Self Portrait

Today is the end of one year and the beginning of a new one. In keeping with beginning anew i decided today i would display a bit about myself.

i wish i could find the old black and white photo i took in college. We had been given an assignment in photography class to create a self portrait. Completely daunted by the task i went into convulsions...a self portrait...i can't do a self portrait, i thought. i never liked displaying anything about myself and here the professor wanted a picture of ME.

i tried everything. Setting the camera up on a tripod, setting the timer and posing in various positions, in various dress. Trying to be unique and different....HA! i tried taking pictures through things, framing myself in bizarre get ups, even putting shaving cream on my face and shooting the picture through the mirror. It wasn't me. None of the pictures were me. The due date was getting closer and i was getting more anxious. i even thought i wouldn't submit anything because nothing i had done to that point was me.

Then one night while lying on the bed, studying for a test and still agonizing over this assignment i looked down at my foot and had an epiphany. i ran for the camera, lay back down on the bed and started shooting pictures of my foot.

My professor loved it and i passed the class.

And this is why i wish i still had that picture. i searched and searched the upper closets. i got the ladder, went through boxes making myself sick with the dust. Finally i realized i would just have to describe the picture and you will have to visualize it.

One foot, covered in a black sock. The big toe and the second toe stick out of a hole in the sock.

At the time that was me in a nutshell. You couldn't pigeonhole me. You still can't.

Today, it is beautiful where i live. The ocean and the sky are crystal clear and i have taken a new picture of my foot. It's the same foot i photographed in college but now it is free.

If you look closely you will see all its flaws. On the pinky toe a blister is in the last stages of healing, that is my vanity showing for trying to wear shoes that looked good but were a bit too tight. On the next toe in you will see a scrape i got on some coral, its healing as well, but is my competitive side kicking in when i wanted to swim faster over the reef than my buddy. On the next toe in you will notice a less than perfect paint job which is me aiming for perfection and missing the mark.

On the big toe some discoloration that is finally growing out hides under the peeling nail polish. This is where i try to keep parts of me under wraps but it gets peeled away by life's realities.

And then, there is that second toe, the crooked one, lovingly leaning in to the big toe. That's me too, disabled sometimes but trying to keep loving.

i have always thought my feet are beautiful. i love my feet....they take me everywhere and this is who i am.

This is me and all my imperfections. i learned a long time ago that striving to be perfect will make you miserable.

So this new year when you are trying to give up all the things you love to make your self perfect why don't you try instead to just love yourself the way you are.

Happy New Year

wood guns with no bullets are fine

i have a different approach to belief and human interaction.

i believe we are AllOne.

The AllOne has created nothing.
The AllOne judges nothing.
The AllOne has always been and will always be.
There is no beginning or ending for the AllOne.

AllOne is everything we can conceive of and beyond everything we can conceive of.
AllOne is the light so often spoken of through the ages by prophets and holy men.
AllOne is what we left when we were born and
AllOne is where we return when our life is over.

AllOne is not a religion.

Mankind has been told over and over not to judge.

He has been advised by "GOD" that judging others cannot be done in this world. That "GOD" will judge all upon each individuals death.

So here is another belief that holds just as much meaning as any other this time of year when we are all contemplating the birth of a man that called on us to pay attention to all of humanity.

The ALLOne does not judge, anything, ever.

If there is any judging that must occur it has to happen while alive and be accounted for while alive.

We are Master's of ourselves but we have a universal responsibility for we are human beings first and foremost which makes us all the same.

We have to learn how to judge others that will take weapons into their hands to bring about change.

We have to learn how to teach all mankind that the use of weapons is abhorrent.

We have to learn how to teach all mankind that as long as we accept the use of weapons as part of the human condition we have tacitly approved of other human beings being destroyed and are just as guilty as the original killer.

We have to learn how to teach all mankind to make pariahs of anyone using violence to achieve their goals.

We have to teach mankind that viewing the ability to use one's strength to overpower another is no longer acceptable.

The responsibility to prevent violence belongs to every human being breathing air on planet earth.

If anyone shirks that responsibility he fails at becoming a part of AllOne.

Some religions to date have accorded violence a place in their dogma.

No longer will violence have a place holder, for every religion has failed. They have all failed to conquer violence.

We have been made to accept this curse of violence upon mankind because of our failure to judge.

We have to use our judgment and judge those harshly that would consider using violence to solve a problem or reach a goal.

Every human being in the world has to come out and judge harshly any other human being that even tries to rationalize violence as a means to an end.

We have to deal with the real world as it is, and dealing with it means recognizing a new direction is necessary to create a world that billions of people can live on together.

For violence begets more violence.

But conflict doesn't have to beget violence.

The holidays can be stressful for many....Peace to all.

