People Power Granny

What's in a Word? Savoring Meditation #194

2012-01-29T20:51:00.000-05:00

Is it a mole because it looks like a mouse in a hole?

Or is it a rat because it's like a small rabbit that gets eaten by a cat?

I've often wondered how a name came to be,
Like why are women, females and ladies all made
from words describing the masculine?

So take some time with me as we explore the power of words.

Let's look at drink....is it something you think you need to not be dry?
Or mink, a mini skunk without the stink?

Or a sow, a small version of a cow, too soiled to give milk.

Let's look at hair, what we get cut while we sit in a chair,
And when you cover your hair where it's at, you use a hat.

Also when in bed the cloth over you is the cover.
While a boot covers one's bare foot.

Could we have a broom today because it was a brush used to clean a room?

Is a wife a woman who gives and sustains life?
Or if you fold a big rag a certain way do you have a bag?

Conversely, we all know that when you take the s from small, you have a mall.
And a hall is a long hollowed out wall.

Words can be fun while also a mystery...
My story, her story and history.

Heed Warnings on Nuclear Power: Savoring Meditation #193

2012-01-22T20:30:00.000-05:00

A decade ago, engineers warned decision makers that the levies around New Orleans were not strong enough in case a Category 5 Hurricane blew in. It did in the form of Katrina. We know the rest of that story.

More than a decade ago, some people in the FBI warned of a possible terrorist attack near September 11, 2001. It was just one of many such warnings that came before decision makers eyes….probably another false alarm. But nevertheless, the worst happened, and 3000 people lost their lives, and our wars on terrorism continue going on 11 years afterwards.

The operators of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant were assured that plant was safe from storms and earthquakes. No one envisioned a tsunami that would send waves onto the plant grounds above protective walls that were only a third as high as those that flooded the plant causing catastrophes so overwhelming that since then Germany has said it will discontinue use of its nuclear plants soon, and PBS’s Frontline predicts that Japan itself will close down all 54 of its plants.

Back in the US, a noted NRC engineer since the 1970’s, Dr. John Ma, warned NRC commissioners that the Westinghouse AP1000 reactor could “shatter like a glass cup,” if put in stressful weather or seismic conditions. Of course, other engineers employed by Westinghouse insisted this was not the case. You can guess who was believed.

U. S Rep Ed Markey, ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee has said regarding the AP1000 reactor:

“Instead of doing all they should to protect nuclear reactors against seismically-induced ground acceleration, these Commissioners (NRC) voted to approve the acceleration of reactor construction. They have fast-tracked construction of a reactor whose shield building could ‘shatter like a glass cup’ if impacted by an earthquake or other natural or man-made impact.”

Back in May, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko expressed concerns with the AP1000. He then said that Westinghouse would need to provide information on “additional technical issues” related to the AP1000 shield building’s ability to withstand accidents.

A number of organizations still are not satisfied with Westinghouse’s modifications. These groups include the AP1000 Oversight Group, Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team,Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Citizens Allied for Safe Energy, Friends of theEarth, Georgia Women's Action for New Directions, Green Party of Fl orida, Mothers AgainstTennessee River Radiation, North Carolina Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, Nuclear Information and Resource Service, Nuclear Watch South, South Carolina Chapter - Sierra Club, and Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

Back in 1913, Union County, just one county south of Gaffney’s Cherokee County, experienced a 5.5 earthquake. There is no basis to say that there won’t be another.

Too often we humans have looked at probability and written off one in a hundred, one in a thousand or one in a million as just not worth preparing for after a cost/benefit analysis.

Tell this to the more than 100,000 residents of Fukushima who are now unable to return to their homes. Tell this to the people near the Ft. Calhoun Nuclear Plant in Nebraska that came within inches of nuclear calamity this summer when the Missouri River stayed out of its banks for months, putting communities at risk for weeks.

Many of us who are parents and grandparents say the chances of failure of this newly designed AP1000 are just too high. We remind commissioners that for as much as this plant will cost by the time it is complete, the number of gallons of water that will be required to make it work, there are better alternatives.

These alternatives are solar, wind, geothermal and other energy sources….low scale, community-based, community-owned and safe. From the World Bank website comes this article about investments in renewable energy sources.

“The World Bank and the International Finance Corporation constitute a major financier of solar photovoltaics (PV) in developing countries with projects valued at more than US$600 million, serving about 1.3 million households and public facilities in about 30 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.”

Imagine how many households would benefit from an $14 billion investment, the amount estimated to be spent on the construction of the William States Lee plant.

In conclusion, let me state that nuclear power is expensive and dangerous, in this case it is also too much of a burden on the Broad River which already is under stress. It uses uranium which is not easily mined without permanent damage to miners and nearby communities, and the fact that we still cannot adequately deal with nuclear wastes, we do not trust the safety of this plant’s untested reactor, with Gaffney being just one of the nuclear sites where this reactor will be used.

We humans have heard too often of too many warnings that have gone unheeded. Don’t let these warnings also fall on deaf ears and blinded eyes.

Let's tell NRC we don't want a faulty nuke reactor 60 miles from Asheville: Savoring Meditation #192

2012-01-17T20:56:00.000-05:00

Would you like to live just 60 miles from a nuclear reactor that could shatter "like a glass cup?"

You may have that opportunity if you're an Asheville-area resident and the proposed William States Lee III Nuclear Plant near Gaffney Units 1 and 2 is allowed to be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a decision that could be just around the corner unless the public acts now by letting the NRC know just how dangerous the Westinghouse AP1000 Nuclear Reactor could be. Check out this quote from top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee and senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee Rep. Edward J. Markey's (D-MA) website:

“Today, the NRC has presented its holiday gifts to the nuclear industry. Instead of doing all they should to protect nuclear reactors against seismically-induced ground acceleration, these Commissioners voted to approve the acceleration of reactor construction. While they continue to slow walk the implementation of recommendations of the NRC professional staff’s Near-Term Task Force on Fukushima, they have fast-tracked construction of a reactor whose shield building could ‘shatter like a glass cup’ if impacted by an earthquake or other natural or man-made impact.”

