Where I Want to Live by John Royce Holtz, J.D.

I want to live on the other side of the Mountain, as I have already expressed…The Mountain is quite Grand in and of itself but that is not why I wish to live there…”Do you remember Rainbow’s Man on the Silver Mountain song: “Come and make me Holy again!”…The wherewithal from which that proclamation lies, is, indeed, close to the Mountain, yet hidden to inlanders:…The Sea….!!! (Ronnie James Dios could have been referring to Moses offering G-d’s 10 commandments to the newly liberated (physically as well as spiritually!) Israelites on top of Mount Sinai, near the Land of Milk and Honey… Another smash hit song by Bad Company declares, “Feels like, I am walking on Holy Water; Feels like, I’m walking on sacred ground!” (The parting of the Red Sea, perhaps?! Or, maybe, the Floodgates of Heaven—Noah’s Ark’s’ safe passage?!)

“On the other side of the mountain” as I relay in The Bat Cave song by John Royce Holtz is pure and simple— The Beach? Who would not want to live there, even perhaps as a welcomed hobo with customary, slung stick with kerchief wrapped around ample supplies of goodies?

Nevertheless, I want to become a property owner near the view that has as close to an infinite horizon of ostensibly, seamless “more of the same…” Whether impregnable blue, gray or muggy green, “liquid continent,” of sorts…Farther out of scope than the human eye can fathom…

Yet the breakers (waves) are usually a tangible illusion of predictability and cadence that are conducive to both simpler relaxation as well as more involved, focused meditation—that ultimately hones discipline and wherewithal that may unleash the power to relax a rampant, otherwise uncontrollable human mind.

Jogging, walking on the beach, or merely watching the sea (with or without intensity!) releases endorphins of joy and helps rejuvenate oneself with nature’s healthy, negative ions—near the unexplored waters’ Wrath and the Fury of the currents…The breeze on even a foggy day at the shore is often unparalleled just as well—splendid coffee weather, to be sure! “I’ll have a Cafe Ole!” to quote both Ernest Hemingway and John Royce Holtz, J.D.’s Roaring ‘20’s song about both today and the ex-patriot Artists living in the Avant-Garde France’s 1920’s. Separated by 100 years—but still soaring and roaring along with those caffeinated, artistic vibes!

On the other neck, the ocean may rapidly climb, accelerating to the juncture of rising well beyond the shore—up towards the mountain like a ravaging tsunami, hurricane, or typhoon…Not easily accessible fish everywhere, in light of the circumstances of human scampering flight—if we are, indeed, lucky to escape from the annihilation of the beach and its proxy elevations of higher ground in the nick of time…! The glass ceiling of the mirage of tranquility may ultimately shatter—upon us coastal dwellers in particular: “Showers’ on!!! Colossal Maverick’s singing a song; washing machine!” to quote Colossal Maverick’s tune by John Royce Holtz.

Then again, in the unfortunate event of a tsunami, that would not be a bad way to go out, in all probability. (We all must go sometime! :() In fact, the water logging submersion might be rather instantaneous…As if while dying we would be somehow purged…without too much suffering…A washing of of the predecessing, grimy slate—clean…Furthermore, we might just vanish—Presto!

Besides jogging, walking (hopefully on a romantic wanderlust of quite a meandering amble), meditating, or simple relaxing on the beach under most, ideal conditions, there is also the feasibility of reading a good book—or writing a better one…!, making music on a computer if it is not too cold!—or listening to tunes with what’s left of this tired musician’s ears….Maybe just reflecting on life in a journal while watching the hopeful predictability of the waves roll in and then out, repetitively with pleasant, apparent tranquility and rhythm….

But never completely turn one’s back on the tides that are controlled by the moon’s Wrath….There is always the feasibility of nature’s blessing morphing into a lethal eruption that is well beyond the human limitations of strength and cunning…

I may only have 10 or 20 or 30 more years to live. But as one of the world’s most educated, versatile artists in academia, writing, tennis and commercial music, I want to own perennial access to a piece of that natural cadence. I wish to scythe a daily easement to this calm, yet exciting experience “on the other side of the Mountain”— to the Sea…with some fire, virgin daiquiri sunsets….Where I know not only what to expect, but to expect the unexpected…Might a female companion one day accompany me into the twilight, perchance bikini-clad, even on one of the more foggier rendezvous’, to whale watch or catch the visceral tail of shark fin, mermaid soup?!’ (Do you remember the beautiful actress in Splash with Tom Hanks?)

