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CHATER TWO CONCLUDES...Chapter Three begins

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Contributed by: Rich Albert on 5/15/2008

VOYAGE TO SALTAR

The Saga And Revelations Of My Journey Back Home

Introduction

THE JUPITER BEACH SUNRISE NEWS on Friday brings you, The Story. Coming to you from Jupiter, FL along the Atlantic Ocean. This Story has been written here on location for over one year. It is moving on into the sunset.

The LA TIMES and the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE will give THE SUNRISE GUY a shot in their newspapers when my hard work becomes reality. It won't be long.

It is worth a shot in the dark or in the light. Imagine, just, a sunrise guy for one year and entering into publication with both LA and San Francisco. This is my work, using my imagination, and I will make it come true. My wildest dreams are about to unfold.

I have been working all my life to be great at something. I will strike gold in the Hollywood Hills. My senses and imagination will lead me to that golden love in life for which I search.

I will sell my home and buy a yellow Lamborghini and drive to LA. Then I will take care of business, drive to San Francisco, and take care of further business. THE SUNRISE GUY will become THE SUNSET MAN. Up and down the California coast I will travel capturing the sunset.

My vivid imagination is running wild, as it always does, and is becoming reality. THE JUPITER BEACH SUNRISE NEWS has continued daily and has reached 365 stories across the nation. Now it is off to LA in my yellow Lamborghini with my cameras, tripods, guitar, and laptop carefully packed inside. My Recording Studio and personal belongings will be shipped out to LA. I will set up shop along the coast of California far from my eastern sunrise. I will capture the Sunset for the remainder of my life on Earth, until I leave for Saltar. I will write for the LA TIMES and THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, I will sing my song, and become THE SUNSET MAN.

Here is my story. I make it as big as I want, because it is; "THE STORY OF MY LIFE." It needs some extraordinary photos, a good story line, hundreds of good people by my side, and an imagination that never says, "Die."

For starters I will only say that I am from SALTAR and I offer this, my story, to the world. Coming to Earth from many light years away I give you, THE STORY OF MY LIFE. I am on my way back beyond the stars and, for now, into LA (lah) LA (lah) Land. This story is farther from fiction than is this new day from my eyes.

(Page 34)

THE CONCLUSION OF CHAPTER TWO

Settling Into The Hollywood Hills

NEVER TO RETURN

Never to return to my home again bye bye
Bye bye to my World
Never was afraid to turn my back and say so long
So long to my world

Over endless roads so I have to go till I'm free
Free from the pain
I remember when words were just a game
Now they make me see

I got miles to go before I let go of you
Please be true
Down by the sea she waits for me till I
Till I come home

Always be prepared for what lies ahead
But be mine---please be mine

Going back someday
To that place where I come from
Down by the sea she waits for me
Till I come home

Come back into view. You've been gone too long

Down by the sea she waits for me
Till I. Till I come home
Never to return to my home again
Bye Bye to my World

Jana makes her entrance and tells me she heard every word of my song I just played. She said that it was ringing high into her loft. She walks down the stairs looking radiant and bright. She has become the queen of my dreams. I am hoping she remains that way while we remain here on Earth. She says that she has dinner almost ready out in the Guesthouse. She decided to use the Guesthouse since the maid already cleaned the main house to perfection before she planned to leave town. I say, "It will be like my little Hollywood Bungalow right up the street. She said your bungalow as you call it, is your house. Why do you call it a bungalow"? I said, "Because I heard that line in a song by The Doors". See said, "Now I understand. The song was called LA Woman". I said, "You got it beautiful."

(Page 35)

I played one more song before we walked out to the Guesthouse. On our way out I said, "I smell some kind of Italian Sauce". Jana made her specialty. Italian Lasagna just like my Momma use to make. We have a great dinner with all the trimmings. I help her clean up and we head back to her beautiful terrace overlooking LA. It goes to show what a major remodel can do to these homes in the Hollywood Hills. Most of them were built many years ago. My bungalow two doors away could use an upgrade, but the rent fits just right for now.