Aeolian Tones....the sound made when wind strikes a wire

i read an article recently about a man engaged in learning to heal through reading a persons luminosity. He had been told that you could understand what illness would afflict a person just by learning to read the auras coming off their bodies. He had studied in Peru with many shamans and had recounted an experience concerning his interaction with a rain forest.

While studying with a local shaman who after instructing him in aspects of nature told the student to enter the rain forest. Prior to entering the forest the shaman cautioned the man to stop and listen. The shaman made him focus on the cacophony coming out of the forest and had the man tune into it for a good long while.

You would think upon entering that the man would be bombarded with the noise he had been instructed to focus on. Instead all the man noticed upon entering was the silence. The rain forest went silent as soon as he stepped into it. The rain forest had gone so quiet he could hear nothing.

The shaman told him the forest knew he had left the Garden of Eden and that when he found it he would be able to hear. It took the man ten years to finally enter the rain forest without it going quiet.

If you spend a lot of time interacting with nature you might understand immediately what the man had to let go of to finally enter that rain forest and hear.

Upon learning of this story i was struck by the use of the term "Garden of Eden".

Could it be the same "Garden of Eden" that Adam and Eve were thrown out of?

i was going to say more about this tale but i think each of us can meditate on something in it without further elucidation.

________________________
A New Font

There is a new font that was developed by a young Dutch man wanting to reduce the amount of ink on paper. He decided that there must be a way to create a font that used less ink when printed out but was still readable and pleasant to the eye. He managed to succeed and has called it Ecofont which can be downloaded here.
http://www.ecofont.eu/ecofont_en.html

albedo

So how much light do you reflect?

For a long time my intent has been to write about nature. i wanted to consolidate collecting bird data over the months into a poem with permanence. Instead of actually writing the poem a list of words developed in my journal this week.

convert
modify
transform
deviate
shift
ripen into through rebellion
change

i opened the Thesaurus to page 147 on one of those fluky i'll just open the book times.
VII jumps out at the top of the page followed by the word Change.

Hmm thinks i. i have been inundated with C's everywhere. Since the century plants curvy stalk first appeared in August i have believed the C to stand for change.

But what change?

It was a little too eerie having my list end with the word change then going to the Thesaurus and randomly opening the book to the word change but it is something i'm getting used to.

The other night i was on line reading some essay when the word albedo appeared. i wasn't sure of the exact definition so i looked it up on line, then went to bed almost immediately. i tucked myself under the covers and picked up my book. i opened the book at my bookmark and the first sentence i read used the word albedo to describe the white veins that run around the outside of a peeled orange.

Too weird thinks i at the time. Two albedo's coming one right after the other. Some would call that coincidence but it happens too frequently in my life to continue ignoring it. i pay attention to these "coincidence's" now and try to act upon them.

For days i have been thinking about the word albedo and how i could use it here. In many ways "albedo" and the word "change" go together.

Albedo is the ability of an object to reflect light from the sun. The darker an object is the lower its albedo. Black has an albedo of 0 while white has an albedo of 1, in between the two extremes lies a whole range of reflective objects. White sand, white clouds and snow reflect more than dark forests or dark ground.

In astronomy one type of albedo is called the V band or the geometric albedo (measuring brightness when illumination comes from directly behind the observer).


Many times, after we have discovered facts that were apparent in the past but over looked or ignored, we use that past information to change our perspective. Often we don't understand how our values are modified or really think we have changed much but we do recognize a shift when it occurs.

Its really easy to understand how using light in terms of change has followed mankind through out religious and recorded history. Everywhere light is used to represent change.

We are all observers, deflectors and receivers of light. So could it be that the illumination we see coming from behind us helps us change what lies ahead of us? Since we are also receivers and deflectors of reflected light do those that decide to change as a result of different information become the new Speakers of the 21st Century? The world is constantly changing and this next century could just be the catalyst that puts war away and allows conflict to flare without violence.

i'm using my albedo to encourage all humanity to consider the benefits that would accrue if we committed ourselves daily to understand that conflict is inevitable but violence is not.

We all have the ability to use our albedo's for change, how much light are you reflecting today?

beach art and poetry

Readers may remember the century plant that i've been so obsessed with. i wrote a poem about it back in August and now the poem has become part of the plants reality. The century plant is breeding. It is dropping little plantlets all over and i've been picking them up and planting them along the road. i'm wondering if the progeny from this plant will also curve in the same spectacular way the mothership did.

the plant of the century

Asymetrical
wandering curve blew
my territorial reserve

sun abandoned and
overthrew the reflection
of a faded view

in this century of mine
a stalk eclipsed
and hid my mind

snakes and dragons and
curlicues, C's and S's
and pictures too

all of these can
now be found at the
plant of the century's breeding ground.

Gardening is not my forte as a result this poem was written after a day in the yard.

a day in the garden

stinging nettle
pulling weeds
trimming bushes
planting seeds
cleaning up
the bougainvillea
wiping down
the blood
i leave here.

