Trip to St Helena food pantry

Yesterday, with a bandana over my hair under a huge farm worker type straw hat, my Steamboat fashion sunglasses (they shield my cataract ridden eyes from the sides), light jeans, pre-Barbie pink tshirt, I rode my scooter in the 1pm hot sun to get to the food pantry.  By the time I got there to St Helena’s, I was 17th in line.  Cars waited in the hot sun with no shade for the food from this church.  My skin was sizzling like bacon under direct sunlight.  After answering 3 diff ppl w info on my scooter, I got my food and came home.  Riding the scooter, I would ride in the extreme heat hitting pockets of an oven-like heat every few feet.  I guzzled from my water bottle.  I was just 2 blocks from my sister’s when I passed her street on Wooldridge, but I know better than to stop by without calling.  She is always very busy and it was much too hot to go that way tho it is an excellent safer short cut home.  I rode up to the entrance here and my eyes spy a senior couple with the gleam I always see when they decide my scooter is cool.  I hurry because I am over heated.  I don’t feel like talking to anyone.  I am sweating buckets now.  They catch up to me and ask all the usual questions and then decide to grill me about the license plate holder in back.  I tell them a license plate is not required. They want to debate.  My head hurts. My eyes hurt.  I want to throw up.  I try to be nice and hope I was as I extricate myself to get to the elevator.  Another minor challenge.  I have to back it in the elevator.  I feel worse by the minute.  My bottle is almost dry.  

I make it inside and plaster my face in front of the AC.  I drink more water.  I eat some crackers and for the next few hours felt worse for eating them.  

I fell asleep and woke up around 10pm. 

I made spaghetti for me and the boys.  Ragu sauce, a few cheese squares, and some and bite-size weenie pieces.  It was good.  They loved it.  My former street dogs and me.  Eating this kid food isn’t my style but I cannot get the hang of buying food without food stamps.  Even $50 a week is not enough.  Looks like, with inflation, it will take $300 a month for me.  Inflation is so crazy right now.  So, I am food insecure.  A terrible plight when I still have a few more pounds to go.  The head trip with this is enormous.  I am up for the challenge.  

So, leftover spaghetti, it is, for breakfast.  It is funny to me that I eat as much as my 6 lb chihuahua.  I WILL MEET MY GOALS.  It has taken me about 2 and a half years to get here.  I think that is a healthy rate of weight loss.  I drink water.  Take my meds and vitamins.  And sleep is improving.  I don’t drink when I eat.  I remain upright for 30 minutes after I eat.  I watch my protein.  I walk my dogs but in the dark.  My meds have been adjusted as I get smaller.  Low blood pressure was a weird side effect of losing weight.  I used to eat almost only fresh food but until I can find a way to get healthy food, I have to make do.  

Adapt or perish.  

I now weigh 140 lbs!  I have lost 86 lbs.  I need to lose 14 more lbs.  140 lbs on a 5’2” frame is still overweight.  I am under physician supervision.  Every lb.  I have lost has also resulted in facing the psychic wounds that caused me to gain weight and then kept me from losing the layer of fat that I was deluded into thinking protected me somehow.  The real me was hidden deep under all that fat.  But that fat is almost all gone.  Now what?  Well, better clothes await me.  Better health hopefully.  Healing my wounds still eludes me but now is my sole focus.  I want to travel.  I am sure AARP has tours for the elderly.  I want to go by train.  

Okay.  Gotta go.  The sun is starting to hit my windows and I better close the curtains.

Pic-A-Dilly

 

Respect=Ecological Justice!

Respect [From the Latin verb respicere “to look back at.” … “An understanding that individuals, communities (including other species), the ecosphere should be treated in a just and appropriate way.”  

Modified from Oxford; Merriam-Webster dictionaries]

paul bain martin

Entre menos burros, mas elotes.  Dicho de Mexico    Me? … We!! Muhammad Ali

The free bird thinks of another breeze … and he names the sky his own.  But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams … his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.  Maya Angelou

 

Respect within relationships among individuals, demes, populations, and communities--locally and across the globe—is dependent upon profound and comprehensive comprehension.  During my formative years and afterward I played, studied and worked with young and old of various shades of color and various roots in Devine, College Station, Florida, Georgia, Mexico, Poland, Brazil and other locales (and during the “Freedom Summer” of 1964—after a feed mill accident--my life was saved by Afro-Mexican American coworkers, Lacy and Gene Haywood, which must have in part spurred my quest for respect and justice).  But I respectfully acknowledge and confess that despite my good fortune to have relative power, money, education, resources, and time with which to work toward improved states of respect, I can be very lazy and I need to work much harder at learning how to respect various peoples and assist in the realization of justice for all.   To wholly respect others it takes a life of learning the nuances of their language, culture and history.  I also recognize that I need to spend more time communicating with the poorest of this and other regions and countries--including ancient (indigenous) and recent immigrants--and to afford them with the power, resources, time, and communication skills (in their native language, English, mathematics; through computers and algorithms) to understand me and my culture and history.

