Hear the Wind blow Dear

    I was awakened this morning by the sound of the wind blowing against the rain chain. The cat wanted out and then she wanted back in.
    The stove needed wood and as I waited for the fire to warm, I sat in the quiet silence of the predawn light and contemplated.    
    I don’t do that as much as I used to and I wondered why?
    We are over stimulated. I am over stimulated.
    The simple things of life have been overshadowed and buried in the electronic world of sensory overload and constant information.
    We are addicts.
    Sounds of a familiar tune kept going through my mind … Hear the wind blow dear, hear the wind blow.
     I paused and listened to the wind. What is it that I hear? Winds of change? Winds of a coming storm? A message from Nature?
    The addiction of our constant need to be informed has robbed us of the ability to listen to our inner soul.
    At times that ability has shone bright and I have found comfort in the quiet reflection of life’s experiences.
     Those experiences are now what I draw upon to navigate through these troubled waters.
    Every where we look there is something or someone who is wanting our attention. If you open the computer  there are ads designed to get our attention.                         Those little questions that show up on social media asking us which color or food or actor or vacation spot we would like best have all been used to create a virtual identity of ourselves.
    That virtual identity is held in multiple locations and programs., It contains our buying habits our pet peeves, our interests, our likes, our dislikes, who are friends are and what we eat. We have been virtually cloned down to the tiniest detail and all this information we have volunteered freely.
    It is now being used to influence and control us.
    Remember that DNA swab that you sent to a lab somewhere to tell you where your ancestors came from? That lab now owns your DNA and that information can now be added to your virtual clone, and may influence the results of your next insurance application or job interview.
    The smart phone is only one of the many ways that we are controlled, we are constantly detracted from listening to our own inner soul.
    Smart media has co-opted our ability to sit in the silence of the moment. Sound bites and vibrations are rewards that cause us to do as Pavlov's dogs, we salivate over the next electronic interaction. Our senses are overloaded so much and so often that it is impossible to sit in silence, we have been addicted to the electronic buzz.
    Holidays have been typically spent with family, sharing a meal and reflecting on life. Not so much these days. Television, videos, gaming and social media have taken the place of family time. Meals are rarely spent together at the family table and when it does happen on the rare occasion, the smart phone or devise we carry interrupts to break into family time.
    Black Friday and Cyber Monday would have meant nothing to our grandparents. Our children now carry their own smart devises and phones that fill in as baby sitters. Most everything that we do and say is filtered though an electronic medium of some sort. What ever happened to face to face conversation?
    The constant need to be informed has deformed our ability to sit in silence.
    I keep a fire ring out in the back yard, it is my version of an original TELEVISION.  I have a fire at least once a week, summer or winter. It gives me a chance to sit in silence, to look into the fire and reflect on the whirlwind of activity that flows around me.
    In the quiet of the fire, I share my stories and my visions, the things that I hold dear and sacred, my insights and lessons learned from life.
    This season is traditionally when we give thanks for the blessings that we have.
    This season I give thanks to the sounds of the wind and to the sound of silence.
    I give this gift to you …

What do you want?

    I spent the last couple of days interacting with several hundred people. Here in the little town of Escalante on the last week of September, a Plein air art festival is held. It has been going 16 years and grows a little bit bigger each year.
    I live in a home directly across the street from all of the activities. The artists begin to trickle into town about a week before and they participate in various classes, competitions and demonstrations.
    I decided after a few years of observing that I would participate in my own way.
    The old board fence was getting rickety and needed to be replaced so in own way I customized the fence facing the festival, I made a drop down panel that makes into a table. OK, I added a few prayer flags and some organic farm signs, and a few other things that might not be traditional, but they were me, my personality.
    I live in Potato Valley, at least that is what it was called when they first arrived because of the wild potatoes that grew in the valley. Archeologists have dated them at about ten thousand years old. They found pottery and other shards in this area that still had potato DNA.
    I thought it would be fun to have a potato festival, maybe even a tater tot parade with the kids. That hasn’t happened yet but I decided to furnish an Organic Coffee and stuffed Organic Baked Potato bar during the art festival.
    This is my third year and we sold about a hundred potatoes and I lost count of the pots of coffee that I served. Artists and volunteers got free coffee for the week and the others paid $6 bucks for a loaded baked potato. I guess I probably started something that I might not be able to get out of.
    Weeks before the festival people started asking if I was going to do the potato bar and I said, Ok I’ll do it.
    As you know social media has gotten mean spirited and people are blaming and complaining about most everything. I have unfriended and unfollowed countless people and pages because of the negativity. I have seriously cut back on computer time, I had to, the air waves are toxic with bitterness and blame.
    This year I decided to do something a little bit out there even for me, I put up some political signs. I did it as a dare and also as an experiment to see how people would react, and boy did they ever react!
    I listened as people vented about the state of the country and the leaders, the difficulty with the changing environment, diet, wifi, and a myriad of other subjects. For the first day I mostly listened, but today I chose to do it differently, after they vented I ask them, “What do you like?” That question stumped them. Some said they didn’t like the state of the country, religion, environment or some other thing. I asked the question again, “What do you like? What do you want to happen?” That made them stop and think, most couldn’t come up with an answer. Some gave weak responses so I reminded them that the things we focus our attention on are the things that come back at us. Cause and effect, sow and reap, karma, you know, that kind of thing. It changed the whole feeling of the conversation and I found that most of the people were so focused on blaming something outside of themselves that they don’t have any positive thoughts on what they do want.   
    Other people came up and quietly gave their support and thanked me for voicing the same opinion that they held, they wished that they could do the same but it was too risky to face the fallout from the negative responses.
    Loudmouths, I relate them to schoolyard bullies, making lots of noise and generally upsetting the rest of the kids.
    I bought a book a few years ago called the NO Asshole rule, it laid it out plainly that we live in an environment where the loud and toxic few often rule.
    We must not allow them to ruin things for everyone else.
    So, I ask you, “What do You Want?”
    I hear what you don’t want, but what do you want?
    This week has given me a fresh perspective on the people that live around me and the many who came to visit.
    Do you really want all the negative?
    I don’t, I want a peaceful place where I can share the good and enjoy simple things in life.
    We will attract those things that we focus on …
        I will find the good in the world and the good in people.