Nevertheless four of the members of the NRC voted to approve the final rule for the Westinghouse reactor's design in opposition to the commission's chairman, who voted against the approval. This reactor is the one to be used for the Gaffney plant that Duke Power has its sights on. You as Duke customers have a right and an obligation to speak out against this plant and others, most of which are being sited for construction in Southeastern states.

Submit comments by March 6 by mail, email and fax to:

Chief, Rulemaking and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, Main Stop: TWB-05-B01M, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20555-0001 (mail);
LEE.COLAEIS@NRC.GOV, (Always reference Document or put on subject line: "76 FR 79228, December 21, 2011") (email); or
301-492-3446 (fax).

To participate in the public meeting on January 19th, join in the car pools going there by contacting Laura Sorensen at 545-4443 or Lsredoak@gmail.com.

Judith Hallock, Our Friend!

2012-01-11T23:43:00.001-05:00

We love you, Judith Hallock!

Our prayers, thoughts and well wishes are with you as you continue your journey into a land of peace and pure energy.

We will miss you so much!

You have more than touched our lives. You have help mold them and make them better. You have been a model for us as we strive to be peace, not to just make it. Your life has shown that we are all valuable, that we can do so much in quiet simple and passionate ways.

We cannot ever forget you as we march, as we pray, and as we hope for a day of peace, justice and deep love for all people.

Your body may leave us, but you leave much more than a material body behind. You leave all that is fine and pure and positive!

Judith, you have been a joy in each of our lives.

Thank you!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas: Savoring Meditation #192 from the Wild Animals

2011-12-20T21:52:00.001-05:00

This poem comes to you this holiday season on behalf of all the animals in the forest who eat, run, hunt and sleep this time of year. Thank you Clement Clarke Moore for your great original poem, "The Night Before Christmas."

'Twas the Night before Christmas,
when all through the forest
lots of creatures were singing
...they sounded like a chorus.

The bats and cats and night creatures
stalked with care,
in hopes that their tasty meals soon
would be there!

The little bunnies, skunks and squirrels
were snug in their beds,
while visions of butterflies and bunble bees
circled their heads.

Mommy and Daddy Bear with babes off their lap
had just settled their bodies for long winter's nap.

When out in the cove there arose
such a clatter,
Daddy sprang from his den
to see what was the matter.

Away to the moonlight he flew like a flash,
stared out at the trees and heard a big crash!

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
gave the luster of mid-day to a plant life below...

When, what to Daddy's wondering eyes should appear,
But a big buck, a doe and his sweet baby reindeer!

What a specimen! The buck was so lively and quick,
Daddy Bear saw that he was built like a great big brick!

More rapid than eagles his little herd they came,
the trees around seemed to sway to join the game.

"Now, Maple, now Oak, Now Chestnut and Cherry!
On, Dogwood! On, Hemlock!
Holly and Mulberry!

To the top of the trees! So close to the stars!

Now sway away, sway away!
Sway away to Mars!"

As the leaves that from the cold autumn winds do fly,
when they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky...

So into the dark and dangerous woods they ran,
with the hunk of Buck, an eight-pointer, leading his clan.

And then in a twinkling, it seemed like a goof.
Daddy heard prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As he drew out his head,
and was looking around,
off the reindeer flew into the woods with a bound.

In their place appeared a fox
dressed in fur from head to foot.

He was a mess, so tarnished with ashes and soot!

A bundle of ducks and geese he had flung on his back,
and he looked to be bringing the bacon home to feed his pack.

His eyes --how they twinkled!
His paws so hairy!
His ears were like pines,
his nose like a berry!

His slobbering mouth was poised so ready to strike.
This was a character Daddy Bear did not like!

Feathers from the geese fell out from his teeth,
A sly guy, he worked to cover his tracks beneath.

Daddy Bear knew that like all,
the fox must fill his belly.
Meat was his favorite,
certainly not sweet rolls and jelly!

The fox was lean, swift and
a sneaky little elf,
Daddy Bear cringed when he
saw him, in spite of himself.

A wide search with his eyes
and a thought in his head,
soon gave him to know they had
nothing to dread;

The fox growled not a bark
but went straight to his work.

He de-feathered his catch for his babes;
and then turned with a jerk.

And scenting a smell of Daddy Bear
with his keen nose,
He poked from side to side,
and away into the woods he goes.

Daddy Bear watched intently,
then gave a whistle,
And went back to bed relaxed
like the down of a thistle.

Daddy Bear snuggled up to Mommy
now within his sight,
Saying "Happy Christmas to all,
and to all, a l-o-n-g good-night!"

Giving Free Hugs: Savoring Meditation #191

2011-12-17T22:53:00.000-05:00

OK, I finally did it!

I put a sign on myself and wore it downtown.

My sign said, "Free Hugs."

Now for folks that don't know me, I'm basically a shy person who likes to blend in with the surroundings. This reminds me of a time my oldest son took me across the border into Mexico many years back when I had bright red frizzy hair and freckles all over my face.

He said, "Just stay close. I can blend in, but you, you don't blend."

Today I wanted once more to blend in, but I knew that this was something I had wanted to do for a long time, but always saw it overshadowed by other demands, most of which would let me blend in with my crowd.

So at about 1:30, I started putting on my outfit, a long dress, long socks, a sweater (It was cold out there!), my coat, striped hat and then my banner, like those ribbons beauty candidates wear, on which I had lettered with a Magic Marker the night before, "Free Hugs."

I cross the banner across my chest and pinned it together at my hips. I also decided to safety pin it at my shoulder so it wouldn't constantly slip down.

