Global Volunteer

Portland in December

2012-01-03T10:58:00.000-08:00

On the bus ride from Bellingham to Portland, I was again surprised to see another Occupy encampment. This one was in Tacoma, Washington. One would think they were all gone by now, but there are still over 60 Occupy encampments all across the US. This one had some lovely large tents, professional signs, and many veterans involved - maybe that's one reason it was so organized! I saw signs for Veterans for Peace, and GIvoice and one sign saying "There are no unwounded veterans of war." I was on the bus, so didn't have a chance to stop in and chat with Occupy Tacoma, but they have a livestream on their well organized website: http://occupytacoma.org/

I arrived in Portland and was greeted by my cousin Steve Campbell. And that very first evening I was able to get a bicycle for my time in Portland!! Steve's son Jesse had a girl's mountain bike in his basement that no one was riding. It was perfect for me! We all went out to dinner, and got re-acquainted.

I will be in Portland for a few months. That first weekend attended a potluck and meeting of a permaculture group called City Repair. They have transformed parts of Portland. They met at St David of Wales Episcopal church. Here is the kind of church this is. I spotted this on an office door:

In two more days, I was involved in Occupy Portland's participation of the shutdown of the West Coast ports, partly in protest of big business sending jobs overseas. I soon found a protestor who felt as I do about getting the money out of politics. He has been holding this sign, and this sign only, at all the protests.

On the other side:

I liked these two signs also:

Because I was coming from Vancouver on the bicycle, I had to find my way over two rivers with freeway bridges. It took me a while to find where the bicycles and pedestrians could safely cross, but at least it was an option for us, unlike the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

I was staying in Vancouver with my aunt Barb and uncle Dean. Aunt Barbara is my deceased father's youngest sister. During my stay with them, Dean took me to the place where they get their eggs. The lady who runs this chicken farm also works full time, at nights. I asked her how old her hens are when she sells them on for food. To my great delight, she said that she never slaughters or sells the hens for food. She said they become grandmas to the younger chicks, helping their mother hens to care for and protect the chicks - just like humans. Sweet. I gave her a big hug.

After a week with Barb and Dean I moved over to Fairview Oregon- East of Portland, to stay for a while with cousin Steve and his wife Alicia. One of our first outings was to Multnomah Falls:

The smiles are always great when I set the camera for a 10 second delay so I can rush over and be in the picture.

The moss on the trees reminded me of the area near Milford Sound in the South Island of New Zealand. Also a very wet and cool climate.

The bridge really makes this waterfall extra special.

These were trunks of a dead tree

Closer to Christmas, the caroling started. First was the Holiday Concert of McLoughlin Middle School Choir. My cousin Tim and his wife Linda's daughter Katie performed.

Katie is in the front row, third from the left.

Then, the Friday before Christmas, we had a neighborhood caroling party, in cousin Mike and wife Ricki's neighborhood, Washougal, Washington. Sister Sandy sent over hats and bells and goodies for the party. I made up 40 copies of 7 pages of music, and we had 25 people go out caroling. That was huge for the first time! Around half of the carolers were children, and most of them loved it. When we go caroling, the children take turns going up and ringing the doorbells of the homes, so that the residents come to the door. It is the only way we can be sure they hear us over the noise of the TV or whatever else is happening inside.

We stayed out for about an hour and a half - a long time for the whole group. Real troopers!

We brought lots of joy and hope to many families that night. Everyone loved it so much that they decided they want to make it a tradition. So now Mike and Ricki have all the hats, bells, and music. The goodies are long since eaten....

Steve is enjoying the cranberry chutney made by Sandy on a cracker with cream cheese. This was a hit! Thanks, Sandy!

On Christmas Day, we had lots of fun with a white elephant gift exchange. Rather than spending money on gifts for everyone in this large family, we all found something we already had - often something new we have never used, wrapped it up and brought it along. We drew a number from a hat, and as our number came up, each of us got to choose from the pile of wrapped gifts in the center of the room. Or, if we wished, we could take a gift from someone who had already opened a gift, if we liked that better than what we thought might be in the pile. Each gift was only allowed to be 'stolen' twice. After that, it stayed put with the person who had it. It was lots of fun, and we all came away with something - maybe not what we really wanted, but something. And after this was finished, there was some additional trading which took place among family members. I ended up with a lovely small glass teapot - just large enough for a good size cup of tea. Perfect for me. It came with hand-tied white tea which expands upon being exposed to the water to form flower shapes. It is really lovely.

After Christmas, I spent a day in downtown Portland at the library. On my way to the library, I ran across an unusual bread delivery system - a bicycle delivery.

B-Line delivers more than just bread. It delivers social change. This is from their website:

We believe in:

collaborative relationships that honor and build upon one another
flexibility, simplicity, and playfulness
leveraging the voice, leadership, and passion of our community in the quest for a healthier planet
growing a business that is profitable yet unwavering in its commitment to community and sustainability

As a transportation company, B-Line’s vision is to redefine how goods and services are transported in our increasingly urban environment by simply providing the right tool for the job. As an advertising and promotions company, B-Line seeks to combine flexibility with ingenuity. As a stakeholder in our community, B-Line is passionate about creating a company that is part of a solution and a partner in living. We seek to enrich the fabric of our cities by reducing congestion and CO2 emissions, developing local green-collar jobs, partnering with local manufacturers and small businesses, doing our share to help those in need in our community, and generally believing in the premise that business can be a catalyst for positive change and has a responsibility to the common good."

I've had Dave's Killer Bread before, too. Yet another great Portland story: 15 years in prison for armed robbery, drug dealing, etc. He turned his life around. Click Here for a great video, and a really amazing website.

Not all is sweetness and light for Portland's bicyclists. There are tram lines, and you have to be very careful around them.

Or else...

Bellingham, Washington

2012-01-03T09:42:00.000-08:00

I arranged one more stop on my way to Portland, Oregon: Bellingham, Washington. At the ferry terminal I had some time to enjoy the signs at the cafe.

I had to ask what Xanax is. It is a tranquilizer, for those who also don't know.

Unless, of course, it is given in giraffe.

Ditto.

Yes indeedy.

I made it to Bellingham, where Robyn du Pré met me at the bus stop. Robyn works for one of my all time favorite organizations - the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation.
This organization was created to plant fruit and NUT trees everywhere - the goal is to plant 18 billion (yes, billion) fruit and nut trees around the world so we can feed ourselves way more easily than we do now. That's around 3 trees for every person on the planet.

The foundation gives away whole orchards of fruit and nut trees every year. They have an application form on their website, if you are interested or know anyone who is.

One of their projects is Reservation Preservation, planting fruit and nut trees on Native American reservations. Here is a wonderful video of the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation supplying fruit trees to the Havasupai Tribe in Supai, Arizona: http://www.youtube.com/user/upzirons#p/u/2/1_Pw4FThFW0

While I was in Bellingham, Robyn was working with the Lummi Tribe on planning an orchard for them, which was funded in part by the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation. I was able to go with her to the reservation, and the college where the trees will be planted.

This large grassy area will soon be planted in fruit and nut trees.

There were some old apple trees already on the property. I was interested to see that they were holding their fruit well into December. I tasted one of the windfall apples, and it was so sweet! I learned something new - that frosts increase the sweetness of the apples. That explains why the birds leave many of the ornamental crabapples on the trees until winter or spring. In Minnesota, the temperatures drop so quickly and so far that apples left on a tree would become mush before they became sweet, which is why I never learned this interesting fact before now.

Robyn also took me to a community garden she has been personally helping with in Bellingham: the Caretakers House and Garden, http://www.caretakershouse.org/ It is a new teaching garden project, and will include

Some work has been completed, such as this storage shed with a living roof of drought tolerant sedum:

Plus a local school has adopted some of their space as their school garden:

It will be fun to watch this develop. The idea of having this as a place to teach people how to plant and preserve the harvest is so important now. So many people have grown up never having gardened, and when our currency collapses, these skills will be greatly needed. And even before, the more food we can grow ourselves, the less we support heartless big business, genetically modified food, depleted soils, factory farming, and even slavery.

I was surprised and pleased to see that Bellingham still had a large and active Occupation encampment. I stopped by to say hello and chat with some of the folks there. It was a very tidy camp, with great signs:

It was only a couple of days in Bellingham, then it was time to say goodbye to Robyn and her husband Dan

- sweethearts still

Orcas Island

2012-01-02T18:54:00.001-08:00

On the way to Portland, I stopped at Orcas Island, Washington to visit my friend Phil Knight. Orcas is one of the San Juan Islands. I met Phil when he stayed with me as a Servas traveler in Auckland, years ago. We stayed in touch by e-mail, and this is the first time I had seen him since that visit. The ferry ride to Orcas Island reminded me very much of Queen Charlotte Sound in New Zealand - on the ferry coming into Picton.

Phil lives on a small farm on the island, and helps the owner, Don Tompkins, manage the farm. There are chickens, two border collies, and 6 friendly sheep.

They are friendly because they get fed grain as well as keeping the grass down on the farm. The sheep have the run of the place during the day, so it is a good idea to watch where you step.

The highest point on Orcas Island is Mount Constitution. Phil took me up there to see the view, and we had the dogs along with us.

There were no other people up on the mountain this time of year, so I had one of the dogs take our photo. Gee those border collies are smart!

A lookout tower had been built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930's, and there is an excellent history about the CCC in the stone tower.

The nearest town to Phil and Don's place is EastSound, Washington. Tourism is the main industry here, so EastSound has lots of restaurants and quaint buildings. The locals get it pretty much to themselves in the winter.

This is the view from EastSound, looking out to Indian Island. The native Americans here are the Lummi Nation. The Lummi people are the original inhabitants of Washington's northernmost coast and southern British Columbia.

I met no Lummi people on Orcas, but did later on in Bellingham, Washington.

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On one outing I went with Phil to get some eggs from Ruthie at Coffelt Farm, a San Juan County Land Bank farm. I love to see free range hens, living their lives outside for the most part.

Such beautiful creatures.

Don let me borrow his electric assist bicycle during my visit. I zipped up the hills in no time one Saturday when I went into EastSound to wander around the town.

At the Oddfellows Hall they were having a Christmas bazaar, and I learned about Orcas Island Farm to Cafeteria program. From their website: "Helping students learn about nutrition, food differences, how to eat proper foods for healthy bodies, see how food is grown, visit farms and meet farmers, learn to cook...these are all aspects of an effective Farm to Cafeteria Program. They are the aspects we are binding together and disseminating through our classrooms, the school garden, the school cafeteria, the community and the farms."

At the Christmas bazaar, they were selling ceramic tiles made by the children depicting garden themes, and packets of kale seeds. The children harvested and dried the seed, drew individual artwork, made seed packets out of their artwork, and filled and sealed the seed packets. This is definitely a hands on project for the children. I wanted to learn more, and I had that opportunity a few days later, when Madie Murray met me for lunch and then brought me over to the school for a tour.

From the website again: "Every student from Kindergarten through 6th grade spends a minimum of one hour a week in the Farm to Classroom project where they learn lessons like this. They also work in our school garden where they turn the soil, harvest fennel and all kinds of herbs, raise popcorn, pumpkins, beans, strawberries and all kinds of lettuces, to name a few. They rake up the fallen Fall leaves so they can be used to cover the soil along with fava beans in the Winter so the garden’s fertile will be protected from the cold weather and snow so it can flourish again in the Spring. They harvest seeds and make seed packets that are sold to raise money for the program.
They learn about grains, turn them to flours and make breads. Chefs from the community visit the classroom and teach them about everything from eggplants to filleting salmon. They visit our farms and milk goats, pluck warm eggs from a nesting hen, water pigs and experience cows up close. They learn to compost, respect the Earth and its incredible bounty and give back rather than waste. "

The hallway outside the Farm to Classroom schoolroom had drawings by the children in the program:

I'm with you, Millie! I love apples too.

The teacher of the program, Miss Mandie, wasn't in the classroom. We found her with her students in a nearby building. They were making dinner rolls for the annual Farm to Classroom thank you dinner!

These looked and smelled so delicious - like my mother's homemade dinner rolls.

The program has gradually enabled more and more organic local produce and now even beef to be served in the school cafeteria. As a result, the number of lunches served there has jumped over 35%.

