Took my bicycle on the train and found a map, cruised around to locate various tourist attractions of the city and to see for myself what the man on the train was talking about, all the arcades – throughout the city is a labyrinths of arcades, allowing people to continuously walk beneath canopied sidewalks along a myriad of columned and arched underpasses.
This local man informed me of three culinary dishes that were created in Bologna:
Lasagna
Tortellini
Tagliatelle – he said one must order this alla Bolognese (a red meat sauce)
I dined (for a change at a restaurant) eating Tortellini with porcini mushrooms and red wine, while talking the entire time with a Swiss couple sitting next to me, in German, French and English. They reminded me that a portion of Switzerland speaks Italian in addition to the German and French languages.
In the name of rampant consumerism and capitalism
in the name of rampant consumerism and capitalism
As usual, I took a substantial amount of photos (107) which compelled me to take them.
Drawn to street art and graffiti, there were a variety of techniques.
Yes, that’s Queen Elizabeth – masked – a la masquerade
Well, the guy blew me off, or maybe it was because I was late (after smoking with some Pakistani guys who were describing how limited the rights of women are in their country > ( can’t go out alone, can’t drive, can’t bicycle around in sport clothes with their hair flowing, once married – must stay home serving their husbands…said a woman my age in Pakistan would be almost incapacitated with health issues )…and I got lost making my way to the meeting point.
However, what I learned from this Italian guy, after approaching him days earlier standing near me straddling his bicycle at the pier at sunset in Trieste, Italy to say that I am also a bicycle rider and striking up conversation, is that he mentioned a small city near Bologna, called Ferrara, with a remarkable amount of bicycle riders. Ferrara to remember ~ sounds like the car Ferrari, but also like the German word for bicycle Farrhad.
I dreamed about it last night, because I really am over living in a hostel and the continuous ~ back of my mind and forefront ~ stress over what to do and where to go. So this town popped in my mind before laying down to sleep last night and I woke up quite early (for me) in anticipation of what to do as my hostel accommodation stretched thrice will end tomorrow, to arrange things. Trieste is lovely in the pedestrian only ‘downtown’ places. However, when I’ve headed into the non-pedestrian hilly areas of this town, I am revolted by the loud noise and exhaust smells of motorcycles and frankly frightened by the high speeds of motorbikes and cars. I absolutely need to live in a place that puts a substantial amount of attention and effort towards bicycle transportation infrastructure and caring about pedestrian areas.
Translation from text above “View the routes directly on the map or filter the selection by type of experience and bike. You can then save the itineraries among your favorite routes.”
So, to check out what he said moments ago, I google translated bicycling = andare in bicicletta, and when I plugged this in with the town name, i got this !!!!! https://www.romagnabike.com/dove/ferrara. I’m immediately looking for trains to there, leaving Sunday. I will miss the water here. Google earth doesn’t show water near Ferrara, however the videos reveal water. In fact, I guess bicycle paths stretching to the water. When I plugged a random point by the Adriatic Sea, Taglio Della Falce, google maps says by bike it’s just under 3 hours. It is also very near to the river Po as well.
“Renamed the “City of bicycles” due to the massive presence of two-wheeled vehicles circulating in the streets of the historic center, Ferrara is an unmissable destination for cycling and gravel lovers. Here you can cycle around the walls that embrace the historic center, take the Destra Po cycle path that crosses the silent Ferrara countryside, visit the Rocca di Stellata or venture on the dirt roads of the Comacchio Valleys in the heart of the Po Delta Regional Park.”
“Ribattezzata la “Città delle biciclette“ per la massiccia presenza di mezzi a due ruote che circolano nelle vie del centro storico, Ferrara è una meta imperdibile per gli amanti del cicloturismo e del gravel. Qui potrai pedalare attorno alle mura che abbracciano il centro storico, imboccare la ciclabile del Destra Po che attraversa la silenziosa campagna ferrarese, visitare la Rocca di Stellata o avventurarti sugli sterrati delle Valli di Comacchio nel cuore del Parco regionale del Delta del Po.”
By the way, there appear to be a large number of Pakistani men in Trieste. Apparently this city accepts foreigners more than other Italian cities. The really funny thing, is that having no Italian fluid speaking capability, I discovered that the mutual language I shared with two Pakistani guys was German, because one had lived in Hamburg, and the other in Berlin and Munich > Germany a country which has welcomed immigrants.
“On all regional trains – even those not marked with the special symbol – passengers are permitted to travel with a fully closed folding bicycle (even if not in the special bag) free of charge, provided that the size does not exceed 110 x 80 x 45 cm and does not cause danger or inconvenience to other passengers.”
I’ve booked the train, a hostel for the first two nights and contacted hosts for a room in longer-term housing.
Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition. The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.
I purchased the 9 € German countrywide regional train ticket (which I found out about in Portugal), using it the last day it was available – August 31st. Traveling with a backpack on my back, another on my chest, pulling a bag on wheels (with another canvas bag balanced on it in which my sleeping bag was obscured) with my left hand and walking my bicycle with the right hand. I wound up having to make about 8 regional train exchanges (then another Euro train, and another Italian train), rushing and successfully getting to the next platform at each station (with the help of a German student (about to study about sharks in Rostock to inform people that they are not dangerous creatures) twice and another time by an Iranian women (living in Norway coming to visit her Iranian boyfriend in Munich) with literally no minutes to spare. I stood most of the day next to my bicycle and luggage, to the border of Austria – Kufstein – then opting to go further to Innsbruck.
The print out of the German regional trains to Kufstein, then to Innsbruck My bicycle loaded on top among 5 other bikes on this particular trainstanding room only on the train packed with bikes
In Innsbruck, I had to wait till the next morning to book a train to Verona, where I bought a beer to go as the bar was closing, then met and hung out with 3 young Ukrainian guys, smart and fun. One a pro (or amateur) tennis player. Then slept outside in an inner courtyard (where we had hung out and I went back to after we parted) because it was a 2nd hinterhof.
Austria From train through AustriaAustria from trainAustria from trainAustriaBrenner Base tunnel is being built for the highway to go underground through Austria
There were a lot of communicative people during more standing room only on this Euro line, where a lawyer and priest informed me that most of these seats were reserved, which is why myself and a handful of others were standing. This was a pleasant ride with lots of conversations. The lawyer/priest informed me that a tunnel is being built for the highway, to transport trucks more efficiently and reduce pollution.
I booked the morning train to Verona, deciding to spend more € for the European Rail train ~ and it turned out the regional trains were not operating, people were instead transported by bus, in which case I would have been stuck with a train ticket and no capability of bringing my bicycle.
I then arrived in Verona, deciding to stay there rather than zipping by, because of the mentioned architecture and roman amphitheater. Oh my gosh, I was just purchasing my second cappuccino here at this hostel in Trieste, Italy (several days after leaving Verona), when a young guy asks me, did you ever find a place to sleep that night in Verona? It took me a half a minute. Verona? Sleep? How, what? Oh yeah, this was the only person who was a witness, coming up the 4 flights of stairs to the entry way to a hostel that had very little presence and no pleasant ambience, with one man there, a rude guy who was almost ushering me out after showing him that indeed I had paid for the room via booking dot com, but it hadn’t registered on his end. This guy, Sergie (Irish guy with Spanish father) moments ago here in Trieste, is on a similar trajectory from Verona, passing through Trieste on his way to Slovenia.
The first hostel ‘Safestay Lisbon’ was fantastic, and this hostel in Trieste, equally fantastic with a great location, 24/7 staff, luggage room, bar, events, courtyard, pleasant and helpful staff ‘Hotello Hostel’ in Trieste.
So I had to think a bit, to remember that night, where an elderly native Triestian woman whose path I crossed twice trying to get to this hostel (who helped me to get there asking a young guy and then using her bus pass and telling the driver where to let me off before stepping off the bus). All the other hostels were booked and this was the last option. After sitting outside in their grass to eat the first time in 24 hours, and considering camping in their tiny yard obscured, until my cover was blown by a woman and her dog talking to me and a pock-faced man leaning out the window saying in Italian i can’t sleep there ( my sleeping bag already unrolled), I walked back to the center, energized.
I decided to walk the other way from fountains in the plaza before the train station. The wheels were weighted down from the luggage bulk. I was half way dragging it. Left the bicycle locked before the station among other bicycles. Decided against the first grassy park, too exposed (human predators). Asked, an old man who pointed and said, hotel that way. Certainly not one I could afford. Walked through a gated off area, then turned around when I saw a path, where surely more people would be coming from that area and see me and my luggage clearly. I was going to cross the street to a raised patch of grasses, and opted to walk through an archway to find a better place to cross the busy street. Turns out this was in fact part of the building of the luxurious hotel.
I spotted a wild cat jumping up onto a wall and this strip of green beyond it. The cat is the one who showed me the safe and more obscured place to lay down my sleeping bag. I can’t believe that this young man Sergie from Ireland moments ago asked me where I slept that night in Verona. Crazy the path of travelers, sometimes intercepting one another at hostels.
I don’t even know the name of the luxury hotel that hosted my green strip, but was glad that it did. I woke up to a slight drizzle, that never became rain, must have been a passing cloud. Then in the morning, two women walking by as I was sitting up, one lifting her arm to admire her fancy new handbag, surely an expensive brand…I laughed at the juxtaposition.
my sleeping space on the property of a luxury hotel in VeronaA wild cat jumping into this space showed me the way
Energized with sleep, I felt compelled to walk with the luggage to the old town of Verona to see the highlights of the town, and managed to do it.
Verona Italy – Roman Coliseum, Juliet’s balcony of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet
I have two video vignettes in which a very fatigued and blood-shot eyed Carol describes the voracious appetites of Italians for fashion. The street leading from the Roman amphitheater/ coliseum
Roman Coliseum
to the famous balcony of Juliet, in Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet,
Juliet’s BalconyLa Casa di Giulietta
is lined with classy, expensive boutiques.
Found a café to plug in my iPad, with fabulous pizza.
heart-shaped pizzaOne-man show – chef and waiterChef showed me his particular ingredient to make the doughThis was the pizza restaurant’s bathroom – water hose instead of toilet paper
Then as I was arriving on the train to Trieste, an Italian woman sitting adjacent to me looked up on her phone the name and address of a hostel I had recognized from my search in Verona, but hadn’t yet booked. I walked there from the train station and there were VACANCIES. i purchased a cheap tiny padlock from the hostel (which the key didn’t open the 2nd time, and now have waited over the weekend after not being able to open it for a day and a half) to go buy a properly functioning padlock). Yes, more days wearing the same clothes…fine. There’s a more than adequately large storage locker under my bed. I’ve instead been riding around the waterfront and downtown and attending the Maker’s Faire (science and technology interactive event), I went riding off in the fading dusk on my bicycle Friday evening, musicians everywhere, realizing how incredibly beautiful this city is, bordering Croatia and Slovenia.
Approaching Triest by trainTrieste, Italy bordering Slovenia and Croatia
Finally have accommodations. Bicycled across the waterfront to buy beer at LIDL packed with parked, rocking sail boats, and found a fantastic and humorous swing band about to start, decided to stay outside . This place was soon packed with locals, some great swing dancers on the dance floor where I stayed all night smiling, finding the town unbelievably beautiful. I believe I chose this town not only because it’s by water, but because the 19 years i lived in San Francisco, i ritually went to Café Trieste in the Italian district.
Trieste Italy- city by the sea bordering Slovenia and Croatia
The first day waking up at the hostel I met an Italian woman Francesca in my same room after waking up. She informed me about this Maker’s Faire (science and technology mainstream event), happening that day and the next. Open to the public and free. I went, feeling super excited and relieved. Very much on the same page, she informed me about many things (she has her own creative coop workspace in Firenze Florence).
She also informed me about Franco Basaglia, a leader in also a labor movement. There was going to be a manifestation/demonstration that day, Saturday September 3, by people in Trieste protesting the approaching abrupt closing of a factory producing engines for ships (I believe).
I learned yesterday as I talked to more people (which I do regularly, approaching people and conversing with strangers, rather than walking around looking down at a phone), conversing with two Austrian couples where I had stopped to dance to a band the second night (1st person dancing alone before the stage which then became a crowded dance floor) after dancing with an Austrian man. I learned that Trieste had been a part of Austria, the Austrian Hungarian empire. One of the men mentioned the empire in which the sun never sets. I learned of the Hapsburg dynasty from the movie Dr. Zhivago.
The former Austria Hungarian Empire
I’ve been researching several new possibilities about extending a stay here in Trieste, Italy. I attended more hours of the Maker’s Faire, after spending hours writing and researching VISA related stuff, since a human being is not allowed to merely exist on the planet, but has to heed the demands of borders and national regions, something non-existent within the earth itself. I learned of the School of music in Trieste – Tartini Conservatory of Music – talking to a guy in his booth, as I listened to the explanation of his design, took notes and learned of this school of specifically ELECTRONIC music. I have also spent years developing this craft, rather than having babies, with two different programs; Propellerhead Reason making beats piggybacked onto Ableton Live. I spoke with one of the scientists in the ICTP (International center for Theoretical Physics) tent, to find out about who to contact for an informational interview. Could be the physicists need someone with creative and writing skills to communicate what they work on to the public. I may be able to finagle a way to extend a VISA by virtue of studying Italian and music, and working here. Always looking at options and alternatives – of which Berlin does not fade into the background – but remains a viable alternative ~ more is happening there. I like Europe, because there are places everywhere to hang out in public and sit, stand, dance, listen to music and basically watch and interact with people or watch sunsets….catering to quality of life and interaction, rather than insulated in their own cars and nose to the grindstone, with the sole emphasis of making more money to buy more things. The USA has exported that poison. However, I guess various cultures (particularly Italy) embrace style and fashion as a high priority and status symbol. I’m super turned off by it. And feel sad to see people of poorer countries try so hard to wear the cool shoes or sport the handbag, thinking that this is ‘making it’ and making them more desirable. I dance and interact with smiles and conversation, rather than material acquisition, as the main emphasis and focus in life.
Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition. The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.
I just went to the main train station to ask a few more questions and precisely figure out where to park the bicycle over night to find it upon arriving with my luggage on a bus, Turns out the train i had scheduled has a bomb threat and is canceled ( uh hum, glad I went there today) so the woman agent printed out a new starting point and time and new track. As if in a dream, part fatigue, slight edge of anxiousness, I went through the motions to see where i need to go, where the elevators are, preparing as much as possible so that it will flow in the morning. This is perhaps from the influence of my parents, or perhaps i am even more extreme about taking precautions. I scoped out where to leave my bicycle over night, near where I’ll get off the bus.
Postdamerplatz Berlin
I was able to meet with my friend whom I met and hung out with up until I departed from Berlin, 10 years ago. Great to catch up with Argentinian Mariano, doing well with his wife and daughter starting 1st grade. Still see things in a similar way and harmonious support. I am taking advantage of the last day of the 9 € regional train ticket, anywhere in Germany. Going this last day of Aug. 31st that it’s legit, to Austria by the border. Decided that I’d rather go there if I have to hang out with my stuff all night, than to sit in the Munich station. Then buying a regional ticket via Innsbruck to Verona. Still need to investigate a hostel, and where i might land. Gonna have to learn Italian, pretty quickly.
Berlin is like a circus of activity. Soooooo many people in the streets everywhere, all night, presumably. Many tourists….blah, blah. The bicycle lane actually freaks me out. Super fast, super determined bike riders, along with those carrying toddlers in bike seats before them and in wagons. Love bike culture, but don’t love rushing, high speed,get over or get hit bicycling. Went to the freakin mac store where Hermann, 1 man show, is still operating very successfully. My bluetooth keyboard magically started working, in his store. He also informed me that one can buy an English keyboard in an Apple store. Good to know. Also got my bicycle very elegantly repaired with a Farrhad Doctor, Bike Doctor – Berlin (Fahrrad-Doktor – Berlin) Bicycle Doctor, literally situated blocks away. They found and exchanged the left gear fixture with one they had in stock that exactly matched the other. This also not a chain, but very small bike shop literally crammed with bicycles. You can’t enter beyond a rope.
