Occupy What?

I’ve watched the Occupy Wall Street and various Occupy spin-offs with a mix of serious interest and amusement.  Add the Tea Party, the American Dream Movement, or whatever flavor-of-the-month political-civil group that pops up, and not even the dead can deny that Americans across the board are angry, unhappy, and have itchy voting fingers.  It doesn’t matter if you walk the far Left, the Right, or jog straight down the middle, there’s a boiling volcano ready to burst and we need to be nimble and strong enough to leap across the fiery chasm when it comes.

I’m no doomsayer.  But i don’t own a pair of rose-colored glasses either.  Minorities, who have been the voice of change, are being consumed by the angry Middle Class.  It isn’t that the Minorities aren’t equally unhappy; it’s just that the Middle Class is drowning them out with their own confused tales of woe.  The Rich are the only ones who are keeping silent – and keeping their heads low in hopes they’ll dodge stray bullets and whatever unpleasantness that comes their way.   

News articles, blogs, YouTube, and social web sites are rife with claims of an impending civil explosion.  The Tales:  We are headed for a serious depression; the US government has deployed 20,000 troops to handle civil unrest; Left vs. Right is being replaced by Young vs. Old; high unemployment will continue; we are pre-revolutionary.  So, what does this mean?  I’m not saying anything new.  I don’t believe anyone we vote for will make much of a difference other than to postpone, and possibly worsen, the inevitable. 

What do we do?  While we have no idea where or how violent the outburst might be, we don’t want to be like before the recession with our heads in the ground ignoring the signs of a swiftly down-turning economy.  We need to educate ourselves. Be pro-active.  Watching the news isn’t enough.  We need to be informed.  Read the journals of all sides and read them without bias.  We need to be prepared.  Civil unrest disrupts our lives.  Often the disruption hits these three sectors: communication, transportation, and utilities.  Think emergency preparedness – squirrel away spare cash, keep the car gassed, stock up on water and food – enough for a few days.  Keep a hard copy of important account information in a very secure place.  Memorize important phone numbers – current phone technology has spoiled us with speed dial and other short cuts.  Know the physical location of your closest police and fire station as well as hospital and emergency care services. 

72 Hours Website: http://72hours.org/go_bag.html

Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.53fabf6cc033f17a2b1ecfbf43181aa0/?vgnextoid=537b218c37752210VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD&currPage=6057d7aada352210VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD

This website has a lot of opinions, read with caution and common sense - however - the last bit of the article is what's important - BE PREPARED!  Have a kit ready for emergencies!
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/wolfe118.html

But more than anything, we need to be unafraid.  There are no countries, no states, no cities, no communities, no families that exist without the cyclic turn of the wheel going from prosperity to chaos back to prosperity again.  Americans have had it good for a long while; we’ve spoiled ourselves.  Now we need to dig deep and locate our spines.  Be courageous.  Face the known and unknown with certain conviction that we will pull through no matter how bad it gets.  This country was founded by men and women who understood how to push through fear.  Courage.  It’s All American. 

The Social Network Hype

I’m going to thumb my nose at the Media and psychologists who have touted for the last handful of years that social networking makes monsters out of people.  That tweeting, texting, blogging, and posting on Facebook will create a nation of social misfits whose only identity and personal interaction is through a computer – that we will become dark, twisted and lonely creatures. 

Nah.

I just don’t believe all the psychological Armageddon hype.   Yeah – i’ve seen the articles on people who have posted their wacked out diaries of their sad lives on the Internet and have taken out their frustration on the masses – the acts of George Sodini comes to mind.  But i don’t believe that social networks made people like Sodini do their crazy acts of violence.  I am not convinced social networking turns ordinary people into loyal members of the Lonely Hearts Club or candidates for schizophrenia.  Crazy people were crazy before the Internet – social networking is a result not a cause.   

Yet the Media – ever vigilant to promote drama – sells the social networking hype as if it came from outer space, as if it wasn’t created by us – like a plague that popped out of a black hole from some other universe.  But social networking was born from our desire to stay connected with one another by taking advantage of current technology.  It’s a bit like the argument on guns – “Guns don’t kill people.  People kill people.”  People may argue that if the guns – or social networking – weren’t available we wouldn’t have a problem.  That’s an irresponsible argument.  One – we will not get rid of the myriad ways people have found to kill one another, two – we will not banish technology.  Does having technology make it easier for people to act out their own brand of craziness?  Most likely.  Just like office doughnuts make it easier to gain weight.  But the decision, act, and responsibility lie firmly on the individuals’ shoulders.