First I hugged my housemate once I got to my front door. Then came the big moment:

I walked out the door and walked proudly toward downtown. No one honked or seemed to give me the eye. I got all the way to downtown before I saw what looked like a middle aged couple who looked to be tourists.

I asked them if they wanted a hug. They did. I gave one to each of them.

The ice was broken. Would it get easier?

It did. Sure many people avoided meeting my eye. This is a busy time of the year, the last weekend of shopping before Christmas. I'm sure folks had more on their mind than letting this little old woman stop their train of thought with a hug. So be it!

Soon I was at Pritchard Park, saw some friends and gave all of them hugs. That was easy. We always hug. But then I gallivanted around and found some other "little different" folks, along with some Occupy Asheville folks, and we had a great time with our hugs.

I continued to get a couple here turn-downs here and there, but for the most part, Asheville has a lot of people who like their hugging. And after all, like I said, it's a hugging time of the year. It's Christmas time, after all!

I joined my friends who for awhile circulated around downtown singing non-consumerist Christmas songs, so for awhile, I forgot that I had my sign on. Except for one time. I saw a couple familiar-looking faces sitting on a bench by Woolworth's, a couple homeless guys. I asked them if I could hug them, and theirs were great!

Eventually I took off my banner and became a normal person again. But at last I had done what this shy little girl inside would have never done, especially as a loner. Even though I was amidst a crowd of people, some I knew and others I didn't, I was the only one offering free hugs.

Know what? It was fun! It was Asheville, after all. No big deal! Folks do
"weird" things around here all the time. I think I will do it again. I may even enjoy it more the second time. But you know what they say: "It's never again like it was the first time."

I don't think I'll ever be another "Hugging Saint," like the famous Amma, who hugs thousands of people a day around the world. But in my own little way, I conquered a demon within me today.

It was the demon of self consciousness, or timidity, of always blending in.

There are many many people around us who need a special hug for no other reason than to just have a touch in a world that is afraid of touching, especially strangers, unless there is a payment involved for a 'different type of touching."

Mine was just a hug, a long hug sometimes. It was good for me and it was good for others. I think next time, I'll add a little phrase, such as "I believe in You!"

Maybe in my own little way, I will be helping to make the world a little better place.

Want to join me next time?

A Vacation to Build and Remember: Savoring Meditation #190

2011-12-07T22:59:00.001-05:00

The moment I stepped into the plane, I knew that the next couple weeks would be quite different than my normal days in Asheville. No talk of Occupy Movements, visits with Congress people. No talk of selling home improvements to total strangers.

No the next few weeks would be about family, and family "business."

About the only political talk I heard was about my bro-in-law through write-ins only becoming the new mayor of my small hometown. And now he's planning to run for state representative in Iowa. Go, Barney! Speak for the working man and woman. I say this because Barney's second love after Betty is organized labor, more specifically unions.

My son and his family picked me up at the airport after a flight from Atlanta, where I was bumped up to first class. What a perfect beginning for my vacation! Bring on that glass of free red wine!

The five of us camped out my big brother's home. We took over the entire upstairs and still didn't use up all the bedrooms. A hot pot of soup awaited our arrival.

The next day we visited Mom and Dad at Pleasant Hill Cemetery, along with deceased little siblings lost in our childhoods. We also said hello to niece Chrissy, who tragically died in a farm accident some 30 years ago.

Then it was time to help sister Patty to rake her leaves in the back yard. We also had a great time visiting with Jack, her miniature doberman.

That evening we drove back to Omaha to have a family portrait with Santa at the Mall. We rewarded ourselves with a movie of "Happy Feet," and two huge buckets of buttery popcorn.

A drive over to Morehead, IA got us up the next morning. We had a wonderful visit with cousins and an aunt there. Linda has always been my favorite cousin. I found out that Sonny gave her her first kiss. I just knew it! Lucky dog!

After a drive to Denison for lunch and a tour of the gigantic small town of 5,000 people, we returned to Dunlap to look over the farm where I grew up. What a change! No animals now but some barn cats. The farm is now a soybean and corn grain farm. My brother and his boys and nephews now farm nearly 2000 acres, compared to my dad farming about 300, of which 120 was his own. The combine alone was worth more than $300,000. Add to that three big semi-trucks with Roberts Farms written on them, and we were in big time farming! Although I love my daughter's small sustainable organic farm in Tennessee, I was also amazed at what my brother and family were able to accomplish in Dunlap. What an amazing family I have!

That night I de-boned three turkeys at Betty's. She had been working all day to prepare Thanksgiving Dinner for 40-50 people the next day.

And that day came very quickly. Just in great-grandchildren alone, we had 18 children. Then there were siblings, their kids and their spouses. We all had a sit down meal in Betty's garage after Roger, my brother-in-law led us in a tearful blessing.

There were basketball games, picture taking, Twister games, movies, football games on TV for the rest of the day. And we can't forget all the desserts! I think we all added an inch to our waistlines that day.

The next day in the wee hours of the morning we said good-bye to family of origin, and drove to Kansas City, from where we would fly out of to get to San Francisco, my son's stomping grounds later that day.

The following week was another series of adventures...seeing my son's new condo where he stays during the week while working for Cisco Systems. But first, we stayed the night in his San Ramon house, which the family calls home. After surveying his fruit trees in his back yard, we traveled to his condo. That evening we visited the Global Winter Wonderland in Santa Clara. This was the same show his wife as a child had seen numerous times in her home country of China. What a sight as we journeyed all around the globe from prehistoric times to today on seven continents amidst colorful lighted displays!

On Sunday I attended a local Quaker meeting in San Jose. I'm amazed that in my small town of 70,000 persons in Asheville, we get better attendance than the sweet little meeting house in San Jose, home of nearly a million people.

My son prepared Sunday dinner that day. Quite a gourmet meal for a computer engineer! That evening his wife and children and I were invited to an authentic Indian meal at Shanti's home next door in San Ramon. Delicious food and conversation.