I was so happy to stroll through Mauer park on Sunday to see a street musician every 10 yards, the park full of people on a sunny afternoon and then coming upon the hundreds of people listening, singing along and dancing on the stage to the institution that Irish Gareth started bicycling with the speakers and hosting, MCing with comedic flair Bearpit Karaoke
Bearpit Karaoke Garth from Ireland who has created this karaoke institution in Mauerpark Berlin, Germany
Now with my repaired bicycle (derailleur replaced from a bike at some guy’s house in Portugal) outside of Aveiro, repaired by not a bicycle shop but guy who is a machinist, creating shifting gears for automobiles.
Sitting outside of ,Sankt Oberholtz, still owned by Ansgar and evolving and trickling into other areas.
Circus Hotel gegenüber from St. Oberholtz Blue Heron in the middle of Berlin
I do love Berlin. And at the same time I’m sitting here looking up trains through Austria and Italy and finding that it’s easy to find the trains and schedules and all allow bicycles.
And the trip continues.
Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition. The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.
I rushed off to Portugal, after determining a year ago that it would be affordable, so that I could complete my book. My oldest sister warned me that Lisbon would not be affordable, and sent me links to more affordable towns in Portugal. I hadn’t realized when I departed that august is the least affordable month in Europe, anywhere, and that the availability of rooms / vacancies in hostels etc. shrinks to nothing. I have been separated from my luggage, most of the time, except the first fabulous days in Lisbon at a wonderful hostel. Then I slept outside for over a week. Then i chose a random town in Portugal near the ocean, and have only once, for several minutes there, had time to jump in the water. I have been too occupied looking for occupancies. I found an expensive hotel there in Aveiro, and slept 12 + hours. Then there were no more occupancies there, or in that town. Same thing when I returned to get my luggage, no rooms.
I found a remote hostel, an oasis in the dry Portuguese terrain, riding by swaths of formerly burned forests. Wonderful place, meeting enlightened people…and then I left, determined to live in a metropolis, as I mentioned, Plan B Berlin. However, Berlin is extremely expensive, little occupancy, huge competition….and the bunch of IT guys I met the first evening at a meetup, directly informed me of this…talking about how much they pay for a room (who can afford them and those who have pushed up the prices)…and that it can take 6 months to find a place because renters are protected by laws so that they simply rarely leave. I landed at a place after sleeping outside under a soviet military tank monument for shelter, and after sleeping 13 + hours, the stress I’ve had suddenly has made itself apparent in my body.
This German guy’s coiffure I met at the U-Bahn pretty much says it all
I have an appt to see a place tonight, am absolutely grateful to have shelter yet now have more decisions to make about where to escape to, like a refugee, not of the climate, but of economic challenges. I just reached a wall emotionally, after discovering several possible places have slipped away, or are blatant scams.
I will now go out into the town to use the resources of this city; replace batteries, get my bicycle fixed (bus driver jammed it into a space and the gears snapped). all along the way, I’ve had little successes, a derailleur that fell off, fixed by Portuguese men, the one key (the most essential one) for the bicycle lock suddenly appearing, after my key chain disappeared. And several people in town whom I can meet to say hello and catch up, (some who still have lived here, others who are returning in this exact week, to collect their things after having moved away a year ago). Several people have moved out of Berlin.
Ukraine manifestation en Berlin, Allemagne le 24 AoutAugust 24th Ukrainian demonstration ending at the Brandenburg Tor in Berlin, Germany
I more than likely must figure out a small town to live in where I can utilize a portable Glocal Me WiFi device with a local network, in an affordable town, either in Germany or northern Italy. Hadn’t realized that August in Europe is the least affordable with the least available spaces. I have hit a wall. I’m sure going out to do some errands and think as I’m riding, will help.
So, my arrival in Berlin, after the Russian man saw that FIXBus in Paris wasn’t acknowledging the Iberiabusline receipt for my Flixbus bicycle ticket which the annoyed Fixbus line Portuguese man had me pay, despite my repeated pleas that it was indeed a Flixbus line.This man approached me and told me the story of his Russian wife not being allowed to enter GB (and that he drove around with her for a wonderful 12 days and then drove across the border to allow her to enter England. He paid for a later bus from Paris to Hamburg, Hamburg to Berlin each with the bicycle sorted. It was not a FIXbus line.This assured me the ride to Berlin and allowed me to stay several more hours in Paris. I made my way to the other side of this woodsy park on a Sunday afternoon, dragging a heavy bag. I found a café restaurant open with a group of several families, from Cypress Greece I discoved. I ordered a cappuccino then rather than a breakfast, a pizza. It was huge, I ate all of it. I liked all the staff, my waiter and the (cat de la maison) of the house, who came to lounge on the chairs after the families left. They had WiFi, and one plug to recharge. The cat which appeared was not after crumbs, he/she receives ample food. He merely wanted to lounge in the late afternoon on the empty chairs.
Terrace Berry 102 Rue De Berry 75192 ParisTerrace Berry Paris – Chat de Maison – Cat of the house
Sufficed with food, I headed to the bus, then had to sample the 2nd song that these local
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0343-Qkfc-UmDJH07_iEYzzQA weight lifter guys outside the underground bus station in the park, were playing French rap, as multiple guys choreographed their exercises, weights, swinging on bars rigorously, showing off 6 pack stomachs. Prior to this, after walking back and forth across the entire underground station, inquiring to numerous people about the missing keys, a lost and found, receiving only negative nods, that doesn’t exist, I spotted the black plastic top of what looked like my kryptonite bike lock key, which suddenly appeared after the 7th time looking at the same parking lot spots. What? No way? I hastily walked towards it, picked it up {broken at the top} and went to my bicycle. It slid into the lock! The most important item of the missing key chain. Unbelievable. Blessed!
I made it to Berlin via Hamburg. Upon arriving, I had to sit a bit, collect myself. Asked a group of police how to ride to Hackeshir Markt. The chief among them pointed to where I’d find Kaiserdamm, the main road past the Siegelseule towards the Fernsehturm and the Brandenburg Gait. I intended to make it to Montbijou park, where I read about a meetup that day, thinking I’d ask the group attending the BYO food, jam session, about housing. As I passed these tanks where years earlier I’d taken a phot of a 9 year old n the crowd before the Love Parade, sitting right in front of this displayed tank’s firing trunk and thought to myself, if it rains, I will sleep under the tank, high above the ground, protected from moisture, insects and hidden from people.
Plenty of people showed up for this event, which I finally located, after listening to a horn and drum Ukrainian orchestra band. Half the guys were in IT, half were of Indian descent. Everyone of the people told me how difficult and challenging housing in Berlin had become. And expensive, because of you guys in the IT business I pointed out with amusement.
Very much later, after 2am, I rode towards this tank, first eating my remaining food, sitting illegally at the outside tables of a hotel roped off, sitting befor the Brandenburg tor, where 4 young girls with long hair giggled taking selfies, then 4 young guys approached the same space.I chose one then the other tank, sort of hid my bicycle. Obviously not hidden enough. I slept slightly under the tank, a Russian monument to its military weaponry. I was woken up from a profoundly deep sleep 4.5 hours after laying down in my sleeping bag under the tank by a Police Officer saying loudly “Guten Morgen”! I slept on the concrete block displaying the historical Russian army tank, my first night in Berlin. There were no inexpensive hostels. I got up, out of my sleeping bag, put on my sneakers and jumped down to stuff it into its case. The police officer had walked away, but was still in view. I deliberately chose to not walk away, but right by him, up these stairs, I said “es ist nass” – it is wet, pointing to the grass – I was 5 feet up on a block of concrete, very dry. He answered, not grumpy, nor angry, perhaps slightly amused, “Es hat geregnet”. It rained.
I was going to go to the other side of the Tiergarten park, then changed my mind, and went back towards Mitte, wanting to find this bakery I remembered with great bread. Didn’t find it, but did find a spot to eat breakfast, then another place with WiFi and a girl standing up to leave the one table adjacent to an electrical receptacle. I had 2% battery left.
The key had been found. Two days before when I felt a foreboding, bicycling the several miles over the mountain to a train station, where just as I was reaching he peak of the hill, suddenly my bike chain dangled. There were hardly any cars. One elder man sitting in a tripuck, headed in the opposite direction. He said there were houses ahead. I walked, coasted, then spotted 5 or 6 Portuguese men hanging outside a garage with several motorcycles and cars. I pointed to my bicycle. The one guy made it clear that he was not a bicycle mechanic, but shied me he car gear mechanics he built. Yet, he looked at my bicycle, disappeared into his garage, came back with a screw, then another, which was the right size. In the mean time, two of the guys took off in the car, and he explained to wait until they came back. One of the younger guys pulled out his phone with google translate, and we exchanged some sentences. There would be a number of trains from Estarreja to Aveiro. I had time. My Flixbus was the next morning at 7am. Then the two guys returned in the car and handed the guy a rusty derailleur from one of their old bicycles. The mechanic took it apart, attached this also to my bike, adjusted the front part of it over the middle chain, and ai was now able to pedal – still only a third of the gears available since the first bus from Lisbon to Aveiro had snapped the shifter as he shoved it into the bus (after at first refusing to allow me on at all). When I thankfully went to my purse to pull out a 10€ note, the guy vigorously shook his head, no, no, he would not accept payment. This caused me to tear up, already sleep,deprived.
When I finally figured out where to catch the FLIXBUS, I went there to park my bicycle, prior to approaching the hotel where ai had left my luggage in a separate town weeks earlier, and then vanished. When I finally walked into the hotel, I was super surprised and relieved to be greeted by the smiling face of the young hotel desk guy who initially allowed me to clandestinely leave my baggage there, giving me three tags. He had me point out which was mine, because they were going to be bombarded with luggage. He told me that if I’d waited several more days, they might have called the police to declare left luggage and a missing person. He was very friendly, and told me the story of his life, his period of homelessness, then he ushered me outside, where he could openly tell me the story of how he got there. That he used to sell drugs. I said, what marijuana? He said no, all kinds. Then one day he returned to his apt which had been torn apart, in shambles, with the threat to pay 10,000€ or he and his mother would be killed. They gave him two days. His mother left to stay with another relative. He left within two hours with just the clothes he had on and 50€? He showed me a video of the music group he was in, of himself with short dreads, he had been the lead singer. He showed me the picture of another guy in the video who was in the band, who was the person who turned on him. He told me of his travels, escape, living on the streets, dropping his identity, that many of his friends still don’t know of his whereabouts. That eventually he turned his life around. That he was blessed when he arrived to this town, found the job, and an apt right away. Blessed by God for having the right intention. He left me with this uplifting story. My luggage had been safe. He accepted the 10€ note for having taken care of my luggage. Showed me the music video. Talked of being in a really good place in his life. Talked of his curiosity, of people he has met through this job.
So the bicycle was fixed in Portugal enough for me to ride it presently. The bus ride to Berlin resurrected by the Russian observer of the Fixbus corruption and the bicycle lock key found. And a German girl ( she and her boyfriend also had bicycles) informed the driver as he was about to leave without me , that there was still someone inside after the 10 minute break, where I brushed my teeth and almost missed the bus as he started pulling away. I call it FIXBUS, because only a few USB ports and electrical receptacles worked. The WiFimdidnt work at all. The drivers were far from customer service oriented. Another French/Portuguese woman teacher and her mother were horrified with their experience on an earlier FLIXBUS, when they had been left behind though returning to the bus in the allotted time and had to take a taxi and train, to catch up with their bus.
Now in Berlin, I’m in this café using the internet to explore northern Italy, which the Thai French speaking wine dealer woman at the remote hostel who consistently travels throughout Europe, told me that northern Italy, north of Verona, is the best place to live in Europe. Best quality of life, best educated people, most efficient transportation due to the influence of bordering Austria, and where many people ride bicycles. Then I saw today a message from one of he sons of my pastor in a palmyra, Pennsylvania home town who lives in Berlin, saying that he sent me a message when he saw that I was in Berlin,which I’m about to look at.
Today, three of us had a very provocative conversation here at this hostel in the middle of nowhere ‘Now Here’ in Portugal; a Portuguese guy, an Argentinian IT worker I’ve come to know in the last week and myself. We talked about how the media uses fear to manipulate people, how Pharma companies have lied about and manipulated the entire world towards feeling fear and guilt about vaccines (along with truths about Covid-19) and how one very inexpensive and effective cure Ivermectin has been quickly denounced and silenced. We talked about cell phone addictions and ultra materialism….and that many of the political satirists, from George Carlin years ago foreseeing how the government and media are puppets to multinationals who are actually the elite in control.
The Portuguese guy says that it’s almost the same as an authoritarian dictatorship, except that a tyrannical ruler has a face you can point to and blame, whereas this convoluted machine of money and power driving people to busily occupy themselves with just trying to survive with high costs and who are complacently consuming social media (addictively and incessantly) wind up not really questioning or even being consciously aware of the degree to which they are being controlled.
The NY Times has had one after another super frightening article in the last days, yesterday about Philadelphia being rife with guns and shootings, more than NYC or LA. And today an article about a MASSIVE PERFECT STORM that will at any time hit California. Not earthquakes, droughts or fires, but a brewing mega storm with water building from Hawaii, to the extent of the Mississippi river in the sky…and that when it hits the mountains of CA, it will bring biblical rains. This was in today’s paper. So though it may very well be true, the media does its job to keep people at a high pitch of fear and dread, because this is an excellent vehicle to control people.
The one guy was saying that George Carlin was so right on…and yet few people are aware enough to even question or seek to know. He and I have seen families, sitting with each parent looking down at their phone while their toddlers are acting out, simply seeking to get attention from a parent who sits there entranced, absent and unavailable to properly give the child attention.
I just made a list of (some) of the political satirists from whom I’ve been enlightened about issues, plus another Brit I hadn’t yet heard of till today, Ricky Gervais. If you haven’t listened to Russel Brand, Bill Maher, Trevor Noah, John Oliver, Jon Stewart, George Carlin, Bill Hicks, Hasan Minhaj… I suggest that you do.
They discuss truths in depth, which mainstream media averts talking about. And the three wealthiest men in the world – Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson – who each coordinated their rocket launches with their massive carbon footprint, have the complete audacity to ignore the global warming occurring that is causing the massive droughts, floods, mass extinction, as if they are above it all and act with impunity with absolutely no regard for what is occurring on the earth – rather than using their money and power to instigate massive action to begin to heal the world, they are guilty for soaring mass delusion.
What can we do about it? It seems not much. Except that the more that people become aware that our financial system is perpetuating our demise –
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0G6obeUKWmw&t=k166s – the more that the massive population – and the industries profiting from misinformation and disinformation – and government officials who are millionaire pawns pocketing their gifts and continuing as if we aren’t in the middle of a disaster of magnanimous proportions – can hold them accountable. But as long as people are sleep walking and bent over looking down at their phones rather than looking up and speaking personally with one another, nothing will change.
Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition. The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.
Humanity, on a piece of rock spiraling through space, wow! On day 9, when I arrived to a green space on the property of a university, I decided to sleep there, my sleeping bag tucked into a canvas bag to be more discrete about being ‘homeless’. The grounds had all these cats, really funny. Upon waking and standing up, decided to head up the hill, turned a corner to see that I was in front of the Prime Minister’s home, glanced across the street to see several cameras perched on the sidewalk. The Prime Minister was inside discussing the environment with another diplomat, and the journalists were waiting for him to appear.
Actually, it was about “decentralization process“, said Prime Minister António Costa at the signing ceremony of the agreement between the Government and the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities for the decentralization of competences in the areas of Education and Health, at the headquarters of the ANMP, in Coimbra.”
I left, then saw two blond-haired students towing their luggage, they told me of a hostel…then after investigating the gay man who owned the hostel on the ground floor of this building pointed me to a place to eat upon my inquiry, which he recommended.
It was a lovely environment, lovely food and ambience. Very well dressed, genteel clientele. Here in the café I interacted with a toddler and her parents, and later starting chatting with the mother. Turns out she and I have a very similar perspective and I really appreciated her opening up. She reminds me very much in attitude and spirit of the French woman I met in Montpellier, seriously.
kids across the street going on a field trip
When I left the café, in the heat i reached the park finally where I had intended to sleep the night before (which I never found) – fortunately – because it would have been closed > gates close at 7pm. Fascinating place, I walk in to see and hear chickens, then learn from reading the signs that it had last been a convent, and from an elderly local woman, that once it had lots of dogs in the dog kennels. Seems that the convent wished to make it a sanctuary for animals. I was amused to see the chickens walking around and clucking. They calmly tolerated the cats walking around. I had heard the peacocks with their strange almost human sounding screams, and in the dusty walks among parched vegetation, I then happened upon this mini oasis of water, with ducks and species of birds I didn’t recognize. I bothered to keep pulling out my ipad to take photos, decided to walk up these stairs, and there they were, the peacocks. https://www.lisbonportugaltourism.com/guide/tapada-das-necessidades.html “pink palace standing on a hilltop facing the river was completed just five years before the Great Earthquake of 1755, and was the only royal residence that remained standing in the disaster. Over the years, it was also used as a convent and as a hospice, which explains the cross that tops the portico. Today, it’s home to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is not open to the public.”
