, into fall, to now: 2026. Where have I been? I've been here in Morocco, and I've been in Portugal. I'll tell you where I haven't been: the U.S. More on that later, perhaps.  Maybe I'll refresh my bourbon/coke first... 

Speaking of bourbon. I've been foregoing my go-to, Bullet, mostly because of...tariffs. Yes, the djt tariffs. Bigly tariffs. Tariffs that 'benefit' the people. Okay, okay, enough of shitty politricks... I've turned my attention to Bulgaria's charming 'Black Ram' bourbon whisky. 

 *refills tumbler

We have a bit of a tradition, all of us working abroad in various Muslim countries, during Ramadan season- which is upon us currently. Weeks before we start to fret; are we fully stocked up with adult libations to last for the duration? We rally together, procure our vices (beautiful vices), and await. We patiently await for when the need arises. It's fun. It's a tradition. I love traditions. 

Today is such a day- to revel in tradition. The weather has been fabulous for a week now. Although still winter here, early spring has sprouted. What a winter it has been, too. I didn't grow up in snow, but I enjoy the stuff well enough. Enough is enough, though. I can deal with it because I LOVE technical gear. I love to experience foul weather if I'm WARM. 

All those trips to REI in California or Oregon or whichever state I would happen to be in; it's like you walk into an REI and you're a kid in a candy store all over again. Sure, there is Decathalon over here in this part of the world, but it doesn't hold a candle to REI... Just saying.  Sometimes I still go onto their website and just put stuff in my 'basket'. Again, a tradition. 

I purchased a bike at Decathalon when I first arrived to Morocco. It's been a lifesaver, but I have to say that, for the money, it's just alright. And, what a funny story that purchase was. Glinda & I made our way to Meknes with the intention of me purchasing a bike and us stocking up on groceries. We found a super cute hostel to stay at and made a weekend of it. Enroute back to Ifrane the next day, we somehow managed to find a grand taxi willing to take just us, and my new bicycle, and all our groceries back home. We, and many more, have turned Meknes and Fes day trips into a tradition where we stock up on food- as there isn't much here in town to purchase. 

So, tradition seems to be my magic word of the afternoon (or maybe it is bourbon?).  Tradition is life. Tradition is therapy. Tradition is constantly changing. What are your traditions? 

Well, that's about it on this subject matter. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER (yes, you are correct- that is an infamous djt ending (tradition?) to all his ridiculous 'truth social' postings...