As touched upon above, a goal of realizing respect is as simple as the theme of the 2014 prestigious TLU Krost Symposium, environmental justice, i.e., ecological justice, or … just justice!  It involves simple affirmations that we will do unto, e.g., Haitians and other peoples as we would have Haitians and others do unto to us if we were in their extremely challenging situation. It is simply the achieving very significant reductions of consumption by the 1% of humans who consume 75 times per capita what the poorest 20% consume.  It would involve drastic reduction of this consumption also because it is decimating populations of other species.  Moreover, this simple goal would include the transfer of a large portion of that power of consumption of the 1% over to the 20% who are hungry and undernourished and poorly clothed & sheltered, and to other species.  In addition, it would involve short and long-term management of population growth of humans and domesticated animals.  It would necessarily be a process of working toward equality and equity through “applied ecology across curricula and campuses”  …  curricula and campuses of churches, businesses, government entities, not-for-profit non-governmental organizations, as well as school systems--public, private and home schools.  It would be the beginning of what I call a generation of positively ethical applied community ecologists/PEACEmakers who have sustainable livelihoods.  (Herein, community always includes all species in an area!) 

On the other hand, the reality of even the beginnings of a realization of just a bit of a dream of ubiquitous and universal respect truly is perhaps not so simple, but is very, very, very complex and muddled.  It involves grassroot work in the trenches in local communities all over the world as well as heavy-duty politicking at the local level and on regional, state, national and even international  scenes.  Certainly the great works of Sam Flores, A.J. Malone, Dolores Huerta, Willie Velásquez, Elie Wiesel, Betty Friedan, Harvey Milk, W.E.B. DuBois, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez, Mahatma Gandhi and others who have fought so hard for respect and justice—but only partially achieved it--have attested to that.

A journey toward truly holistic respect is about positive relationships with other humans and with Nature.  And it is about real action.  It is not “Yes sir!” and “No sir!” to the status quo, including our current world systems’ status quo of rampant transformation of energy and subsequent loss of existing topsoil, quality of water systems, & biodiversity.  Respect is not bowing down to the power structures who worship big and fast at the expense of others, including other species.  It is most certainly not a neglect of going to the voting booth and a disdain for getting involved in the political process.  An attitude of respect does not involve the acceptance of our current socio-political/economic systems which are so exploitive of relatively stable natural economies.  Respect is looking hard for a different route toward individual quality life which is quality life for all of the community.  It starts by speaking truth to power and to apathy, and to ignorance of ecological processes and principles.  (Global and local power might include the moneyed, transnational corporations, politicians and bureaucrats, the majority in a democracy, the military-industrial complex, or religious institutions.)

Down these lines, I have to say that too many of us—including yours truly--are often quite satisfied with our sheltered “life” in comfortable artificial bubbles.  But surely we

should begin to more fully live and launch a critical mass of relatively wealthy, powerful and ”good” christians/muslims/jews/hindus/buddhists/humanists/others who would travel to troublesome sites in great numbers and use strategies and tactics of civil disobedience and non-violence to stop:  wars in Syria, Central Africa, Ukraine, and other areas of the world; continued production of weaponry; extreme poverty in Zimbabwe and Haiti and other countries; ecological disruption all over the globe  …   and perhaps one day take us a bit closer to open borders, cosmopolitan and relative peace.

…………………….

Respect must start with self, but self must also include local and global community.  Respect is an effort toward pristine and natural and is not polluting and not so artificial.  It recognizes anthropogenic detrimental changes in Nature/the Land.  We are but one of many species working at survival, but we are the dominant one on this ecosphere and we need to recognize that an excess of this dominance can lead to extinction of quality life for more and more.  …  Respect is having Faith in the power of good & community.  But respect also gives Science equal weight and works to conserve and share with others the resources of mineral and hydrological cycles, photosynthesis and biodiversity and the daily solar energy which arrives on this ecosphere.  (On the other hand it is not imprudently and totally getting on the bandwagon of STEM and many of the values being pushed in these programs.  In some ways this currently fashionable “education” process of STEM has little respect for positively ethical applied community ecology or faith in Nature/the Commons/the Land, and is far too focused on faster and bigger, pseudo-growth, inappropriate technology, upward mobility, and money  … and power over resources.)