One of the other aspects of this program is the "Fifth Season". The idea is to bring in volunteers and local produce - from local farms and the school garden- to process and flash freeze the produce so the cooks have a ready source of high quality vegetables to cook with. Click Here for a video of how this works at Orcas Island.

The Orcas Island Farm to School website has great resources on how to get started in your own local school: http://www.orcasislandf2c.org/13129.html

The same Saturday I visited the Oddfellows Hall and learned about the Farm to Cafeteria program, I stopped by the library, and was delighted to discover that they were having their holiday open house. In addition to homemade cookies and breads, and coffee served from a silver service, we had music - and what music! The Orcas String Studio arrived and enchanted us with their music and beauty.

The Director is Matthew Olson. You can hear him playing by clicking here

This little girl never took her eyes off Matthew for the whole concert.
You can hear her in a trio with her parents by clicking here They sing, too, so wait for it.

I made some lovely connections during my week on Orcas Island. The day before I left, I was blessed to have a meeting with people on the island who were curious about Time Banking. They understood the concept right away, and they wanted to do it. So I had someone photograph this historic moment:

Since then, there has been a write up in the local Island Sounder paper: http://www.islandssounder.com/community/135259323.html

And a name has been selected: "Isle Give & Take" I will be offering support to the group as they grow. Morgan Meadows, in the purple jacket, has taken on the role of champion for the Time Bank. Go Morgan!!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving this year was a blessed event, because I was able to spend it with family in Iowa. On the way down I stopped at Sandy and Patrick's house in Bloomington, where Sandy was busy using her culinary and artistic skills to make pies and cardamom bread.

The cardamom spice was from the package I had give her from Kashmir, so that was special. Our mother often made cardamom bread at Christmas, so it brings back fond memories for all of us girls.

I had never seen cookie cutters in the shapes she used on top of the pumpkin pies. So appropriate!

Sandy has a fun and whimsical sense of humor, which is often, though not always, subtle...

Sandy and Patrick's cats are loved and well cared for. The end tables in the living room are set up with lamps and warm and cozy beds - one for each cat.

If I was a cat, I could find no better home than theirs.

To allow the cats to enjoy the outside safely, they have build a large cage which sits in the back yard.

The cats are safe, the birds are safe, and the cats can enjoy being outside. Having lost a cat to a dog attack when it was running free outside, I can appreciate this solution.

Sandy and I drove to Iowa and arrived in time to continue the celebration of Jesina's birthday. Jesina is Sharon and Jeff's eldest daughter, and turned 11.

Sharon and Jeff were selling Christmas trees again - something they haven't done for about 15 years.

We had a marvelous Thanksgiving dinner, grateful to be all together and healthy. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Thanksgiving holiday, it is always the last Thursday of November, and is not commercialized. No gifts, just families getting together and enjoying a traditional meal of turkey, white and sweet potatoes, cranberries, and pies. It's my favorite holiday.

A unique aspect of Thanksgiving in Anamosa Iowa is what happens in town the day after Thanksgiving. There is a parade, and many of the local businesses decorate their storefronts and give out hot cider, cookies, or play games. Sharon has a local business, and we took over the storefront of the building she has space in for games and cookies. The cookies were decorated by Sharon's girls and Quintin, my neice Kim's son.

Kalli at age 9, helped Quintin learn the ropes of the cookie baking and decorating.

Quintin stole the show this year, he was so cute.

His mom Kim is expecting a second baby, so Quintin will soon have a little brother or sister to love and protect.

In the storefront window on the other side of the building, sister Sandy was busy encouraging onlookers to try to slide cookies off their foreheads and into their mouths without using their hands. Each participant got three tries.

She had to try it herself, of course, to see how hard it was..

Sister Pat had twisted her ankle on the steps at Sharon and Jeff's house, so watched the games and cookie making from a comfortable chair in the lobby, with brother in law Mike. His hat says "Bah, Humbug".

After the parade and the games, we all went next door to Betty's Grounds and Goodies coffee shop. Betty had brought in a live band for the evening, and some of us kicked up our heels.

We took advantage of the rare occasion to have so many sisters all together for a photo opportunity:

The next day Sandy and I returned to the Twin Cities, where I connected with some dear friends. On the way to lunch with Ellen Fridinger I spotted this tree near Grand Avenue in St Paul. It's red paint indicated it was diseased and would have to be taken down soon. I had to stop for a photo (and a hug).

November in Duluth

2011-12-04T15:26:00.000-08:00

Fall in Duluth this year was a beautifully orchestrated performance by all of nature. A leisurely fall, with the trees patiently waiting their turn on stage to display their fall colors, and have their time in the spotlight. By the middle of November, all the trees had finished their performances and dropped their leaves. The very next week the snow arrived - right on cue.

Some years the snow arrives early, and the colorful leaves hang heavy and wet and miserable looking on the trees. Not this year. The beautiful snow fell amid leafless branches. I was entranced with this miracle. I had been entranced with it as a young girl, too. I remember running up the stairs in our house to the 2nd floor landing so I could look out the window in the darkened stairway and see the snow falling. Unfortunately I tripped on the last step, and fell forward, my chin hitting the window ledge. The resulting cut in my chin was large enough to require a quick trip to the hospital in Superior Wisconsin to get a few stitches put in. I was more careful this year.

The snow melted after a few days - but was a clear warning to everyone to finalize preparations for winter.

One of those preparations was to make cider from the fallen apples. Greg, Chelsea and I loaded up Greg's car and took them to the Apple Cider man, Paul Steklenski. This was a new experience for me. I had never pressed apples before. Paul got out his press, and the buckets, and the other equipment.

Before long, amid stories of past apple pressing adventures, we got to work.

Paul is justifiably famous, and one of his fan club made a puppet for him. Chelsea untangled the strings and had the puppet walking around. Tips for making cider: be sure to remove any moldy apples, and mix up the apples for a good tasting blend of juice.

All the pressings were taken down to the bottom of the garden for composting. The worms love these, by the way.

I had the great fortune to be told about a community choir within a couple of days of arriving in Duluth. I like to sing, so I joined the choir. I had no idea what an amazing experience was in store for me. This community choir, Echoes of Peace, was to be part of a powerful performance entitled "Land of Plenty".

"The show was written by Sara Thomsen. She was encouraged to create the production after The Echoes of Peace Choir, a community choir Thomsen founded in 2002, did a performance entitled Pastures of Plenty last spring. Pastures of Plenty explored the theme of immigration. Land of Plenty continues that exploration and wrestles with the realities of the United States as both a land of opportunity and welcome, and also a land of inequality, exclusion, and forced relocation.

In the Land of Plenty, which is directed by UMD Theater Professor Tom Isbell, Thomsen weaves the stories of her European ancestor’s immigrations with the stories of other people at the same time in history. “I started thinking about my own family’s immigration past." Her Norwegian ancestors came to the U.S. in 1862. "Then I began looking into what was happening here in the U.S. at the same time,” she said. In 1862, following the Dakota War, the Dakota people were forcibly removed from their land. “In order for my people to settle on what was billed as low-cost land, others had to pay a very high price,” she stated. Thomsen uncovered other parallel stories: “At the same time that my English ancestor made his journey to the U.S., Harriet Tubman was making her journey out of slavery.""

There were around 80 people on stage during the performance, and the songs and dialogue had people alternately in tears and laughter. No one walked away untouched. My favorite songs were Oh, Freedom, By My Silence, and Ship Gonna Sail. Ship Gonna Sail was the last song we did for the performance, and even before we finished, the entire audience of 500 or so were up out of their chairs with their arms raised. It is hard to sing when tears are streaming down your face, I can tell you.

A week after the performance, we had a potluck for the choir in the church basement where we practiced. Rebecca Domalga, who had originally invited me to join the choir, was there. It was a wonderful experience being part of the choir. I love to sing.

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Living at Loaves and Fishes, there was a food run 3 times a week. A volunteer would show up with a car or vanload of boxes of food from bakeries and the Co op, and we would go through it and pick out what we wanted to feed the household. The remainder was set aside for compost or to send on to CHUM, Churches United in Ministry. One on food run day I went with the driver to the next stop, to see what happened at CHUM. Kate Bradley, one of my sister volunteers at Loaves and Fishes, came too. CHUM uses these veggies and bread to serve a light lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and fruit goes to the CHUM food shelf. Nothing is wasted.

One of the projects dearest to my heart in Duluth was telling people about the concept of Time Banking, and encouraging Duluthians to set up a time bank for the area. I am unbelievably happy to report that it is happening now. The name of the time bank is Twin Ports Time Traders, and a group of keen residents of Duluth are meeting regularly to make this concept a reality in Duluth.

This time exchange concept started over 20 years ago by an American, Dr. Edgar Cahn. I saw what a powerful community building tool it was in New Zealand, and have been telling everyone about it wherever I go. People love the idea, but it takes a real champion to make it happen for a community. We have our champions in Duluth, and I know the idea will take root there and bloom. In a time exchange, people help each other, and their time is logged in an internet-based database. For every hour a person spends helping their neighbor, they get an hour back to spend on something they need - from anyone else in the community who can help them. An hour is an hour is an hour, and if you get lots of hours, you can use them to have your house painted, or your garden put in and weeded all summer, or learn a new skill - anything you can think of that someone can do for you.

I am a champion of the idea because of all the people who are unemployed in this country. All those skills, all that energy, all that time which no company wants. How does one keep a household going when the unemployment checks stop coming? With this time exchange, people can devote their time to helping others in the community, and they in turn can be helped with home maintenance, growing and preserving their own food, and skills or business training to get started in a new endeavor. There are time banks all over the US and the world now. It is an idea whose time is ripe. Here is a great video of the founder, Edgar Cahn, explaining the philosophy behind time banks, and its potential for our world. Click here to see it.

Changes for the better in the world is what the Occupy Movement is all about as well, which is why I have spent my time helping out and encouraging the movement. I arranged my time so that I was available for nearly all the General Assemblies during my time in Duluth. The General Assemblies are where all the key decisions are made. I took minutes at them and got them posted as soon as possible after the meetings. As my time in Duluth progressed, I had to give up the laptop note taking. It just got too cold for that.

Here are some photos of the last outdoor General Assembly. I proposed that they be moved indoors, and that passed easily!

Everyone has underestimated the resolve of the Occupy protesters. Occupy Duluth was fully prepared and ready to camp out all winter. That is how strongly they feel about justice and fairness, and representative government. Most of the protesters have day jobs or are full time students, and show up at the camp for evenings and to stay over night, returning to school or their jobs the next day. That is why this room is called "The Living Room". It is exactly that for many people.

The big issue during this time was whether or not we would be able to stay in our encampment over the winter.

We were told we could if we got down to one structure, and if we applied for a special use permit.

So we worked hard to remove all but one large tent...

Inside the big tent made with tarps was a smaller canvas tent with a wood stove:

Moving all the extra gear into nearby storage:

In preparation for being arrested, Jay marks the phone number of the Civil Liberties Union on his arm:

And everyone waited...

We hoped that the city would be lenient on the permit requirements. It didn't happen, and the encampment was removed. So endeth Phase 1 of Occupy Duluth. Phase 2 is beginning now, and will focus on education and direct action. I will continue to offer my help from afar to my new friends.

As I move on to the West Coast, and get involved with other Occupy groups around the country, I will be focusing on one issue I know is of great importance to everyone, whether or not they are active in the Occupy movement. That issue is "Getting the Money Out of Government". Every single person I have talked to is in agreement on this one issue. And it is a powerful cure for what ails this country. I am educating myself now on how this can be done, so I can speak knowledgeably on it to people, and propose workable solutions to what seems an intractable problem. Want to help??

I left Loaves and Fishes on the Monday of Thanksgiving week. There was a group pie-making event on the Saturday before, which I couldn't attend, but my camera went and I got to see all the fun I missed!