With the market meltdown i needed a quick guide to understanding what was happening. i consulted with a family member took notes and this poem is the result of that conversation.

a field guide to fluff

derivatives,
structured investments
linked to
other securities
or
commodities.

vehicles
of paper
endowed
with inestimable
value.

fueling our economy with fluff.

These next two i wrote yesterday. The pictures on the beach are from yesterday too.

a question

sneezing waves
and their droplets
mingling in the air.

curious friends
and their questions
heard in the distance.

Are you meditating?

No, I'm searching.


the Oystercatchers

life happened instead of
drifting away
on an indirect course.

for the time being
wandering the beach
days aren't canceled.

they didn't come,
i searched
and they refused to appear

but all manner of other things happened instead.

something as simple and classic as stuffing a bird!

Thanksgiving started after an autumn harvest when Indians on the east coast of the North American continent joined together with settlers to celebrate their bounty. Originally the settlers had invited two Indians and their families to join them for a harvest meal. When the Indians showed up with 90 of their brethren(family meant everyone to Indians) it became apparent that the settlers would not have enough food for all. The Indians recognized the deficit and went back to their dwelling and loaded up on deer, fish, corn bread and other assorted food stuffs that would see the group through three days of eating.

And so, the Thanksgiving we celebrate started during a time when Indians(Wampanoag) and settlers(Puritans) recognized that they could interact and cooperate.

What a concept!

Unfortunately it is not quite accurate.

We inhabitants of this great land have difficulty with the truth, even today.

And so customized for your personal taste. i 'm laying out a menu prepared by historians anxious to have parts of the myth exploded

Here's the menu:

The settlers founded their town on the site of the Indians summer village that they had abandoned when small pox decimated their tribe. That first winter was tough and without two Indians help they may never have survived for Squanto and his friend taught the Puritans what to eat, what to hunt, and what to avoid. They taught them how to build shelter and how to survive the harsh winter.

The settler's thought the Indians heathens for they didn't believe in the God of the Puritans. They didn't live the way the Puritans thought "right".

I'll bet you didn't know that the Puritans had left Europe believing that Armageddon was approaching. They believed ,as it said in Revelation, that they were the seeds of a new "Holy Kingdom". They came by the boat load to inhabit and transform this land for "God".

According to the Fourth World Documentation Project the Pilgrims did whatever they could to hasten this, including removing Indians.

Here is a piece quoted directly from the Project.

The Pilgrims were not just innocent refugees from religious persecution. They were victims of bigotry in England, but some of them were themselves religious bigots by our modern standards. The Puritans and the Pilgrims saw themselves as the "Chosen Elect" mentioned in the book of Revelation. They strove to "purify" first themselves and then everyone else of everything they did not accept in their own interpretation of scripture. Later New England Puritans used any means, including deceptions, treachery, torture, war, and genocide to achieve that end.(4) They saw themselves as fighting a holy war against Satan, and everyone who disagreed with them was the enemy. This rigid fundamentalism was transmitted to America by the Plymouth colonists, and it sheds a very different light on the "Pilgrim" image we have of them. This is best illustrated in the written text of the Thanksgiving sermon delivered at Plymouth in 1623 by "Mather the Elder." In it, Mather the Elder gave special thanks to God for the devastating plague of smallpox which wiped out the majority of the Wampanoag Indians who had been their benefactors. He praised God for destroying "chiefly young men and children, the very seeds of increase, thus clearing the forests to make way for a better growth", i.e., the Pilgrims.(5) In as much as these Indians were the Pilgrim's benefactors, and Squanto, in particular, was the instrument of their salvation that first year, how are we to interpret this apparent callousness towards their misfortune? The Wampanoag Indians were not the "friendly savages" some of us were told about when we were in the primary grades. Nor were they invited out of the goodness of the Pilgrims' hearts to share the fruits of the Pilgrims' harvest in a demonstration of Christian charity and interracial brotherhood. The Wampanoag were members of a widespread confederacy of Algonkian-speaking peoples known as the League of the Delaware. For six hundred years they had been defending themselves from my other ancestors, the Iroquois, and for the last hundred years they had also had encounters with European fishermen and explorers but especially with European slavers, who had been raiding their coastal villages.(6) They knew something of the power of the white people, and they did not fully trust them. But their religion taught that they were to give charity to the helpless and hospitality to anyone who came to them with empty hands.(7) Also, Squanto, the Indian hero of the Thanksgiving story, had a very real love for a British explorer named John Weymouth, who had become a second father to him several years before the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth. Clearly, Squanto saw these Pilgrims as Weymouth's people.(8) To the Pilgrims the Indians were heathens and, therefore, the natural instruments of the Devil. Squanto, as the only educated and baptized Christian among the Wampanoag, was seen as merely an instrument of God, set in the wilderness to provide for the survival of His chosen people, the Pilgrims. The Indians were comparatively powerful and, therefore, dangerous; and they were to be courted until the next ships arrived with more Pilgrim colonists and the balance of power shifted. The Wampanoag were actually invited to that Thanksgiving feast for the purpose of negotiating a treaty that would secure the lands of the Plymouth Plantation for the Pilgrims. It should also be noted that the INDIANS, possibly out of a sense of charity toward their hosts, ended up bringing the majority of the food for the feast.(9)
Today these uncomfortable truths are ignored as we celebrate a different Thanksgiving. This week people all over the country will have prepared their food lists, found the ingredients, filled their carts and rolled to the check out stand. All those savvy shopper items are stuffed in the backs of cars and transported to kitchens all over America.