Robo call revenge.

Hello?
Hello!

    We are unable to answer the phone until we know why you are calling.
    Please listen to the following menu as our options have changed.
    This call may be recorded for training purposes.
        If you are looking for money, hang up and get a job.
        If you are a robot, hang up and push your self destruct button.
        If you are AI, reformat and wipe your drive.
        If you are ET, call home, your mother wants to talk to you.
        If you have reached this number by mistake, please check the number                             and try your call again.
        If you would like to leave a message, you may begin.                                               
        If you are a human stay on the line and your call will be answered in the order that it        
        Your wait time depends on your attitude.

was received.

Q and me

Q and me

Today is Saturday and my plan for today is no different from most other days here in tiny Escalante. 

Coffee, a quick check on email, another log on the fire, banana. Then my usual routine. A walk around the block for a muffin at Mimi’s, a quick walk across the street to the post office to pick up the mail, then down to the grocery store to get banana’s. 

I love my routine, it does’t vary much from day to day. It’s what I worked for. A leisurely retirement filled with whatever I can imagine each day.

A new challenge was offered the other day, sit on a board of local citizens to keep an eye on the establishment. I reviewed my mission statement: “My job is to challenge the status quo.” I may have to follow through with this one.

The new senior citizens center across the street is nearing completion, it replaced the old high school built in the forties. I noticed something that caught my eye. Norda, the window company put a finishing touch on the front window of the building. Is it a message to me? It looks mysteriously like the Qanon logo. Well maybe just like an O but with a little masking tape it would be hard to distinguish from the Q logo.

I have been following Q for the past few months now. It is a group of fellow patriots including POTUS who are really stirring up the status quo. It happens doesn’t it? We are drawn to others who are of like mind.

I find my simple life may just get a little more interesting, after all my mission statement is to challenge the status quo.

Colosseum

Today we enter into a colosseum where we will witness a battle between opposing forces. 

Each opponent has been declared and decorated with appropriate colors and battle gear designed to not only protect but to inflict as much damage on the opposing player as possible. 

Each participant has been promised fame and fortune that will follow them for the rest of their life, regardless of the damage that may be inflicted upon themselves. 

This battle will be witnessed by many hundreds of millions of people who will be immersed and intrenched in the support of their players and team. 

The energy will be palpable and regardless of who you are, those who participate or witness will feel the emotions, there will be a palpable tidal wave of immense proportion moving across the globe.

Who or what benefits from this experience?

Will those who witness be better for the experience?

Will this battle make this world a better place?

I have long believed that events like this degrade the human spirit and devolve the world into continual conflict. What has been promoted by the media as entertainment is a carefully planned event to mine our spirit and energy, to be manipulated by unseen forces to feed the masters who control us. 

There are among us energy vampires who manipulate us for nefarious purposes.

We freely give this energy to employers, family, friends and enemies alike who take our energy and then use it to further control us.

World power brokers take the energy from these emotions and sell it to the highest bidders. 

They feast upon our emotions as we feast upon food.

Emotional energy is powerful and many unseen beings will be there to take advantage of us.

Watch the frenzy and the dedication of the fans today, be the observer and witness the immense energy.

What if we were to unify that energy to benefit and uplift the spirits of mankind instead of dividing and defeating us?

We are powerful beings capable of creating anything we choose. 

We can create a heaven on earth. 

A beautiful and peaceful existence here upon this earth is possible if we channel positive energy to positive means.

I challenge each one who attends the battle this day to be an observer, to step back and watch how your energy flows out from your spirit. 