Sunday night Joel made a delicious dinner just for me, and many of my friends from Loaves and Fishes and the community joined in my last supper. Here is one of the dishes specially prepared by Joel: stuffed squash:

During my time at Loaves and Fishes I read about Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement every night before going to sleep. I felt humbled and inspired by the dedication, devotion to a life of poverty, and vision that Dorothy and Peter Maurin held:
" Dorothy Day (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and devout Catholic convert; she advocated the Catholic economic theory of Distributism. She was also considered to be an anarchist,^[2]^[3]^[4] and did not hesitate to use the term.^[5] In the 1930s, Day worked closely with fellow activist Peter Maurin to establish the Catholic Worker movement, a nonviolent, pacifist movement that continues to combine direct aid for the poor and homeless with nonviolent direct action on their behalf." Source: Wikipedia

You can see from that description how perfectly the Catholic Worker movement suits me. I felt quite at home and in my element there. At the same time, I was most certainly challenged by living with some people who seemingly had no interest in working to free themselves from addictions. I need more grace, that's for sure. Please pray for me, if you will.

Occupy Duluth Protest and Meeting with Police and City

2011-11-07T12:11:00.000-08:00

One of the things I know I can do for an organisation is take minutes. So I decided I would arrange my schedule so I could attend the General Assembly meetings whenever possible and take the minutes. At first I took minutes with a pad of paper,

and now I am taking them directly into my laptop, as I did with the Hope Disability Centre. It is faster for me to get the minutes out that way.

I have enjoyed holding signs at the protests. I have never done this kind of thing before, and it is a lot of fun for me.

I made my own sign as well, to show the public that Occupy Duluth represents a wide range of people.

We have chosen the busiest intersection in Duluth for our protests: Superior and Lake.

One of the protestors, Scot, I see frequently. He belongs to the church I attend (Unitarian Universalist Duluth), and is also in the Echoes of Peace Choir. He is great at getting the public to show their support when we protest, and when he is there encouraging them, I estimate that 80% of the people in the cars either honk, or wave, or give us a thumbs up as they pass.

After a couple of weeks on our site outside City Hall, we decided to re-arrange the camp, and give the grass a chance to recover where our tents had been. Jennifer and others raked the leaves, and I helped put up tents and lay plastic under the tents to help prevent water seeping up in the rain.

One of our supporters came to us and offered an evening in the pool at the nearby Radisson for the protestors, and some of us took him up on the offer. Hey, even protestors need a break!

On Friday, November 4, we were taken by surprise to learn that the Duluth City Administrator had plans for us to move, and they would be talking to us about this on Monday, the 7th. Many people in camp, seeing what happened at other occupy locations, fully expected the police to swoop in during Sunday night and arrest us all.

This concern galvanized the public, and our Saturday evening General Assembly was very well attended.

We occupied the Mayors office on Monday morning November 7, in order to get an apology for the lack of communication from the office, and to have a meeting with the City Administrator to learn more about the concerns the city had. It went very well. The City Administrator apologized for the lack of communication, and he came down to our encampment for the meeting later, along with the chief of police.

Jennifer and Jesse went all out to make them feel welcome with special treats, and the rest of us cleaned up the camp. Not one cigarette butt would have been found there.

We are most likely the only Occupy group in the US where this would happen. We had a good discussion, and the media, hoping for a fight, were very disappointed. We know they wanted "a story". I suggested that "the story" be the fact that we were working and communicating peacefully with each other. That's a very powerful story for nonviolence and understanding. I wonder if it will actually show up anywhere....

Frome the meeting, it is clear that there is pressure being put on the city and the police to have us gone. We understand that. Tents in front of city hall are an eyesore. Joel from Loaves and Fishes raised the point that there are several tent cities hidden away in other parts of Duluth, where homeless people live. If the city is concerned about our safety (one of the issues raised), they should be just as concerned about the safety of the people living in the other encampments.

It will be an interesting week.

Late October in Duluth

2011-11-07T12:03:00.000-08:00

I have so enjoyed the fall colors all around us here. What has been most delightful is that the trees have taken turns in the spotlight. The red maples across the street had pretty much dropped their leaves before the yellow maples turned color.

This maple is in the back yard of my Loaves and Fishes house, the Olive Branch. We see it from the kitchen and the back porch. Stunning.

These photos were taken near Chester Creek, on my way home from church. The red berries are from the Mountain Ash tree, Sorbus americana. They stay on the trees well into late fall, until eaten by the birds.

The yellow is the sugar maple tree, Acer saccharum .

All around the Western world, the last Friday of each month is a big day for cyclists: it is Critical Mass, where cyclists get together and ride en masse through the streets. I love to participate in these rides, and was delighted to have the opportunity to ride in Duluth's Critical Mass ride, along with Chelsea, a sister volunteer at Loaves and Fishes:

Chelsea is learning stilt walking while she is here in Duluth volunteering. She will be joining others for a Day of the Dead walk, and showed us her costume and practiced on Halloween day:
She is walking down the street with one of our house guests, Eva Lee, a precocious 3 year old, going on 6.

Chelsea carved our pumpkins for Halloween:

And helped prepare our special Halloween meal - food with names like "Kitty Litter", and maggots and beans, things like that...

A very delicious meal, and lots of fun for everyone!

A few days later, someone got this great photo of Chelsea in all her costumed glory for the Day of the Dead parade. Scary!!

Duluth was a wealthy city in the 1800's, and the buildings are testament to the wealth extracted from the trees in the forests and the iron ore in the earth. This beautiful building is Chester Terrace.

Duluth would be a far bigger city, if the climate was milder. The winters are pretty long and harsh, which is why my family headed further south as soon as they could. The city does its best to help out, though. Here they have put in electrical plugs along the street so people can plug in their cars. There are heaters in the engines which keep the oil from getting too thick with the cold. Note that the electrical outlet is well above ground - so you can still find it in the snowbanks come winter.

The bike belongs to my sister Sue. She kindly lent it to me for my time in Duluth. It is loaded with my overnight gear for staying at Occupy Duluth. I have stayed over with them at the encampment 3 nights so far. With enough clothes and sleeping bags and foam mats under me, it isn't too bad.

The city is preparing for winter.
Here is a large pile of bagged leaves contributed by the public, and waiting to go over the roses in the Duluth Rose Garden.

The roses were trimmed and tied, in preparation for being laid into trenches dug next to them.

By the 7th of November, the roses were in the ground and the bags of leaves laid on top of them:

A lot of work to keep these roses protected from the bitter cold in this part of the world!!
I asked permission of the manager of the garden to glean some roses for the Loaves and Fishes shelter. They said "sure". When I showed up, they lent to me their clippers and said to take whatever I wanted. I made a number of lovely rose arrangements for the house from what I was able to collect, before the roses were tipped into the ground. Sweet.

I was happy to see the cake served at the Unitarian Universalist church on one of my visits there:

Celebrate diversity and immigrant rights - on a cake!! I love it.

Occupy Duluth and Hawks Ridge

2011-11-05T08:40:00.001-07:00

In mid October, people of all ages and economic backgrounds got together in support of Occupy Wall Street, and Occupy Duluth was born.
In consultation with Duluth city hall and the police, managed primarily by Joel from Loaves and Fishes, we were allowed to camp out in front of Duluth City Hall, the Courthouse, and the Federal Building.

Camp was set up quickly, and many people donated tents, sleeping bags, food, ropes, cardboard, etc etc. We first created a facebook page then a website: www.occupyduluth.org

A stalwart of Occupy Duluth is Jennifer. She has taken charge of nourishing one and all who come to the camp.

She is very allergic to gluten, so every meal includes allergen-free options. Imagine that in an outdoor camp!!

It means that people are asked to list the ingredients in their donated prepared food, or just donate the ingredients, rather than prepared food. It is working, though!!

The Occupy movement is all about living in the way we wish to see the world, so we compost and recycle and have created our space to be nonviolent, and alcohol and drug free. No smoking is allowed in any of the tents. It is also inclusive of all people, so when people who are drunk arrive in the middle of the night, a space is found for them to sleep. People who are homeless are welcome, as well as people who are wealthy. No one is turned away. The extra donuts and sweet rolls donated to us are given to the police department nearby.

I don't know if we are the only one, but we are on good terms with the police, who do not harass us. Dialogue and compassion are what we strive for, as we come together to create a kinder, fairer, and more just USA. Some are impatient with this approach, but the people who attend the general assemblies are the ones who decide, and no one has blocked these policies.

I have not moved over to the emcampment, but I have spent the occasional night there in support. Plus I have been making and printing flyers, taking the minutes of as many General
Assemblies as I can, and created a YouTube video of the consensus decision-making process we use in the General Assemblies, as explained by Lara. I have also helped organise the camp, clean and tidy it, and generally make myself as useful as possible with my limited time. Most recently I purchased 3 reflective vests so when we are out on the streets serving coffee to the homeless and picking up trash, people know who is helping them. Since I got involved, I have done more research on the issues, and the most disturbing and revealing thing I have found is this video, done by Richard Wilkinson on how economic disparity harms societies. It was presented on TED: Click here to see it. Here is one of the graphs from the talk:

For me, this graph clearly states what has gone so wrong in the USA, and the video explains why, and what we must work on to fix it. We know there is wealth disparity in the US. This video, this graph, explains why this is not good for us. For me, it gives me the determination to work for a solution.

If you are at all interested in the future of our country, and what can be done to make it better, I hope you will take a few minutes to watch this video by Richard Wilkinson. You will understand why people in Oakland and New York are willing to be arrested, to freeze, to be beaten, to be sprayed with pepper spray, in order to get this message out to you, so you can understand what has happened to our country. Only then can we join together to create a better future for everyone who lives here now, and who will live here in the future.

Hawk Ridge

On a completely different note, my sister Sue and I took a trip to Hawk Ridge to see the hawks fly over us. As the hawks and eagles move south in the fall, when they hit Lake Superior, they follow the shoreline rather than fly directly over this huge lake. And their flight patterns concentrate their flight pattern right over this ridge near Duluth. As many as 1500 hawks and eagles have been counted in a day here.

No wonder the road was lined with cars, some of them coming long distances for this show.

We wandered around, marveling at the size of the lenses on the cameras people held,

the beautiful view from the ridge,
That is an oceangoing vessel in the photo. Lake Superior is an international waterway.

This was a useful guide to the birds we were seeing flying overhead.

Then, to our surprise, a young woman named Tessa came out holding a beautiful hawk, which had just been captured for banding.

The hawk was about to be released.

Tessa showed us its wings,

And its strong talons:

We marveled at how calm the bird was. It never made a move to bite or harm Tessa in any way, even when at times it was close to her face.

Tessa told us it was a young red-tailed hawk, which had not yet developed the distinctive reddish-brown color in its tail.

Then, as she was showing us the bird, she said one of us could release it, if we donated to the raptor fund. Sue and I decided to share the cost, and Sue kindly let me do the releasing.

It never tried to harm me, either as I held it. How kind, how wonderful, for it to do that. It could have done significant damage to me, but chose not to, despite the repression it was experiencing from me. Again, nature teaches us lesson after lesson, if we choose to learn from her.

Off you go, kind hawk, to continue your solitary journey. I will be joining you soon.

Loaves and Fishes Duluth, Minnesota USA

2011-10-12T12:56:00.001-07:00

In late September I arrived back in Duluth, ready to get to work at Loaves and Fishes. I was assigned to volunteer at the house where women and families stay: Olive Branch. I have a nice room at the top of the house, under the eaves, with a south facing window. Plenty of space for the few things I travel with. There are few house rules here. Part of the appeal to me about the Catholic Worker philosophy is that there is not a lot of rules. It feels very free, a place where I can express myself, and implement ideas for giving and sharing and helping without having to go through a long approval process. Here is a bit of history from the Catholic Worker website:

"The Catholic Worker Movement is grounded in a firm belief in the God-given dignity of every human person.

Today 213 Catholic Worker communities remain committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, prayer, and hospitality for the homeless, exiled, hungry, and forsaken. Catholic Workers continue to protest injustice, war, racism, and violence of all forms."

I love this combination!!

On the morning of my second day here, Joel asked for help rounding up grocery store trolleys which had been left around the neighborhood. This happens occasionally. I volunteered to go with him. We collected three trolleys and brought them the several blocks back to the grocery store. I have never done that particular volunteer job before!

Another new experience for me was the Food Run. Three times a week food is delivered. Sometimes we go get it, but I have not done that yet.