As far as the Latin derivation of the word respect is concerned, in looking back I appreciate any good/god I may have in me which would have been contributed from the villages in which I have lived, including Seguin!  I am grateful for the freedom of continuing development these villages provided or are now providing toward eliciting freedom songs from “caged birds” and enabling “free birds” to realize “We!”

Finally, I want to get back to the point made in the 3rd paragraph herein that respect is a complicated and confused process.  It is an understatement to say that humans and human relationships are not perfect and that change toward real conservation, resilience, & sustainability--i.e., social justice, humaneness, and ecological sanity--is tough and very challenging.  But across the ecosphere much does exist in the way of healthy relationships, dialogue, discussion, listening, diplomacy, and consensus-building.  And we do need to shed plenty of light on this good which is taking place in community.  Indeed there is much that is happening in Seguin which might get us on a road toward increased respect and good-/god-liness, i.e.,:

• voter registration drives  
• some research into Seguin’s sustainability status (and a committee on sustainability)  
• dialogue about better and more holistic educational systems including continuing ecological education 
• initiatives at more art, historical knowledge, learning of other languages, including mathematics and computer languages 
• programs to increase individual/family/community physical and spiritual health 
• scholarships and leadership programs focusing on the less fortunate 
• naturalists working to protect and enhance green space  
• programs to achieve more nutritious, energetically-sound and user-friendly food systems  a library which is being constructed with goals of the long-term conserving of energy and resources 
• some efforts at reducing, reusing & then recycling 
• an effort at mass transport, some bicycle lanes and increased bicycling for transport rather than just for exercise or recreation 
• efforts toward quality life in Honduras, Mexico, Haiti, Africa and other parts of the world 
• a realization that land fills and waste can be very problematic 
• perhaps some realization that (conspicuous) consumption and the desperate grab for & transformation of energy can be a serious problem …
• the respect campaign which initiated this column which has been run much of this year of 2014!! 

“To live, we must daily break the body and shed the blood of Creation. When we do this knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament. When we do it ignorantly, greedily, clumsily, destructively, it is a desecration. In such desecration we condemn ourselves to spiritual and moral loneliness, and others to want.”  Wendell Berry

PEACE???

Do I believe we will achieve peace ... and sustainability (social justice, humaneness, ecological sanity)?  ...   I would rather believe thusly, i.e., in good (my god), than to worship gods of power and money and more stuff, and therefore believe in war and ecological destruction.

good god! (Just a thought.)

"God" is a lazy man's way to individual "peace".  Universal Good strives for universal PEACE.  ...  I will concede, however, that god and good might be one and the same.

Non-believers and Believers

"There are two ways to slice easily through life--to believe everything or to doubt everything.  Both ways save us from thinking."  Linguist Alfred Korzybski, quoted in the Associated Press.  From:  The Week, February 28, 2014
........................
Some of us can never be "believers".  And others can "'never not' be believers".  ...  On the other hand, all of us must be agnostic.  We can never know! pbm

"Sleepwalking to Extinction" by Richard Smith (Adbusters # 110, Vol. 21, Number 6)

This is a good essay!   

http://www.paecon.net/PAEReview/issue64/Smith64.pdf  

I hope you might find time/have the desire to read it!

…………………….

“The Sky Is Falling!” for some at various points in time in the universe(s).  This can be studied/analyzed/realized through lens … of the space shuttle, … at eye level here on Earth, and … involving micro & nano views. 

On the other hand, at all of these levels in certain spatial/temporal sectors for some species complex (ecological communities), “Life Is Good!”

……………………..

I love life!! and I especially love it on a day like today here in “Clean” Seguin when we have a grandkid (or grandkids/kids/friends) over and it’s a cool fall day after recent rain  …  and I’m listening to John Prine singing “You Got Gold”  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcZsgEbEbNs (or even some “Humans Ain’t Human”  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB2E6RX7W44  ) on KNBT 92.1 New Braunfels.

…………………….

I do think biochar, photovoltaic systems, conventional organic food production, high tech, etc., etc. are not moving us much toward community resilience & sustainability (I’m going to post some Martin-“poetry”—below--on this.).  On the other hand, what makes more sense is:  planned controlled grazing, passive solar designs of buildings, lowering consumption, low/appropriate technology, and building of small schools in concert with the Land/Nature and with positively ethical applied community ecology across the curricula and campuses.

I do recognize that I haven’t done much of significance in my ca. 67 years of life.  But “We Are All Sinners!” and can do better  … and “Today Is the First Day of the Rest of My Life!!”  (And efforts toward smaller schools and ecology across curricula/campuses is where we should be expending much of our energy.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_schools_movement  http://www.ecoliteracy.org/change/greening-campus )

…………………..