Jana and me spent the rest of the evening conversing about our lives and the World around us. We share many things that we seem to have in common. I wonder if I really do have anything in common with this beautiful girl. Time will tell. For now it is good-bye and back to my bungalow to return to my world with my storybook packed into my mind. I think I will spent some time down on Santa Monica Boulevard at the Troubadour and write some stories for the LA Times and incorporate them into my Sunset News. I will also think about Jana my sugar flying out into the noonday sky. Back into the dreams of yesterday I fly.

I drive Jana to the LA International Airport the next morning. We say our good-byes and I tell her I will pick her up in 10 days and wish her a happy safe trip. I put my Lamborghini back into the morning traffic and head back towards West Hollywood. I take US1 back up the coast and first swing by the beach. Then it is back up Santa Monica Boulevard. I stop to pick up a couple of things at the store then it is back up into the Hollywood Hills.

I have enough supplies to last me for four or five days. I think I will hibernate again in the Hollywood Hills and write, sing my songs, and capture the sunset overlooking the Hollywood Hills. I have a great view of the sunset at Jana's house. While I take care of her house I can shoot images of the sunset out over her terrace. She has a much better vantage point then I do at my bungalow. Later on when the weekend comes I will head to the beach. Then probably will step out and catch a band at the Troubadour or go to the Whiskey A Go-Go. Maybe I will even stroll up and down Sunset Boulevard and check out all the stars embedded in the sidewalk. Maybe someday I'll have my own star in the sidewalk. Dreams sometimes, do come true.

(Page 36)

I settle in and unpack my groceries and supplies and to my surprise a delivery pulls up in my drive. The rest of my stuff arrives from Florida. Now I have another chore to do while I cook my dinners, write, and sing my songs. My plants have survived the 2200 miles trip, but in need of lots of water and sunshine. The furniture and plants fill the empty spaces in my bungalow. I guess I am here for a stay. At least until I find a new place to dwell. Hopefully up the coast where I only smell fresh sea air, and not the LA smog filling the air. LA is just fine for now, especially when Sugar lives two doors down.

I go into another tomorrow as the sunrise fills the eastern sky. I see very little of the eastern horizon from my bungalow. It is now midmorning and the light is bright in the Hollywood Hills. I catch a couple cups of coffee and head to Jana's house to make sure everything is all right. I will be back here tonight to catch the sunset and check on everything at Sugar's house. I want to be sure that when she returns everything is running, and looking just right.

Back to my Recording Studio, in my bungalow, I go. I work making the sound just right in my studio. I can't wait until I get some real dough to put this Studio in a commercial building along the Pacific Ocean. Then I hope to invite people from Heaven to come and record with me. It will be like music coming from the sky. I will record at Saltar Recording & Productions, on my Sugar Daddy Record Label. From there the sky above the Earth will not be the limit. The sound will continue on throughout the Universe. The sounds will resonate from here to Saltar and back again. I love to dream. I have been doing it all my life. And I will never stop. When I go to sleep at night all those stars they fill my head.

I have my bungalow all filled with furniture and plants. The plants are enjoying stretching their leaves after that 2200 miles journey. They love the plant food I add to the water. Everything is looking great throughout my bungalow. I can't wait till Jana gets back from the east coast to see my place. It was a little empty when she last saw it. After checking in on Jana's house I decide to play a little music. I have speakers throughout my bungalow bellowing the sounds of the Doors and Pink Floyd. I put the last finishing touches on my bungalow and care for my plants. Now it's back to writing some stories for the newspapers.