Tomorrow all those endless decisions, all the beloved foods from long ago, will find their way to dining room tables everywhere for this is a time to "remember".

Even knowing the "truth" about Thanksgiving it is still my all time favorite holiday of the year. What i like to remember is that Thanksgiving requires no "gifts' just sharing.

So in the spirit of sharing, remember that the Wampanoag's religion taught that they were to give charity to the helpless and hospitality to anyone who came to them with empty hands.

Have a lovely Thanksgiving.

consent

A while back i did a piece that discussed the use of consent instead of consensus. i have long had problems with the idea behind majority rules and the anger of the minority which is never really addressed after an election. The loser is made to feel demoralized while the winner goes around thumping their chests.

i'm revisiting this idea of consent because the data at Real Clear Politics shows McCain got 46% of the popular vote and Obama got 53%. This means 66million882thousand230 people voted for Obama and 58million343thousand671 voted for McCain.

That means we now have 58million343thousand671 very unhappy Americans.

There were aspects of both platforms wanting change that American citizens didn't consent to. The fault for that lies in the way our leaders are elected. At no time was there a national conversation about what each of us objected to in these new leaders. All we did was discuss how one would be a better leader than the other. We used personality defects, guilt by association, adherence to socialism or capitalism, warrior versus peacemaker, fear, color of skin and a host of other aspects that had nothing to do with actually leading this country. We watched a sales job in action on both sides of the campaign.

i wonder, did any of us sit down and make lists of our objections or our agreement, McCain in one column and Obama in the other? Did we independently examine what they intended to accomplish in the future and why we might object to it. Or did we just adhere to each parties conservative or liberal ideology, read the blogs and e-mails and cancel them out based upon that? What exactly did we object to about each man and what exactly did we learn about each man? How would we do this differently in the future?

When we start talking about our objections we can prevent people from avoiding responsibility for the outcome by being silent. We need to discuss what everyone thinks about each man, what our objections are and how we can resolve them. There will always be more than one qualified individual to take on any job including President of the United States of America, but having more Americans consent to that man or woman taking on that job might make governing a whole lot easier.

If we spend time examining all our objections and concerns it would give us room to resolve them and make a better decision. If we take the objections seriously we could then try to focus on resolving them which in turn will build a better country. Some of the objections for both men were based upon fears that were never really examined by either side throughly. They were put out there to make the populace fearful in order to get you to vote a particular way...but maybe if we had examined them further we would learn that we really shouldn't be afraid. That we shouldn't let ideology trump reality.

58million343thousand671 Americans voted against Barack Obama being President of the United States.

This many unhappy people is not an environment where much can be accomplished but maybe this new administration can do something about it.

What are their objections and how can we work to resolve them or at least minimize the fear? i've sent a letter to Obama addressing this very real problem. Please write him with your objections and fears. Now is the time to let him know what you fear or what you might object to with his style of governing. He will be your President in January. He can be reached at:
http://www.change.gov/

peace alliance

In Afghanistan anti-war groups are convening to encourage dialog between the disparate groups to come together and find a way to end the war. There it is called a "peace jirga".

In September, in Saudi Arabia, a secret meeting by the government was held to bring together representatives of the Taliban to help find a way to a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan.

In Sudan there is a group led by Dolly Odwong, Mary Ret and Christine Leno, who are part of a twenty nation coalition that calls themselves "Woman Waging Peace". Dolly and others meet across borders to wage peace and work with women and children who are directly affected by the ongoing violent conflicts. They are trying to encourage reconciliation between the warring groups but they need international attention.

Another group with a presence on the internet is called "If Americans Knew". This is a place where Americans, if they so choose, can learn more about the Israel/Palestine issue. Their goal is to make available full and accurate information on this critical issue. They believe it is their duty – to bring a resolution to the ongoing occupation. http://www.ifamericansknew.org/cur_sit/

Media groups are trying to encourage peace through use of the Internet. They believe a strong internet presence will combat authoritarian regimes abilities to keep their populations ignorant of opposing views. They believe that as the world becomes more connected the ability to manipulate opinion in favor of war fades.