My photography bug called me on Monday while the kids were in school. But first, I had to catch up on my journaling at Peet's Coffee Shop at the closest shopping center. How I love to just write and write and drink coffee and take pictures. I even squeezed in a little shopping at the local Safeway before walking back to Bobby's home.

That evening Carter did his kung fu class, and of course, the camera was there with me, documenting his passing of his test that entitled him to his white belt. Not bad for a little four-year old!

I played all day with the kids on Tuesday, including a nice visit at Picadilly park, to where Carter rode his little red bike with training wheels the whole way without one mishap.

That evening I went to San Jose with Bob to spend a night at the condo, just reminiscing about old times and giving Bob an opportunity to update my laptop somewhat. The next morning I slept til 11:30 a.m. My way to catch up on the time change from east coast to west coast or Thanksgiving festivities?

That afternoon I fed myself at a nice little coffee shop near Bobby's condo and took at walk along the Guadalupe River over by the airport. I saw homeless camping areas in some spots on the banks of the slender river.

That evening, it was back home to San Ramon with the kids. The next day we experienced part of the high winds that threatened Los Angeles that same day. More time to play and build memories with the grand children Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday we baked the best chewy coconut cookies ever!

Friday I did my Christmas shopping for the family in Danville, a sweet little Old West type town in the Contra Costa valley. I noticed that whereas San Ramon tends to be predominantly Asian and Indian, Danville was predominantly white. Few communities in that area attract African-Americans or Latinos. This isn't the way I would like to bring up my kids, but then these aren't my kids.

That evening was movie and popcorn night in the San Ramon home after Bobby returned from the big city.

The vacation was winding down. There was still more Christmas shopping with the kids on Saturday, and the making of little wooden trains at Lowes. There were more picture taking opportunities, coffee shop drinks and conversations, a visit to a new church (give me Asheville's anytime) and finally time to board a red eye flight from San Francisco to Asheville.

And here I am tonight remembering it all, probably boring the reader to death. Probably one of the most tender moments was when my grand daughter cried because I had to leave. I had to promise to come back again soon so we could dance more, play music and games, color, figure out Sudoku puzzles, read, build, visit playgrounds, talk about Mom and Dad and friends, and shop together.

Next time I may bring Babe, my cat, with me. Family times are so important! While I was gone, my daughter was adjusting her new baby son to sleeping in a big crib in his own room. Again building memories that will linger and flow into the heavens with her someday.

Other things in life are important, and sometimes exciting and yet, memorable. But it's the little day by day moments of saying the big word, or dancing that special step, or wrestling with you on the beanbag that will stay with you longer than that new promotion or that pat on the back from the boss.

Thank God, vacations can sometimes give us opportunities to put the frosting on those memories, or open up those treasure chests of long gone moments, breathing warm moist new life into them letting them dance again in our hearts.

Don't turn down these chances to rebuild relationships. They may not come again for a long long time. They may never come again.

Honoring My Beautiful Body: Savoring Meditation #189

2011-11-16T22:09:00.000-05:00

I think I want to marry a massage therapist!

I made my annual visit today to a massage therapist just down the street from where I live. I want to thank Daughter #2 for making my visit possible. What a wonderful gift!

As I laid on the massage table, I tried to meditate, to escape all thought patterns and just go off into la la land as every muscle in my body was soothed.

But the sensation of the therapist's hands on my calves, my shoulders, even my face and scalp seemed to stimulate my brain to think more.

I remembered my Grandma Hull threatening to un-subscribe to Life Magazine because it had too many pictures of near-naked women in it. Her comment has stuck with me for half a century: "Bodies are ugly. I don't know why they show them."

But today as the therapist stroked my back from my shoulders to my lower back with her oiled fingers, my body felt oh so beautiful. I felt slim and shapely, firm and glowing. I felt young again. Relaxed but full of vigor. Golly, I decided that I wanted a massage everyday! How had I gone a whole year since the last one?

Since moving to Asheville, I've discovered that my grandmother's words came from a woman steeped in the Protestant Work Ethic which was in turn steeped in an overall environment of Victorian modesty.

But while here, I've been able to revere my body, to realize that it is not entirely me, but it is a very important part of me. And really, it is more than a part. It is merged into who I am, just as my mind and soul are.

Also while I've been in Asheville, I've discovered the wonders of acupuncture. I had always been fearful about those little needles all over my body, some type of voodoo practice. Just not for me!

But looking forward to a visit to Europe in 2010 during which I would be walking most of the time with a sore big toe, I cautiously sneaked into the People's Acupuncture of Asheville offices. I was pierced ever so gently with those fine little needles, and then allowed to lay in a Lazy Boy recliner for as long as I wanted. I even dozed off to the background sound of falling water over rocks and new age music while I relaxed under a cozy blanket.

Another opportunity to pamper my body.....and within a few weeks, I was ready, as was my toe for lots of walking in Great Britain, France and Germany.

I also found similar care of my body here when I visited the local Minnie Jones Dental Clinic. I hate to go to the dentist, but the visits to this dental clinic for cleaning, exams, a new partial and fillings were really not bad!

I haven't been to a chiropractor yet, or visited one of the alternative medical clinics. I have visited a local yoga studio, and may go back someday. But not any special remembrances of the one a went to to write about here. My next step is to get up the nerve to take belly dancing classes.

Oh yes, I even work out now with weights at the local Y, something I never dreamed I would one day do.

I do love my body. It is beautiful. It is slim and powerful It was served me well even though many times I've been cruel to it by starving it, stressing it, draining it, working it, pushing it to the limits. Even letting some others act like it belonged to them and not me.

Today I claim my body for me. Maybe someday I will share it again with someone, but only when I really want to, and not before.

And maybe someday I'll marry a massage therapist, and think I'm in heaven!