Recently i had a wonderful experience with social networking.  It was my birthday and i was overwhelmed with “happy birthdays,” well wishes, and funny jokes.  It was heart-warming, endearing, and put a smile on my lips.  Now i’m not so naïve to think everyone remembered my birthday; i’m completely aware that this social network is programmed to notify people of upcoming friends’ birthdays.  But no one made them respond except that dearly, most cherished of human traits, the need and desire to be social.  To reach out and connect.  It cost them not one penny to be kind.  Yet it gave me a happiness that has no price. 

So i stand by the thought that social networks, and other various networking platforms, are good for us – provided what we give to others is good.  The seeds of positive or negative action lie within us and we will reap what we sow – the choice has always been and always will be ours. 

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves

The Sun rises

pale and cold.

Her Light shines brilliant

through dew drops

on red-gold leaves.

Old words

vainly recall an idea

of perfection.

Tree frog green.

Butter warm yellow.

Smiling heart orange.

Finger toasty red.

Hush puppy brown.

See?

Old words.

Yet everywhere i look

is a new colour.

One i have never seen.

Never experienced.

I am bedazzled.

Spell bound.

I am in Love.

And all the more

because tomorrow

it will be gone.

When We Had Halloween

 I’m not much for one to yammer on about “the good ole days” when everything we touched was golden and life was all smiles and laughter.  That’s a load of poop if there ever was a load.  But now and again my mind wanders from the Now and reminisces on “days of yore.”  Some trigger is pulled and my past drifts up from that deep well of memories and i recall a life’s moment with illusionary clearness – as if it was really happening.  The Mind is a powerful, seductive thing. 

One such trigger for me, every year without fail, is Halloween.  I love – LOVE – Autumn.  Each turning leaf, gust of wind, and honk of the migrating geese is like a new experience for me – and i greet these wonderful moments with great joy.  But Halloween.  Ah.  I miss the costumes and scary faces that came from dime-store makeup and old clothes from the back of your mother or father’s closet.  When scary was what your imagination did to you as you walked to a dark house with only the lights of the jack-o-lanterns aglow.  It wasn’t WHAT you saw that scared you – it’s what you THOUGHT you saw there in the shadows.  It was being able to walk in just a small group of two or three, and not see another soul on the street, or if you did, they were too far to give a sense of security.  It was that nervous possibility that someone would trick you, not treat you.  Because there were those who tricked and did not treat.  Never done in maliciousness, but in the spirit of fun and chaotic madness that is the soul of Halloween.  How can “trick or treat” have many meaning if you don’t know what it is to be tricked?  We never knew, and it made it that much more delicious, that much more nail-biting, that much more fun – to not know.  One of my fondest memories is of a girlfriend and i tip-toeing down a long, dark, tree-covered driveway.  The wind was blowing cold and we huddled together arm in arm.  The only lights were the carved, candle-lit pumpkins lining the porch railing and one dim house light.  Beneath the light sat a dark figure in a rocking chair.  The figure said nothing as we approached.  It didn’t move.  The front door next to the figure opened into a dark house.  No sounds could be heard but the blowing of the wind, our pounding hearts and worried whispers.  Just as out little shoes touched the bottom step of the porch, two boys dressed in rags smeared in red and darkened eyes jumped from the porch roof screaming like a clan of banshees.  Another figure that we couldn’t see but could hear running hard, came at us with a loud horn blowing.  The figure in the rocker – a man – moaned ominously – slowly rose, and came shambling towards us.

That was more than enough  – we screamed like only two little girls can scream and ran as fast as our feet would take us back to the street where my Mom was waiting – laughing.  We could hear laughter from the boys behind us.  Then we laughed too.  That relieved, that-was-so-fun-let’s-do-it-again kind of laugh. 

I miss that kind of Halloween.  That scariness that comes from the imagination.  Those memories will be with me forever – long after the candy is gone and the costumes worn away. 

Flying

Despite TSA, despite extra charges for everything from luggage to leg room, despite long lines and long waits, despite uncomfortable seats, and despite sinus headaches from altitude changes and stale air – i like flying.  Really i do.  Each time, as the plane rolls down the runway, i get this flutter in the pit of my stomach.  The runway flashes by faster and faster and then that final kick of the engines – i am pressed back against my seat – and we are airborne!  It never fails to feel like a new experience no matter how many flights i have taken. 

"Oh.  I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth, And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings…”* I am transfixed as the Earth spreads out beneath me.  The plane banks and turns away from the airport.  The city i know so well, the place i call home, becomes a mosaic of pretty-colored tiles in dusty browns, gold, and forest greens, and roads the grout that holds the city together.  From the city we turn again.  Below us the rivers and lakes shrink as we climb to cross the snow-laced mountains.  The Grand Canyon is but a small textured line that meanders across the red desert and is but a tiny wrinkle on this vast face of Earth.  We fly over miles upon miles of fields.  They stretch to the horizon looking more like a giant’s game board than the food that graces our plates.  And the clouds!  Mmmm, home-churned ice cream!  They seem so solid then – whoosh! – we fly right through them.  Others are flat and thick, like a heavy morning fog while some are so soft, their edges blurred in muted colors, are just a painter’s dream.  Surreal. 