One major thing that I love about the pre-acidified ocean is that there are as of yet, plenty of fish to consume, plasticity-ingesting turtles, notwithstanding…Fish is my favorite type of meat by far….Let’s not f this up via dumping waste into our most tremendous oxygen zones and healthiest food supply, folks. Let us give the Environmental Pollution Agency a real reason to shut down, with increased Teslas, to boot!

P.S. I can assume the position of a surfer by springing from plank into formation position…Surfing is an individual manner to commandeer human nature like only human ingenuity may do…The sport is definitely on my bucket list if I may only find an instructor who will fish me out of the Sea if matters go awry. But, I am not so quick to splash about in the wily washing machine! As a 54-year-old without ocean smarts, I’ll stay out of the world’s biggest, natural bathtub for some time….

Please scope out my latest song, a rock and synthesizer anthem of sorts, with electronic, acoustic Retro drums, Beach Deaf Jam by John Royce Holtz, J.D.! It is even replete with a couple Spanish, water curling cries…! The song inspires me by providing much needed inertia to make my dream come true of living by the beach, on the other side of the mountain! Until and after I achieve this formidable goal, I will continue to listen to this rocking testament to my untarnished grit—after all of these years pursuing my unorthodox, entrepreneurial version of the American Dream! Plus, I want to eat super healthy and stay mentally and physically sharp!

Maybe it is a tad late to make it as an ATP Touring Tennis Player beyond Nor/So California. Yet, competition tennis and academia informs me to the requisite wherewithal within other possible gold mines of writing and musical composition. I’m all for capitalistic pursuits, even as a shameless self-promoter…I’ve got the goods!!!

The tune’s title suggests a triple entendre: If one becomes deaf (for nefarious reason that has nothing to do with music over-exposure), the person is, indeed, in a “jam” that leaves him “beached,” or isolated from social communication….

Conversely, if one is fortunate to reside near the “beach,” one is immune or “deaf” from being in a “jam” because the person is immersed in natural decadence that is conducive to good vibrations and inner peace—maybe with some sporadic help from sun-basking bikini amblers!

Thirdly, when one is a partially deaf music maker, at least the maestro boasts a cadre of subject scopes. In this case, the rockin’ theme is a “floodgate jam” with a “beach” motif that is bold, volumnious with screaming guitars, and encompasses one of the major wonders of Planet Earth— the Beach!

Content to “want to live on the other side of the Mountain” while lingering a while longer while “observing the Shore”….hoping to make a personal tradition out of it… ”Like Batman Retreating to the Bat Cave to Rejuvenate, Meditate on the Shore!?

One might throw marauding pursuers for a loop via hiding on the Mountain for a while before returning home to the Western Front Enclave….Not many know just what lies on the other side of the Mountain, let alone that it is possible to scythe through one of the loftiest peaks in the Bay Area to get to a small colony of like-minded, sea admirers there...Invisible to the vast bulk of the rest of civilization—And also, perhaps, more in the direct path of nature’s onslaught!

The tune’s finale proclaims, “Harpoon Life With a No Holds, Barred Approach!” -Perhaps, without present consummation of a love interest, I may return to my desired destination as a still attainable goal to work towards regardless of yearned for, further emotional progress in the soulmate department.

This beach “hut” has been what I have been fervently working towards from 2008-2019. Then, after four plus completely squandered years, some of my life’s choicest time frames in terms of potentially, unactualized productivity, I returned to my refreshingly industrious work ethic with a vengence when the authorities suggested I take it easy, merely relax, and become a leader. F that easy way out—I have already been robbed and I am penniless! How on Earth may I relax enough to lead—My Mom thinks I am a loser because I have not liquidated enough of my intellectual property…What are my working credentials; Or rather, how may I qualify them to the throngs of fellow plebians, whom are conventionally making more money than this unheralded, multi-faceted artist!

Even though I now have been burning out like a Roman Candle or “John Wick’s” all nighters many nights again from 2023-the Present, coerced awake by the “Pitch-Forker” as well as my own grit, I am confident that my niche version of the American Dream will soon come to fruition.

With upcoming five books, including the autobiographical visionary fiction, The Ascent of a Barbarious Court Squatter, that I hope to imminently publish and circa 85 New Wave/Rocker’s/Popping songs that I am seeking music deals from, I soon hope to scope out the shore by planting myself there at pleasant nauseum, for years to come…not to mention jogging alongst the entire shoreline and back, for good measure…

————- 1,728 words