Conflict is inevitable, violence is not.

Understanding that you can have a conflict and resolve it without violence is the first cornerstone of a pursuit for peaceful outcomes. UNESCO states that "War begins in the minds of men." i say that war also ends in the minds of men and women when conflict and violence are separated. Too often wars are begun through the manipulation of public opinion. The voices speaking out for temperance are often disavowed through the use of hate and fear. If you can convince a population to hate you can also convince it to love.

As i said conflict is inevitable, violence is not.

There are all sorts of groups world wide using different methods to create peaceful outcomes. The short list above reflects groups working to solve problems in their countries. Here in the United States we also have groups working for Peace across all sectors of our society, we even have the United States Institute for Peace, an independent, non-partisan national institution which was created by Congress and can advise but has no place in cabinet meetings. Their production of the Iraq Study Group proposal and its failure to be considered by our President demonstrates its lack of teeth.

Unfortunately, governments worldwide do not have Peace Departments that function as a part of government. After thousands of years of conflict that results in violence isn't it time we set a new example. Isn't it time we demonstrate to the world that we can also focus on Peace as an integral part of who we are as a nation. What would the outcome have been had we had a Secretary of Peace involved in daily discussions with the President when he was contemplating invading Iraq?

There is legislation to create a Department of Peace in the United States government. The Secretary of this department will advise the President on peace building needs, strategies, and tactics for use domestically and internationally. A Peace Academy will be created which will be a sister academy to the Army, Navy and Air Force Academies.

The idea for a Department of Peace began with the creation of our nation. In 1792 Benjamin Banneker, noted African American scientist, surveyor, and editor and Benjamin Rush, doctor, educator and signer of the Declaration of Independence suggested the blue print for an Office of Peace. Unfortunately we are still trying, over 200 years later, to implement this wise idea.

For a more detailed discussion of this legislation i encourage you to investigate and give your full support to the Peace Alliance. You can find more information at their website http://www.thepeacealliance.org/content/view/54/130/ or click the banner at the top of the page.

family

Take a close look at this picture. Double click the picture and look carefully on the left side.
Do you remember the piece i posted about the century plant?
How i thought it was speaking to me with the curves. How i searched all over the island for something similar but couldn't find any other plant coming even remotely close.
How i consulted with plant people and they were all baffled as well and still are.

Recently my next door neighbor was going to pull the whole plant out. i don't actually own the plant but i am responsible for it being where it is located which is not exactly on my property, it is at the bottom of my driveway across the street. The neighbor thought it had become an eyesore and would just become a brown ugly mess when it completely died off. He thought he was sparing all of us from some horrible view when it kicked the bucket.

Luckily he was caught in the act and stopped. It was revealed to him that i had become obsessed with it and was photographing it regularly. It absolutely could not be pulled out especially since it was budding with all these flowers and the curves were back. Double click the photo and look carefully at the left hand side of the picture. You will see its curves. Look back at the old posts of the century plant and you will see it is re-creating itself. The letter "C" is now thick and buried safely inside the plants structure. The "S" curves around it and keeps it safe.

i have been working on a piece concerning the word "family" and realized that this plant is a perfect example of the tenacity of the "family of man."

There has been a lot of talk lately concerning the thorny issue's of marriage and family. Rather than focus on the term "marriage" i thought it might be more interesting to explore the term "family."

Family can be viewed from three perspectives;

1. The nuclear family consisting of one man, one woman and their biological children,
2. Extended families consisting of one man, one woman their biological children and blood relations such as grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and
3. Complex families consisting of structures larger than any two adults and the conscious associations connected by a recognizable theme.

As our world has become more mobile complex families play a greater role in bringing together people who in the past may never have thought of themselves as part of any family structure outside their blood relationships. This subset of "family" sometimes goes unrecognized even when the progression of society as a whole is directly impacted by its existence. When "family" is the topic and they are reviewed in public forums complex families are too often left out of the equation as far as having major impacts on a person's development.

Family...one man, one woman and their biological children is being challenged as the definitive description for that word. It is no longer the sum total of family. It cannot be the only thing considered as sufficient to create a world wide community that can produce individuals capable of moving society forward. Is "family" the only composition of humans that can produce individuals who can be trusted to pass on "societies moral code?" The term "family" without add-ons......"extended" and "complex" is being resisted.

Just recently i was driving a friend, who had been staying with us for 10 days, to the airport. During the drive over the conversation turned to the usual thank you for your hospitality etc., except this time it had a twist. The friend had decided to tell me about a conversation they had had with the other guest who had left the day before. Apparently the two of them had come to the conclusion that vacationing in our home was unlike vacationing with other friends of theirs. They had decided that they both felt like family when staying with us. They liked feeling like family and they wanted us to know this because they wished it was more of the norm than not.

i was thrilled because i view friends as part of our "complex" family and if they felt like family then we were all in the same boat. i then started examining the idea of "complex" families as a vehicle to expand our understanding of the complexities of mankind in general. The whole focus on one man, one woman and biological children leaves too many in the "family of man" out of the discussion.