I left as it was closing and decided to leave there and dutifully head back to Starbucks for internet to search for housing. I walked by and into a little terrace with music. I didn’t want to take pictures as a voyeur although I really wanted to. A speaker sat in the dust. Three girls no older than 7 danced in front of a fountain, sort of doing a dance routine that was much more mature and provocative. I turned to see two women. They were in silk type long dresses, had dark skin, both had home-bleached blond hair, and appeared to have gotten married (the 2 women). They posed showing their tattoos on their ankles from the slits in their dresses. An obese woman in a flashy colored top sat facing the little girls, adjusting her false eyelashes that were falling off. I think these were Roma, gypsies.
Dj’d hang out by Santos Metro station Lisbon
Then bicycled along a path by the water, and then suddenly discovered an impromptu bar, dj’d with beats, very Berlin style with the mannequin. It was at a metro stop, right on the track platform. They sell beer and pizza. There was a massage table, some people sitting around smoking joints. Met an Italian guy who actually identified and recognized my X patch, asking if that was “extinction rebellion”? I was pleasantly surprised that he knew.
Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition. The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.Have been using this bicycle a great deal, even though Lisbon is very hilly
Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition. The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.
So, now once in a while, while riding or stopped at an intersection with a lot of cars, I throw up my arm with full display of the zero sign.
Either like this.
Or like this.
Why?
Because
Because as I ride a bicycle and routinely look at road kill and feel the heat of engines and have to time my inhales to not breath fumes.
I say Zero!
I really am such a brat, as in expressing exactly what I feel.
The lyrics are not yet completed yet, but here it is so far; guess the idea evolved when I glanced at gas prices at a gas station.
Zero money
Zero gasoline
Zero carbon output
Zero fossil fuel use
Zero smell of exhaust
Zero sound ….. just quiet
Zero pressure of time (can only go so fast)
Zero body fat
What’s more than Zero are the places I go in nature with only wildlife around and the muscle made in the process of locomotion and the joy i feel in riding.
What’s less than Zero is the heat and foul air I have to breathe when I go by an idling car or a vehicle flying by, and the chance of being hit by a car if I’m not fully anticipating people not paying attention (a third looking down at their cell phones while driving).
Trailer – created in the very early stages of the writing and editing!
Table of Contents as of May 18, 2022 > Frankly, even these titles pictured below have evolved in the last several weeks of editing as of 5/30/22 in this final phase of editing.
you get the idea
here’s just one picture of the accompanying bibliography, where subjects can be searched by page or alphabetically by subject
one small slice of the bibliography of A Seahorse Tale – A Spin on the Matter of Motion
And a page of the book.
page 34 of A Seahorse Tale – A Spin on the Matter of Motion
the drawing i did with chalk on the table of a place i find delightful with its ambience every time I’ve gone by, conversing with different people. A boy with his father was drawing animé characters of the cartoons he does, and i drew (french beret style in the French café ‘Le Bon Lieu’ my cell phone series.
30 second caricature of the cell phone series
cell phone series french style
new plant i purchased and bicycled home with from a local nursery (rather than the big BOX chains)
Long’s Nursery 1347 E. Main St., Palmyra 17078 (717) 838-2931
Shade combination plus organic cactus and succulent potting soil
plant is beautiful consists of:
Hypoestes (Pink Polka Dot Plant)
Creeping Jenny (Lime green vine)
Trandescantia (Purple/Silverr Vine
Spider Plant
Begonia (flower)
blossom i found bicycling by that fell off the tree, bloomed laying in water
yep, park my transportation in my room
Palmyra, PA residence burning 2am April 29, 2022
forgot, i saw a fire, that i smelled, and followed the billowing cloud and arrived before the 5 or 6 firetrucks
Trailer – Nature in the Race to Zero – We Don’t Have Timebirds at dusk tulip garden Pennsylvania April 21 ’22Happy Earth Day in several languagesGREEN – film by Patrick Rouxel – Filmmaker for environmental conservation. His films are about giving a voice to the rainforest and the victims of deforestation.
“Her name is Green, she is alone in a world that doesn’t belong to her. She is a female orangutan, victim of deforestation and resource exploitation. This film is an emotional journey with Green’s final days. It is a visual ride presenting the treasures of rainforest biodiversity in Indonesia and the devastating impacts of logging and land clearing for the palm oil plantations and the pulp and paper industry.“
My films are about giving a voice to the rainforest and the victims of deforestation. They are both a tribute to the beauty of the rainforest and its wildlife, and a means of raising awareness of the suffering and loss inflicted by human development, corporate greed and consumerism.
I am driven by empathy and consider my films an act of citizenship, like a drop of water to help extinguish the blazing fires of destruction around the world. I make my films independently, free of all political, religious or commercial interest. I try to trigger change in our consumer choices and the way we behave toward animals and nature.
My films are either commissioned by environmental NGOs or self-produced, they are made possible thanks to the help of friends. They are copyright free for home viewing and non-commercial public screenings. They are available for free streaming on my website.”
Arabichehe Go Figureet la françaisthought i’d throw this in
Exponential Climate Action Summit V ~ Earth Day April 22, 2022 14:00 CEST / 8:00am EDT online Register free for online event on Earth Day
We Need to Restore Nature
We Need to Protect Nature
Nature in The Race to Zero
Nature-based Solutions
Dino Talks #1 (Nearly) Everyone says it’s Crazy — Why Do We Still Subsidize Fossil Fuels?
Inger Anderson Executive Director UN Environment Programme
“Let’s commit to a planet where people, animals and nature flourish together.”
the treasures of rainforest biodiversity in Indonesia and the devastating impacts of logging and land clearing for the palm oil plantations and the pulp and paper industry.
Filmmaker says ”Hoping to promote change in our consumer choices and the way we behave toward animals and nature.”
Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition. The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.
While in the last months war rages – despite worldwide pleas to stop Putin (le putain) and divest from Russia – it is part of the ongoing global geopolitical economic arms race. And in the last several weeks, mass shootings continue sprouting in different parts of the USA.
All of this shadowed by the recent devastating loss ten days ago of the super talented musician and drummer Taylor Hawkins, in the Foo Fighters, whose bandmates describe as having infectious laughter.
I am so sorry for the immense heartbreak that his family (wife 3 children) feel, and what his bandmates the Foo Fighters are going through, particularly Dave Grohl, for whom Taylor was like a soulmate and best friend, who experienced the suicide of his band mate Kurt Cobain, which silenced the band Nirvana at its height.
In the meantime, my life moves on. I was first going to write about a recent loss of a small object of value to me, a small dreamcatcher on my keychain since receiving it in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This was during this full moon weekend and a long excursion bicycling on a mt. bike almost 20 miles each way, to be among artists and musicians at the monthly event, the 3rd in the Burg. The highlight, was when the band I saw Friday night, Trevor Hall, did a Foo Fighter cover of Everlong, which I recognized in the first 3 strums of the guitar and bounced and sang with bliss and grief for the entire song. Dr. Drew who knew Taylor
When I returned on the trek to the metropolis to trace my tracks and find the dreamcatcher, I instead was informed that there’s a point where the dreamcatcher has to be incinerated (which I never heard of … he might have made this up in reference to letting it go). And that evening, as I walked on a brick sidewalk content in my heart, a tiny flower pedal as it was blowing in the breeze, caught and attached itself to a string dangling from my hat. It dangled in the breeze, at my chin, twirling 6 inches from my face. It would spin, then come to a stop, then start spinning again, revealing to me the play of the spiraling vectors of the breeze that are toroidal in nature, just as is the structure of space and energy in the zero point field. The theme of my book is the spiraling nature of the universe, on many scale dimensions. So this was an ephemeral gift, lasting a few minutes, that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t gone back to the city looking for the dreamcatcher. In fact, maybe the dreamcatcher sent this.
My treasured little dreamcatcher probably unraveled and broke free of the key chain, in my passionate dancing. Perhaps it knew that someone else needed it more than me. I believe that it chose to come to me (in Santa Fe, New Mexico) and chose to leave, here in Pennsylvania…setting me on a new path to discover.
And as my friend from the San Francisco days who does Vedic astrology, said that this full moon is about recognizing your own value and bringing out your gifts and pouring your energy into creating your own shining vessel of reality and wherever that takes you, while offering this gift to others and to the divine intelligence, that birthed your life. What things of joy, beauty, function and value can you create that will be a gift to yourself, to others and to the divine intelligence in gratitude. How can we design our lives so that it reflects our most precious gifts, not only in the outer world, but within ourselves and our offering to others and connection to the divine. What is the service and devotion, and most valuable essence of our being, that we can create and develop?
I cam up with the title after the words. I guess, I’ll let it be poetry for each to interpret.
“His Holiness the Dalai Lama, IPPNW, and other Nobel Peace Prize Laureates are asking Avaaz and all citizens around the world to join this historic call to reject war and nuclear weapons — when it’s huge, it will be delivered to the Russian Federation and NATO:
The invasion of Ukraine has created a humanitarian disaster for is people. The entire world is facing the greatest threat in history: a large-scale nuclear war, capable of destroying our civilization and causing vast ecological damage across the earth.”
Who says that humans have the right to destroy whatever they please, in the name of what ever their short-sighted inclination happens to be? I say, EPIC.
got ride from Palmyra in the morning with bike (with flat) in pickup to Hershey bike shop. Guy never arrived or answered his phone, walked to main st. hershey found french cafe tucked away. Ordered coffee, used HotSpot to locate open bike shop Hummelstown… spoke to owner in french – from Maroque – and woman and daughter taking french, i told them about Putin le Putain. made sign Hummelstown one side, Derry St. the other, woman in SUV Jody, gave ride from downtown Hershey, mother just died, had severe alzheimers for 4 yrs, mother visited her Fri night, hospital called Sat saying her vital signs were regressing, she died, her mother visited her, saw her face, spoke (telepathically). flat fixed in 5 minutes, rode to Harrisburg on Derry st., got to office, filled out form, pd $20 and walked away with my birth certificate. Bicycled around by the river, then uptown a bit, rode home, stopped outside Hummelstown at this dilapidated property I’ve been drawn to numerous times near Old Derry rd. Made it back to see sunset and now perch at cafe to work (outside) with ipad, keyboard, light, electricity and wifi. stoked! So telepathy, communication non-locally….
In Gear Cycling Hummelstown hitch with bicycleIn Gear Cycling fixed flat in 5Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition. The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.
Instead of the G20, < EPIC > the ‘Earth Peace International Ceremony’ (EPIC) > a psychedelic healing ceremony guided by Shamans. Mandatory for all Global Leaders >
Not Davos < location > The Andean Jungle
I personally would rather than seeing troops and weapons sent to Ukraine, that Putin goes to a world criminal court and is convicted of deceit and war crimes.
And rather than building armies, have the leaders duel (but that’s too scary, depending on who would win).
A much better idea > enforced participation in an ayahuasca ceremony with shamans in the Andes (with no devices or contact with the outside world) so that the ego would dissolve and the pride and posturing would just peter out.
(peter out = english slang = dwindle, dissolve)
Mandatory attendance by all world leaders: Hungary, Brazil, China etc.
Instead of the G20, the ‘Earth Peace International Ceremony’ (EPIC) > a psychedelic voyage into shedding the ego and communing with the spiritual beings within the substances, guided by a shaman …. and eclipsing the war mentality with an extension towards peace, and agreements to completely disarm all military.
Repurpose all military equipment and assign all soldiers of every army worldwide and populations into planting trees, gardens and R&D towards building renewable and sustainable transportation, energy and housing and working to ensure that Half of the Earth is sustained for habitat and health of other species.
Followed up with mandatory bi monthly (every two months) participation in psychedelic MDMA, Mushroom, ayahuasca, mescaline, cannabis sativa, etc. therapy sessions.
Why? Because at 2022, after centuries (millennia) of humans battling with each other and degrading the planet and forgetting about all of the other inhabitants with whom we share the Earth, it’s enough. Basta! Have the world billionaires, contribute to a humanitarian spiritual enlightenment, instead of building rockets for joy rides. Earth First! Eco Warriors!
One of numerous events sponsored /\ hosted by world beyond war.Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition. The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.
It was in Philadelphia that my mother met my father
Yes, it’s that time of the year again. Today, November 2nd, is the day my mother Lois Vivian Johns was born in Pennsylvania.
I thank you for providing me with all that you taught me and influenced me to speak my mind.
She was a fiery spirit. Always had a lot of energy and drive. She would also tear up easily, she had a lot of compassion and allowed herself to express her emotions freely, that were close to her heart.
James and Lois Keiter loved one another and were devoted to each other
She and my father met when they were both attending school for medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Their birthdays were just two weeks apart. They were born the same year. She was valedictorian in high school; student, typically having the highest academic achievements of the class.
They shared their joy of music and dancing, of nature and doing physical sports (she was a golfer, tennis player and skier). She prepared healthy meals for her family of four children. She and my father enjoyed art (creating and admiring) and culture, with th
Lois Joan and Carol
I am proud of you Mother. A women who always asked others how they were doing, and never, ever complained about her own self. She simply continued to always move forward and have a lot on her plate, to contribute to the community.
We always had animals. A love of nature was always present. She maintained a beautiful home, with decorations, flowers, the work to maintain the lovely outdoors part of our property. She always put effort into maintaining things, and loved to read and keep her mind occupied with challenges.
My parents together planted 50 trees on their new property (which was a treeless hill with only wild flowers. They created a mini forest wonderland that brought me into the world caring immensely about other creatures, and biodiversity.
Halloween in her 90’s
I appreciate and respect you very much and certainly am proud to have you as my mother.
Dancing with her grandson in law Wes Hornig at his wedding to Megan Keiteroutside trimming flowers on her propertyLois and her daughter Carol at a luncheon at the Lebanon Country Club
Scary war games on an otherwise peaceful hallowed Halloween day º October 31st in Pennsylvania, USA. Blustery clouds and gusting winds sculpting the sky and light. Long shadows, low beams of light. Catching small patches of fields left to be wild, interspersed with tamed mowed lawns; nature torn apart from itself.
It would have been an otherwise perfect day except for the methodical bomb blasts going off perpetually for several hours coming from Indian Town Gap 11 miles away. These low rumbles were replaced with consistent loud metal sprays of gunfire at a closer range, the State Police Academy in Hershey. I guess a Sunday Halloween afternoon is as good a time as any to practice for battles.
The deer I saw was followed by two more a couple minutes later. I was going to visit the horses and donkeys, who know immediately when the deer are nearby.
Corporate gifts are giftig (German/Deutsch for poisonous) to government leaders. Seducing them to remain mute and dysfunctional, as they deposit them in their bank accounts.
Got the Point?
Register and listen for free to all 2 weeks of the COP26 educational events presented by
Listen to the Scientists, Entrepreneurs, Farmers, Artists, Journalists and Intellectuals who are reaching out to help people to help themselves. NOT GOVT LEADERS, many of whom have done not-a-fucking-thing FOR THE LAST 26 YEARS OF CLIMATE CONFERENCES.
Instead, hear the voices of community leaders and people who have come from the Global South and all over the world, who wish to defend their habitats, their right to clean air, water and nutrient-rich soil, whose lands are being washed away or scorched by human induced petroleum fed global warming.
Learn about sustainable, fair, renewable and positive actions that we can take in our own homes and communities and ways to bring back ownership to ‘the Commons’ – our own resources of fresh air and water and wildlife, pulled into the wealth and responsibility of the entire community (not funneled off to the CEOs of those who have taken private ownership).
(I just made this above paragraph up, because that’s what I’d be interested in hearing about).
Nevertheless, listen to the truth and experiences of people who are there to share their stories, not the lies with ties to those dangling their misinformation to sway the public into buying into them.
I just read that “FDR helped lay the groundwork for the post-war peace organization that would become the United Nations”. I didn’t know that the UN is a PEACE ORGANIZATION! Funny how the imbalance of power has tweaked and tilted the un-level playing field over the last decades, manipulated by those with economic thrust, to bludgeon the public with misinformation and disinformation.