The food is bruised or older fruit and vegetables, and day old bread. Staples come to the house once a month, I have been told. Milk comes in lovely old fashioned glass bottles once a week. We get 6 quarts. It doesn't last a whole week here, with 8 to 10 people or more eating 3 meals a day here.

In addition to the food we get from grocery stores, two of the three Loaves and Fishes houses have their own gardens. Here is some of the harvest from Hannah House:

Joel harvested his potatoes this week. This year he planted the potatoes in compost, and had a bit of a slug problem, but it looks like a good return for planting some old sprouted potatoes he had this spring!

I celebrated my 58th birthday at the Olive Branch house this year. It was a lovely birthday, with a meal and cake made specially for me: quiche for dinner

and for the birthday cake: yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Everybody pitched in to give me a very special birthday meal. I feel like I am already part of this community!

The next day, my sister Susan who lives in Duluth took me out for lunch. We stopped at the nearby rose gardens on our way. Lake Superior is so large that you cannot see the other side of the lake from Duluth. An ocean of fresh water. I was surprised to see how healthy and vigorous the roses were, this late in the season. They were blooming like it was June!

This lovely garden is only a few blocks from the Loaves and Fishes houses.

Sue and I also did some shopping together for Loaves and Fishes. One of the items on our list was a live trap for a mouse. Even as a brand new volunteer, my love of animals was taken into consideration when we realized there was a mouse in the house. Kate asked my opinion on mouse removal. I much prefer to catch and relocate mice, so offered to buy a live trap and take care of the relocation.

We didn't find a live trap small enough for a mouse during our first shopping trip, but Sue stopped in at her local hardware store near her house and found one for us to use. I set it on Saturday evening after dinner, when the house was quiet. I heard the trap door shut within 5 minutes!! That was easy! I decided to take the mouse with me to church on Sunday, because it was located out in a wooded area, and the mouse would have plenty of good habitat without having to find shelter in a house.

I set the trap again on Sunday night, and on Monday morning had another mouse. This time I took it over the freeway and railroad tracks to the LakeWalk. There was no way this mouse would find its way home from there!

The bait was peanut butter on a granola cookie. Irresistible!

Here are some photos of the Lake Walk in fall, just a couple of blocks away from where I am volunteering, and the new home for the wee mouse:

One of the attractions for me to come volunteer at Loaves and Fishes is the Bike Cave bicycle collective. I will learn more about bicycles and how to fix them by hanging out with people who love bicycles - and know how to fix them! Here are some of the Bike Cave teachers for the public who come to work on their bikes, with guidance:

James

Andy

And a "customer" of the Bike Cave who came over to work on his bike.

The tools and stands are kept in the basement of Dorothy Day house, where Joel lives. Here are some photos from the cave itself:

Unrelated to the Bike Cave, I finally got to ride an electric assisted bicycle! Michele lives at Hannah House, and offered to let me try out her bike. I have been debating whether an electric assisted bicycle would be possible for me ever since they appeared in New Zealand a couple of years ago. I was inspired by the description someone wrote about what it was like to ride up a hill on one. This person had written "It was like the hand of God gently pushing me up the hill." I was sold. I wanted to experience that!!!

Michele told me how it worked, and I hopped on. Duluth is built on a steep hill going up from Lake Superior, so there is no shortage of hills to climb. The bicycle performed beautifully going up the hill when I turned the hand grip control. It was smooth and silent. Not quite a holy experience, but close. I knew then that when I settle down to live somewhere with hills like Duluth or New Zealand, I would definitely have a bike like this. It was so easy, so comfortable to get up the hill, that I wanted everyone in Duluth to get on this bike and see how great it is!! Michele had gotten it slightly used from an ad in the newspaper for less than $500. What a bargain! It folds, too, for ease of transport in a car.

Another of the reasons I am so drawn to the Catholic Worker movement that Loaves and Fishes belongs to, is the activism. One of our visitors came in this vehicle:

And this is hanging in the Dorothy Day house:

The intersection which lies in the middle of the three Loaves and Fishes houses boasts the only traffic circle in all of Duluth. It had a neglected garden in it, and I have adopted it.

First I weeded and deadheaded and tidied it up. It had a good mulch of wood chips and had been maintained well in the past, so that didn't take long.

Then, I decided to buy spring bulbs for it. Winters here are long - around 6 months. When spring comes, there is nothing more sweet to see than spring flowers. This traffic circle sees probably a hundred cars during the course of a day, and about half as many pedestrians. I love the idea of them being thrilled next spring with an abundance of spring blooms. So I bought early crocus which will bloom in April, then hyacinths for early May, daffodils for mid May, and two types of tulips, to take the spring bulb blooms all the way into June, hopefully.

Speaking of snow, I began to notice that in Duluth they attach red and white poles to the water hydrants, so the firefighters can find them below the snow in winter. I wonder if it will snow much before I leave in November?

September in Fairfield and Des Moines

2011-10-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

Sharon drove me all the way to Fairfield, Iowa so I could meet with friends I had made there 3 years earlier. My first visit was with Hap and Lin Mulleneaux, who have been building cob and straw bale homes on their property just outside the town. When I first visited, they had just begun building their first cob home. They have since completed that home, and built several other buildings on their property.

This tiny and charming home had what Hap called a Rocket Stove inside.

A 30 gallon drum and flues enable a small fire to heat this house very easily.

The day I arrived Lin and a friend had just finished another layer of the pizza oven. It has the aesthetic appeal of a beautiful beehive.

Hap has been experimenting with other buildings, too. Here is a treehouse he built for a family member in town:

During my few days in Fairfield, I spent time telling everyone I met about Time Banking, and encouraged folks in Fairfield to set one up. I will explain it to you the same way I explain it to everyone I meet:

What is Time Banking? You know how you will trade favors with next door neighbours? Well, with a coordinator and using the internet, Time Banking expands this trading of favors to the whole community: the whole neighbourhood, or the whole town, or the whole village. Here is an example. Let's say you need someone to help you weed your garden. You contact the Time Bank Coordinator and place your request for help. The Coordinator sends out a notice to all the people in the community who are part of the Time Bank. Someone you may not even know very well sees your request, and contacts you about coming to help. If you are comfortable with the person, you say "Yes, come on over!" The person comes over and helps you. Let's say they spend 5 hours helping you weed your garden. Once he or she has finished, you contact the Time Bank Coordinator, or directly put 5 hours into your helper's Time Bank account. Now, this person has 5 hours he or she can use to get their own help from the community. Maybe this person needs help painting the house, or would like a massage, or wants to learn how to preserve food. They put their own request out to the community, and someone else helps them.
Here is a visual of the process: if you click on the image it will enlarge so you can read it.

Basically, this is how it works. Great idea, yes? And because no alternative currency is used, and no dollar value is placed on anyone's time, it has been ruled to be non-taxable both in the US and in the UK (and probably New Zealand and elsewhere, too, but I haven't looked yet).

I have located some great resources for time banking:

Global Time Bank website: http://www.65hours.com/

US Time Banking: http://timebanks.org/about/

Milwaukee Time Bank (well organised): http://mketimeexchange.org/

Time Banking Video: http://vimeo.com/28313090

Time Banking Resource: http://www.timedollar.org/

IRS statement on why time bank hours are NOT taxable: http://mketimeexchange.org/?page_id=42

New York times article: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/15/where-all-work-is-created-equal/

It is a beautiful way to build community, reduce fear, and in effect, create an extended family which you choose yourself.

Fairfield is the home of transcendental meditation in the US, and In 2006, the town was named one of the "12 Great Places You've Never Heard Of" by Mother Earth News magazine. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi purchased a failed private college in Fairfield for his US headquarters in 1974.

Because of this influence in the town, there are many creative and delightful businesses and activities in Fairfield. Everybody's Whole Foods is one example. I have never seen such an extensive selection of bulk foods before:

And not one, but three organic nut butter grinders:

And something I have never ever seen before: a Free Table

Now, isn't this a much better solution than throwing the old produce away?? Go Everybody's!!

Another of my favorite places was Revelations Cafe and Bookstore.

They also sold a few gifts, like these:

I certainly can relate to this one!

Outside was a beautiful mosaic created by one of Hap's relatives.

Hap had treated me to lunch at Revelations, with his mother Dorothy. We had a photo outside later
Dorothy is in her 80's, and walked the 4 miles home to Hap and Lin's property after lunch that day. Wow. I hope I can do the same at her age!

I spotted this rhinoceros planting and had to share it with you. Just another example of the charm of Fairfield.

I attend critical mass rides whenever I can around the world. Too bad I would be missing Fairfield's first ever critical mass ride...

I met so many amazing, wonderful, interesting people in Fairfield on this visit. One of them was Nick Campney. Nick used to be an eco-nazi, reducing his carbon footprint to almost zero. Then he went to Gaviotas, and it changed his life. This is From Nick's website:

Gaviotas is a small community in the nearly uninhabitable eastern plains of Colombia. In 1971 a group of engineering students from Bogota set off to start a sustainable community in what they believed to be the worst conditions in the world. In the last 40 years they have planted a 20,000 acre forest which now provides them with clean water, rosin and turpentine which they sell around the world. Biodiesel is also produced to meet their electricity and fuel needs. As Gaviotas has had a large influence in the creation of One Hundred Trees we feel it is important to share their story which teaches how functional forest can improve our lives.

From his experience in Gaviotas, Nick came back to the US and started planting trees: thousands of them. His goal in 2011 alone is to plant 11,000 trees, and in 3 years plant 100,000 trees. Here is a link to his website: One Hundred Trees

We talked about nut and fruit trees. I tried to take a video of his presentation, but my video camera failed me. Sorry, Nick!!

With the interest in Time Banks expressed by nearly everyone I talked to in Fairfield, I am confident there will be one set up in Fairfield soon.

Then it was time to head north to Duluth again to begin my volunteer work with Loaves and Fishes homeless shelter. Since I was traveling by bus, I would need to stay overnight in Des Moines. So I decided to stay an extra day and see if I could connect with their community members who would be interested in time banks and community orchards. I was hosted by Couchsurfer Andy Drish in a gorgeous house in West Duluth. During my one day there I took a bus into town, intending to rent one of these:

The bike stand was near the University of Iowa, near the Gateway.

The Gateway has a large sculpture garden, and I spotted work by one of my favorite artists there: Deborah Butterfield

This one is entitled Ancient Forest.

I find her horses to often strike me as more elegant, more beautiful, than the real thing. This one was huge, about 10 feet high.

It was still early in the morning, so I thought a cup of coffee would be nice. I asked a passerby if she could recommend a cafe near the park.She directed me to the nearby Ritual Cafe. It was perfect for me! Vegetarian food, a huge community bulletin board filled with alternative information, and free WiFi. I stayed there all day, and never even rented the bike!!

I researched the community, posted information on Time Banking and the Neighborhood Fruit finders on their bulletin board, and connected as best I could via e-mail with folks in Des Moines. Here are some of the great links I discovered that day:

Local Harvest: http://www.localharvest.org/ To find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area

Market Maker: http://ia.marketmaker.uiuc.edu/ A website where small food producers can register their offering for free. Set up by the folks at Iowa State University.

Urban Ambassadors: http://www.urbanambassadors.org/dsm/

I caught the bus to Minneapolis, visited family and friends for a couple of days, and then on to Duluth!!

September in Anamosa, Iowa

2011-10-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

Whenever I go to the USA, I always make a point to stop visit my youngest sister Sharon and her family, in Anamosa, Iowa. Anamosa is my "permanent" residence in the US. Sharon gets my mail for me, and scans it for me on her computer, and then e-mails it to me. I often receive it within a day or two of it arriving at her house! How efficient is that!! Sharon had asked that I come down to Anamosa to help her and Jeff prepare for their 15 year anniversary of the founding of Minger Mowing and Landscaping. This entailed working on the invitations

and clearing out the room above the garage. What to do with all the things that collect there? Sharon and Jeff don't have an attic or a basement for storage in their house, so the room above the garage tends to be the unofficial place to store things. Ah, but wait. They had recently built some storage units to rent out, and one was empty. Could it be used for the family? Jeff agreed it could for a little while, until other storage could be built, and I went to work organizing and labeling boxes. When it was time to move things to the storage unit, I was going to carry them downstairs and load them into one of their vehicles and drive them the 300 feet or so to the storage unit. Jeff had a better idea: use the front end loader.