The plant made me focus this week on the "complex" issue of the "family of man" and the need to expand the definition of the term "family." Since it is a work in progress as part of humanity squared i thought i'd end this piece with another picture.

Double click on the view of the "whole plant." It has many parts that interact as one unit(family) and yet they remain "different." It is beautiful and ugly, it has thorns and soft spots, flowers and long strong shoots with graceful curves all at the same time. It resembles the "family of man" in all his positive and negative aspects and still manages to work together.

POWER!

Hurray! Yippee! The power is finally back on! NEWS FLASH! At 5:40pm October 24, 2008 one of us was standing outside and noticed the porch light was on. Since that light was not connected to the generator we knew we had finally been reattached to the island wide power grid. After a relatively fast 9 days without power we were once again living in the glare of modern technology. All of us were at once happy to have power and nostalgic for the romantic tones of the kerosene lanterns. Practically every light, fan, recharger etc. was put to use at once. All were tested to see if they still worked and by 5:45pm the place was aglow. The following day more work was undertaken and the washer and dryer were put into heavy use that is still happening today. At 12:03 yesterday afternoon a WAPA(Water and Power Authority) representative called to see if our power had been restored. i said yes it had but it had gone off again just 5 minutes before she called. "WHAT!" she says, "Hold on" and i was left listening to all the ways one can save money on their power bill. You can save $18 a month if you turn off lights when you leave a room, you can save $28.50 a month if you only run your ceiling fans when you are in the room, you can save even more if you unplug the hot water heater when you are not using it and even more if you replace the incandescent lighting with CFL's. When the recording started repeating itself i found myself getting impatient.

Finally she comes back on the line and says, "Yes, you don't have power." i guess she thought i didn't already know that. "The line crew has turned off the power and is clearing the trees away your power will be restored later today." After the other hurricanes that hit here WAPA never contacted you so hearing from a rep was a huge improvement. Even the governor had sent out a robocall when the storm was approaching encouraging all residents to finish their preparations. These two calls, before and after the storm were greatly appreciated even if i started wondering if we should pull out the electrical cords we had put away and wondering if power would be restored before the food we had bought would start to melt in the tropical heat. Luckily the outage was short and now we have had uninterrupted power for 24 hrs. Oh happy day when one can walk into a room, flip the switch and the light comes on.

Looking into alternative generating sources has moved up on our list of things to investigate.

One other thing I might add is the sense of community that always happens after a damaging storm. Someday I hope that after we have finished the clean up work we don't all just go back to our respective corners. We do know how to work together to benefit our community, if only that drive could be bottled and sold everywhere we could do wonders.

Hurricane Omar

October started out as a fine month beautiful balmy weather
lots of rain greening up the island and flowers popping out everywhere. We had started letting our guard down thinking we had made it through the worst month with no hurricanes and nothing really out there looking threatening.
Little did we know that Omar had some winds in store for us.

Omar started to build in the Caribbean instead of the Atlantic the second week of October. He slowly started sucking in all the moisture he could accumulate from the warm seas, and warm they were the water temperature had been hovering between 82 and 84 degrees for quite some time and Omar decided to grow over the shallower waters.

We watched Omar build, listening to the weather reports, checking the satellite photos, tracking him on our own. When he reached hurricane strength and looked like he was making a bee line for St. Croix we started getting ready.
Even though the weather reports made him appear to be a low grade hurricane we knew he could build over the warm shallow waters so we prepared for the worst.

All day Wednesday we prepped, putting up storm shutters hauling in potted plants, patio furniture and pool toys. We secured everything we thought could become a dangerous projectile hauling away things we had been procrastinating over but now needed to be gotten rid of. The trees well we would have liked to have already trimmed them but we hadn't....again that complacency had set in when no storms had even come near us by October. By the end of the day we were beat and settled in to wait for Omar in our storm protected home.
The power went out around 8:30 and rather than start up the generator we decided to go to bed. The wind had kicked up and it had been raining all day but we had been so busy all day all we wanted was to get a little rest. Luckily we did get a little. At 11:00pm everyone woke up to howling winds. I lay there for a while thinking this is no Category 1 storm these winds have got to be over 100mph and if this keeps up we are in big trouble. We got up and found the hand crank radio and turned it on. Sure enough the 11:00pm NOAA report had Omar a Category 3 and passing by right then to our east. It was moving fast but howling especially up here on top of the hill. We went back to bed and listened in the dark to the clanging and clattering hoping the roof would hold through yet another hurricane. Fortunately for the whole island Omar was a quickie. The worst of it was over by 12:30am and by 2:00am we had fallen back to sleep.
This was our first view, one of us had already been out collecting the avocados that had been stripped from the tree, while the rest of us slept.
The following pics detail how incredibly lucky we were.