Greenwich Mean Time is 4 hours ahead of Eastern Time
Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition. The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.
Several weeks ago, I was bicycling from a place I ride to for WiFi (7.5 miles each way) to sit and work. Along my route I often see deer, whose habitats have diminished due to relentless building. The deer, like many animals, have become nocturnal, to avoid humans. So have I. I wait till very late at night to bicycle home, along areas that are too dangerous during higher traffic hours, due to the complete non-existence of bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
I notice during my various bicycling routes, rows of trees that promise a forest, but they are like a curtain, a veil that is very thin. It is the pretense, of a forest that is ‘postense’ – no longer there. The forests have disappeared. Beyond the narrow row of trees, is more development or agricultural land.
I was on my way home bicycling, and except for the occasional roar of a car or truck, in silence, up a narrow path. When suddenly, I was immersed in a raucous chorus of insects. It was as if I had just biked through an invisible wall. I stopped, stunned and delighted. Got off the bike, to witness why this glaringly stark difference existed. The reason, I had come upon a thin strip of a hectic diversity of wild plants and grasses, that had been left to grow. This thin patch was sandwiched between neat and tidy, well-groomed, proudly manicured lawns. Not a hint of a weed such as a dandelion (which is nutritious and medicinal). The property dominated by lawns and parking lots, accommodating our car-centered culture.
Stop the Obsessive Lawn Mowing, Relentless Building, fracturing of habitats by developments and roads.
In this case, I’m not just referring to the mass extinction of large mammals and wildlife. I’m talking about the methodical cleaning up and sanitizing lawns, and subsequent wiping out complete populations of insects that thrive there.
The micro level, as humans continue to multiply and feed their desire for material acquisition, consumption and convenience, the construction of more human-dominated places, is equal to the destruction of habitats.
In particular, I’m talking about the increasing silence of the insects.
“Recent research report on significant decline in insect populations. In Germany a 75 percent decline in total flying insect mass has been observed over a duration of 27 years in natural reserves (Hallmann, 2017[1]). Another study reports on a 45 percent decline in invertebrate populations over the past 40 years based on global monitoring data.”
I recall how the home where I was raised. The house was skirted with bushes and flower beds, where I’d sit outside and watch chipmunks, squirrels, birds and the occasional skunk sauntering by. A complete Habitat for Wildlife. In addition to cover, we provided water. The new property owners tore all the bushes out and decapitated a 50 year old Wistaria with lavish and fragrant blossoms; also a nesting place for birds each spring.
What were they thinking? Obviously, only of themselves.
I recently witnessed these other busy with life fields of wild grasses with a proud sign, ‘Pollinator Area’, which were mowed over. Just like the strip of wild grasses where I had the eureka moment about America’s obsession with mowing lawns, crushes biodiversity. The wild grasses, a nuisance, untidy looking, ‘surgically removed’. Hershey wants tidy, pesticide-fueled, manicured lawns.
The experience taught me very clearly, that it is not merely the human activity fallout of carbon dioxide from our vehicle use and the industries that are warming the planet, but that we have been methodically, nonchalantly and unflinchingly killing off – with our obsession for tidy lawn facades. Reliance on pesticides, kill off everything. Extinguishing the plants that naturally grow (trees, grasses, woodlands, meadows, wetlands) Are killing off the habitats of most insects, rodents, birds and mammals. Why are we so clueless? Oh, that’s right. We learn out of habit, and what is advertised as being inviting and acceptable. And the whole lawn mower ‘industry’, is fueled by the oil and gas industry. We lubricate the engines of our machines to unthinkingly plow down more and more natural habitat. Not to mention, sound pollution. Fences that block the movement of wildlife are also criminal.
“What we need, to stand a high chance of stabilising our life support systems, is not slow and incremental change but sudden and drastic action.
“And this is widely considered impossible. There’s no money; governments are powerless; people won’t tolerate anything more ambitious than the tepid measures they have proposed. Or so we are told. It’s a stark illustration of a general rule: political failure is, at heart, a failure of imagination.”
Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition
The PayPal donation button functions in Safari and Firefox, however is broken in Chrome.
The biologist E O Wilson, upon seeing the mass extinction taking place on the Earth due to human spoilage and encroachment on habitats, decided to implement Half-Earth > to set aside half of the earth and water in the most biodiverse regions, to ensure the survival, rather than extinction of species.
It will take all of us, because Climate Catastrophe i.e. Global Warming and the 6th Mass Extinction can be slowed down, if we all stand up and do something to contribute our energy, intention and make the effort to change habits and recognize the part that we play (either contributing to destruction (through continued development and construction) or acting as protectors and being kind and respectful to all other species, rather than being human centric and negligent to all other life on the planet.
My daddy, James Marcus Keiter, was born on October 19th, so I’m putting out this tribute to his life. He was kind, very responsible and a devoted husband and father.
Bleeding Hearts, that grew wild in our back yard.
He was a musician, a clarinetist, throughout high school, college and medical school. He decided not to pursue this career however. He also was a runner on track through college as well as tennis player and skier throughout his adult life.
James Marcus in his youth…running track
He had is medical practice as a physician in the first home in Campbelltown (where he’d do ‘house calls’). Later, he started an Emergency Room unit with several other doctors at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Lebanon.
He had a love for nature, animals and the outdoors, and shared this with his family.
He and my mother moved to a new home in Palmyra which was built new on a hill, where the two of them planted 50 pine trees and landscaped a lovely yard that was a nature habitat for wildlife. They had a garden and grew herbs as well.
Here’s a link to spring photos in the Keiter yard, where among the pines and other trees, were flower gardens and azalea and rhododendron bushes. They also had a marvelous ebullient wisteria, which had a thick twisted trunk and full aromatic flowers (which the new home owners incredulously chopped down, along with all the bushes that lined the house in the front which were safe places for birds, groundhogs, skunks and chipmunks to pass through and nest).
He painted water colors as he approached retirement, and then prolifically once he retired. Unfortunately these images that I took have a light glare/reflection from my camera, and nativity about how to properly record them. But i did, and here’s the link to his watercolor paintings (and wood carvings).
James Marcus Keiter watercolorJames Marcus Keiter watercolor Snow Drifts
My mother Lois and he loved to dance and would go out to dances often.
James and Lois Keiter (with Kitty Ulrich, husband Bob not in the pic) – who were each doctors and their best friends.
They also participated in a gourmet club among their friends, as well as getting together to play tennis regularly.
They learned to snow ski together and introduced this sport to their children, for which I’m very grateful.
I accompanied them to an outdoor classical music concert.
He was often working in the yard, which was a wonderland growing up. I grew up among pet dogs and cats, for which I’m very fortunate.
My father had a workshop in the basement where he’d build frames for his paintings and so forth.
He and my mother read a lot together. He devoured books about history.
They went to art gallery openings and concerts as well as supporting the local high school team sports games.
Lois and Jim walking with canes in the backyard wildlife habitat they created.
My parents hosted extended family Thanksgiving Dinners every year for 30 + years, where his brothers, and then their children, all gathered for the Turkey and meal which my mother and father prepared.
Rest in Peace Daddy ~ I appreciate very much the life you gave to me and my sisters and brother and am sure that your father Charles A. Keiter, a Lutheran Minister (who died 4 years before I was born) and mother were proud.
“Esteemed naturalist and biologist E.O. Wilson and co-founder of the Half-Earth Project appeared at the 2021 Global Live Concert at Central Park, NY as the guest of legendary singer-songwriter Paul Simon
Simon, who is also a Member of the Board of Directors of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, also performed at the Global Live Concert, a 24-hour live event broadcast across six continents, features activists and internationally recognized musicians in a global event to unite the world, defend the planet and defeat poverty.”
Yes, we actually live in a potential paradise, but our heads are submerged in an oil slick; worshipping the military industrialized, oil-driven processes that dominate our natural world. Running the machinery of BIG agriculture, fishing, animal livestock, combustion engines, lawn mowers, blowers…all lubricate our idolatry of objectifying and wishing to dominate everything. Banks and Big business love our mass consumerism. We are completely disconnected from one another and from the natural world. In the meantime, we compete and compare and continue to manufacture and build with full negligence – disinterest about what we’re destroying and the species that we’re wiping off the face of the planet – in our anthropocentric process for our own convenience.
We could stop being wage-slaves and servants to an economy run by a government bribed and beholden to lobbyists of the Oiligarchy, Big Pharma, Insurance, Defense…We could stop deluding ourselves that anything is going to change, as long as the GDP eclipses the value of life – regardless of its cost to the lives of other living creatures. Presently, the Democrats are already fumbling on their promises. Follow the money.
We could start caring and sharing information and working together in our communities to conserve and own our own resources in shared commons. We could act together, to change our destructive patterns and engage with each other and the natural world, rather than incessantly trying to control and wipe out nature in oblivious distraction. We can instead focus on being guardians and protectors of our planet and wild places.
Guarding Half-Earth (half of the most biodiverse regions of the earth and seas) to ensure the survival of species who are increasingly threatened, will only happen when all of us get involved. We are of the earth. We need to value it for what it is, alive, respect it and take actions together through love and appreciation for the wonders of the world and each living species.
The only way. is to step away from the Me First, My Country First, My Town First, My Team First, White People First mentality; when we genuinely let these Barriers and Walls fall. We can create a culture rich in spirituality and meaning through being our best selves and having full care, to insure that all people exist together in harmony together with all other life forms. We can extend our own individual power and hearts, as we extend ourselves beyond our own immediate families and our front doors.
I believe that the patriotic cries of ‘America First’ are a demonstration of complete insanity, and the religious right are the most beguiled (as the concept is irreverently non-Christian). Just as well if they reject vaccines and their population numbers decline. The misguided, who value Dumph and think he is a savior on the working man’s side, are fully deluded by the far-right narratives pumping out fear and hate-driven disinformation.
“Erik Prince, a private military contractor (and Betsy DeVos’s brother), was just caught charging Afghans desperate to flee the Taliban $6,500 a seat for flights out of the country. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki condemned his despicable actions, saying, “I don’t think any human being who has a heart and soul would support efforts to profit off of people’s agony and pain.” And she’s right. While the war in Afghanistan was a disastrous failure on many fronts, for weapons manufacturers and other warmongering corporations—many of which wield massive influence over U.S. foreign policy—it was an extraordinarily profitable success.”
Promises of ‘jobs’, and elevating the ‘economy’ to the primary purpose of life and its value, without any consideration of the affect on the natural world, is a hoax. How do you measure the worth of Paradise? This capitalism-based economy, with its requisite need to continually manufacture more and more and continually bent towards making quarterly profits, is not sustainable in a finite world. We are slaves to Big Business Robber Barons who have bought out our collective psyches, precisely what the Oiligarchy wants. We are fucked, unless some charismatic figure who is aware and genuinely heartful , appears, who can powerfully engage the populace and convince us emotionally, to begin together taking a new path. Global warming, mass extinction, mass violence, mass addiction and mass immigration, is not a hoax. Those profiting from our incognizance of what to prioritize in our short and unique time spent on this earth, don’t want you to be conscious of the fact that if we, the people, demonstrably act in unison to take back our lives and devote our time to resuscitating the Natural World, we will have a peaceful, loving, connected paradise of clean air, water, nutritious soil….once we’ve cut the source of the poisons out of the equation.
Hafez (حافظ, Ḥāfeẓ, ‘the memorizer; the (safe) keeper’; 1315-1390) and as “Hafiz”, was a Persian poet whose collected works are regarded by many Iranians as a pinnacle of Persian literature.
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Today is the 4th of September. It is the day my father died, in 2012. I paid attention to this date when I saw a street with its name in Aix-en-Provence, France. When i googled in English, i found no reference, until I wrote quatre septembre and then it appeared. http://parisisinvisible.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-happened-on-quatre-septembre.html
“This particular September 4th was in 1870, and it marked the moment that a group of individuals in Paris proclaimed the beginning of a new Republic (the third) following the capture of Napoleon III by the Prussians in Sedan.”
My father was a musician, as was his mother. I played piano again at this building with a piano within their antique store, where the woman has gifted me with flowers and then local corn on the cob for my playing. This last Sunday I played really well, sensitively, fluidly. I was only under the influence of a full stomach and espresso. It’s the second Sunday in a row I’ve created the time to go there with my Classical piano music book. I remembered that when I was a kid, my father’s mother would join the family for a Sunday dinner and always play piano during her visit. I am carrying on her tradition, i thought to myself.
My father also loved paint, dance and was a history enthusiast. I carry on these traditions. Thank you Daddy.
My father was dutiful and pragmatic. He relinquished the life of a clarinet musician to instead become a doctor to provide for his family. He warned me of not relying on art, or music and warned me of the last boyfriend with whom I was still in a codependent relationship, long after he ditched me. My father was an empath.
This article title popped up on my screen when I plugged into the WiFi network after bicycling to the closed library to sit outside of it. I ride miles and miles to different locations where I can plug in: to WiFi and electricity. I plugged the title words into google and it appeared. https://highlysensitiverefuge.com/9-secret-powers-of-highly-sensitive-people/
Frankly, I thought I would identify with it, and in many cases do ‘as far as aiming to save the natural world from humans’ and then in other respects I don’t. I looked up ‘the opposite of empath’. Oh shit, it’s a narcissist. I guess I am a bit of both.
Last night on my way riding bicycle back from the next town, Hershey, with a palatable bar, I came upon a deer, a fawn, in the middle of the road, struggling to move. It was able to move three legs, struggling to get up. Horrified, I put down my bike off the road and tried to move it. Cars came. I swung my arms. Girls got out of their vehicle, one helped me to carry the deer off the road. They then left. I stayed with the deer. Didn’t know who to call. A man along the road said to call 911. I am upset by how the Policeman who arrived, responded. I was stroking the deer, holding her neck in my arms, trying to soothe her. The Policeman, without getting close enough to even check out the deer’s condition, announced for me to “get away lady, you are prolonging he deer’s misery.” The deer was only slightly wounded, the leg. He said that there is no place to take it. It will be shot. I was yelling as I was leaving, venting my anger about people driving so fast, hit and run. Police offering no other option without having even investigated, close-minded, thug mentality.
My plan had been to eject myself from the United States of Apathy (an example of why I am not exactly an ‘empath’). I don’t flow in and redistribute the energy to a harmonious new direction. I express my annoyance and all of my feelings, when I find people doing things that I think are irresponsible to others and unconscionable to the rest of the living world.
I guess I can waver from feeling socially awkward and lacking in confidence, to feeling proud and annoyed with human behavior that I feel derives from not considering the larger picture.
So, just as I was sitting in Palmyra ‘pondering’ the upcoming UN Climate talks COP21 in Paris and then in a series of days I learned that an ex lover was involved in this, and within 2 weeks, I made the decision and went to Paris. Staying in a hotel reserved for the group of activists coming from all over the world and sharing their stories at the ‘placetobe’, was one of the more enriching and nourishing experiences I’ve ever had. I was and am passionately focused on extending my knowledge and understanding. One of these people I met there and with whom I’m connected on FB, had this message about the ‘pilgrimage to the upcoming COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland in November. I had this on my radar, as a deadline.
I was planning to move back to Europe soon, and thinking Portugal this time, because once again, I cower to the living expenses and overhead. Lessons not learned from my father.
The plan Portugal, with the knowledge in the back of my head of COP26 in Glasgow. Then two separate event celebrations popped up in September in the USA, separate sides of the country, but doable. I contacted several different factions of the people who I befriended 22 years ago in San Francisco when I lived there. I have an odd human habit of not staying in touch when I’m not in the same physical space, despite things like internet, telephones and facebook. I think we are all a bit tribal, yet, most have more responsibilities and families to hone into.
I said yes to the wedding invitation in Providence, Rhode Island and began investigating rail travel. Pretty expensive for me, didn’t book it. I announced and tagged several people including the organizer of the street faire that I wanted to attend on the west coast in San Francisco, CA. Last time I hitched to San Francisco from Tucson, Arizona to attend this event The Howweird Street Faire (6 years ago or so), and never found any of the people whom I had known. The event had grown enormously. That was weird. I hitched back not having seen any of my former housemates and people i danced with.