(Page 37)

It is already midday. I download all the photos I captured of last nights sunset and some I took at the LA International. I also captured a few at the beach this morning. I edit some of the best and write a story for the LA Times and The San Francisco Chronicle. I say out loud to myself, and the afternoon sky, "It doesn't get any better then this". If Bobi or Jana would hear me saying this, they would say, "Don't bet on it Sunset Man". I think to myself for a minute and decide that I'm going to make it better. I'm going to capture an image of the sunset tonight that will make my Momma proud of me. I'll capture Heaven, and my Momma coming out of the sky tonight at sunset. My Aunt Alice will be riding a cloud coming in right beside her.

Tonight is going to be one of the best sunsets that came out of the western sky. I say my prayers as I ready all my camera gear for the night to come. I clean all my lenses and make sure my batteries are charged and ready to go. I got two hours to go. I read about a new technique suggested in Popular Photography Magazine. I get all my lens filters looking spotless and clean. I'm ready. I say another prayer and head over to Jana's terrace to capture the sunset.

The sun is on time. It starts to set as it has done for 4.6 billion years. I set up my gear and get ready for what I hope it is the best yet. The best I have seen. I want some long exposures as the light dims over the western horizon. I have my camera on my tripod. The yellow, orange, and red appear. The clouds are there just like I hoped for. I say, "Thank you God for another sunset". I wait for something extraordinary to appear in the sky. I keep shooting and hoping I see something very different tonight. I realize it is always different. It is never exactly the same. Variety is the spice of life.

I capture about 75 images of the sunset, overlooking Jana's terrace, looking down towards Santa Monica. I pack up my gear and head back to my bungalow and have a peak as I download them onto my computer. Some are very promising. I know that they will need extensive editing until I can decide on their outcome. I decide to play some music and cook a late night dinner. I catch the news while I prepare my meal of the day. An earthquake is coming and cloudy dark skies are reported on the evening weather report. What is new? It always gets dark at night and there is always an earthquake coming. I change the channel. That's better. A Honey Pie selling sunshine. And she looks like she could sell it all day long.

(Page 38)

I got miles to go before I let go of this sunrise and sunset over Earth's horizons. I settle in for a home cooked seafood feast I prepare while listening to James Taylor. Steamroller Blues is kicking (A) as I sit down, relax, and have a meal beyond compare. JT says that he is a steamroller for you babe. Guaranteed to blow your mind, and he is a cement mixer, a churning urn of burning funk. He's a hefty hunk of steaming junk. He's going to roll all over you. He kicks it all the way back to LA. It doesn't get better than this on a Tuesday night in the Hollywood Hills. JT will vouch for me and tell you that it doesn't. He is the man playing on that record machine. He is up there on the jukebox singing his song.

I sit back after dinner and after listening to JT. This man was and still is my idol in the sky. Don't get any better then JT. I visited his house in Martha's Vineyards, Mass. a long time ago. I took the ferry out to Martha's Vineyard. I had my guitar in case. I met a girl on the beach there that loved daisies. I played my guitar and sang her many songs. Some were my original songs and some were James Taylor songs. I'll never forget her. She wrote me letters for years. She always put daisies all over the envelope. She married and I am sure she is happy with her family today.

I remember meeting James Taylor's brother in San Francisco when I was bar-tending at a club where he played. That guy was as quick and poetic as James. Livingston was quick with his response. And he always lit up a joke. One time I said to Livingston, "Where are you playing next". He said, "Right here I hope". He meant that he did not even get on stage and I was asking him about the future. He was right. The next place he was playing was right here before my eyes. It did happen. Livingston Taylor played that night and he was great.

I finish dinner and clean up the kitchen. I go back to my computer and open the Sunset Shots from tonight. The first image I come to was shot 15 minutes before sunset. I spent about 20 minutes trying to get it as right as it is going to be. At least for now it is right in my eyes. It may change and be re-edited again when I get a reaction from the public eye, or re-enter it into my eyes.

I work on a couple more images I just shot and title them. I also record and file all the details of the exposure, F-Stop, and focal lengths. Last year I shot 52,000 images of the sunrise, sunset, and various other photo shoots. The shutters on my cameras are asking for a break in the action. I tell my cameras, "We get no breaks today. I already took you guys fishing. Now it's bop until you drop. We got a long voyage ahead of us."