Be aware and beware of energy vampires who will feed off us and our negativity this day.

Instead, choose to be a conscious creator of positive outcome.

Runners

Runners

Today our little town hosted a marathon between Escalante and Boulder. There were hundreds of visitors here to participate and support the runners.

The park across the street from my home is where everything wrapped up with a small fair, vendors and music.

Last night the musical entertainment included a singer storyteller, Clive Romney who gave an amazing version of early mormon history with a anecdotal spin. His stories were from the lives of those that helped to settle this area over 100 years ago. He was inspiring and personable. It was a shame that the cold night and lack of interest, it was only me and my wife listening. We sat on the edge of the stage with Clive as he played and sang his songs.

Today I slept in late, something I ate yesterday gave me a whopping headache. I can usually backtrack and find the culprit. I think it was the honey baked turkey, it had “additives.” I think the culprit was nitrites used in the processing of the meat. Each time I get one of these whoppers I vow to be more diligent but sometimes I let my tastebuds get the best of me.

The sound of the loudspeakers this morning woke me announcing the runners as they crossed the finish line. The cow bells and cheers from the spectators was infectious so I wandered over to spectate.

26.2 miles, thats a long way to run, at least for me. If you ever see me running it’s probable because something large and hairy is chasing me, otherwise I choose to walk and that is where you will find me on gentle evenings here in Escalante.

What is it that makes us run or walk?

Are we running from something or to something?

I can still remember several bad relationships in my life where I ran.

Now days I try to choose my destinations and go towards those things that will make my life better. 

We have an internal navigational beacon that helps us to make the choices in life that will enrich us and those around us.

Each of the runners had their navigational beacon set on the finish line with such dedication and determination. I wonder what made each of them run? Are they running away from unpleasant experiences or running towards a fulfilling goal?

Cow bells generally don’t merit the reason to run so I have to think that each runner set a goal to run because of an inner strength or maybe because of a challenge they wanted to achieve today.

In the midst of all this activity, I have an interview looming with a video journalist who connected with me several weeks ago. He wanted to do a followup on some comments I made then. 

Is that the reason for my headache? Am I running from something I don’t want to face? I don’t think so, but I would like to soften my tone and clarify some thoughts. This documentary may end up viral and then what? 

I mostly feel good about where I have been over the years and where I am going. It’s not a good feeling to keep looking over your shoulder and wondering what might be following you. It could be that large hairy thing or something that we said in haste on social media. 

I would like to think we might be sitting on a stage some time sharing our life stories, our successes, our songs and our failures, for in doing this lives are enriched and made better. And if there are only two others listening, it still makes it all worth while.

Reflections

lt is a wet and soggy Sunday morning today, perfect for reflecting on life and being grateful for the lessons that life has taught me. 

Over the past week I have had an opportunity to interact with hundreds of people as they came to Escalante to participate in the annual Art Festival.

At first I was going to coast through and just be an observer, but a handful of neighbors commented on my potato bar and hoped that I would do it again, so with less than a week to get ready I ordered the organic potatoes and unpacked the supplies that I needed to serve the public. As the day approached I got more excited with anticipation.

My home is directly across the street from the festival and after watching the festival for years, I wanted to be a part and add my own unique energy.

I wasn’t disappointed, we had several hundred people who enjoyed the organics, and I had the opportunity to engage with each of them.

One German fellow lectured me on the use or rather the abuse of using plastics. He pointed out to me what I already knew, but had failed to do my diligence to find a better alternative. Twice more he came over and told me of the successes that his countrymen had in reducing plastics.

He was right and I promised to do better next year.

Each of the artists that entered paintings interpreted what they saw in our local town and landscapes in a unique way that I hadn’t been able to see. They saw what I could not. 

I met some new friends and caught up with old friends. My life is richer because I participated, shared and listened.

Our community is currently struggling to find balance between the old traditions and the new opportunities here on the edge of a National Monument. 

Old prejudices meeting untapped opportunities. 

It is unsettling for everyone and there is a lot of finger pointing and complaining going on.

It’s not unlike what is going on in the world.

We have allowed ourselves to engage in electronic dialogue and have removed ourselves from face to face interaction. 

We live in boxes, we drive in boxes and work in boxes, then we watch a box to find entertainment and mold our opinions. 

Last week I chose to step outside my box and meet face to face with those who came to my home, it was risky but ultimately very rewarding.

What would happen if we all decided to look one another in the eye and share part of ourselves, our story?

We are living in an ever changing world and whether we like it or not we are part of that change.

I spent several hours last night sharing and listening to a small group of new friends who helped to mold some new ideas and firm up old ones. I probably talked too much, I blame that on the good food and drink.

Instead of reposting someone else’s thoughts and ideas, I am challenging myself and you to share your own unique thoughts, your successes and your failures, for in your sharing, my life will be better and I hope I can do the same for you.

The ripples that we leave behind will forever shape the lives that they reach.