He brought it around to the room above the garage, and we loaded it up without having to haul boxes down the stairs.

A most unique way to put away the Christmas decorations!!!

The rest of the planning went well, and the weather cooperated for the event. We had lots of leftover food, and ate baked beans for a week after the party!

Kesha, the family dog, loves an excuse to follow me around outside the house.

Here is something you won't see very often. These men are not having a Rotary breakfast. No, they are in a local diner in Anamosa having an ecumenical Bible study!! I love the openness of it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone, following any of God's religions, would feel free enough to have religious or spiritual study in the local restaurant like this, all around the world?

Speaking of around the world, we had a visit during my time in Anamosa from the Resurrection Dance Theatre of Haiti. In 1985 Michael Geilenfeld, former Brother of Charity with Mother Teresa, started St. Joseph’s Home for Boys. He began with $1000.00 and 5 boys who had been living on the streets. They lived in a small rental house and since they had been living on the streets, living together as a family was initially difficult. Michael began having them act out plays and dance together to foster a cohesive environment. This was the beginning of the Resurrection Dance Theater.

The young boy in this skit from his own life later performed a Michael Jackson dance and brought the house down.

This man, Bill is the manager of the boys home. During the earthquake in Haiti he fell 7 stories from the rooftop chapel in St. Josephs home for boys. He survived his fall with a broken back and several other bones, but was back playing his drum just over a year later. Here is a link to a short video of their performance.

The weekend after the open house, the whole family went to Bloomsbury Farm, where I experienced my first "corn maze". Here are some photos from the day:

Kalli

Kalli and Jesina

Jeff burying Jesina in shelled corn (yes, this is Iowa!)

In the corn maze

Where are we??

One more piece of the puzzle collected on our maps.

What is this goat doing up there?? Waiting for someone to put some grain in the elevator and send it up to him.

This pot bellied pig was so very gentle as he took the corn form my hand.

Jeff rocking Jesina in The giant's chair

Notice Jesina's addition to the photo?

Bye until next time!

August in the USA

2011-09-05T13:17:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Milwaukee airport on the 10th of August, and there to meet me was someone I had only met online: Charles Brigham and his mother Pamela. I had been following Charles' adventures cycling around the world using no fossil fuel for the past several years. He is a great writer, and a fearless traveler. Here is a link to his writing. He left Madison Wisconsin with little money, and a great idea: to travel around the world using no fossil fuel. He cycled to Florida, took lessons in sailing, and got him self a position as crew on boats which eventually landed in England. And on....

He made it to Egypt when a bad accident forced him to put his project on hold while he heals. And that is why I was able to catch up with him, in his home town of Madison, Wisconsin. He met another intrepid cyclist on his travels, and was preparing for his wedding to Lily when I arrived to help out for a few days. The wedding has a cycling theme, of course, and all the guests were going to ride together out to the local park for the wedding. Some people coming to the wedding didn't have bicycles, so Charles and his friends were collecting old bikes and fixing them up for the wedding. We needed 26 bikes!

I helped where I could. I used a chain tool for the first time to remove an old rusty chain off this bike:

And Charles and Lily found a cycle rickshaw for Lily's father to ride in style:

Just needed a bit of cleaning

Charles was also the creator of Lighfoot Sustainable Post, where travelers hand carry letters to their destination, since they are going that way anyway. There was a Sustainable Post box in Madison (of course), and there are others in another 20 (at last count) locations around the world.

I checked the box in Madison, to see if there were any letters I could help deliver, and left a couple of my own to be delivered.

While at the Mother Fools cafe with the Sustainable Post box, I met another cyclist, a nomad like me, who is also an artist. Francesco di Santis has documented the stories of what happened in New Orleans after Katrina. Here is a link to his work: Post Katrin Portraits He created similar portraits and stories for Appalachian people, and these can be seen here at Mountain Justice. If you know of any group or place which would like to have them displayed, or have any questions, please contact Francesco at wanderer "at" riseup.net

I couldn't stay more than a few days with Charles and his family, and was sad about not being able to attend the wedding, but I had previous commitments with family, starting with my cousin Lynne and her husband Hank in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I took a bus to Milwaukeee, and my friend Carol Zorn picked me up at the bus station, with her boyfriend Jim. They live in Chicago, so it was quite a gift for them to come all the way up to pick me up at the bus stop, take me out to dinner, and drop me off out in New Berlin where my cousin lives. Thank you Carol and Jim!!

The first day I was with Lynne and Hank, Hank and I went out to the airstrip, where he flies radio-controlled airplanes. My father enjoyed this hobby also when he was a young man.

Hank's plane he was flying the day I was with him was quite large, so the wings were added after we arrived at the airstrip

It was a busy day. The weather had been rainy for a long time, and this was the first sunny day they had enjoyed in quite a while. I got to meet many of the guys who flew the planes, and they were all quite social.

Ready to take off, as soon as all pre-flight checks are completed.

Final checks

Taxiing

Take off

I enjoyed seeing all the fancy manouvers, rolls, dives, etc the pilots did with their planes. But my favorite was the glider. I loved the peace and serenity as I watched it soar slowly and quietly over the airstrip, with the fluffy clouds in the background.

During my visit with Lynne and Hank, I purchased a copy of The Three Waves of Volunteers and the New Earth for Lynne. She loved it, and we had many interesting conversations about what is happening in the world now, and what our purpose in life is at this time. I am still offering to buy it for my contacts, friends, and family, if you want a copy.

After a great visit in Milwaukee, it was time to head off to the bus station. In this photo I am carrying everything with me I had on my bike in France, except the food. Tent, sleeping bag, mattress, cycle helmet and lock, gardening tools, everything. And I can carry it all. I am getting by with less and less all the time.

I was off to Minneapolis to meet up with my sisters to go to Bruno, Minnesota. We were all getting together to bury both our parents' ashes in the cemetery there. But first, we attended Settlers Days in Bruno, and I brought with me some balsawood airplanes I had picked up in Milwaukee before dinner with Carol and Jim. I had not seen balsawood planes for sale in a very long time, so bought enough for all my sisters, including Lynne.

Da girls in Bruno

We had fun flying the planes

The trip out to the cemetery was more somber, but also very valuable time together. We each helped dig the hole for the ashes, and said a few words, and it was good closure for us to say a final goodbye to our parents, as well as Del, Pat's husband, and aunt Marjorie, and Patrick - all family members who have passed on since 1996 when our mother died.

I went from Bruno to Duluth with Sue and Dean, and stayed for a week. The deer greeted us as we drove into their neighbourhood. They are almost pets they are so numerous and unafraid.

I never tire of watching their grace and beauty. I did not see one deer in France during 3 months of cycling there, and I was in quite out of the way places which would have been great deer habitat. In Duluth, I could see them at any time I wanted, if I got up for an early morning walk, or would go for a walk just before dark.

Most of my time in Duluth was spent pulling buckthorn out of Sue and Dean's wooded property. Buckthorn is an invasive pest - a small introduced tree that grows so abundantly in this part of the country that it completely crowds out native ferns, flowers, and other trees. I had known it was invasive, but this was the first time I had ever spent time clearing it from a woodland. Once I saw how it would grow in complete shade or full sun, right up against the trunks of trees and with root systems that prevented anything else from growing, I had no more qualms about killing so many living things. They had to go.

It was great exercise for my back, arms, and hands.Sue and Dean had tackled these plants two years earlier, but they had come back with a vengeance, and it was just depressing to tackle it all over again for them, so I was glad to help. I was not just doing it for them, but for the forest itself and all the creatures who depend on the diversity which should be there.

During my stay in Duluth, I learned about the Loaves and Fishes community in Duluth which offers hospitality to the homeless, and are peace activists. I picked up a couple of their newsletters, and was very attracted to their philosphy. From their website:

Loaves and Fishes is part of the international Catholic Worker movement, a decentralized group founded in New York during the Great Depression by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. Day was a Catholic convert, anarchist, pacifist, and radical journalist. Maurin was a French peasant and teacher influenced by a school of philosophy known as Personalism. The movement, owing in part to its anarchism, has always been wide-ranging and diverse. Some of the common concerns have been hospitality, by sharing our homes and food with those in need; resistance to violence, through nonviolent action; education, by writing and disseminating literature and holding roundtable discussions for the clarification of thought.

We spend most of our time at Loaves and Fishes practicing hospitality. We currently have two houses from which we offer emergency housing for people who would otherwise be homeless. Olive Branch is our house for women and families. We usually have two guest families staying there. Dorothy Day House takes in single men. We usually have between six and eight guests. Community members and interns live with our guests in these houses. We cook and clean and come to know our guests on a human level. We would like to have interns at both houses this summer. We also have a third house, Hannah House, which we offer as transitional housing for one family at a time.

We have other work and projects as well. We are involved in anti-war activism and resistance. We vigil outside the army recruiting center, march for peace, and practice civil disobedience. We also experiment with less traditional forms of activism, such as billboard liberation, critical mass bike parades, and street theater. We have a garden at Loaves and Fishes from which we grow some of our food. During the summer, some of us work on organic farms in the area. We are starting an orchard on a friend’s farm. We have a newsletter which we are committed to putting out three or four times a year. We hold a neighborhood block party every June.

They also have a bicycle cooperative. I went to visit them and weed their gardens for a day. I loved the people and their philosophy, and decided while I was weeding that this would be a place I would return and volunteer. They needed me, and I could learn a lot from them. Nonviolent peace activism, bicycles, gardens, hospitality, helping the poor, and no board of directors. Sounds like heaven to me!! Actually, it is another example of the synchronicity in my life - I am carefully led to the people who need me most, at exactly the time they are open to me. Loaves and Fishes has gone through some tough times lately, and only one of the 3 houses is open at this time. Volunteer support is down. They are in re-building mode. So ALL my skills will be put to good use here. And the folks in Duluth are not yet doing any of the following: Time Banking, Transition Towns, and they have no trainer for Nonviolent Communication. I am going to be busy!!

the back of Dorothy Day house

Living room in Dorothy Day house


Lucifer, the elderly cat so much like my own Daniel

The Bike Cave Collective is a place where people can come and learn how to fix their own bikes. The police sometimes drop off unclaimed bikes, and old unwanted bikes are given to them as well. These are fixed up, parts taken off other bikes, and then bikes are made available to the community. This will be my chance to really learn how to fix bikes!! A very valuable skill not just for me, but for others as I travel.

Sign above the door

A few of the many bikes currently in the collective

This is another of the houses in the Loaves and Fishes collective. this garden is shared by several members of the community.

I will be returning to volunteer in late September, and am very much looking forward to it! Since I have decided to focus my US volunteering efforts on helping locals, and was born just over the bridge from Duluth in Superior, Wisconsin, it seems even more appropriate that I help out folks in Duluth rather than Minneapolis.

And here is someone I hope to get to know better while I am there: Tom Hanson, the owner/manager of the Duluth Grill. Sue took me here for a couple of meals during my stay, and I was delighted to see that the restaurant not only offered free range eggs, but free-range ORGANIC eggs. That's a first. So when I had an opportunity to meet the owner, I took it. Tom is actively working on sustainability for his restaurant, and treating his employees well (as well as the chickens who lay the eggs for the place!)