(Page 39)

I decide to write my stories for the newspapers, in the morning, when I awake. That will come very early. I play my guitar and think of Jana back on the east coast. In between all my picking and strumming I write a couple lines down with some chords to accompany them. After I pack my D-28 back in its case, I light up the LCD screen on my TV. I tune into the Science Channel and watch Carl Sagan tell me all about the Universe. He tells me about galaxies millions of light years from Earth. He takes me back into time. He enlightens my mind as I watch his show. The Cosmos is always alive in my mind. The knowledge of the Universe consumes much of my time.

Carl Sagan is ethereal and spectral in his own way. He left Earth a while ago, but remains like a ghost or visible spirit in my mind. His spirit left Earth on December 20, 1996. He was born fourteen months before Elvis on November 9, 1934. His speech fascinates me. I like the way he emphasizes his words as he teaches the knowledge he still possesses in his mind. His Cosmos was a personal voyage. He and Albert Einstein are fishing somewhere in the Universe.

I retire to the loft and settle into bed. I find it hard to reach dreamland so I decide to go down to the computer and write my sunset story and ship it off the newspapers. I also edit a few more sunset shots and ship them along with my Sunset Story. I finally get some sleep. The light from the sunrise trickles into my bungalow the next morning. A new day has begun. I lay back and rest for another hour before I go downstairs for my morning coffee. It's good to be alive and breathing the thick air of LA.

I walk down to Jana's place to check on things. I water her plants and make sure everything is running smooth. I lock up her place and head back to my bungalow. A busy day awaits me. I have many things I want to accomplish before sunset. A hundred things run through my mind. It's about 10 AM, but it's noon back east. I wonder how Jana is doing? I haven't heard from her since she left LA. I say to myself, "I'm sure she is doing fine Ricky."

I travel back towards things occupying my mind. There is so much to do before sunset. I know that if I do not proceed onward, my Voyage To Saltar will be delayed. I got to get out of this place alive, if it's the last thing I ever do.

(Page 40)

There is a dream standing all alone waiting to be understood. The understanding becomes real when I reach towards the sky and see the light. I search the sky every day and every night. It is there where the answer lies. I must train my eyes to see the dream coming true. I must capture the light and forget about the objects that appear. It is all about capturing the light and looking at the objects as secondary in nature. Without the light the objects become obscure and do not exist. With the light they become real and the dreams they hold also become real. They exist within the light. Now they are no longer unreal, hidden in the darkness, and merely a dream. They become real. That is the art of photography and life, capturing what exists in the light. The object is just a story. The light is real.

God never gives up on you, your spirit, or your soul. As I make this statement I remember the words of Albert Einstein. He said, "Without science religion is lame, religion without science is blind." He also proved the Theory Of Relativity E=MC2 (Energy equals the mass times the speed of light squared). C in this formula is the speed of light that governs the Universe. Light also governs every object we see. It governs every photograph I shoot. The object becomes secondary, but the story is real. As long as I get the F-stop, shutter speed, and focal length correct I will succeed and my story will become real. With all the money these images, and stories produce I can buy enough fuel (plutonium) to take me home and get out of this place alive.

Is there anybody out there? I have been asking this question ever since I landed on Earth. So far I haven't got an answer. I will keep searching. "Saltar do you read me. Please come in, over." I keep transmitting radio signals, but I get no answer. I hope my creators are still gathering energy and are still in form.

(Page 41)

Chapter Three

Time Presses On

The weekend has arrived. It is time to step out and do the town. Think I will go down to Sunset Boulevard and check out the stars and the Whiskey A Go-Go. I will catch some live music and see all the stars embedded into the sidewalk.I will also look out into the sky and search for the answer. I know it is out there.

COMING TO A BOOKSTORE NEAR YOU...

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