Headed to The Farm in Stockdale.  pbm

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Enrolada*

Jan 2007 (pbm)

Depression and Pinchot-wired parents taught us to conserve.

2007 Chosen People-fundamentalist preachers impel us to grab and rule the all that WE MOST CERTAINLY deserve.

Humility, frugality used to be preached in the churches.

America First!!!  War!! Estados Unidos  sempre precisa ganhar! …  And the ship of state lurches.

Donald Trump, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates.  The power reigns.

Others squalid in big city/rural remains.

So green! So green!  A  new gas-electric hybrid auto and a muito  verde LEED home built  for only 

        200, 000 times what half the individuals in  the world make in a year.

“Organicissimo!! Organicissimo!!”  With this certified pesticide-free apple sent from New Zealand for our fresh fruit Texas party of Christmas cheer.

“Environmentists”’ answer is “R enewable”.  Used only a half million BTUs per capita last year of ethanol and fuel cell energy.

… Did I mention it cost about a million British Thermal Units of oil, gas and coal.  Don’t you love the synergy?!?!

Cars cause super-problems; we rush for more.

9-11!  Pres says rush for the store.

Indoor pools, treadmill exercise machines..

Could we become Mexican Raramuri or Kenyan Kalenjins and make the whole earth Nature’s park,  and run it in our jeans …  and get it back  into concert with  our genes?

Hot outside?  Turn on the arcondicionados!  Keep eating more gas, oil, coal fueled potatoes.

Global warming (Climate change)? Highly recommend moving from Barbados.

The Chosen few of the world possess Capital and are Landed,

While the Third World is kwashiorkor- stranded.

7 billion Homo sapiens—Number ONE!!!

Other top trophic species?  You’re certainly done!

Top soil?  Watersheds?  Diverse biotic communities?  Passive solar energy?  Who the hell has heard of “it”??

Big screens, NFL, NBA, empty calories—chips and beer.  All of this is what keeps the U.S. lit.

Farm subsidies, conservation easements, cheap energy and  basic resources  from abroad.  For the Lorded Landed this spells more cash!

Certainly can’t cap excessive income and capital gains, strive  for real equity and equality and produce less trash!

Trans Texas Corridors!  Loops around Interstate jams.  Muckity, muckity, muck, muck, muck.

I’ll solve it by traversing overLand with my on-steroids Hummer, ATV, Suburban, and Big diesel truck.

Frequent flyer miles, ecotourism, luxury ‘beachcombing”, Carnival Cruise. 

Explain for me again now those South American favela blues!?!

Come to our High Schools and Universities and learn to change the world faster.

No matter this “serves”  to make the Natural ecosphere much  less of a laster.

Mold those young uns into businessmen, corporate lawyers, sports physicians, oil field geologists.

But “Heaven forbid” an environmentalist  or world renowned ecologist!

It’s the parents’ fault, the teacher’s culpa, the administrators get in the way; a federal problem, a local one.  The village!  The family!  The individual student! …  Let’s get more realistic!!!

It’s all of these.  Just start somewhere and stay  focused on it with lots of will and energy.  Get off your butt and think holistic!

Radios, TVs, cell phones, iPods, video games, plastics, petroleum perfumes,Taco bell food,  this dam computer screen.  Peggy Lee cries out, “Is That All There Is?” … VIRTUAL reality?

Think this is really messing with my Natural innate  personality!

Go out into the country, inner city or even suburban streets. 

In this wealthiest of nations you’ll find unattended-to obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, cancer, malnutrition-- to which I would attribute bad (or lack of) local doctors, politics and economics, chambers of  commerce, ecological ignorance and apathy, and high fructose corn-based sweets.

Arteriosclerosis, arthrosclerosis, hypertension, embolism, angina, arrhythmia, heart attack, stroke.  Could it be our way of life??

Perhaps we could just slow down and do it the natural way and give (human) Nature less strife??

Small is beautiful!  Don’t let them tease you!!

Big is passé … pasado.  Communidades que pensa grandao are screwed.

War. Basic/Airborne Ranger/Green Beret Special Forces training--into fit muscled/artificial “Army of One”- MEN (and woMEN).  Uniforms, weapons, order, brass gives us meaning.

Could we all do a chaotic Peace Corps thing --and rather than destroy do just cleaning?

Haifa, Chechnya, Darfur, Cuba, the deep dark Congo.

Their notoriety? “ Isn’t  one of those where they invented the bongo?”

……………………

I’m confused!!!!

Or too much BS infused?

Got to act local.

I’m not just a Seguin yokel.

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