Thankful at 66th Birthday: Savoring Meditation #188

2011-11-12T22:08:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday. Just about as good as Mother's Day!

What a wonderful day! Three of my five children took me out for lunch and an art stroll through Asheville's River Arts District. I had a simply wonderful time!

Then there were the phone calls from family of birth, my two other children, a separated husband, and lots of Facebook well wishes from some folks I've never met in person! Like I said, it was a wonderful day!

My age now is 66. Sometimes i wonder how many more such days will I be blessed to have. At this time of my life, I find myself full of thankfulness that I can still eat everything, drink anything, do anything. But I don't have all the responsibilities of my children, nor the encumbrances of those older than I am.

This year I also want to thank all those who made my life what it is. I won't mention those whose impacts I'm still trying to shake.

Starting at the very beginning, there's my mom, Ruth Hull Roberts, who could cook up a storm with very little ingredients. She was a woman who loved food, and perhaps her love for rich sweet foods shortened her life. But she was also a strong woman who remained faithful to her maker even when that maker took so many of her children through still births and a life lived in poverty.

I thank my father, a handsome man with a gift of gab. He loved to have a good time, and that love of enjoying one more beer may have shortened his life, as well. But he was a religious man, always on his knees in the living room before bed. His life was tough. He wasn't perfect, but basically he tried.

Then there was Grandma Hull, who made the best cookies in the world: chocolate chip and coconut lace, and her cookie jar was never empty. She also put us kids up in her home in town when we showed 4-H calves at the Four County Fair in Iowa.

Another childhood hero was Nick Schommer, who kept his ponies on our farm, encouraging my lifelong love of horses of all types. And Mrs. Culver, a lady whose kids I babysat. She gave me the confidence to try out college.

A number of Sisters of Humility groomed me for adulthood, as well. Sister Cleopas, who told me I had a talent for art; Sister Edward, who made science exciting with her wicked sense of humor. (Born and raised along the Mississippi, she teased us about our Boyer River, more like muddy creek.) Then there was Sister Elaine, who made me editor of our school paper, paving the way for me to later on go to major in journalism in college.

Beyond those formative years, I could thank hundreds who made my journey just a little more bearable. I want to thank the man I married, a man who listened to me at a time when I thought no one cared. I also thank him for the five children we conceived and raised together.

There have been employers, friends and mentors throughout my adult life. One who particularly stands out was Mary Brookshire of Kingsport, TN. She guided me on a spiritual journey that I benefit from to this day. Friend Marcie Sharpe of Montgomery, AL, also helped me when I was new in her city. Our kids became close friends while Marcie taught me so much about trusting in God in all kinds of situations.

Now I'm an elder. Yet my life is still in a state of constant change. Two years ago, my husband and I separated. That has been rough, but friends in Asheville, NC, have seen me through it. I especially want to thank the folks from Servanthood House on Chestnut Street, just across the alley from my apartment. Without them, I couldn't have gotten through this traumatic time in my life. Their daily presence at morning meditation and Friday's Sabbath Circle brings stability to my life.

Asheville itself has been a place for healing in my life. I had tremendous help from Susan Sihler, a therapist who helped to learn to accept the person I am, not the person I wish I had been. Also the support I've received from Adult Children of Alcoholics has empowered me to share stories that I had kept buried for far too many years. Additional sources of growth for me have come from my new church, First Congregational United Church of Christ, Our Voice (offering art therapy classes), and the peace community in this fair city (Peacetown Asheville and Veterans for Peace). For the sheer enjoyment of life, I thank the Asheville Mushroom Club and those who have encouraged me in my photography work.

Today, my life is so different than it was a decade ago. Now I see the importance of a life appreciating and doing art. I see that I can branch out and do things I only dreamed about then. A couple such things include becoming certified as a doula and becoming an ordained minister. ( I have helped a couple women now give birth and even officiated at one of my children's marriage.)

And my life is only beginning now as a grandmother. I have four grandchildren: two girls (both the older siblings in their families) and two boys. My goal is to embolden them to celebrate life and to cherish all their responsibilities as creatures of this beautiful planet. I hope I can pass on to them the realization that they are a part of all that makes this planet tick. They are not more important, but they are just as important as that frog, that butterfly or worm in the garden. They all have a place in creation, and one can't get along without the other. If they can live their lives with that realization, my life will not have been lived in vain.

So today on the 66th birthday, I thank all the creatures on earth with me. I also thank my ancestors, my mentors, my teachers, my co-creators and my children. I thank you, my blog readers, as well.

But most of all, I thank the magic of creation itself, the coming together of parents, of timing, of generations of comings together. I thank the powers that be for letting me be a part of this complete celebration of what we humans call life.

New Places to "Occupy:" Savoring Meditation #187

2011-11-10T19:45:00.001-05:00

Well, we now have more than 1,000 official "Occupy" sites around the globe.

My question: What isn't occupied yet that should be, or would just be fun to occupy?

Here are some possibilities:

*Restrooms in offices all around Wall Street and in big greedy financial institutions around the globe

*Bars and taverns in the financial district. But just order soft drinks and talk real loud and long.

*Places of worship, especially where the wheelers and dealers and major financial players go to worship or make their weekly appearance

*Yuppie and high end restaurants in financial districts. I know this could get to be quite expensive, but could you afford a cup of coffee?

*Country clubs and pro shops. Stop by and inquire about jobs, membership fees, booking events. In other words, tie up the staff with lots of questions. Maybe even dress up like a rich dude. You can wear a small Occupy button, if you want.

*Garden clubs, where lots of spouses (especially wives) like to meet.

*If you have the money, "occupy" some operas and/or classical concerts. Eat lots of beans a day or so ahead of the event.

*How about bidding at some of those high-class auctions that only the wealthy can afford? Not enough money? Stop bidding at the opportune time, or bid and oh-oh, you just don't have enough money because the dog ate it this morning.