Here is the list of sustainability efforts being undertaken now, from their website:

Fair Trade Organic Coffee - roasted and supplied locally from
Alakef Coffee
Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee
Fair Trade - Organic Teas
Cage-Free Organic eggs
Organic Salad Greens
Organic whole wheat & white flour
Milk & Cream in returnable bottles & Butter from Dahl's Sunrise Dairy in Babbitt, MN
All Natural Sour Cream
Hot Cocoa made with real milk & organic Dutch cocoa
Lifeway Kefir for kids
White Fish from Lake Superior Fish Company
Smoked Salmon by Eric Goerdt at Northern Waters Smokehaus
Organic Produce from John Fisher Merrit - Food Farms
Organic Produce, Pickles, and Jelly from Kathy Jensen - Talmadge Farms
All Grass Fed Beef Burgers from Mark Thell - 4 Quarters Holdings
Bison from Quarter Master Buffalo in Esko
Gerber Amish Chicken -Cage Free, no chlorine wash, all vegetarian feed, antibiotic free
Wild Alaskan Salmon supplied by the Rogotzke Family
Pure Maple Syrup harvested locally and supplied by the Rogotzke Family
Honey from Ike Strohmayer - Mirror Lake Beeworks
Homemade Rhubarb Sorbet with organic Sugar
Homemade Jams by Jan Johnson w/ wild berries - The Gunflint Trail
Tomatoes from Bay Produce in Superior, WI
Wild Rice from Northern Minnesota
Nitrate free all natural turkey breast
Homemade Caramel Sauce, Hot Fudge, Peanut Butter, Ketchup, Mustard and BBQ Sauce
Homemade Vinaigrettes made simply with olive oil
All Natural Lemonade made from lemons, water & sugar
Our artwork has been purchased from local artists
Our coffee mugs are locally made by Karin Kraemer at Duluth Pottery
Our fryer oil is picked up by Arnie Vanio to run his Veg Car - An oil modified diesel Mercedes
We offer health coverage to all employees working 16 hours a week minimum

Tom also brings in speakers on sustainability to spread the word to others in Duluth. What fun!!!

My visit to Duluth ended the way it had begun - with the deer. I counted 9 deer on the one mile drive from Sue and Dean's house to the bus stop at the University of Minnesota.

Geneva in August

2011-09-05T10:44:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Geneva a few days before my flight was to depart. I wanted to see if I could connect with the Transition town folks in Geneva. It was raining when I arrived, and I was having trouble with my phone, which stopped working once I crossed the border into Switzerland. It appeared that my French sim card was not going to work here! Oh no. How was I going to reach my Warm Showers hosts? I stopped in a bar for a cup of coffee and to plug in my dead laptop, but realized the plugs were different. I certainly hadn't planned this very well, had I!! But eventually I connected with my delightful Warm Showers hosts, Léonore and Carlitos and Luciane.

Carlitos is from Chile, and was an activist during the Pinochet rule and his human rights abuses. As often happens when I do further research when writing up my blog, I saw that even Wikipedia covers the USA's role in supporting Pinochet:

Léonore and Carlitos had both spent time living in squats in Geneva, with the support of the local government (very different to elsewhere in the world). So I had an interesting first hand account about sqatting. The why's, the hows, and the how not's of squatting. This is an important topic for me, because there are so many homeless people in the US now, and so many empty houses which have been repossessed by banks. I have learned that some US former homeowners are squatting in their former homes after they have been repossessed by the banks. As more homes are repossessed, and more people are made homeless in the US, squatting will become a growth industry. Squatting laws vary in the US from state to state and from city to city.

My timing for arrival in Geneva coincided with the annual Slow Up ride, a 26 km ride from Geneva, along the lake, and up into the hills above the lake, and back. Attended by 30,000 cyclists and in line skaters, the event was great fun for me. I thoroughly enjoyed being with so many cyclists of all ages and abilities, and took my time on the ride.

Here is one of the more unusual bicycles I spotted:

It was a beautiful day, with interesting clouds, and I had to stop early on and take some photos of Lake Geneva and the city:

The fountain here is the tallest in the world

All along the route were young men guiding the cyclists so they didn't take a wrong turn. There must have been 100 of them! I learned later that these young men had chosen to do civil service duty instead of military duty. I applaud their choice!!

Along the way I noticed this self-serve cut your own flower boquet field. With honesty box. I decided to bring some flowers home to my hosts, since they live in an apartment. But how to bring them with me?

The water bottle solution worked fine!

The grapes were nearly ready to harvest, so I was able to get some photos of them:

It was delightful to ride with no cars to contend with. Kind of like a critical mass ride, but completely sanctioned by the authorities.

One of the unusual bike trailers on the ride

Look out for the horses! As we rode through a very wealthy suburb of Geneva

One of the many rest stops along the ride.

Sunflowers and clouds

Swiss country house

A heavy duty transport bike

After the ride, as I was returning to my host's apartment, I spotted this restaurant in one of the old parts of Geneva:

Restaurant au Carnivore - has a different ring to it than "steak house". No need for me to stop by and check out the menu there!

Later during my visit to Geneva I went to see a community garden I had heard about. On my way, I discovered a Gaudi-inspired apartment and business complex. I had to stop and admire it. It transported me right back to Barcelona, where I first enjoyed Gaudi's architecture.

The community garden was the Association les Artichots, located in the parc de Beaulieu. There was a community garden for the people living in apartments near the park:

And the cultivated area where produce was for sale on an honor system. This included a large area with these long narrow beds of concrete (lots of effort went in to creating these at some point in the past!)

A large greenhouse

And the price list. I picked some tomatoes, left some money, and returned home. Unfortunately, I found no one to talk to. August is holiday month in Europe, and so I expect that the good folks who run the place were on holiday. Maybe I will meet them when I return to Geneva (currently scheduled for next March).

My host family gets around on their bicycles, so it was no surprise to see little Luciane wanting to help her dad fix the bike out in the hallway of the apartment building.

OK dad, you adjust the shifting while I keep the wheel moving.

Here's the problem. This screw just needs a little adjustment.

Geneva, like all of Switzerland, is wonderful for cyclists. Cycle lanes, cycle paths, trains that are perfectly in line with the station platforms so you can easily roll your bikes onto the trains, and these sweet cycle traffic lights.

Before leaving Geneva, I was invited to a special park for a music concert, where a good friend of my hosts was to play in public for the first time. I arrived early, and had a look around the park, which as the very point where two rivers meet, the Rhone and the Arve. This photo is from Wikipedia:

The river on the left is the Rhone, and comes from Lake Geneva. The river on the right is the Arve, and comes down from the mountains. The contrast of the two rivers where they meet couldn't be more dramatic:

The gray is not industrial pollution, it is silt. So it won't hurt you, but everyone I saw was choosing to swim in the crystal clear Rhone instead.

I know which one I would swim in!!

The concert was well attended, and a beautiful evening.

Then it was time to leave Geneva, and head to the USA. My bike is stored with Warm Showers hosts in another suburb of Geneva, and will be safe until I return in March (God willing).

Last few days in France

2011-09-04T10:27:00.001-07:00

The first of August found me wondering how in the world I was going to get to Geneva. I had reserved a flight out of Geneva to New York because it was so very much cheaper to fly to New York from Geneva, Switzerland than from Lyon, or Paris. Geneva was only 68 miles, or 109 km! I could knock that off easy in two days. Or so I thought when I booked the ticket. It wasn't until I looked at the map in July that I realized that the Jura mountains lay between Lyon and Geneva, and from looking at the map, it became clear that these mountains were running the wrong way, and I would have to steeply climb and descend several times in order to cut across them directly, on either a big motorway, or very very tiny (read very steep) roads. Ouch. So I decided to go further north to Geneva, following the river Ain, along the Gorges du L'Ain, and then cross the Jura where there was a medium sized road to help be get over them, and hopefully not climb and descend more than once. It was lovely and scenic and sometimes very steep along the route I had chosen, but still the best way to go. Here are some photos from along the Gorges du L'ain.

Yes, those are swans in the river.

I would stop and watch them for half an hour at time. Such beautiful birds.

A bonus for taking this route was that many times I was on roads with no trash to pick up. What a blessing! There were also no gardens to weed in this part of France. All were well cared for. Here are some "Lollipop Trees" as I call them. Trimming your trees like this is the gardening equivalent of making home made borscht instead of opening a can of soup and heating it up.

More scenery from this area as I followed the river northeast

Here is where you go to take your car for a swim in the river, apparently.

This is in the village of Pont de Chancia. Must have had some great earthquakes there at some point in the past!

Eventually I left the river Ain, and started climbing, heading east. Along the way, I spotted this most unusual bicycle trailer:

I love this idea, and I am sure it could be done a bit longer so I could actually sleep in it. But oh, it would be heavy. I would need an electric assist bike for sure for something like this.

I was approaching the first big town I had seen in quite a while - Saint Claude, with a storm approaching. Signage for the campground was sketchy, but I was taking into the care of another cyclist out for some exercise. He brought me safely to the campground, far on the other side of the city, and I got my tent set up just before a downpour came. I am so very well cared for!!!!

Saint Claude was such a beautiful, intriguing place that I had to visit it again the next morning before leaving. These photos are from my visit back to this beautiful city and its hills, bridge, and valley:

Because of my visit to the city, I did not leave the campground until after noon. It was a hot day, and I knew it was going to be a challenge, because now I was climbing steadily in my lowest gear.

There was little room for a bicycle on the narrow, windy road, but people were kind and not in a big hurry.

There was a tunnel:
You can see from this photo that there is no space for bicycles. I took a chance to stop and get the photo of the tunnel, but no one honked at me, thankfully.

I came upon a very interesting rock formation along the road, the Chapeau de Gendarmes:

As I got closer, I discovered there was a bonus: a waterfall.

The sign said the rocks had been formed in this wavy patter during the Jurassic era.

I had an opportunity to photograph the road I had been climbing:

I am grateful for all the switchbacks. It made it possible for me to get up to the top without stopping to rest every 100 feet.

I had run out of water, and no place to get more. I was about to start knocking on doors of the few houses along the route, when I spotted a beautiful old water fountain. There was no sign saying the water was not drinkable, so I assumed it was good. It was sweet and clear and oh so cold, which was perfect for me, as it was a very hot day.

Behind the water trough and fountain I found the most beautiful shaded retreat with a small stream. Cool, shady, the sound of water running over the rocks. I could have stayed there!

But I pushed on after I had rested, refilled my water bottles, and soaked up the atmosphere of the tranquil and beautiful spot. Back on the road.

A while later I came upon a giant bicycle next to the road, with no signage explaining who made it, and why. And I can find nothing on the Internet, either. A mystery except to the locals, I guess:

From researching on the Internet, the bike had a water bottle on it earlier this year. Gone now. Perhaps it was built for the Tour de France for a previous year. It would be the kind of thing people in France would do for the Tour.

Later in the afternoon I came to the village of Septmoncel. Finally, a village big enough that I can get a cup of coffee!!

I looked at the signpost: It had taken me over 4 hours to get to Septmoncel, only 10 Km ( 6.2 miles) from Saint Claude!!! Now granted, I was stopping to pick up trash, but even so!

On the road below the village was a public garden, which didn't need weeding, thankfully. I wouldn't have had the energy to do that, too.

I made my way up to the main street of the village, and found the bar. It was a popular place, and people joked with me as I rode in. I enjoyed my coffee, and one of the men, the one in the blue t shirt second from the right, was so impressed with my effort coming from Saint Claude that he bought my coffee. Very nice.

I took this opportunity to ask them where the nearest campground was. From where we were, they said it was in Gex. Not good. I had noted that Gex was still a long way away. I would never make it before dark.

I knew I was pretty high up when I passed this building with its warning of dangerous snowfalls off the roof:

As I rode along, I carefully looked for places I might set up my tent for the night. No flat places up here, and no cleared space either. I eventually settled for this spot. It wasn't perfect, but the trees were lovely, the moss was beautiful, no one would ever imagine that someone could be camping back in there, and it was free.

Late the next morning I reached the summit, Col de Faucille, at 1323 meters, (4340 feet).

I celebrated with a cup of coffee at the restaurant, and sat with two other people who had just wanted company while they were having coffee. So easy to meet people!

I had done it, and was glad the climbing up the Jura mountains was over.

I still had some road trash to recycle, and was glad to find a place to do it on top of the pass. I didn't want to have trash flying off the bike on the fast ride down the other side.

Just on the other side of the summit, the view to Lake Leman and Geneva, Switzerland opened up. It would be all downhill from here! Bye bye France! See you next year, maybe.

Late July in France

2011-08-01T02:18:00.000-07:00

In late July, I found myself in a part of France with almost no campgrounds. This was surprising to me, since I have not had any trouble finding a campground in areas with towns before. I ended up staying in a hotel one night, camping wild one night, and then I headed to a village called St Just something or other, which was supposed to have a campground, according to a brochure I got at a
tourist info centre. It was a steep ride up the hill to this town. Before I took the road up, I checked one more time my map and the brochure. Oh no, it wasn't the right St Just! This one was St Just d'Avray. I am realizing one has to be really careful with names here! The town looked so beautiful up on its hill, and I knew there would be no camping anywhere near here now, so I decided to go into the town and hope for an inexpensive hotel. I had camped wild the night before, so really wanted a shower and comfort this night.