On the way to SF, which it now looked like I was going to hitch, I was thinking of doing a detour to help indigenous ‘water protectors’ in opposition to Pipeline 3 in Minnesota, yet having contacted them, the timing is off, I have to be willing to get arrested and frankly, the point was to get to SF, CA.
So I decided this time to in advance, contact some people announcing I was going to be in their area. Here’s where the empath comes in. It occurred to me, that just like my former frisbee friend, when I wrote a long letter through LinkedIn, and never heard back from him, I thought to myself, maybe NONE of these people are going to respond, AT ALL, in which case, why go to San Francisco at all. Montreal, never been there, francophone, it’s only 7 rather than a 44 hour hitch, and it’s in the neighborhood of Providence. I’ve been thanks to Covid, keeping up with my french conversation group through 2020, on zoom. All the people whom I sat around a table with weekly at the Alliance Française, in Providence, Rhode Island, speaking French with one another.
Okay, So I will travel with wedding attire and sleeping bag. The indigenous person answered my email inquiry, Let’s see if SustainaClaus, the Canadian man whom I met in Paris at the COP21 ‘placetobe’ who has been living in China, will have responded to me. He is a busy man, yet somehow I think he may have found the time.
I do have the discipline of my father, however, I am definitely following a very different path. I remember my father calling me ‘hyper’ one time. I actually was convinced that I could apply for a medical marijuana license as a classic ADHD. I have very high energy, and was never diagnosed with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. A chronic condition including attention difficulty, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness…failed relationships. I have self-medicated all my life doing sports> running 3-5 miles, ultimate frisbee, swimming (when i can), bicycling, skiing, tinkering with technical projects, doing art, practicing music, painting, traveling, moving.
the long of it:
After I was rejected from this last group house community where I didn’t quite fit in, that I’d circle back to the northeast and Pennsylvania, to my storage locker. I was now carrying skis and two pairs of ski boots and more boxes after passing by Taos, New Mexico where I had been storing this stuff in my friend’s house. I also thought, enough already. Since my affordable housing got covided out in Providence, Rhode Island, and I proceeded to investigate and chase ‘house exchange’ programs and then move back to where I had a lot of work several years ago in Santa Fe, New Mexico (substitute teaching during the weeks and a 1st year adult ski instructor on the weekends and holidays. It fit together perfectly. However, when I inquired to the ski school, covid now reduced the staff to last years’ return instructors. So, I continued searching for ‘affordable housing’, in Statesboro and Savannah Georgia in Asheville, North Carolina. But it doesn’t exist, at least, tougher when you are single. Ironically, after 11 days of sleeping outside with my linens and sleeping bag, I have found an affordable place, and swiftly found items to furnish the room … there are some undesirable characters there….yet I feel safe.
I’ve come to Hotel Hershey to plug in and then will go to dance to cap off the night. I took my bass guitar to my storage unit today, Sept. 4th and grabbed a bungee chord, some magic markers to make hitchhiking signs, and have been preparing. Montreal borders are open. Have my Passport and CDC Covid Vaccination card. Not quite sure where I will go. Will see what emerges.
—,-,-,,-,
quatre sept
This proclamation brought to an end France’s second empire, but as it also coincided with the invasion of France by the Prussians, its constitutional laws weren’t actually voted until 1875. The September 4th date is therefore a purely symbolic one.”
No network news will EVER address this; NEVER address the business as usual, Profit for each Quarter status quo.
What if we just stopped buying and buying into it?
New and improved, just $19.99, $99.99, $99,099…
Bill Maher so boldly and eloquently unveils what we the consumer, blindly succumb to; the marketing tactics of the good ole United States of Apathy.
Where to begin to instate new habits and ways of seeing the world? Start with our unconscious addiction to buying. Consumerism bleeding the natural world.
Great video depicting the tragedy of consumerism, Happiness by Steve Cutts
Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook and music composition
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I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that “Over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used in the USA each year and approximately 5.6 billion pounds are used worldwide. In many developing countries programs to control exposures are limited or non-existent.” Pesticides Use and Exposure Extensive Worldwide
I’m sure it has nothing to do with the amount of chemicals that humans use to try to control nature, that seep into ground water.
I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that humans are bent on continued expansion, more shopping malls, more housing developments, more highways and franchises that plow down trees and the essential loss of habitat.
I’m sure it has everything to do with all of these, and frankly, also everything to do with increasing EM frequencies of the human demand – or is it the perceived demand that is stoked by telecommunications marketing foothold on pressing us on to ever more towers and stronger radiation.
In which the fine print dictates that “The law now gives municipalities 60 days to approve or deny a permit to add a 5G cell to an existing pole, and 90 days to approve or deny a permit for a new pole. If a local government doesn’t take action within that time, the permit is automatically approved.”
I previously contacted a sanctuary inquiring about working or volunteering there and learned that they only hire local people. They want people to be available for years for the benefit of the animals. When they are locals, they can receive a long term commitment by people, with whom the elephants can establish a relationship with continuity over time.
I’ll simply try to volunteer sometime when I visit.
Landed! in a good way. Absolutely love various features of ‘my’ new small room that I moved into today; the lack of a hint of a smoke smell, the lack of an air conditioner perched in the window blocking opening it for fresh air, the style of the second door with nice character and the fact that the glass lets in more light and is an entrance to sort of my own porch (presently cluttered). It only took half a day to clean and prepare for myself to move into, after cleaning the larger room for the last week while I couchsurfed (work-traded).
Things are swinging into a good way. I may not be in a hip metropolitan area, but there is a lot of natural beauty in this state and the towns flanking this one of Annville and Hershey are perks. A big key is that I’m now paying $150/mo less in rent, which is what all of this zigzagging around the country was in search of. The town of Palmyra has streets that are super wide, I mean like, 4 military tanks side to side would fit on almost every street. Huh? This was a town built post car era. Yes, bicycles are stolen (when left unlocked) but the town feels really quite safe. No bicycle infrastructure. No public transportation (yes, buses exist). And last evening when I was checking out this one property’s gardens, I saw two deer scampering away from the grassy area I entered next to a wall of a corn.
I’m de lighted that someone suggested on this ‘local’ FB group a place they knew of that offered ‘extended housing’, and that my sister Joan Keiter suggested posting there that I’m looking for a room. My place is $10 more a week, than one hotel I checked out is day, the cheaper one. Like I said, the over-all manager whom I met third time I went by there (both times one of the residents was there to point out who was the live-in manager and then again when I came back to talk to him, then fill out an application form. As I was leaving him, the off-site manager was driving up. Because I offered off the top of my head to assist in preparing the room becoming available – with boots, strength, detailed skills in cleaning etc, they took me up on it – right away. She called and said I could go there that evening in the room that needs to be cleaned. I laid my sleeping bag on plastic in the closit and for a week, stood on a ladder cleaning ceilings (of smoke residue), walls, cleaning overall. This unit had its own bathroom. …………………Now today I moved out of that room, first helping the man Puerto Rican guy to move his stuff out of the smaller ground-floor room (great, i have a bicycle that I no longer have to carry up a flight of stairs) and have sink in the room with much more character and functionality…and ironically found day after day, pieces of furniture and ‘what not’ placed saying FREE, less than a city block away. Now I have a couple wood and whicker chairs, a mirror, a low wood and whicker table, and the guy gave me the curtain rods stands on wheels. I purchased one pot (every morning boil water to put lemon in a glass and also for oatmeal), a few cups, a small plate, one set of silver ware, and just found two nice glasses also at the TAKE AWAY FOR FREE BICYCLE SHOP TURNED GUN SHOP. huh? I’m sitting at the public library, limited hours, and have to bike two several different towns to get WiFi. cool. I get my exercise for free. Just found a local Glacier vending machine (filtered water through several processes) outside a grocery store. I make stops at these places on the periphery of town and next to another one: library, storage unit, grocery store…and have to choose the routes and times of day to stay alive in a place with barely any bicycle infrastructure. Stoked to have found just exactly what I need and a place right in town with an accessible and efficient manager and a ridiculously low price. Now I can begin to work on my book again on a daily basis, now that the housing is stabilized. In this new place I share a bathroom with a claw foot bathtub / shower. I shared a bathroom in the previous ‘community house’ where I lived in Asheville, North Carolina. Here there are signs and strict rules about common sense cleanliness in a shared bathroom, so I’m stoked about that.
It just so happens that a store within a city block that had been a bicycle shop, went out of business, to become a gun shop. Way to go Amerika. Anyway, there were a few pieces of furniture with a sign FREE. Because I bicycle to get around, and literally went by these on the sidewalk to grab shade, I saw the progression of items put out. I first grabbed and walked with a chair, cracked at its shoulder. Having just bought wood glue to repair my bass guitar where the ‘strap lock’ port is loose and the Guitar Witch of Asheville explained to me what tools I need and how to do it. So I can repair this simple crack in the handsome chair…..Well, once the initial stuff was removed, more items appeared on the sidewalk. The other matching chair that was not damaged (just worn) appeared. I walked with that. Then two coffee tables appeared that sort of matched the chairs, walked with that. When i was almost at my door a man pulled up across the street asking if I needed help. I said, not with this, but there’s another piece that is too heavy for me to carry. He he grabbed the car, I bicycled to the shop, helped him put it in his hatchback and bicycled home to help get it out of the car. It turned out that the boots sitting on one of the tables were size 7.5. I slipped my foot in, they fit. I had no ‘rain/snow’ boots but a pair of antiques. It occurred to me today to put this super heavy mirror on the table between the rolling garment racks. I already had the string of Christmas lights and plants. I had washed the mirror and chairs and table thoroughly. So now I have a kitchen, living room, dining room, bedroom and closet > all in one.
I drove a rental car from Asheville, North Carolina on the 14th and 15th of July to the central PA car drop off point. I went out of my way via Pittsburg, to drop off a guy who drove with me, who also was trying to book a one-way rental to Pennsylvania. We discovered the present dramatic shortage of vehicles in many car rental agencies. In order to make some sort of profit during the Covid-19 haunt in business. Rental car companies sold a lot of their cars. Apparently there’s also a shortage in production of the computer chips used in the manufacturing of the vehicles. The rider who accompanied me also drover and we had a lot of good conversation. We have a lot in common. After meeting in person prior to sharing this long 8 hour ride together, several hours later on that last evening, he spontaneously joined me and the local Asheville Haulers weekly bicycle ‘critical mass’ group ride. I was happy that he participated to not only have a great time himself among these people, but also to get a taste of this community of people I felt bitter sweet about leaving behind.
On the edge of Amish Country
After arriving to my hometown and fully packing my storage locker, I drove the vehicle to the Harrisburg International Airport drop off and kept just my bicycle, backpack and sleeping bag. There were two torrential downpours, after the first dry evening where I luxuriously slept 12 hours on a lawn next to trees. That first morning I eventually strolled over to where I saw people picking some kind of fruit. It was an elderly couple, Asian decent. I was really surprised at this woman’s jewelry, looking like she stepped out of two centuries ago. Her nose was obscured by two nickel-sized wooden disks and her ear lobes lined with about 15 holes with thin gold threaded through each. She had thin bangles on her wrist and inch thick. I asked where they’re from, she shook her head, no words, didn’t understand. She offered me some of the mulberries she had collected. I said, no thanks, I’ll pick them myself. Later when I asked again where they’re from, she answered Nepali. I have since seen a Nepali (Indian Nepal) restaurant in another town in this area. He sat and smoked while she picked. When she finished, she sat down to smoke. At one point he said something softly and she came over and insisted that I take mulberries from her bag. She Insisted. He was the one that now offered. I took some. We smiled with one another. The two of them walked away. Living in Middletown? How did they arrive there?
These are pics approaching and then in the town of Annville, PA that has a college LVC Lebanon Valley College
1 in 25 people are not Patriots with Trump 2020 signsAnnville, Pennsylvania
I had a conversation in Hummelstown with a man whose entire family have been in the military. Eventually it became clear that we were each approaching various subjects from entirely different perspectives, even though we never ‘identified’ with black and white Republican vs. Democrat values. He was talking about how immigrants are being taken care of better than those who served in the military. He therefore does not condone immigration and giving refugees a chance. He mentioned that an uncle who had served 30 years in the military was then billed for the bullet hole in his uniform. He also talked about the fact that there are no free services provided for people who served in the service for PTSD and emotional health. I agreed that this is a horrific way for the government to treat people who served them. I mentioned that I’d heard the amount of suicides by people who had served in military active duty exceeds the amount of people killed in combat. He mentioned a program that is dealing with this, Platoon 22, regarding the frequency of suicide. I stated that these two do not mutually exclude one another, that an individual or government can act humanely towards all individuals, both their own service members and people who are suffering the consequences of the circumstances of war or human driven climate change and mass extinction.
Not by far the only American Independence flagsI love these, of which I saw a few, among a zillion American flags
The term comes to mind as I watched this documentary film by Andrew Morgan, about the immense pollution, waste and indulgence of the fast fashion industry.
Vandana Shiva is so incredibly eloquent and thorough in describing the world we live in as Keynote Speaker in the Soil Not Oil International Conference.
Russell Brand’s current interview with Vandana Shiva is inspiring.
It exposes oil industry leaders and their multi-million-dollar, 30-year denial campaigns that have undermined science and cast doubt on the dangers of climate change.
The documentary by Josh Tickel Kiss the Ground reasserts the need to concentrate on he soil..
presents that we need to systematically and structurally change our relationship within our cultures, between one another and with the other creatures with whom we share the planet. “We need to make the priority to sustain life on earth”.
Rather than continuing with our current trend of the last centuries of anthropocentrism, as we learn that health, happiness and quality of life is woven into the fabric of health and quality for all networks of life on our planet, we can embrace this work and regard our behavior from the point of view of one of our fellow earthlings.
Fabulous that more than 2,000 years ago, humans had the foresight, love and empathy to consider the right to a good quality of life for all sentient beings.
The Animals’ Lawsuit Against Humanity: An Illustrated 10th Century Iraqi Ecological Fable Paperback – Illustrated, April 1, 2005
“In this interfaith and multicultural fable, eloquent representatives of all members of the animal kingdom – from horses to bees – come before the respected Spirit King to complain of the dreadful treatment they have suffered at the hands of humankind. During the ensuing trial, where both humans and animals testify before the King, both sides argue their points ingeniously, deftly illustrating the validity of both sides of the ecology debate. The ancient antecedents of this tale are thought to have originated in India, with the first written version penned in Arabic sometime before the 10th century in what is now Iraq. Much later, this version of the story was translated into Hebrew in 14th century France and was popular in European Jewish communities into the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This exquisite English translation, illustrated with 12 original color illumination plates, is useful in introducing young and old alike to environmental and animal rights issues.”
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Manifesto of the many projects which could manifest the Green New Deal. What would you choose to be involved in?
In a more recent evolution of house searching posts, I suggested an ‘artist residency’ ‘in your home’, in which both the artist and proprietor are involved. If the artists doesn’t produce according to the agreed timeline, they lose the room. Win/Win. A humanitarian tax investment, coupled with the motivation-propulsion by the artist to deliver, to maintain the residence. Then I was thinking, this could be part of the Green New Deal, a takeoff on FDR’s ‘New Deal’ which involved the (NRA) ‘National Recovery Act‘.
Within a year of the 1929 stock market crash, 50% of the population was unemployed. The (WPA) Works Progress Administration concept was to employ mandatory structural works, with everyone involved in rebuilding; to put the entire country ‘to work’ – from local to regional – improving their own territories and their quality of life. Among these, the (TVA) Tennessee Valley Authority (which stretched beyond the borders of Tennessee) involved the entire community in constructing a hydroelectric dam, who previously had no electricity whatsoever. In the process, the stones they excavated were used to build homes.
The (CCC) Civilian Conservation Corps also involved restoring, beautifying, repurposing places around the country. The concentration was on re-building the infrastructure of the US, ‘Making it Great Again’, after Wall Street devastated the country with the economic crash that lead the trajectory to the Great Depression.
Does this not give huge perks to the idea of instead, putting the local resources and commodities into the hands and protection of the people?
Establishing local ‘Commons’, in which all the members of the community share ownership and responsibility – as proprietors of their own wealth of resources – to protect: land, water, forests, rivers and air. So that rather than private industries having a right of passage to purchase, privatize and reap rewards and profits for themselves, the community who maintain their resources, have profits recycled back into the community for further enrichment. I remember walking in East Providence, Rhode Island, and looking down at the sidewalk and seeing that this was achieved through the WPA.