*Apply for jobs at the best private schools and daycare centers. Don't frighten the children. Just keep staff busy turning you away.

*Occupy the phone lines to all your elected leaders and corporate CEOs. You just don't understand what the operator's telling you. Can she repeat that?

*Occupy your local city council and country commission and zoning board and human rights commission meetings, plus any other public meeting. Most have open comments at the beginning and/or end. Speak as long as they'll let you.

*Occupy a big bank, inquiring about opening an account, getting a CD, and then changing your mind over and over.

*With the Christmas shopping season coming up, be sure to occupy the exclusive stores. Try on some glitzy clothes. At the last minute, decide it's just won't go with your sleeping bag. But then, maybe those sexy skin-tight jeans would. Decisions, decisions!

*Occupy the media, including your local TV, radio and newspapers. Call, email, fax, show up and ask to speak with the editors. If they turn you down, do it again the next day and the next. Eventually you'll get their curiosity up.

*What about a cruise ship that the wealthy like to frequent? Can you get a job as a deck hand or server? If so, leave little secret messages here and there on tiny pieces of paper that state a fact about one of your grievances.

*Then there are sports events. Football, basketball, how about a half-time show all your own? Or start an Occupy Wave, a cheer. Possibilities are limitless.

*And don't forget about the grooming places, the barbershops, beauty shops, shoeshine spots. Gab up the Occupy Movement big time while you have a chance to embarrass those waiting their turns. Another expensive option, but remember, most likely these are the 99 percenters, too.

I think you get the general idea. Occupy started out as a movement to bring attention on Wall Street about the greed and fraud that pervades the area. But now as towns and cities all over the globe have added their own occupies, it's time to get more creative. Don't let there be a hiding spot where your nice little smile isn't before them.

And remember, even many on Wall Street itself are 99 percenters. You are doing something many of them can't do right now because of countless responsibilities at home and elsewhere. But they are with you.

Granny is with you. We just want to see that smiling and determined smile in the right places at the right times. You're a force that just won't go away. There are thousands of you. Encampments are important, but where you are during the day is also important.

Being a historic Occupier is a full-time job. Thank you for your service to your country and the globe.

What have we done? Savoring Meditation #186

2011-11-08T20:56:00.002-05:00

What have we done
To get that new TV?
To wash our clothes cleaner
Or burn our lights brighter?

What have we done
To live in bigger houses,
To live out farther
in lots more comfort?

What have we done
To be sure all the germs are dead,
The dogs are shorter and sweeter
The food is prepared faster?

What have we done
To our neighborhood
As we've built taller fences,

Killed every little dandelion
And bumblebee along the way?

What have we done
As we've designed a new world
Different than God's planet
With rivers filled and hills cut down?

What have we done
As healthcare has become a business
And business has become a person
And a person become just in the way?

What have we done
To our small family farms
Now with no families, no animals
Just machines and endless corn rows?

What have we done
With our children - building fear within
Too scared to play outside,
Too fat to have fun running and hopping?

What have we done
To our schools
Where now the teachers are villains,
No raises, accusations of not doing their jobs?

What have we done
To our leaders,
Now dependent on money for ads
More than constituents who vote?

Life is more than more,
Life is less about better
And more about real.

Life is more than striving
To be better than the other.
Life is about continuation
Of building memories of the simple.

We are all still creatures
Needing the same loving care
Of family, friends and neighbors
Lending a outstretched hand.

Perhaps it's time to take a step to the rear
To meander a little here and there
To stop the doing and look at being
An ancestor to descendents one day.

Will they honor our names
Revere our acts and words?
Will they thank us for saving a planet
From destruction along our way?

2011-11-07T22:33:00.001-05:00

What is best argument to cut military spending? Savoring Meditation #185

2011-11-03T23:21:00.001-04:00

Can I just play the devil's advocate here for a moment?

I've always been told that the capitalistic system operated on a scarcity model, and in reality, that almost always amounts to those without enough trying to get a few crumbs from those who have too much.

This system is wrong, and it only breeds a certain form of competition where I want mine first before you get yours. Another better strategy for planet earth is that there is enough for everyone. There is no scarcity of funds, we are only led to believe this so the powerful can control the less powerful.

Now let's jump to another subject: The moral issue of constant war, the killing of innocents, the maiming of combatants, a general disrespect of the sacredness of life. Is this strategy in itself too weak to garner support for the alleviation of war?

Or must we sell the cutting back of an inflated military budget using the scarcity model? Are we ourselves clawing to get our crumbs for healthcare, education, environment, etc.? Can we lower the death rates from war by appealing to people's self-interest of having the public services they need by cutting back military spending? If so, we have not really addressed the real moral issue that should drive us to outlaw war.

Let's say we do bring some war dollars home for awhile, but we only cut some of the military budget. Won't the maiming and killing of children continue to happen in our names? And who's to say that the situation we have now won't gradually come back in just a few years to the 60 percent of spending that we have now? We have no guarantee.

If the military budget is cut, who's to say that the services we want funded won't still be left in the wilderness? Those in power now want to de-fund government overall until, as Grover Norquist says, "it can be flushed down the drain."

Is there any way we can work long term to be sure that this doesn't happen if we get the military cuts we want? So I wonder if we are neglecting the real moral issue here in favor of pandering to the self interests of people, appealing to their economic consciences only and not to their moral consciences? I especially think that our religious allies need to help us with raising the real moral reasons war is not acceptable.

What I write is a possible response we are likely to get from those who have been peace activists all their lives ....perhaps purists, some may say. I do not mean to infer that I agree with everything I said above, but nevertheless, we need to respond. I remember that after the Soviet Union fell, we all proposed a peace dividend. But it didn't happen, much to our chagrin.

The military-industrial complex is certainly very powerful, much more than it was back in the 50s when President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about it. Such a partnership is not likely to give up without a struggle. And that's what I hope we are also prepared to go ... not to give up on the moral issue, while also appealing to people's self interests. We just need to know the enemy and its tools, and be ready to overcome them with our well-thought out plans.