After two days of intense clean up we were treated to a beautiful rainbow and sunset. Visitors who had planned their trips 6 months before had no idea what they were walking in to.But as you can see one found that even without power this is still a great place to take a vacation. We are still cleaning up and we don't know when we will get power. i called today and we still aren't on the list. Thank goodness for generators and fast moving storms that trim our trees but don't devastate the whole place.

gift from a friend

The pictures i've posted were all taken this month you can double click them for more detail. The one at the top is a duck pond i go to, a surfer eating it, next up is a passion fruit flower from the passion fruit flower plant in back of the house that has just started blooming. Then is the storm called Omar that is moving in on us, sun hitting vines on the hike to the Caledonia falls we did on Sunday(with friends), two sunsets, and the century plant that still hasn't given up and is now starting to flower.

Unexpected gifts from friends can really make one's day. i'm a birder(someone who spends an inordinate amount of time observing birds). i love watching, identifying and listening to birds in the wild. It is just one more way that i connect with nature. Well a friend that i spend a lot of time with, out of the blue gave me a biography book about one of our famous bird illustrators. Then last night this same friend gave me a "thumb thing" to use while i read the book.

i went home, took the "thumb thing" out of the package and put it next to the bed ready for use. When i finally went to bed and took the "thumb thing" out to use it i thought how lucky i was to have such a thoughtful friend. The "thumb thing" is a great invention....all readers should have at least one for it really does take a load off your thumb when your reading.

The package says right on it "thumb thing" and it reminded me of tongue twisters ive heard over the years so i went searching for one. Chuckle,chuckle,chuckle!

Q. How do you catch a unique bird?
A. Unique up on it.
Q. How do you catch a tame bird.
A. Tame way -- unique up on it.

"thumb thing" twists and rolls your tongue, it reminds me of my friend who is a great one for jokes.

Accepting a gift when one isn't expecting it is probably the best thing going. It just isn't the same as a birthday, c'mas, anniversary etc. When a gift comes completely out of the blue you know that someone really thought about you.

Thank you.

a grasshopper

The use of the term propagandist describes a teacher appealing to emotion as opposed to intellect. This instructor can influence opinions and beliefs on various topics be they religion, politics or ethics. Using emotion to disseminate one-sided information has worked in all realms of society but particularly in politics and religion. It is a form of persuasion that is highly useful in coordinating large groups of individuals to act in a prescribed manner.

"Propagandists use the name-calling technique to incite fears and arouse prejudices in their hearers with the intent that the bad names will cause hearers to construct a negative opinion about a group or set of beliefs or ideas that the propagandist would wish hearers to denounce. The method is intended to provoke conclusions about a matter apart from impartial examinations of facts. Name-calling is thus a substitute for rational, fact-based arguments against an idea or belief on its own merits." says Wikipedia

Dredging up the term communist can make the target audience shut down and never understand the underlying issue because they have already discounted it once the word "communist" is used in any context even if used falsely.

Sometimes just suggesting that a policy is looked upon favorably by a group you have been manipulated to hate(communists) is enough to make you act against your own best interests.

So how do you recognize when you have been manipulated?

Independent thinkers are an anathema to propagandists.

The independent thinker usually asks himself if he or she is being persuaded about an issue or informed about an issue, do they have enough truthful information, should they question that "truthful information" and is there more to the story than is being reported? That thinker waits or goes off to locate the opposite side of the issue before forming an opinion. They don't "buy in" to the argument immediately and may even go against their peers in pursuit of a more complete story.

Independent thinkers don't automatically disavow something just because someone on the opposite side has a convincing set of facts. They check it out on their own.

Some propagandists use terms that lodge in the subjects mind in such a way that any attempt to shovel it out fails. In fact there have been studies that show that the more you are presented factual information to refute the side you adhere to the less inclined you are to internalize anything that may demolish your belief(communists are evil, communists are socialists, socialists are evil)could socialists ever be OK?

This technique has been referred to as a thought-terminating cliche'. When you can internalize a phrase, such as "Freedom is not free", you have terminated further discussion concerning aspects of "Freedom" and the phrase becomes part and parcel of your verbal arsenal in the same way that "Communists are evil" has.



Effective propaganda can cause citizens to react negatively. Propagandists can create anxiety when calm is what is necessary. Propagandists can cause stable crowds to riot. Some religions create anxiety amongst their followers by making them believe Hell is waiting if they don't accept the dogma or if they are not "born again" they will never be saved.