I made it up into town, and asked around. No luck. No hotel, no campground. The people I was asking kept telling me about possible hotels 10 and 15 km away. No way. A storm was coming, I was tired, and I was determined to stay in or near this town for the night. I thought I would try the Mairie. It was closed. The church? It was open, but before I tried finding someone there, I spotted a man loading two boys into the back of his car. I approached him and told him my predicament as best I could. He kindly offered to have me pitch my tent at his place, and I was to follow him. I asked him not to go to fast, and followed. Down, then up, then out of town, and up a steep driveway. But I made it, and I had a place to stay.

My hosts were Michel Billet and his partner Marie.

We had a delightful evening together, and the next morning Marie escorted me by bicycle to the correct road so I could find my way to Ternand.

The neighbour had milked the goats, and they were making their way into the pasture for the day:

I took a very tiny road - unpaved, and was rewarded with seeing some beautiful horses along the way. Here is one:

Then it was back on the road. I was delighted that there was a cycle lane on this busy road. Amazing what just a bit of white paint can do! I have learned that the cycle lane has been in place for 3 years. And there was about 3 years worth of trash and broken glass next to or on the road, as well as the occasional dead animal, and large rocks fallen from the cliffs along the roadway.

As a gift to the folks who put it in, and the people who ride it, I cleaned it for several kilometers in either direction from Ternand, over the course of 4-5 days.

It was raining nearly every day, so I was unable to put in as much time on it as I would have liked.

One day I found two balls. Not good enough to keep, so in the trash they went:

I have started being more careful when I pick up rubbish, as sometimes ants have made their nests under cover of the trash, as in this case with the plastic bottle:

The worst part of this work is getting the dead animals off the road. If they have been there for a while, as in the case of this hedgehog, I could be sick if I let it get to me:

What keeps me going is knowing that there are many cyclists on this road, and they will not have to see the trash, ride over the broken glass, and avoid the dead hedgehogs and rocks as they ride. They may not realize the changes consciously, but subconsciously they certainly will.

Ternand. I was hosted in Ternand by delightful Couchsurfing hosts Sophie and Vadym Dzhygir. Vadym is from the Ukraine, and Sophie is French. Their home in Ternand is their first house, and they have lived there for 6 months now. My first day there they had Russian friends over, and we had a great time eating and then visiting the beautiful old Ternand village on the hill:

I was glad we went by car, and I didn't have to cycle up there!

It always brings lovely smiles when I set up the camera to take the photo by itself, and run quickly to take my place with the group before the shutter snaps.

Ternand is very much in the land of the golden stone. It is very pretty.

Up on top of the hill, the views are superb:

It is not very touristy. People live here in this medieval village.

I learned that these covered porches on some churches are called "lynches", and they are there to shelter the poor people, who could not have their funerals in the church if they were unable to pay. I have been unable to find out more on the Internet, unfortunately.

Sophie and Vadym also took us to see some of the other villages in the area. I would never have seen them on my bicycle, so this was a treat. The rain caught us, but it wasn't too cold.

The next day Sophie and I went for a long walk. We saw some contented cattle:

Some very curious sheep (with tails intact, I was happy to see):

And a most beautiful garden with beehive stone tool shed:

The lady who created and maintains this garden has posted on the outside of the garden that people may walk through it, so we did! The walls had curved tops, but there was nothing sticking the stones together, they were simply stacked, as in the beehive shaped tool shed.

Along one wall there were flat stones sticking out of the wall, at an appropriate height for a seat. I took a chance and gently sat on it:

We picked two types of mushrooms, and noticed that the wild blackberries were getting ripe. With all the rain we have had in July, the berries were huge!

A day or so later Sophie and I visited David, a reflexologist who was still completing his reflexology studies, after switching careers from computers. He needed some subjects for a report he was writing, and was especially looking for foreigners. I joked that he would get two for the price of one with me. Reflexology is a healing practice focusing on massaging certain points in your feet. He was quite gentle with my feet, and I only felt a bit of pain when he was massaging my big toes. As he was working on Sophie, I read a book in English on reflexology, and understood it much better. I think I got out of my tango shoes just in time!
The Wikipedia entry on reflexology makes for interesting reading. It is obvious that the Western medical community is doing their best to discredit it, by saying that it just uses the placebo effect. Ah, but the placebo effect alone is easily as effective as the chemicals doctors encourage us to take!! And the complete ignorance of the energies flowing through our bodies, looking at us as simple machines, surely should be laughable by now!

Anyway, I was having no health problems specifically for him to work on, but, as the book I was reading indicated, I was quite tired that night, and my urine was indeed much darker and smellier than usual for a couple of days after the treatment. This is due to toxins being flushed from my system. Thank you, David and Sophie!

Our last night together, Sophie and Vadym and I had dinner at a nearby farm which serves lovely meals made mostly from ingredients from the farm. Including eggs from happy hens like these:

I was excited to do this, because it would be the first time during my stay in France where I was able to go to a restaurant, and order a "menu" meal. Every other time there was meat or fish involved in the menus, but this farm restaurant made a special egg dish for me (and Sophie), and Vadym had a meat dish.

Sophie is a translator, and works from home. Vadym works in computers, and has been involved in creating a powerful portal system designed for tourism and business for cities around the world. So sometimes during my stay the house was silent: each of us working diligently on our computers in separate rooms, coming together for our meals.

After my lovely visit, it was time to hit the road again. I worked hard all along the D385 route until it was time to turn off onto a smaller road. Along the way, I spotted some of the mushrooms Sophie and I had picked together a few days earlier. Aha! Free food! I picked several, and ate one. A half hour later, my stomach began to share signs of distress, and an hour later it was clear I had to get rid of it! Afterwards, I felt fine. I guess I shouldn't eat them raw.

Every village in France, like in New Zealand, has its statue or memorial to the young men who died during the two world wars. But for the first time, in one village, there was a rooster on top of the memorial:

Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, the Gallic rooster was very popular on the memorials from WWI. Perhaps many of these were replaced with memorials after WWII which did not use the rooster.

I met a few more animals along the way. This donkey was down in a field away from the road, tied by a rope, with only blackberry vines to eat. It was happy for some company, and came running to the fence when I went over to see it. We visited for a bit, then I gave it a treat. I picked a handful of berries for it. Wow. It really loved them!

I didn't disturb these two snails, for obvious reasons. Just took a discreet photo and silently departed.

After unloading my bags of trash and recycling in one village, I was resting on a park bench. A lovely lady was on a bicycle wearing a skirt, and I was impressed that she was able to do it and not get the skirt caught on the bike. She was cycling with her two young sons. Stephanie saw my bike and came over for a chat. Then she invited me to her home for a cup of tea. I readily accepted! I followed her and the boys to her beautiful old house in the village, and we had a lovely time.

They have an 11 year old border collie, with arthritis in one leg. She doesn't let it stop her, though, and limps along and wants to play and run as much as she can still. We can learn so much from the animals!

I have come to realize that one of the worst types of garbage to leave on the road is styrofoam.
As it breaks apart into smaller and smaller balls, they are impossible to pick up, and eventually will make their way to the ocean, contributing to the huge mess out there.
Here is what happens eventually:

So when I see an intact sheet of the stuff along the road, I make a special effort to get it out of the environment.

Even if it means wading through nettles to get at it:

As so often happens, it is when I am writing up the blog and take time to do additional research on something I have noticed in my travels that I learn so much more. I had thought that sunlight and maybe microorganisms would break the stuff down eventually. I have since learned that they do not.

"Environmental impact ( from Wikipedia)

Discarded polystyrene does not biodegrade for hundreds of years and is resistant to photolysis.^[12] Because of this stability, very little of the waste discarded in today's modern, highly engineered landfills biodegrades. Because degradation of materials creates potentially harmful liquid and gaseous by-products that could contaminate groundwater and air, today's landfills are designed to minimize contact with air and water required for degradation, thereby practically eliminating the degradation of waste.^[13]

Polystyrene foam is a major component of plastic debris in the ocean, where it becomes toxic to marine life. Foamed polystyrene blows in the wind and floats on water, and is abundant in the outdoor environment. Polystyrene foams are produced using blowing agents that form bubbles and expand the foam. In expanded polystyrene, these are usually hydrocarbons such as pentane, which may pose a flammability hazard in manufacturing or storage of newly manufactured material, but have relatively mild environmental impact. However, extruded polystyrene is usually made with hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) blowing agents which have effects on ozone depletion and on global warming. Their ozone depletion potential is greatly reduced relative to chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) which were formerly used, but their global warming potential can be on the order of 1000 or more, meaning it has 1000 times greater effect on global warming than does carbon dioxide.^[14]"

Now that I know this, I will be even more diligent in my efforts to collect the stuff!

I was unloading a load of trash in a tiny village, and noticed a man across the street watching me with curiosity. Not surprisingly, since it is certainly unusual for a traveling cyclist to be unloading huge bags full of recycling! I explained to him that I had picked it up along the road, and he invited me in for a cold drink. Of course I accepted. Michel is also a cyclist, and has his main home in Lyon. He had an English/French dictionary on his table, and an English copy of one of the Harry Potter books. We had a lovely visit, and then it was time to continue.

The campground was not too far away. It was one of those campgrounds nearly filled with permanent residents, and only one or two spots available for a tent. I found my spot, and got the tent set up just before it rained (again!).

The next morning I had a treat. I was invited for coffee by the lady in the permanent camper/home across from me, and we four ladies had an enjoyable time. The lady on the right was doing an article for a local paper, or magazine. Not sure. So she took our photos, and I took theirs.

Then back on the road, heading for Geneva. More lovely churches:

This one in the village of Lafond.

And very green landscape for late July, due to all the rain:

I arrived in the evening at the village of Chenelette, and was taken with this house with the burgundy shutters.

I was getting some food at the small store, when a local man entered and greeted me in English. It is unusual for anyone to speak English in these small villages. He advised me on the nearest campground. As I was leaving, I saw him again. Turns out he owns the restaurant/bar next door to the store, and invited me for a cup of coffee. That was kind. Then later, when I said I would stop by again because I would need to come past the same spot in the morning, he offered for me to stay at his place. I accepted.
Christian has owned the restaurant/bar for 5 years, and it is a very popular place for the locals to come for their coffee, etc. Before leaving the next morning, Christian introduced me to at least 3 of the villagers who stopped in for coffee. So I told my story again - all in French. People are so good to me!

I was able to pick up another "Voie vert", or green route, for 15 km the next day, mostly going downhill. Lovely. No tunnels this time, but lots of lovely berries to eat.

Many people told me to stop in at the village of Chatillon Sur Chalaronne, because it was beautiful. It was on my way, so I made a point to go there. It did have some unique features worth seeing:
Interesting wall construction:

Many beautiful flowers:

Medieval houses:

And a connection to a wonderful man: Saint Vincent de Paul. He lived in this village for a year, in 1617. I volunteered for a St Vincent De Paul home in Auckland, doing some gardening, so it was great for me to have another connection with this man of great compassion.

I was also heartened to see a sign encouraging the people to pick up after themselves:

July was a full on month!

July in France

2011-08-01T00:55:00.000-07:00

Continuing my slow way north, I came upon an old roofless house right by the side of the tiny road I was on. It had a view to the garden below, by the creek:

All day was slow climbing. The benefit was that the road was clean. I rarely stopped to pick up trash. What a delight. There were not many campgrounds in this area. I ended up riding far downhill to the only campground in the area. Will I have to climb this road yet again tomorrow? The extra work was worth it, though, when I met the owners of the campground: Johan and Co Van Der Zee. The campground is at their home, the site of an old mill. Johan mills wood there still, and has recently started making wooden clogs. He told me that before WWII, everyone wore clogs in Europe. That was a surprise to me. He said he has a friend who works in gardens, and his friend goes through 6 pairs a year. Imagine!

Johan build this lovely gazebo for Co:

As he has time, Johan also cuts and stacks firewood. I called it his wood bank. He will have something to trade of value, no matter what happens. They moved to France from Holland once the children were older. One of their daughters lives nearby, so this is good. They were amazingly kind to me. They invited me in for an aperitif in the evening, made an egg for me, and made breakfast and lots of coffee for me before I left!! We worked out a different road I could take on my way, so I didn't have to backtrack, and could see some different villages.