Many of us in the peace movement have to give up our naivety. I hope that all we are doing works. I'm on board. But I do think we have to be prepared for a Goliath out there. And likewise we have to be prepared for those who are on the left side of us, who think anything less than total withdrawal from the Middle East is not enough. They mourn the killing of innocent babies by our own soldiers. They think that is reason enough to work for peace, and bringing more funds home only plays to those who are consumed by a cost-benefit analysis.

We have to be sure to stand our ground and continue to stress the morality of providing necessary public services in a civilized society, war or no war. And even if we are able to cut the defense department's spending, we cannot let the savings go only to cutting the national debt or being sent back in the form of tax cuts for the rich.

This is an issue that needs further discussion in peace groups around the world, so we can act in unison to advocate for a moral just and life-giving peace that also reaps benefits through life-giving public services.

Let's step aside and let the young lead: Savoring Meditation #184

2011-10-25T22:47:00.002-04:00

In the 1960s there was a draft.

In the 1960s young people went to the streets, burned their draft cards in protest for being conscripted into the military to fight a war they didn't believe in.

In the 1960s and before African Americans in the south weren't allowed to vote through many conniving laws that made this right almost impossible to carry out.

In the 1960s black children couldn't attend the better schools that the white student attended. They also couldn't live in white neighborhoods. They were denied many basic rights that other Americans took for granted.

They, as well, rebelled. They participated in massive acts of nonviolent direct action, such as sit-ins at Woolworth counters in the South, boycotting buses in Montgomery, AL.

Today, in the 2010s, many of our young people and some older folks are without jobs even though they received educations that were supposed to guarantee them stunning careers that would pay off student debts and allow them to start lives as contributing adults to the civil society.

In the 2010s, millions of families have found themselves put out of their homes because of foreclosures in ever mounting numbers. Sacrifices to pay monthly mortgages in the thousands of dollars count for nothing. Those still in their homes have found their home values evaporate like a morning dew.

Near the 2010s, the US government gave billions of dollars to US financial institutions to prevent a national financial collapse we were told. Many of those funds went for bonuses to millionaire CEOs, who laughed all the way to their yachts
while pink slips were handed out to employees all along the boulevard along the way.

Meanwhile college loans take over grants and scholarships and students find themselves graduating with loans the size of mortgages, and having no way to even start payments since they have no jobs.

We in the 1960s always wondered when the young would take over the mantle and carry on the fight for social justice in this country and beyond.

The time has come. It is today. It is in more than 800 communities around the globe in the form of Occupy Wall Street groups.

These people....both young and old....are mad and aren't going to take it any longer.

My advice to the other old timers like myself. Let the leaders of this movement be our young people. We have fought many battles, some of which we won and some which we lost. And we can also fight this battle, but this is the time for our young people to take leadership.

Let's pass our flame of passion onto them. Let's follow, but be open to share our wisdom, advice and experience when asked.

This is a new dawn of activism once more in America, and the leaders do not have silver crowns like mine, but instead black, blond, red and even dreadlocks crowns, accented with tattoos in some cases. They have babies. Many own very little, but have so much to gain by this experience.

Let's be there for them, help make the critical mass, testify for them, write letters to the editor for their movement, then step back and let them develop a form of reform that speaks to the needs and wants of the 2010s.

We are the Government, Folks! Savoring Meditation #183

2011-10-20T22:47:00.002-04:00

A myriad of complaints about cozy relationships of our government and corporations has led many in the Occupy Movements from New York to San Francisco and some 800 communities in between to proclaim that they want to abandon government as they know it and start all over with no government.

I certainly can understand the frustration these activists have toward the way our government is currently run. It has become corrupted in many ways. But basically one can find much good in our government since, as Abraham Lincoln said, it is "... of, by and for the people."

In addition we also honor the words of the signers of our own Declaration of Independence, "....life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Our government is us, folks. If we ditch all of our constitution and its amendments, our Declaration of Independence and other national historic documents that were used to form our democracy, we will still have to come up with some type of government to replace it. And really, why do we need to re-invent the wheel?
We just need to improve what we already have.

Now I'm not a political scholar or a public policy pro. However, I do know that the main tenants of our government are sound. Our three branches of government, including two houses in the legislative branch; our executive and judicial branch, they can work.

However, we need to declare that only people are persons, not corporations. Free speech is a right of people, not necessarily corporations. When it comes to candidates and propositions being put onto ballots, there needs to be limits on spending. Campaign finance reform is absolutely necessary, including how corporations have abused the right of free speech to the detriment of the general population who form our government.

I sometimes think that our government has been corrupted by a mighty disease. It can be saved. It must be saved so the public can be saved in an organized and fair way. I am fearful of a country as big as ours, one with so many weapons among the population, a population of diverse passions and phobias, one that is urban and rural and suburban, Latino, Caucasian and African-American and Asian, of conservatives, liberals, and everything in between, must have some type of glue that holds it together in all of its diversity.

But it must be reformed to be more responsive to the people, the masses, not just the powerful, the corporations and the rich. It must respond also to the needs of the otherwise un-empowered, small businesses, farmers and the poor. And responses must be truly quick. Citizens who make up our government must feel that they are important, that their voices are heard and that they can get answers that aren't filled with legalese and fine print.

Our reformed government must not be one that lives by the letter of the law, but by the spirit of the law. I know that my lawyer friends laugh at such an idea. However, we are adults. We are all Americans. Our government is here to serve the public and the private in a way that values both in a realistic way.

In my opinion, the USA will always need a responsive government that serves the public and protects the individual rights of real people. Anarchy and withdrawal from government is not the answer. That only gives what we currently have the right to become even more diseased and harmful to those it is supposed to serve.

