A Bit About Me

It really gets down to the journey...the unknowable, the unseen...the rejuvenation, becoming young again and again. Through language and ideas, love and respect. Elemental...sharing the fire of our ancestors, telling the stories, being in awe...breathing the molecules that passed through the nostrils of Cleopatra and out of the gasps of dying Somalian babies...the sand of the beaches beneath my toes...the soil of the earth nourishing my body...the dirt beneath my wheels...diving deep and resurfacing...becoming one with the wave...hydration, completion. Outside the box...it's where we all must think...or all is lost. Who I'd like to meet: Musicians on the beach...no matter the instrument, accompanied by the pulse of the earth and moon. Myself on other paths.

Insanity and Inanity...

Can you say 'dustbowl'? That is what will happen when a heavy feeder like corn is grown, over and over and over on much of our ag land... BTUs in for BTUs out in corn production doesn't make sense...it's just a taxpayer subsidy for ADM and the like...(oil companies are getting into corn ethanol, as well)... Now...biodiesel produced by algae farms have some promise. 10 thousand gallons per acre versus 300 gallons per acre for corn. However, we need to remember that every solution has its own set of problems. Conservation would do more to fuel the economy and save energy than anything...efficient plug-in hybrid diesels and efficient appliances...and energy efficient buildings. We could plug in all our electric/hybrid cars to charge at night, when there is excess capacity...and not have to build one more power plant. We could increase the efficiency of our appliances and lighting and heating/cooling and actually be able to decommission some coal plants and eventually replace them with carbon neutral sources. Plus...we'd be making products the world's consumers would buy... but it takes courage and a strong entrepreneurial spirit to accomplish these goals...politicians with ties to corporate/capital cronyism are not interested...they are just interested in leveling the global playing field...and busting american labour.

A National Crisis...one of many.

Certainly folks can see the difference between a health issue revolving around bad eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle...which is passed on to the children...which is fueling a crisis in this country (and much of the world)...and someone who is 'pleasingly plump', so to speak. There are very skinny, unhealthy people...with meth addictions, alcohol addictions, and eating disorders...who would not be good candidates as adoptive parents either. This is not a body image issue...this is a national health issue. I am in favor of a national health care system...and am working towards that. But with that comes responsibility for our own health through our eating habits, drug use (prescription and non), alcohol use, smoking, etc...We live in a society which is in crisis, in so many ways...it is both socially and personally responsible to take good care of ourselves and our families...and by extension, our communities. We are living on a physical plane...we experience life through our senses and bodies...I certainly would like to make my experiences, and those of my grandchildren, active and reality based, tasting the true fruits of nature. Numbing ourselves through addictions, of any type, makes our experience here on earth a haze...shrouded in unreality. Sitting on the couch watching the outdoor channel about kayaking down a wild river, is not kayaking down a wild river. Watching the Home and Gardening channel is not the act of gardening. Reading about what natural foods are best for us, falls by the wayside when we drive through Mickey Dees. And as others have pointed out...it's not just what you eat...but what is eating you. Now, if some of you take this as proselytizing or being sanctimonious...so be it.

Sunday Paper

To the casual reader, the articles seem unconnected. Sushi chefs in Japan using raw horse meat and venison to compensate for the lack of tuna, due to the depletion of the fisheries. Lake Superior at its lowest level since 1925, the water temperature 4.5 degrees F warmer than average, the steel pilings holding the shoreline deteriorating for some unknown reason. Perhaps microbes in the water? The United States at the very bottom of 21 wealthy nations in guaranteeing workers vacation time. Finland is tops with 35 days per year, the US...zero. The owner of the Minnesota Vikings giving large campaign contributions to both political parties, hedging his bets for a publicly financed stadium. Four wheelers causing increasing damage in forested lands. The US Congress lacking the political will to raise mileage standards on autos and light trucks, not even able to agree on 35 mpg by the year 2020. Europe setting a fleetwide standard of 44 mpg by next year. Questions raised about steroid rage causing a professional wrestler to choke his young son to death, then kill his wife...and, after placing bibles by both their bodies...hanging himself from his exercise equipment.