Different communities could have their own commons, in addition to creating virtual collective ‘round table’ commons in which information and ideas are exchanged transparently, benefiting all. Meetings of minds to exchange ideas for super efficient and inexpensive ways to manage resources, build sustainable transportation infrastructure and produce energy locally.
My current 77 year old housemate just told me that with the CCC, artists, musicians, writers, performers, actors were all put to work: painting, playing music, entertaining, doing theatre. To make their environment more beautiful and rich with activities. What could possibly be distasteful about being matched to a project that suits one’s interests and capabilities?
I was talking with my sister about how treacherous it is to lose the majestic forests of tall and elegant Pine trees here in Georgia. With awareness of the risk of losing a treasure, we could all be put to work in coming up with ideas that are environmentally ethical and sustainable alternatives. Regardless of the standard for centuries, we know that our planet has finite space and resources. Presently, with an abundance of waste products, there are innumerable ways to employ trash that can be recycled and repurposed. Work that involves brainstorming and design, research and development; encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit in all of us, each involved in their own way.
Repurpose waste materials, combined with products that are abundant. Design and construct things repurposing plastic, glass bottles, cans, rubber from tires, etc. I recently walked on the cushioned surface of pedestrian paths created by Georgia Southern university made from tire rubber, meshed together with other materials. It looks like wood chips, but tightly woven, smooth and resilient. World Wildlife Fund stresses that we need to love nature, or lose it.
Energy, transportation could be redesigned. Instead of paying a private utility company, involve the community in the design, research and development and maintenance of their own energy. If the mentality was changed to complete transparency with an intent on conservation, preservation, health and beauty, involvement in decision making about areas where one has more of a relationship, they would want to take more responsibility and have pride in what their individual contributions to the community manifested in their own region, country or municipality.
Anyway, can you imagine, being able to almost effortlessly, drift towards work that you’d love to participate in, which is completely connected to an area you’d like to invest your time and talent, education and energy into? OK, say the Green New Deal work is mandatory, obligatory and enforced, yet people are given multiple options to match themselves in projects they have interested in, because they enjoy it and are subsequently good at it. Did you hear that correctly? People expressing themselves while participating in assignments in which they have interest. Climate Mandate A Time to Heal.
For some, it may be municipal works in which they are rejuvenating the streets of their town, greening walkways, creating parks and gardens to create pedestrian areas, greening buildings (growing vertical gardens on buildings sides and greening and/or solar rooftops), cleaning up and beautifying a places, restoring, planting trees, establishing neighborhood community vegetable gardens, developing public transportation and local energy systems.
Others may want to apply their participation in the Green New Deal Works by venturing on trains and sailboats to far reaches of the planet, to clean up, collect and separate the massive, ubiquitous plastic trash. One could work together with others with the same intention. Perhaps cleaning up rivers in India, beaches in Southeast Asia, helping countries to restore equilibrium and to balance their environmental impact. Or traveling to remote islands to monitor marine life, land animals and birds, to join E.O. Wilson’s ‘Half-Earth Project’, joining millions to protect half of the earth and sea, for wildlife. Contributing information about local flora and fauna, observing, documenting, identifying sources of pollutants, assessing the more biodiverse regions, in order to incorporate these into the protected earth.
Or joining a crew in the middle of an ocean (via train and sailboat) to clear the islands of plastic that have accumulated in every ocean. Debris swept with the currents of gyres to deposit plastic mounds, which like ice burgs, have much which has accumulated beneath the surface. People could collect and sift the microplastics throughout oceans and beaches. Some could make jewelry, others collect the microplastics to be mixed with others materials like mud, or the fibers of hemp or bamboo (both fast growing), to replace concrete, for walls, roads, sidewalks. paths. The volumes of rubber from dead tires can be mixed with fibers as buildingmaterials.
What if part of the Green New Deal for people of any age, scientists, entrepreneurs and thinkers, participated in working out NikolaTesla’s original experimentation with Zero-Point energy. John Searl points out that an enormous amount of energy is perpetually present all around us, because all matter (which is energy), is in constant motion. Our earth, solar system, galaxy, are all in continuous spiraling motion. At the quantum level, all is continuously moving. Searl talks of capturing this energy that is everywhere around us, through a pretty simple device – using magnets – that perpetuate a continuous flow of energy, with no friction. Clean and quiet.
Others may want to participate in brainstorming ways to develop energy and other processes that are sustainable; that do not involve harming habitats or diminishing natural resources. Taking down telephone poles and electric wires. and instead of silicon or mining rare minerals used in the production of our telecommunications technology, adapting the implementation of graphene: 1-atom thick wafers of carbon. Graphene is extremely conductive, and sourced from carbon, the most abundant material around.
Or one may prefer helping locally in a community garden, planting trees along every street, or doing physical work like creating bamboo or hemp woven with plastic sidewalks, that have the durability of concrete but more flexibility to allow tree roots to breath and grow naturally, without cracking, planting bee highways. Why bee highways? Because everything in nature is connected and interdependent. It’s all about biodiversity. Here’s an explanation of ecoliteracy from Nature’s Web of LIfe.
Jobs would re-create a massive eco alternative, to the current industrial and digital. Because we need less new construction and more imagining of green alternatives and acknowledgment of the habitats of other creatures, we can learn new methods of living harmoniously with the other species inhabiting the planet.
Each can contribute something, with a pencil, paint brush, tool or shovel..Cleaning up, clearing out, repurposing and transforming areas. Planting trees to transform barren, dusty areas or humid regions prone to landslides, to restore them.
Every city mapping out car-free, pedestrian-friendly areas. Creating clean and efficient public transportation options.
With an increasing population of elderly, immigrants – children and adults – could be given education and placement as companions and helpers to the elderly. They could assist, clean, maintain, help with transportation, make meals, learn how to monitor basic vital signs and administer medication, listen to stories, learn the language of their host country and exchange stories. Housing in exchange for services and companionship. Without having the insurance industry having a choke hold on who can be let into your home.
Recently, observing from back roads in Georgia, I noticed less and less tall pines along the road and well, what about the boars? Shall we begin to entirely ‘think differently and rethink together? What building materials, types of vehicles, types of energy that we have used traditionally, to recreate sustainable means everywhere? Not just to be implemented in the Northern Hemisphere.
Prohibit housing and development from spreading like a virus, prohibit expansion of box store franchises, and create more and more green spaces.
Reformulate all factories, mines, yeah, even off-shore oil wells, etc. to create housing, establish reefs…
Repurpose agricultural fields or crops grown to feed animals for the meat industry, into hemp, bamboo, plants which humans eat, plant trees. Undoubtedly, the more minds who are engaged in conjuring up clever ideas, to re-think designs, materials and energy to create sustainable solutions, the more rewarding and fascinating this process will be. Might as well attempt incentivizing people towards better health by encouraging vegetarian diets and informing people about the facts of how unsustainable and wasteful it is to devote land to raising animals; they require more land and water than what the land could be used for to feed humans. Eco education is a must. Green New Deal Projects involving growing food together and learning about nutrition and cooking would be invaluable for young people. Break up pavement and replace it with sustainable ones. Plant trees, EVERYWHERE. Nurture the wilderness. As George Monbiot states, we need to ‘rewild the world’.
There are so many ways the Green New Deal could be a fantastic luxury: putting talent and natural incentive to task. Employing simple fungi to clean up toxic spills, and generate biological life. If we would all be incentivized to clean up plastic all over the world, this could be repurposed with bamboo or hemp, to create building material. We could have a decade and a half of clearing out the trash that humanity has deposited all over the planet, and repurposing it to designs that replace using trees.
What if news channels, delivered by those who own them, were transformed into venues of participatory global commons, in which counties, municipalities, states and federal domains would maintain a global commons channel, for communities to exchange ideas about energy and transportation infrastructure.
Does this sound insanely idealistic? Radically off the cuff, stream-of-consciousness babble? Or am I making a point for ‘socialism’, community shared intention and commitment, to full-out re-appropriation and repurposing of space and industry. With training and education matched with interest and desire to task. Channels streamlined for the purpose of actively sharing ideas at digital round tables – rather than passively listening to news that is dictated by those who wish you to passively attend to that subject. What if everyone was engaged in thinking of ideas, finding teams to draw them up and design, then manifest them?
There would be plenty of ‘work’, to create effective animal bridges and tunnels, to nurture the habitats and migratory nature of animals. With an emphasis on community, not driven by profit or anthropomorphism, but with genuine appreciation and wonder of the natural world. Education can focus on ‘ecoliteracy’. Awareness of the interconnected nature of life and the need to protect habitats and maintain biodiversity, will translate into a population of caring and proactive youths. products, re-appropriate factories and dirty industries.
How would you want to contribute? What would you like to involve yourself in? Where’s the money coming from? Well, all the billionaires, of course.
The little black boars I saw were all running in the same direction as me….and then I passed them. whew!
I was incredibly delighted to encounter the wild boars scrambling and grunting along the tree-lined highway to the left of me as I bicycled by them not long after midnight. It was exhilarating, particularly when I realized that I was now moving beyond them and they hadn’t charged me. Oh My Dog!
I had arrived in Georgia just several weeks earlier. After other options fell away, I decided to drive a rental car there with the 2-day voucher I had. I plotted my trip by scouting distances along various segments along route 40. I also compared local weather patterns to calculate the driest times en route to rent the car.
I used the internet to plot the various segments, distances, local weather to plot out when each segment was dry. I was also researching Savannah local transportation.
As I was entering the state of Georgia after driving most of the night, as I looked in the darkness at the trees along the highway, I was stunned at their height. I thought I was hallucinating. They can’t be that tall. Thought that it was a reflection superimposed on the windshield from the dash board. It wasn’t.
I was planning my arrival in Georgia while still in NM. Transportation from the airport, what downtown Savannah looked like on a map, where the stops from the airport bus were in relation to the ‘historic district’. After again and again finding no buses between the two cities, I googled ‘shuttle‘ and one popped up; connecting the two Georgia Southern campuses. One in Statesboro, the apartments where I was moving to were next to the campus, and the other in South Savannah. A live human being answered the phone. A young woman confirmed that there are no buses: no local, no greyhound, but that the shuttle which doesn’t check ID’s. I had to drop off the car by 9am Sunday morning at the Savannah airport, the shuttle was Monday morning. The airport information office hadn’t offered the information that there was a public bus from the airport, until I inquired. The bus driver from the airport told me to catch the 14 bus to get to the campus south of town where I needed to go the following morning. He pointed out the road and where the stops were.
I resolved to stay up all night, which I’ve voluntarily done plenty of times, at airports, when visiting a city and having no accommodation. She said the only alternative is an über or lyft, $60 – $70. When you are employed and making $20 + an hour, no hesitation. However, I didn’t even want my housemate (who offered) to pay this. Already sleep deprived after driving across the country, I decided to go for it. Stay the night and map out how to get to the Savannah campus of the university by the morning. I had the schedule. Must say that when one does not have a cell phone contract (I don’t) enabling 24/7 internet access, everything, including the lack of GPS, involved a lot more planning. I decided to hang in Savannah all day and stay up all night. Even CouchSurfing is ‘Covided Out’. They’ve suffered enough to now demand payment for the previously free to join, surf or host. Now one can’t even open their own account, much less contact people.
I strolled to the river front, promptly found a tourist office with a man who handed me a map and pointed out that in the historic district, there are 20 parks, 2 square miles. Wow, cool. After wandering along the waterfront looking at the barges and ships, walking along cobblestone streets lined with quaint gift shops, I headed to meander around the historic district. Gorgeous. Super inviting to pedestrians to walk around and bicycle friendly!
I approached a young woman holding a sketch pad and commented on her drawing and told her I like to do draw too. I was asking her where there’s a local grocery store. She offered the information to check out Forsyth park 12 blocks away. When I arrived there as dusk approached, there was a live band playing good music, outside. for free. People with toddlers meandering around. I was stoked. The mild weather was cozy. The drooping moss off many of the trees downtown, enchanting. It became chilly, but I was on solid ground, alive, well. I could endure.
I managed to catch that the following morning, get to the campus, find my way to the location of this shuttle stop which I also mapped out ahead of time, then saw two other female students also waiting for the same shuttle. I boarded quietly. The driver yelled out ‘hello’ but hadn’t asked for ID. I did it. And was on my way.
Then on the morning of February 1st, several weeks after my arrival in the town of ‘Statesboro Blues’, I was asked to move out. That day. 1st of the month. I decided not to call his bluff. And since I was enchanted with Savannah from the start, I decided that it was a synchronistic timing and an opportunity. Several days earlier I had begun investigating housing in Savannah online. I found a number of super reasonably priced ‘house shares’, that I then realized were each scams. I found that there was indeed a local savannah ultimate frisbee pickup games group page, joined them and inquired about housing suggestions.
Friends in my Providence Rhode Island Alliance Français (now zoom) french conversation group, informed me that there’s a college of art there, that I could find bulletin boards in various departments to look for housing. What first popped up was the Savannah Academy, a K-8/Magnet/Charter school, then the Savannah College or Art and Design. The day before I found a link to the various SCAD departments, with the intention of mapping out the campus, plotting out the best buildings to visit to look for postings, and bringing already created and photocopied tutoring signs to post for language, music, arts. I’d begun the process of applying through a 3rd party for substitute teaching jobs at the Savannah Academy of Art Magnet school, thinking that this is where I could also market my book. I was going to make this trip in a few days, but when on the morning of Feb. 1st I was awoken super early (for me) by my housemate’s computer several feet from my door, I opened the door and complained about the noise. My housemate who is typically very kind and gentle, demonstrated a bit of a temper.
Now, thinking quickly, I resolved that if I want to move to Savannah, I’ll be more likely to negotiate housing and work, if I am there. I decided that I therefore had to make a move there, today. I’d catch the same free shuttle, take the bus to downtown Savannah from the south side. Now I found a rental car place online. My plan: to to Savannah to pick up a rental car, drive to Statesboro an hour to pick up my stuff, drive back and somehow find a place (apartments/hotel) in Savannah, to move, by 5pm the following day. I discovered the morning of the 1st, online that the entry to the SCAD buildings, was Covided Out. No entry, without a student ID card. No point stopping there to read or post signs. I had mapped out by now its location. I even was going to google a copy shop somewhere, to make signs.
I was planning all this, having mapped out different places to go and screen grabbing the pic (no WiFi contract, no GPS). Now I looked at the time that I wasn’t going to catch the 1:30 shuttle, unless I bicycle there. The adventure begins. if I am to get to the downtown rental car place before it closes at 5pm, I must take this one. I raced. I have made a point of remembering its location. The bus was still there. I asked the driver if I could bring my bicycle on. No rack, Only two other girl passengers, and me. Now the questions came: do you have a student ID? No. No, I’m not a student. I had to convince him. Said I’m going to pick up a rental car..He was skeptical, an unusual request. Then he got up, walked around the front of the bus and said, “Don’t make me regret this.” I had arrived there within 2 minutes of his departure. I thanked him profusely as I got off at the other end and gave him my card, with Paul Chappell and “The Peace Paradigm” written on the back. hehe.
A New Peace Paradigm: Understanding Our Human Need
Ok, he’s like a preacher a bit, but he has a very interesting lens (distance in time, which magnifies the present).
After the shuttle arrived an hour later at the Savannah campus, I inquired in a student housing office about alternative websites to the scam breeding ground of craigslist. There were none, Facebook suggested. A girl in the office below gave me a map with innumerable resources printed on it, among them apartments and housing. Once I found the bus stop to downtown, which arrived within 5 minutes for an hour duration, I looked over the map, ready to make phone calls, and realized I had no cell phone reception south of the city. T-Mobile, can you hear me now?
The local public bus, unlike NYC closing in on $3 or so, are $1.50. Huh? They have bike racks. I arrived downtown (another hour long ride), realized I was blocks from the address of the rental car place, who never answered the phone, but twice was switched to a Mexican operator, never the local office. I arrived there 15 min. before closing. Everything was perfect, car available, $65/day, regardless of whether you return it in 2 hours or keep it for 24 hours. Then, I went to pay, and had not (consciously or subconsciously) brought my credit card. I couldn’t get the car. Two hours to get there, timing was perfect. No debit, not cash, no card, no car. It was now 5pm. In another hour the last shuttle would depart from the campus south of town. I raced to the transportation depot, found my bus was there to go the hour south of town to the campus, departing in 4 minutes. I put my bicycle on and phoned my housemate (while I was downtown with reception) to ask for an extension of a day.