Seeing the Earth this way, is like being reborn.  I am a child again.  Amazed, delighted, broadly smiling at each new sight.  And the night – oh – the night.  How lovely the Moon shines on the Earth!  It becomes a game for me to find the reflection of the Moon twinkling from one body of water to another.  Bayous, flooded fields, lakes, rivers, the Ocean – they sparkle like city lights beneath us and i follow that dazzling trail to the edge of the Earth – where Skies and Land meet. 

I wish i had wings – great, big, white angel wings.  I would fly so high – and so low.  To see every detail of the Earth in that bird’s eye view.  Nothing exists out here.  No worries.  No problems.  Just the beautiful Earth.  So precious.  So amazing and new – every time.     

*The lines are the first stanzas from “High Flight,” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.




Below is a video of Yves Rossy, "Jetman," making a historic flight over Grand Canyon West on May 11, 2011.  Watch it!

Just How Lazy Are You?

I spend a lot of time with people.  I like people.  I like their crazy stories and even crazier opinions.  I talk a lot.  I try to listen even more.  But all that people-time builds up a need in me for some serious down-time.  A need for quiet solitute in a beautiful setting.  I frequently go for a ramble in some spacious park, along a river, up a mountain, or down an empty beach.  I'll walk for hours - watching the weather roll in and out, watching the sun rise and fall.  Troubles melt against that vast beauty. 

But amidst that wonderful feeling of - aaaaahhhhhhhh - i often run into an eyesore that spoils the whole image.  Trash.  It jars the soothing calm of Nature when i stumble upon - sometimes quite literally - a pile of garbage.  I cannot understand why anyone would want to leave such a mess behind.  It's not like you can do it by accident.  "Oops - i just forgot that diaper full of poop!  Oops - i just forgot that case of empty beer bottles!  Oops - i just forgot that bag of empty sandwhich wrappers, soda cans, cigarette cartons, and candy wrappers!"  You didn't forget.  You just didn't want to bother.  Which baffles me.  If you thought enough to bring it in - why can't you think enough to bring it out?  The only reason i can think of is laziness.  Just pure laziness. 

And what baffles me even more, if you were to ask a person, any person, which place you would rather visit - a trash-filled beach or a pristine one?  The answer would always be, hands-down, the pristine beach.  No one, including the people who leave their trash behind, want to be in a place that looks like the county landfill. 

When i take my jaunts, i usually bring a neatly folded paper bag with me.  I pick up as i walk, or pile it up and get it on my way back.  If i forget the bag, i'll use my jacket, towels, or whatever i have on hand to gather trash up and take it to a garbage bin.  It isn't hard.  I don't even break a sweat.  And somehow i always imagine all the birds, plants, animals, and our Mother Earth saying a little "thank you" when i help to keep Her clean and beautiful. 

So next time you and the fam are going out in Nature to enjoy - please bring a paper bag and help pick up what others have left behind.  And if you see someone leaving trash, a tackful "reminder" - to take back what they brought with them - wouldn't hurt.

Expectations

Evil things really.  Or rather not evil so much as an illusionary dream of dreams.  And we have so many of them - the cancer of fantasy.  They run rampant through our thoughts.

Foolish - we base our lives on imagined occurances.  We imagine we will be rich - so we spend every penny because we believe money will always be there.  We imagine the worse will happen so we hoard every penny, take no chances, cause no waves; we try nothing new.  Etiher way - our expectations chain us to patterns of thought.  We believe these patterns to be real.

You have a relationship problem.  You think, "I will say this.  Then he or she will say that.  Then i will say this.  Then my partner will understand everything, apologize, and all will be smiles again."  Great expectations.  How is it that we believe we know what another person is going to say?  We don't know what WE will say the next moment.

We have an extraordinary inability to see WHAT  IS and to not take it any further than that.  It's like we can't leave it alone.  We have to keep worrying with it.  Fidgeting with reality till we distort it to something we think we want.  No wonder we are so disappointed.

I was fascinated by the first Matrix movie.  I thought, "Yes!  There it is in a super sexy black leather overcoat - we are asleep."  We are only dreaming of a world we wished to be.  But we aren't really in it - we aren't really touching that world with our full senses.  We are too busy dreaming to be bothered with a thing called Reality.