The pond is filled with frogs in the spring, and at this time of year the baby frogs leave the pond to make their way to the river. It is a dangerous journey for them. I spotted one by my bicycle:
So sweet. So defenseless. Any bird or snake or fish would find them irresistible.

Bonne chance (good luck), baby frog!

Another castle ruins in the mist:

I stopped for coffee and a bit of weeding at this town, Bertignat. On the way out of town I spotted a house with very interesting topiary. It is the first I have seen of such creativity with the clippers.

Not long after, I was in the village of Vertolay, and began noticing some ominous signs saying something about the "Col du Beal". I am not interested in climbing Cols, thank you very much. I was hoping my route did not take me in that direction. I studied my map more closely. Oh oh. My road took me up the hill, and I had no choice. This is what happens when I take the smaller roads. The busy, large roads take the easier routes, of course. That is why they are busy! So I put my head down, put the bike in its lowest gear, and headed out of town - up.

I stopped to rest frequently along the way. My heart murmur doesn't let me push myself really hard up the hills. And this hill had no flat places. Well, maybe one - the village halfway up where a kind man filled my water bottle with lemonade.

I had time to photograph some beautiful butterflies along the way:

The signs reappeared every once in a while, to encourage us climbers and tell us how far we had come:

Near the top, the views were better, but the weather was getting worse.

I reached the top just as the rain began. 6 hours after I began.

To my delight, there was a lodge at the top which had a dorm room available, and I stayed there for 2 nights while it rained and blew. In the lodge, I noticed a topographical map of the area:

Aha! Now I understood what I had let myself in for. Had I seen this map before I began the climb, I would definitely not have done it, and found some easier way to get to the other side. Ah well. I am stronger now, and can tackle pretty much any hill.

It was still foggy and misty when I left the top of the mountain, so I never did get any good photos of the view from the top. Never mind.

Here are some shots from along the road down:

More castle ruins

Cows on the road: not good for them, because motorists are not used to seeing animals on the road here - unlike in India! I alerted the first local person I spotted that there were cows on the road. She didn't seem too concerned.

There was also an untethered goat. I was definitely out in the countryside now!

Heading downhill as fast as I was, I soon came to the lovely village of Chalmazel:

The gardens next to the Mairie and the post office needed weeding, so I decided to stay a few hours and help out. The offices were closed for some reason, so this would make a good treat for them when they came back to work. Here are a couple of the projects I worked on for them:

Before

After

Before

After

The sun finally came out, and I saw that I was still pretty high up:

I visited a church in one village, and was struck by the posters on the bulletin board:

This one says (in effect): "I am not a legless beggar from Calcutta. I am a defender of the rights of the untouchables."

And this one: "I am not a street child. I am a young woman who is creating a cooperative."

The campaign is to help us see beyond the stereotypes. I loved it.

Boen had creative and beautiful municipal gardens . Here is an example:
This may have been a private garden. I stopped in at the Mairie to tell them how much I loved their gardens. The Mayor was not in, but the front desk staff were very happy to hear the compliment, and would pass it on the Mayor.

As I photographed the garden, I noticed I was being observed:

Moving on, I found this field of sunflowers: facing me this time:

And a white horse:

The village of Balbigny had beautiful stone on its church. I was entering the region of golden stone - Pierres Dorées.

Pouilly les feurs was an older city - one of the oldest. The priory was built in 966. Now that's old!

The courtyard was large and fascinating to me:

Very old door

With a few flowers to soften the stone

And the well now in flowers.

I rode through the town of Tarare, and upon leaving, came across this community of small gardens and identical small buildings. It was either a place where Tarare citizens could have their gardens, or it was a place where poor immigrants lived. No idea, and I could find nothing on the Internet. They were all good gardeners, though!

July was rain, rainy, but made for lovely cloud formations.

I don't know the village, but I won't forget the cat:

Life on the Road, Le Blu, Blesle

2011-07-19T01:15:00.000-07:00

Life on the road for me is a combination of heartache and ugliness, like this:
Here is what eventually happens if you don't get the hubcaps picked up off the roads:

What a mess.

I pick up as many as 100 empty cigarette packs a day. I started looking at the photos on some of them.

How can someone see these photos and continue to light up??? Talk about denial!

One day I came upon a plastic woven tarp which had been laying by the side of the road long enough that it had begun to decompose. I am so glad I picked it up in time. I cannot imagine the trouble that these long strings would cause for the animals, the people who cut the grass on the sides of the road, and eventually into the streams and oceans:
It is the blue bit on the back of the bike:

And then I look up from the side of the road and see beautiful scenes like this:

And this:

This bull had a very interesting headpiece:

These animals will eat plastic if it is in their field, and it can block their intestines. So as I pick up the trash, I know I am not only making the place more beautiful, but also safer. I am helping to create the New Earth.

In Le Blu there were more welcome signs for the Tour de France. It had already been through here, and I picked up a souvenir: a water bottle. Whoever organizes the Tour does a marvelous job of cleaning up afterwards. On the roads where the Tour de France had passed, the roads were very clean. I almost missed the water bottle, hidden in the long grass.

I was taken by the practicality of the ramp to the barn on this farm house in Le Bru.

Here is a lovely church door in a small village:

An early morning street scene in Allanche:

And just outside Allanche, a sign I had not seen yet:

Share the road. What a great idea. But wait, something's missing. Where is the cyclist??

TAKEN!

Another welcome for the Tour de France:

And not long after, I left the route of the Tour.

Blesle was on my list of most beautiful villages in France, and it had a campground nearby. I set up my tent and went to see the village, and was really impressed by its beauty. There are so many really beautiful villages in France that I gave away my map of the Most Beautiful. Why carry that extra weight? But if they were all as beautiful as Blesle, I would have kept it! I got a clue as I rode toward the village from the campground, and saw beautiful little houses in the gardens outside the village:

It so happened that a movie was being filmed in the village the day I arrived. It was interesting seeing the extras and watching the action from a distance. Having been an extra in movies in New Zealand, I knew how it all worked.

Here are my photos of Blesle:

Tiny little windows giving light to dark rooms inside:

A house with curved walls

Hollyhocks growing in a dead end street:

One heart on the shutter:

A hotel with a most distinctive door:

The ancient church:

This carving on a house:

Street scenes:

A most beautiful doorbell:

And a very very old window without glass:

Saint Flour, Neussarges, Chaudes-Aigues

2011-07-19T01:03:00.000-07:00

After leaving Aubrac and the route of the Christian pilgrims, I found myself on the route of another sort of pilgrimage: the Tour de France. I knew something was up when I started seeing sights like this along the road:

In the background of the photo you may notice the vehicle trimming the grass. All is to be neat and tidy when the Tour comes through! After these machines do their work, though, the bottles and cans are so much more visible, and my pace slows considerably as I stop to pick them up.

The tour was due to come through Saint Flour in the next few days, and the city was getting into the spirit of the bicycle. These photos are in a huge roundabout near the city.

There were three cyclists making their way across the roundabout, and hundreds of flowers and shrubs, all well cared for.

Sometimes along the road I stop to enjoy the butterflies:

I spotted this church window in Talizat:
Yin and Yang in a 12th century Christian church? I could find nothing on the Internet about this one.

When I arrived in Nueussarges, it was time for a break. I was tired and needed a rest. And to my surprise, the campground had a special rate for cyclists. Only 4.4 Euro, or around $8.80 NZ, or $6.16 US. At these rates, I could certainly stay a while!

I was on the Internet, and clicked a link, and something caught my eye: the title of a book called The Three Waves of Volunteers and the New Earth. Volunteers? New Earth? I took a closer look, as Amazon offered a free read of the first chapter. It was kind of interesting, and then I discovered that I could download a Kindle reader for free on my Mac. Now that was good news, because as much as I love books, they are just too heavy for me to carry! So with a Kindle reader, I would be able to read lots more books. I downloaded the Kindle reader and bought this book by Dolores Cannon. I had maybe heard of her, but had never read any of her work. Wow. I couldn't stop reading. Dolores is a hypnotherapist who has for the past 40 years helped people with past life regressions. But lately what she is finding is that past life regressions are no longer relevant, because we are moving into a completely new vibrational phase on Earth, and we all need to wake up NOW to our real purpose on this planet. Here are some key findings from her book:
1. Humans were never intended to suffer and die on this planet. We were to be around 500,000 of us total, and leave our bodies once we had learned what we needed to learn, without disease and death. Things changed when a meteor hit the planet bringing with it disease. Rather than start the Earth experiment over again, the powers that be let it go.
2. Everything has consciousness, and before we go into complicated human bodies, we spend lifetimes as plants, rocks, trees, animals, water, you name it.
3. Earth is the only planet where our memories of our true selves are wiped out when we come here. This is so we can learn our lessons faster. The high density of earth is tougher than what we realize before coming here, though, and we sometimes get stuck and never do what we had come here to do, and have to keep coming back until we get it. That is why Earth is considered such a tough school, and souls who choose to come here are admired for their courage.
4. There is no missing link between apes and man because we are genetically engineered from apes and seeded on earth.
5. The vibration of earth is increasing, as is ours. Soon (next year?) we will be able to see the other dimensions, and other beings who inhabit them.
6. In the New Earth, we will be placed with people who have similar vibrations to ours. The people with really low vibrations (murderers, child molesters, etc) will be all together, but some really big hearted folks will volunteer to stay at this level to try to help them see another way. I hope I have not signed up for this one! There will be not two, but numerous New Earths, each with a different vibration level. This has not been done before in this universe, so all eyes are on us to see how it goes, and many many souls want to be on earth for this transition (hence the huge population right now)
7.We are reminded that we have free will. The only reason these changes are being made to Earth is that because of free will, people on Earth are experimenting with technology that not only can destroy Earth, but the entire universe as well. So there needs to be an intervention.
8. It is important to keep increasing our own vibrations of love, especially self love and self confidence, as we cannot love, accept, and forgive others until we love and accept and forgive ourselves.

These messages are coming from not one entity on the other side, but what Dolores calls our common Subconscious. It rings true to me, and it makes sense to me. As a result, if you are one of my friends or family, and get an e-mail from me letting you know my blog is updated, I will happily buy a copy of the book for you: either electronic or hard copy. Just let me know. The hard copies will not be available until September, but the electronic version is available now.

I could not leave Neussarges until I had finished reading the book, so I had time to look around the town, and did some gardening while I was there, at the Mairie, or town hall.

This lovely home was not far from the campground.

In this part of France the windows have brick around them. I have not seen this elsewhere.

The old traditional laundry area was recently rebuilt. This looks like it would be hard on one's back to wash clothes this way:

The fountain in town still had drinkable water, and an interesting fountain head:

This lovely building was near the Mairie where I was weeding. It was so beautiful I had to stop and take a photo of it.

Next to the school, not far from the campground, was this scene that greeted me one morning on my way to town:

I have no idea what this building was used for. It was out away from the village. Very fancy, and now part of someone's farm.

Filled with new ideas from Dolores' book, I left Neurssarges and continued on my way, with renewed respect for insects:

Plants,

Animals:

And inanimate objects alike. This amazing garden was in the village of Chaudes-Aigues.

Where the roofs were made of slate:

And I came to it from a road far above the village

They didn't have a campground there, but I managed to find a quiet spot along a small river to set up my tent for the night. I had arrived too late to continue on.

This was an interesting scene: These smaller (younger?) bulls seem to be wondering why the big guy got to be with the cows in the pasture, and they were all stuck together in a separate field.

He was an impressive bull, that's for sure.

This oh so beautiful horse came to the fence to greet me when I stopped to admire it.

I didn't weed many gardens at this time, but cleaned lots of trash from the roads.

A typical load.

I spotted this yellow coca-cola can. Yellow? Lemon coke?

No, it had laid by the side of the road for so long that it had faded from its original red colour:

I have many verbal and physical confirmations that the French do not pick up trash along the roads. Some groups go out and clean up beaches and rivers, but not roads. So I am filling a need not being met by anyone else, it would appear. I feel a bit like this sunflower, who is turning its head away from the crowd.