It turns out that both the lack of cell phone reception and my ‘error’ of not bringing my cc, were both the blessings in disguise. My housemate’s voice changed. He said, we’ll have to have a ‘talk’, but that I can still live there’. Relieved, now that I could arrange this move in a steady and methodical manner. Now I knew that I wasn’t going to return with my stuff thrown out. (In fact, after he expressed his objection to me having raised my voice, then listening to my desire to move to Savannah, he himself kindly offered to let me pay weekly (accommodating and being more than reasonable). I had to phone him while I still had reception! Meanwhile on the downtown 14 bus, the drivers changed, cutting out precious time. When we arrived an hour + later at the campus, the last shuttle had already departed 15 minutes earlier.
A one hour drive is approximately a 4 hour (minimum) bike ride.
I don’t have a ‘road’ bike with skinny tires, that roll faster with less resistance and friction.. I had paid attention to where the shuttle had turned in this town, Pem(something). He drove on a ‘back’ road, not an interstate. I found two gas stations across the street from one another. I asked people, looked at maps, found cardboard at one station, made a sign (no magic marker). I strolled back and forth to both gas station on either side of the highway, but no one was going that way. I was actually asking the wrong question; not if they’re going to the closer town, but to the further one.
I decided to ride. Problem # 1, it’s an interstate bi-pass on the south end of the city, leading to the non-interstate roads. I rode along the shoulder, facing traffic, until I came to a place at a bridge. Abruptly, the shoulder ended, with absolutely no pedestrian place to cross the bridge. I studied oncoming headlights to gauge how much time they took to arrive to the bridge.
The flow of traffic was consistent. Looking along where I’d have to bicycle along a wall with cars and trucks screaming by, was horrifying. I had to make it across this stretch for several hundred yards. I thought of how I had recently expressed appreciation to each of my sisters…and thought, was this a premonition? After the third or fourth time of approaching, studying the traffic and walking away, I decided that I was not going to unfold the story of my fatality, so I gave up, and walked back to the gas station. There, I spotted a pizza delivery car, a hatchback. I approached the young African American guy filling up his tank and asked if he was going towards this town. “Yes, but I can’t take passengers.” I explained that I just needed to get beyond this point a hundred yards away where I couldn’t cross the bridge. Without saying anything, he then proceeded to take the domino or whatever lit pizza sign off the top of his car, laid it inside, walked around and opened the hatch back, and told me to put the bike in. It was filled with debris, I managed to squeeze it in, pull it above the top of the mound of stuff. I had to trust. He said,”The cashier girl might tell on me, sayin’ that a delivery guy picked up a hitchhiker.” He was a bit nervous about that. When I said that I was moving, he mentioned that “My sister moves, all the time. Now she’s in Atlanta. Ya gotta just stay in the same place.” He did me a huge favor taking me 5 miles. He mentioned NOT to take highway 17 (which had been in my mind) because that will take me back to Savannah.
I asked him, so where do I have to go? He gestured, just go up that on-ramp over there. At this point the traffic was much less dense. Monday night, close to 11pm. As I bicycled up the ramp, I saw high walls on either side of the freeway, which seemed to approach another narrow bridge section. I then saw a guard rail next to the wall and a tiny walking space within. Score! I lifted the bike and stepped over it, into this narrow walkway. I was feeling safe and proud of myself. And then, it ended at a wall. This google earth photo is the same bridge, but the metal awning running along the length of the bottom edge wasn’t yet added to the bridge when the photo was taken.
So this awning, with a slightly concave slant, allowed space to walk with the bicycle, stretching across a gap between the lower lip of the wall and the ledge.
Choice # 1. go back. # 2. Step onto the road, and hope I can make the stretch with few vehicles driving by. 3. I spotted a ledge about 5 feet above the ground next to the wall. It was wide enough to walk, double the width of a curb (inches/meters). There was a sheet of a metal awning stretching along its base, and angling up a few feet to the wall, closing the gap between them. I went with number 3. I lifted the bike up to the ledge, resting against the wall. Spotted a hand-hold, a gap with a metal strip. I had gloves on. I reached to grab this and pulled myself up next to the bike. It was wide enough to allow me to walk with the bicycle to the right of me, rolling along on the slightly slanted awning. I began slowly. If anyone had spotted me, surely the absurdity of seeing someone up there walking with a bicycle could have itself caused an accident.
I continue LOL ever since, only because it was exhilarating and it had a happy ending. I managed to cross and to where the ledge suddenly ended, however I was now on the other side, because below once again a guard rail. I lowered the bike down to the highway, then lifted it over the rail, this side even a narrower, and walked the rest of the way. Eventually there was adequate space along the roadside to ride. After I came to and passed yet another freeway entrance, traffic thinned to only an occasional car.
I rode on the oncoming traffic lane, in the middle, in order to immediately spot headlights from afar. When a vehicle comes, I cross the road to the other side. (No longer a divided interstate). I hadn’t planned this ride and had left my bike head and rear lights at home. The clouds mostly blocked the recent full moon. Once in a while my path was illuminated. However, I felt that I was better off without lights, because I was going through a rural area. As I sat on the shuttle earlier, I saw quite a number of double-trailer homes, properties with junk. There are a lot of jacked up pick-up trucks with loud engines around here. I decided that it was NOT in my favor to announce to cars that there was a bicycle. Didn’t want to give them the time to manifest any premeditated acts of hostility. My method: ‘see and avoid’. Whereas on a bicycle path with other riders, it is ‘see and be seen’. So, I cross the road to get as far away from any passing vehicle, then go back to the center of the lane of oncoming traffic. There was only one place (later in the morning) when there were two vehicles passing me at the same time. I was attending to the one approaching and for a few seconds hadn’t looked behind me, when as the truck approaching flashed his headlights. I responded by immediately moving off the road, and within two seconds, a car sped by. This person saw this and warned me.Thank you, whoever you were.
I was alone on the road in silence, with tall trees to the left of me and quiet stillness, when suddenly, I heard grunting. Huh? A lot of it. I swept my eyes to the side of the road to the left of me, and 30 yards or less away, in front of the wall of trees in this thick forested area, were a pack of not 10, not 20, more like 30 or more, little round black bodies grunting. Wild boars! WHAT? I hadn’t considered the potential of ‘non-human’ predators. I continued to pedal, alert to watching what direction they were running, not knowing where I’d go if they’d start embarking onto the road towards me. I didn’t slow down, realized they were running in the same direction as me, and then, I was beyond them. They may have been really startled by my presence, and were that were scrambling to get away, almost falling over each other, snorting very loudly in unison. That was ‘fo sho’ the highlight of my adventure, only because it didn’t become a misadventure. Wow, exHILarating.
Later, cycling along within an hour of the boar incident, having only dented the 52 mile ride , I noticed an absence of these grand trees. Empty lots, then some places along the highway with a thin row of trees in the front and an obviously hollowed area beyond. In one area I saw a few remaining straggly trees. Lone ones which looked awkward and sickly, as if crippled by being left standing after their entire community was wiped out. I noticed a number of acres with juvenile trees, replaced after loggers cleared the area.. That’s great to replenish, necessary, yet a young tree will not conceivably replace a majestic ancient one, with all of the life surrounding it that coexisted and creates a web of biodiversity. It’s incomprehensible that humans don’t see the bigger picture, beyond profit. One can not replace a forest that has evolved over centuries. These forests are worth much more alive, than dead. Go ask a wild boar.
At one place, I looked over and saw a gazebo, 2am or so. I wandered over, stepped under a rope to hang out there. The national park by a canal had a sign saying they close at 5pm. The wind was strong. Trees creaked, I’d hear a noise and quickly dart my eyes in that direction and scan the surroundings. There were very occasional cars. I was getting spooked at this point (after the wild boars). Every time i heard ANY sound (even that of the fabric of my jacket or something) that was different, I was alerted, then laugh. I walked over to read their sign for guests to the canal walk:
Remember, you are a visitor here, this is their home.
Wow, I wish that ‘observing and being considerate of nature’ was part of the fabric of education in our world. But this isn’t the standard in schools. From the political standpoint in our world of o\economics, ‘jobs’ are what people want and need. The argument, it spells out ‘money’, however with little concern for the source of the labor. So that working in lumber, mining, oil, fracking, dirty, destructive industries, building more Walmarts and CVS’s and parking lots to accommodate them, means more destruction and pollution. The discussion of jobs, overriding any sense or concern for even a second, about what that job entails and what harm it may cause to habitats of other creatures or what it is doing to spoil our earth, our home, is seldom part of the equation.
I finally arrived to the town where I needed to make my right turn at the light, recognizing the signs I’d scanned from the shuttle when we made that turn. I rode this first 25 miles, it was about 3:30am. Stood for a bit in a lit area before a sign to see if a pick-up truck might come by, but there was only one car. I had only 24 miles to go. Went to buy a beer at a gas station, state law, no beer sold after midnight. I had very little water, as I had not planned this. However I had long underwear, layers and gloves, and was fairly warm. I had seemed to be heading into the wind going west, but when I turned on the road heading north west, I realized that now, I was indeed heading into the wind.
We can create sustainable work. People can be trained in sustainable energy industries. We just need to reformulate what our priorities are and recognize that a healthy earth, means healthy and pleasant environments. And adapting to accommodate other species on the planet, can also be included in the R&D; research and development, of an alternative. However, continued construction, which in fact is destruction, air, water and soil pollution, will not only destroy all the habitats, but will also lead to our own extinction. We can not continue at this pace; leaving only tiny strips of old growths, a facade of trees.
Might as well have electronic billboards that show what majestic trees, rivers and hills once lived here.
As we kill off all the other creatures’ habitats, we will eventually be left with only concrete and dust bowls, with the climate catastrophe and heating planet leading to more fires, floods, longer and stronger hurricanes, earthquakes where there’s been fracking…until the planet, with rising temperatures and more prevalence of viruses and insect destruction of what forests are left, will no longer support human life. We have to work together on this. We can not let politics divide and fracture our consciousness of what is happening. As billionaires and traders get richer, and gaps in wealth become deeper, and the GDP grows greater, as they bank on the losses of everyone else. Let’s do this together.
Now that our swamp of denial is going to be drained and replenished in the White House with a semblance of normality that instead promotes honesty and directed effort, we can also establish an epic new road as citizens; of participation in the health of the globe and its inhabitants. The opposite of nationalism, of waving a flag that shows limited devotion, to only a particular, familiar place, we can extend our love and caring to the world. Not just love to our immediate family, a 30 mile radius of our town or county, but actually showing interest in the health of the planet and every creature that happens to be share this space on our globe, before they are all wiped out. Godliness is not worshiping in a building on Sundays, yet feeling and extending empathy, caring and love to the fate of our entire earth. We have had an economy driven by a defined and relegated promise of security through ‘jobs’ and ‘finance’. Yet this means NOTHING, if the planet and all of the species around our ‘Garden of Eden’ are dead or diseased. We can not eat money. If soil is dead and full of chemicals, our food is non-nutritional as well.
Listen to the pure intuitive instinct of a young unjaded girl. Greta connected the dots of information and saw the complete and brutal denial that the citizens of the world have been swept into. A lopsided prioritization of ‘work and earning money’, that actually contributes to the destruction of the earth and spoiling of its habitats.
Published Jan. 6, 2021/Updated Jan. 14, 2021. As a journalist, he journeyed to personally spend time with the 2 last remaining White Rhino’s. He came to love them. And in the process of spending time with them and contemplating their fate, he realized that the cornerstone of the problem of mass extinction – besides habitat loss, pollution of air, water, soil, the heating globe, wars, poaching (rhino horns worth more than gold)…is the human capacity to love. ‘Love among humans seems to have a range of thirty (30) yards. People love and cherish their own families, who or what they come into contact with personally, yet don’t seem to have the imagination or abstract thinking to extend ‘love’ and empathy to something at a distance. Therefore, humanity will never feel the love to act with the collective urgency that is required to stop the massive climate disruption and mass extinction. In the USA, we don’t even seem to be able to grasp when we are robbed by the government and laws are passed to give charity to billionaires and corporations, that this is our right and obligation to be in charge of our own destinies. As long as we are distracted by busily ‘working’ to pay exorbitant rents and complacently focused on consuming our entertainment through our devices, we simply don’t want to bother to care, because the ‘issue’ is too remote. Nobody seems to be paying attention.
Top scientists warn of ‘ghastly future of mass extinction‘ and climate disruption. Sobering new report says world is failing to grasp the extent of threats posed by biodiversity loss and the climate crisis.
I sit in a new apartment, having driven across the country after searching where I may be able to afford to live. The tap water smells and is toxic, the apt cockroach infested and a housemate smokes inside. The area is a ‘food desert’; Walmart has the monopoly on grocery stores. However, I can not presently afford to live anywhere else. I cringe, as a person who is extremely focused on cleanliness and fresh air, yet I need to creatively solve through action, all that I can, with an effort to endure. Why, because I can not as an artist, writer and intellect who cares deeply about the fate of all of the creatures of the world, and the laziness and incognizance of humans to how their actions affect everything, everywhere, do anything but continue to do what I believe is right and just.
I have just been humbled into tears after posting this. And this last sentence above I will leave there, as a clear reflection on the attitude I have been carrying and projecting. I have a blaming tone often. I am not a selfless Mother Teresa, but an ego-driven person directing my anger at what I perceive as injustices and ignorance, abounding everywhere. I have been taking the wrong tact. I have been playing the victim card, and putting ‘money’ into a category of ‘bad’. And so I remain in my carriage of entitled and underprivileged, instead of creatively monetizing and creating a much greater umbrella, through which to share wisdom or resources.
An hour ago I went to a place with the intent to ‘get my money reimbursed’. I was impatient with having to print out a long pdf document and feeling penalized for an error I did not commit. I showed anger and impatience, that was over-the-top to the woman at the desk, who was merely following orders of the higher institution. I was obnoxious enough to have the girl go to the manager. The director did not insult me, but scolded me with wisdom and gentle truths.
He spoke of the fact that regardless of any aims I may have, if I’m not kind to other people, I’m feeding the fire of the same injustices that I’m speaking of. I mentioned that I was dealing with a lot of things that impacted me emotionally, yet he said that one has to be capable of separating oneself from that which is not relevant to the context. (Don’t bring your own baggage into the scenario). One can say anything about what one is capable of doing, yet if one is not kind and gentle to other people, then saving the world is a puff of smoke. I can’t reiterate precisely at the moment all the tidbits of wisdom he included. He does art and writing and cares deeply about nature, like me, however he has created a multi-million dollar institution that is educating the public. If my writing or creative pursuits with art and music are not hardly reaching anyone, then perhaps by not framing ‘money’ into a category of ‘bad’, but using it as a resource to reach more people, is a ‘good’ thing. He mentioned that to be able to reach people and import wisdom, people need to trust you. I am absolutely guilty of impatience and hostility at the ‘world’, and blame people for what I perceive as laziness or willful ignorance. He mentioned that one can not condemn someone for what they do not know. So, I apologize, to anyone I have insulted. I will try to wear a hat of love and patience, instead of directing anger and intolerance towards ‘the other’; the idlers, the Repugs, the lifers. It is so easy to throw ‘an-other’ into a box. And by despising the ‘message’, one need not lash out at the messenger. Be guided and accurate in where to state your case; not gonna affect change to the system and aggravation with the bureaucracy by raising one’s voice to the receptionist.
Misdirected anger or blame will get me (or anyone), no where.
Having the capability of letting go of things not in my control, and not creating an even larger divide and attack, by disregarding the feelings and human ness of the person with whom I am dealing, is the first lesson. He advised me about being able to separate the little aggravations from the real problems, and not drag them into the scene. Also about not becoming the thing which I am against. In order to guide and inspire people, I must gently pull them in, from a place of trust, through enticing them with how lovable all of ‘creation’ is. He said that people need to have trust, in order to listen to what you are saying. And that learning, is not through tough discipline or pointing out mistakes, but by reinforcing positive behavior. I am humbled.
Well, the water coming from the tap in the town I just moved to, smells ‘funny’. Not humorous nor a joke. It smells noxious in the apt complex where I just moved in Statesboro, Georgia, USA. It has a sulfur smell. I googled Statesboro’s water quality and found this article which talks about some serious contaminants. I immediately went on alert to find a solution, other than purchasing plastic water bottles en masse, and I don’t feel like the baggage of purchasing a 50 gallon water jug and filling it, with a bicycle. I also didn’t sense that a Portable Pitcher such as a Brita water filter was going to tackle all the contaminants.