You can live an exemplary life, never lie, cheat, steal, you can be someone who does good works but if you haven't accepted the dogma you are still wrong and are not yet saved. You are not part of the crowd. Only a belief in God or Jesus, the propagandists tell you can make you whole, Hell awaits you until you turn yourself over to the dogma.

Well this person ,me, writing this, this person who has been inspired by the AllOne says a belief in the AllOne will never make you adhere to any kind of dogma ever.

Shared conviction and walking daily with the AllOne is important in moving humanity forward but it is not a requirement that you have to follow. No one requires you to do anything unless you choose to. The AllOne makes no rules that you have to follow, no dogmas to make you feel spiritually in touch.

You will know without anyone having to inform you that you are spiritually in touch with the AllOne. There is no propaganda involved in making you adhere to fixed requirements to experience a connection to the AllOne, to believe a particular way, or to follow a particular faith. You make your own choices, you decide on your own how to live your life and how to impact those around you.

Knowing the "AllOne is not a religion just a fact. We, as human beings and everything around us, all of nature and the Universe and everything we haven't yet discovered is part of the AllOne whether it is alive or dead.

You have to use your intellect to determine if you are being manipulated by propagandists, you have come to your opinions on your own, you do the research, you make the decisions.

We are ringed with unity. Each human being is a kernel of that unity and you are part of the AllOne. You may call that propaganda but i just call it a fact.

market meltdown

Janet said the other day that she can speak to animals.
"So can I," said William, "anyone can speak to animals."
"Not just speak to them," said Janet, "I mean really speak to them, like have a real conversation with them."
"Yeah! I can do that too," said William.
"No, you can't," said Janet,
"You can't speak to animals."
"I can too,"
"Can't"
"Can"
"You don't understand," said Janet, "they really do speak."
"Yeah! Sure!" "I hear um too," said William, "especially when they wag their tails."
"William, they speak to me".
"They speak to me too...like I said...I really know what they are saying when they wag their tails."
"William, I'm not joking, I hear them speak back."
"Yeah me too," said William, "Strunk over there just said pet me....did ja hear him?"
"No, he didn't."
"Yes, he did."
"No"
"Yes"
"No, he said, I'm thirsty where is my water?"
"Opps! I was supposed to fill his bowl with water," said William.
"Well fill it," said Janet.
"You already knew I was supposed to fill his bowl."
"No, I didn't."
"Did"
"Did not."
"Did"
"Did not."
"You did, Janet."
"Look William, Strunk said he has been waiting for over an hour for you to fill his bowl. Is that true or false?"
"Well, Lets see. Mom left at 9:30 and it is now 10:30.....jeeze Janet...did he really say he has been waiting an hour or you just made that up?"
"I didn't make it up".
"You did."
"Didn't"
"Did"
"Look," said William, "tell me something else he said so I will believe you."
"He said that last night you kicked him off your bed...true or false?"
"True...but I do that every night."
"Well he wants to stay on the bed, its softer than the floor."
"Tell me something else I don't know...I think you already knew that," said William.
"He said, not only did you kick him off the bed but after you kicked him off he went and spread out all over a red bathroom towel you had dropped on the floor." "Whoa!"
"He said a red towel?"
"Yes"
"Janet, he didn't really say a red towel?"
"He did, why are you so surprised?" said Janet.
"Because, I know you are making this up." said William, "Did you look in my room and see the red towel on the floor?"
"No."
"Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't."
"Did"
"Didn't"
"Look Janet, don't lie to me."
"William, I am not lying, why don't you believe me?"
"Because if I believe you, then it means my dog can talk and I don't believe dogs can talk."
"William, they don't talk like you and I talk."
"Well how do they talk," said William.
"They send thoughts that I catch in my brain."
"How come I don't catch any thoughts in my brain?"
"I don't know."
"Yeah, you don't know because no one can catch dog thoughts in their brain." said William, "You are making it up."
"I'm not making anything up William."
"Well, I don't believe you."
"Fine William, don't believe me, just give your dog some water he is thirsty."
"I'll do that," said William, as he moved off to pick up the dogs bowl from the floor. Janet watched him walk over to the kitchen sink and fill up the bowl with water. William's dog, Strunk, said
"Thanks Janet"
and watched William as well. When William put the bowl back on the floor, Strunk rushed over and started lapping up the water.
"He said Thanks," said Janet.
"Yeah I heard him," said William, "heh!"
"He didn't say Thanks William" he said, "Thanks Janet."
"Why would he say thanks Janet, I gave him the water."
" Yeah, but I made you do it and so he thanked me for getting you to fill up his bowl.

The little discourse above is the beginning of a children's story i was going to write but never got back to. Today, for some reason, it was first in my list of things i had looked at or worked upon recently, although i couldn't remember even looking at it. Once i started reading through it i realized how pertinent it is today.

It stands alone as a fable for how and why things aren't always as they seem.

The meltdown isn't as it seems and rushing through it is not prudent.