I went to buy water, which I rarely do, an almost 1 Gallon ‘plastic’ jug, Deer Park spring water. I’ve typically drank tap water, and have had the fortune of drinking filtered water from the refrigerators in the last several places I lived.
Then I googled : drinking water machines, purified water refill stations.
And discovered that a local Walmart super center has a water refill center. Friends don’t let friends go to Starbucks or Walmart. I’m pretty appreciative that this one hosts the Primo refill stations. I bicycled there yesterday with the empty container and yes, it exists. I filled the jug i brought, for free. (I think the machine has a malfunction 🙂 Gonna be cycling there almost every day, in fact, I already ran out of the gallon I brought home yesterday. Will look for big glass jugs, and continue to ride the 15 min. (2.6 mi) each way to bring home odor free, clean drinking water. So the water filtration system at Walmart is through Primo
Really glad that I had that hunch to google, and then found that the store I avoid at all costs, is the one with the capacity to host the Primo machine! It seems to be good.
I just visited with my Pennsylvania hometown friend Chris Erb in Taos, New Mexico over Christmas. One thing Chris mentioned was that we’re in the age, according to Hindus, of the “Kali Yuga”. Among all that glistens, we are in a sort of dark ages, that lasts for uh, 432,000 years, from 3102 BCE. That’s reassuring. Not!
And though I’m not Hindu, and sort of identify with Buddhism more than Christianity, I feel that all religious doctrines carry truths as well as stories and metaphors from which to learn and for guidance. I do feel that what is expressed in the bullet points below, from the Mahabharata, seems to be pretty right-on target.
Perhaps the more we become ‘enlightened’ through acknowledging this larger picture and recognizing the trends, we can begin to release ourselves and begin new habits.
Hindus believe that human civilization degenerates spiritually during the Kali Yuga, Well, this text is basically from one someone contributed to Wikipedia on the subject.
“The “Kali” of Kali Yuga means “strife”, “discord”, “quarrel” or “contention” and Kali Yuga is associated with the demon Kali (not to be confused with the goddess Kālī).”
“A discourse by Markandeya in the Mahabharata identifies some of the attributes of Kali Yuga.
In relation to rulers, it lists:
Rulers will become unreasonable: they will levy taxes unfairly.
Rulers will no longer see it as their duty to promote spirituality, or to protect their subjects: they will become a danger to the world.
“At the end of Kali-yuga, when there exist no topics on the subject of God, even at the residences of so-called saints and respectable gentlemen of the three higher varnas (guna or temperament) and when nothing is known of the techniques of sacrifice, even by word, at that time the Lord will appear as the supreme chastiser.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam
With regard to human relationships, Markandeya’s discourse says:
Avarice and wrath will be common. Humans will openly display animosity towards each other. Ignorance of dharma will occur.
People will have thoughts of murder with no justification and will see nothing wrong in that.
Lust will be viewed as socially acceptable and sexual intercourse will be seen as the central requirement of life.
Sin will increase exponentially, while virtue will fade and cease to flourish.
People will become addicted to intoxicating drinks and drugs.
Gurus will no longer be respected and their students will attempt to injure them. Their teachings will be insulted, and followers of Kama will wrest control of the mind from all human beings.
All the human beings will declare themselves as gods or boon given by gods and make it as a business instead of teachings. <<< Trump popped into my head reading this one>>>
People will no longer get married and live with each other just for sexual pleasure.
Weather and environment will degrade with time and frequent and unpredictable rainfalls will happen.
Maximum age of humans will be 50 years by the end of Kali Yuga.
Many fake ideologies will spread throughout the world.
The powerful people will dominate the poor people.
Many diseases will spread.
At the end of Kali Yuga, lord Vishnu will take birth on earth to wipe out the sinners.”
Getting back to the natural world and recognizing that our earth and universe is extraordinary, I took this picture of the rising ‘almost’ full moon in the high desert of New Mexico in the SouthWest of the United States.
Gosh, well, like overcoming an addiction, the first step to releasing oneself from it, is to recognize that it is an addiction in the first place. Knowledge will set you free. And listening to your own heart’s wisdom will guide you.
Abbbaddeee, abbbaaaddeeee, abbbadddeee, that’s all folks.
In local time, as my German friend pointed out on FB, we’re leaving the Year of the Rat.
“Character traits: Oxen are usually patient, fair-minded and trustworthy. They are dependable, industrious and hard workers. They have strong staying power, are cautious and don’t jump into making decisions. An ox rarely regrets the decisions they’ve made.
Oxen can also be stubborn and poor communicators. Due to their traditionalist nature, they can be overly authoritative over others.”
Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz welcomes donations for her writing, photography, illustrations, eBook & music composition.
The dream of EO Wilson can only be realized through the participation of humans. He strives to protect the most biodiverse places on the earth and seas, to circumvent mass extinction – which is already taking place – by safeguarding the habitats of half of the earth.
See how you can become involved!
Be a guardian of the natural world. Our earth is paradise, if we nurture life and save habitats.
I spontaneously decided to sign up for a Move-On live #PowerInAction: Winning With Our People online national organizing livestream. Tuesday, at 8 p.m. ET (7 CT/6 MT/5 PT). I hadn’t realized what a treat was in store. I listened to most of the live Nov. 17th webcast of various speakers presented by articulate Move-On hosts. It was educational and enlightening. I’m super impressed with the messages of the hosts and all the guest speakers.
Lots of inspiration!
The emphasis is on all of us participating towards influencing those we elect; to improve the quality of everyone’s life. Motivating us all to get involved in manifesting the society that we want; influencing the changes we’d like to see through our collective actions and voices. It is up to all of us to hold our elected officials accountable and democratically participate in seeking the changes that we know and can imagine, will improve the quality of everyone’s life. Volunteer with Move-On.
One of the speakers, Senator Cory Booker, really impressed me with his insights and heartfelt sharing of his wisdom. His points were about maintaining faith that one’s actions will make changes, and that it is now (after the election results) imperative for us all be involved and engaged in maintaining our Democracy; continued action, tipping the scale of the Georgia election for the Senate so that Bitchy Mitchy McConnell doesn’t block all of the things that we voted for. He blocked everything that Obama attempted to install and was the Yes Man to Chump, to unravel so many protections and programs for people, the natural world and the protection of our commons. Booker mentioned how the book by James Baldwin “The Fire Next Time” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fire_Next_Time impressed him.
Alicia Garza, the founder of Black Lives Matter, spoke about holding elected officials accountable and working together to build progress. To better our quality of life and that of future generations: on education, health care, lowering housing costs, attending to our Police forces (I’d say mandatory education, social studies, psychological programs and non violence training) so that they are groomed into a force that is not a militia of violence but more leaning towards protecting and helping society). She spoke of the book she has written, not as a How-To book, but one to guide us to asking better questions.
Let’s help Stacy Abrams, who has achieved getting an enormous response from Black woman in Georgia and all over the country, to swing the vote to the Democrats.
So, I signed up to make phone calls to people of Georgia, I guess with a script of what to say, and also the possibility to chat and enjoy listening to that Southern Accent.
I am profoundly moved and awakened, each time that I’ve listened to Arundhati Roy’s ‘Come September’ speech which she boldy presented at the Lannan Foundation in Santa Fe, New Mexico 2002, in which she states
“Nuclear weapons are stockpiled, to make the world a safer place.”
Roy quotes Thomas Friedman talking about the US policy of using war to support their control of resources. Each of the recent US wars fought for oil.
I read Arundhati’s book “God of Small Things” and have listened to her recently, 2020, as a guest of Amy Goodman on Democracy Now. She is still active and bold in her declarations. She’s a heroine for sure.
Thank you Jane Goodall for a lifetime of risk and effort to help the living creatures of the world and to save their habitats. Thank you for continually reaching out to people of the world to educate and encourage other humans to recognize the beauty and intelligence of other creatures; to respect them and see that our habits and actions can indeed make their world a better place.
I arrived. Santa Fe, New Mexico, listening to a dream I had the day before I left Palo Alto, California. I’ve had some quick ins and then disruptive times, yet maintained equilibrium and now found the perfect situation. AFTER HUGE EFFORT, THE BEST FIT EMERGED.
Ironically, first I found a place nearby many of the schools of the SFPS where I commuted to as a substitute teacher before, yet during Covid-19, none are open. The ski area will most likely open.
However, rather than sinking, I went into casting the net widely, considering everything from living as an expat in Chiang Mai, Thailand to the Yucatán in Mexico, have done thorough and detailed applications with aupair agencies regarding tutoring, while keeping my ads up locally. Then the phone rang yesterday, Nov. 14th, and I walked into a situation in which I have a startling amount in common with this woman offering a place: values, travel, language, arts, music….and the universe seems to have answered each of our intentions, in a synchronistic match.
I’ve had to ‘dersertize’ my mountain bicycle wheels, to best avoid flats due to the notorious desert ‘goathead’ thorns.
My first workaway host brought me to outside of Washington, DC, College Park Maryland. I loved that there were a lot of wildlife there, due to how the developer maintained trees and wildlife habitats. I’d bicycle an hour into DC each weekend day to explore the local culture and take pics.
From DC, I flew to San Francisco International, to do a gig in East Palo Alto, just minutes riding (across an 8 lane highway) to the lovely Palo Alto, California. There, in the heart of Silicon Valley, I was intrigued with the demographics of the tech industry. The workforce are primarily of Indian decent, second are Asian. These countries planned proactively in their higher education, 25+ years ago, for the booming computer technology scene. They’ve produced an extensive body of tech people, who flood these jobs from Silicon Valley to Singapore.
Driving from California to New Mexico, I encountered once again a culture shock through the FM radio stations I discovered along the way. There were consistently ‘Christian Rock’ stations that are distinctive in their weird similarity of sound. And too, too many Bible Belt preaching stations. Some so bizarre I wanted to stop and record them, but didn’t have time to. Even in the Blue States, there are red stains of eerie ‘born again’ sermons across the radio dials, with a mega-church hypnotism vibe.
Holy moly, did I ever have tears of relief when the Democrats won. I’m ready to contribute as much as I can towards shifting to the Green New Deal and doing things differently, with respect to mass extinctions of other creatures and the repeated climate catastrophes caused by human actions, mega-industries, monopolization and runaway neo-liberal capitalism.
Now, I’ll concentrate on completing my book (already) and juggling different work gigs to pay my rent. I’d be stoked to use my writing, portrait, art, music playing and composition to work in the film industry.
I’d love to be employed doing my writing, art, photography, music and composition. I hear the film industry is booming here. My electronic music compositions could move in the sound track directions, telling stories.
Because of how completely surprised and delighted I am with the content of these two people’s talks and writing, I felt the need to hastily put these out on both blogs simultaneously, to broadcast this information. I certainly hope that people who do not speak English as a native language, can find someone to translate.
Breathtakingly insightful, with a rich history of experience, Dr. Zach Bush has a great deal of wisdom to share.
Took my bicycle on the train and found a map, cruised around to locate various tourist attractions of the city and to see for myself what the man on the train was talking about, all the arcades – throughout the city is a labyrinths of arcades, allowing people to continuously walk beneath canopied sidewalks along […]
Well, the guy blew me off, or maybe it was because I was late (after smoking with some Pakistani guys who were describing how limited the rights of women are in their country > ( can’t go out alone, can’t drive, can’t bicycle around in sport clothes with their hair flowing, once married – must […]
I purchased the 9 € German countrywide regional train ticket (which I found out about in Portugal), using it the last day it was available – August 31st. Traveling with a backpack on my back, another on my chest, pulling a bag on wheels (with another canvas bag balanced on it in which my sleeping […]
I just went to the main train station to ask a few more questions and precisely figure out where to park the bicycle over night to find it upon arriving with my luggage on a bus, Turns out the train i had scheduled has a bomb threat and is canceled ( uh hum, glad I […]
I rushed off to Portugal, after determining a year ago that it would be affordable, so that I could complete my book. My oldest sister warned me that Lisbon would not be affordable, and sent me links to more affordable towns in Portugal. I hadn’t realized when I departed that august is the least affordable […]
So, my arrival in Berlin, after the Russian man saw that FIXBus in Paris wasn’t acknowledging the Iberiabusline receipt for my Flixbus bicycle ticket which the annoyed Fixbus line Portuguese man had me pay, despite my repeated pleas that it was indeed a Flixbus line.This man approached me and told me the story of his […]
Today, three of us had a very provocative conversation here at this hostel in the middle of nowhere ‘Now Here’ in Portugal; a Portuguese guy, an Argentinian IT worker I’ve come to know in the last week and myself. We talked about how the media uses fear to manipulate people, how Pharma companies have lied […]
Humanity, on a piece of rock spiraling through space, wow! On day 9, when I arrived to a green space on the property of a university, I decided to sleep there, my sleeping bag tucked into a canvas bag to be more discrete about being ‘homeless’. The grounds had all these cats, really funny. Upon […]
Today is World Environment Day. So, now once in a while, while riding or stopped at an intersection with a lot of cars, I throw up my arm with full display of the zero sign. Either like this. Or like this. Why? Because Because as I ride a bicycle and routinely look at road kill […]
Speaking of cultures exported from the USA and particularly in Italy, embracing ‘style and fashion’ as a high priority and status symbol. This graffiti ‘street art’ in a pedestrian tunnel in Verona, Italy eloquently displays how humans are drawn to wear clothing and shoes ~ sporting a handbag or hat or the most updated phone […]
Today, three of us had a very provocative conversation here at this hostel in the middle of nowhere ‘Now Here’ in Portugal; a Portuguese guy, an Argentinian IT worker I’ve come to know in the last week and myself. We talked about how the media uses fear to manipulate people, how Pharma companies have lied […]
Xanana I presume is this person. https://www.vagalume.com.br/banda-calypso/vem-meu-amor-xa-na-na-com-viviane-batidao.html I DID MY BEST TO READ AND DECIPHER THIS que importa a riso, atraicáo quem ama tua supporta o resto nóa tem valor, sa nem ná concóa I our nóa tem importa brá dar entima ou amor! A amar é mágica What does laughter matter, attraction who loves […]
economic efficiency drives hollow relationship to nature and life In the modern world born of a heavy leaning on manufactured consent to economics as being the driving force of power, which is a fabrication of people, which others follow. Yuval Noah Harari talks of ’money’ as being the most successful story. It is the banks, […]
I say Zero! As I ride my bicycle, gesturing to cars, who have no clue what I’m referring to unless I’d wear signs. Why does this matter?Because Today June 5 is World Environment Day.
This video tape of his lecture to students about his Twelve Principles reveals how insightful he is. It caused me to seriously jump out of my seat, discovering with delight a completely new and unique way of seeing and interpreting a Christian and an altogether spiritually ecologically inclusive perspective. It is more Buddhist in a […]
We Need to Restore We Need to Protect Filmmaker says ”Hoping to promote change in our consumer choices and the way we behave toward animals and nature.” Inger Anderson Executive Director UN Environment Programme “Let’s commit to a planet where people, animals and nature flourish together.”
Enchanting Summer Sounds Take 5 Carol Keiter aka nomadbeatz
Starting from scratch in a new place without furniture and the first use of my new used kitchenware that I acquired through a local online buyers and sellers market http://offerup.com I was able to obtain these minimal pots and pans in reasonably good condition – for $20 bucks – to cook my first meal. What […]
The Bell pepper was the first option, before I had a pan. After borrowing a shallow baking pan, I halved an acorn squash, scooped out the seeds, put it face down on a slightly oiled (olive oil) pan, and halved an onion, and plucked a few garlic cloves, leaving their skin on to retain moisture. […]
Posting a ‘job/home/community relocation’ info ad for myself! I, Carol Keiter, blogger, writer, musician, composer, environmental and nature enthusiast and animal activist need to relocate within weeks. I need to hone into> the right location, community and sources for work that will fulfill the job description which has evolved, as I’ve been writing this! I […]
Here’s the audio podcast of last night’s meal: a Spanish tortilla tapas spinoff I went through the whole process of making a Spanish tortilla, except without the added egg & milk mixture at the end. I ate it instead in bites together with pasta. I added to the sliced potatoes, onion, garlic, cayenne pepper, (ground […]
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