So Occupiers, I beg you: Don't abandon your government. Instead reform it. Take it to the cleaners and remove the filth that has accumulated through its long life time. We can have a revolution, but not one that abandons one evil with the chance that something more evil may evolve in its place. History has many lessons of good intentions that went bad when too much was destroyed so something new could be begun.

The best option is to save what is savable, to redeem it, enliven it, embolden it and empower the people who are the government to reform it into a living society that truly serves you and me and our children and grandchildren for ages to come.

If I were to die, here's what I'm thankful for in life: Savoring Meditation #182

2011-10-18T21:53:00.002-04:00

Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

If I should die before I wake,
These are the thanks I will make:

A wonderful healthy life
Five marvelous children
Four beautiful grandchildren with more to come
A loving relationship with my children's father
A memorable family of birth in serene Iowa

Friends in Iowa, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia and North Carolina
The opportunity to work for nonprofits that fed my passions
A welcome move to the "cesspool of sin," Asheville
A number of kitty cats who purred and stared me in the eye

Even a couple of dogs that tried my patience but added smiles to my face
Horses on my Iowa farm that let me ride them down the corn fields
Good homegrown food as a child and now with the local food movement everywhere
Electricity for power, warmth, entertainment and sight
The flowers that bloomed before my eyes outdoors and in

Photography and its opportunities to show an artistic vein
The ability to co-create with God new life and to birth it
Mushrooms growing in the woods and in parks, and eating them
A roof over my head all of my life from big houses to small rooms
For play, games, swings and slides on playgrounds

Blue skies with white fluffy clouds rolling them
Storms with thunder, winds, snow and pattering rain
Music with words sometimes or only instruments but always stirring up memories
A deep spiritual life that joins me to a Higher Power and fellow creatures

A chance to buy land with my daughter and son-in-law
Money in the bank to perhaps one day even buy a car
A job that supplements a small fixed Social Security check
Common sense to stretch every dime just a little farther

Neighbors to help form community and support during tough times
Freshly baked bread, cookies, cheese cakes and chicken and noodles
Even the cow, the pig, the fish and other animals who give me food as well
Sweet dreams and nightmares, all with lessons to teach

The trees and bushes that provide a myriad of fruits and nuts
Books that feed the intellect and heighten the imagination
Peace and all the people in the world who work for peace
Charity that so many provide for those of us needing help
For doctors, nurses, hospitals, massage therapists and acupuncturists

Cars, trains and planes that help us unite and see the world
Newspapers, magazines, radios, TV and all electronic media
Stores that provide new things and even used.
A country that elects a black president just 50 years after MLK.

For all of these things, dear Higher Power, Universe or Whoever
I give thanks.

I even thank you for the struggles, the fear, the sorrows along the way.
The hills and valleys of life, the rocky roads and mud puddles, too.
They're no fun to be sure, but they have made me who I am,
A vulnerable imperfect human who always has a few more improvements to make before checking into those heavenly gates.

Dancing Leaves: Savoring Meditation #181

2011-10-15T01:56:00.003-04:00

Dancing leaves
Swirling around
The streets and streams
Frolicking forever it seems.

Mortal beings
Watching in wonder
Seeing the season's
Ending impending.

We see how leaves
Fall far from the trees
Feasting on freedom
Of death in the breeze.

2011-10-13T23:53:00.002-04:00

Bring Our War Dollars Home: Savoring Meditation #180

2011-10-13T23:09:00.003-04:00

Many in the Occupy Wall Street Movement are upset about corporate personhood.

We in the peace movement are also upset about the same thing, but we also see the relationship of corporations in relationship to our country's never ending occupations of countries around the globe.

Maybe we can get together to pass resolutions across this country that call for our leaders to "Bring Our War Dollars Home." These occupations are easy money for many of our corporations which stay in the black because of military contracts here and away.

Why do we need such resolutions when these are local government who some think need to keep their noses out of national matters?

Here's why:

We are experiencing an economic collapse locally as well as nationally, exhausting financial resources at all levels.

    Local taxpayers have learned that our military budget doubled in the last decade to an amount equal to the military budgets of the rest of the world combined.

    More than 50 percent of our federal taxes (or more than 1 trillion dollars annually) goes to military expenditures.

    The number of people living in our city at an income below the poverty level is now double our state's average, while children across North Carolina are going to bed hungry, including one out of every six residents of our regions who receive emergency food aid each year.

    Our financial resources for education, jobs, medical care, housing and other essential public services and infrastructure repair have been diverted from a constructive economy to destructive wars and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

    The prospects for employment and higher education for our young people are diminishing at a rapid pace, causing them to be targets for military service recruitment, from which they will fight, and some will die or become severely wounded.

    The death toll and number of wounded, including those with traumatic brain injuries, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental illnesses have reached unacceptable levels.

    Lastly, preparations for and the waging of war and the degradation that remains in the aftermath of war inflicts grievous harm upon the natural environment and diminishes earth's ability to maintain a sustainable environment on which the survival of all life on earth depends.

If our resolution, which raises the points above, is passed, just as the U.S. Council of Mayors, and more recently the Durham City Council passed, we will go on to other counties and municipalities in our state, calling on our national government and President Obama to end these occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing or war dollars home to meet vital human needs, including those of returning veterans, while promoting peaceful job creation, supporting educational programs, aiding state and local governments in their efforts to develop a new economy based upon renewable energy, and reducing the federal debt while meeting the needs of the people our city and the USA.

Will you join us in this city by city, county by county, district by district, state by state, grassroots effort to put a stop to occupations and corporate greed in this country and elsewhere around the globe?

I hope your answer is yes!

2011-10-09T22:22:00.002-04:00

It's all in the Acorn: Savoring Meditation #179

2011-10-08T23:11:00.000-04:00

We often hear how important it is that a child is raised by parents who are committed to them, and who are involved in their lives from infants to adulthood.

But sometimes life shows us examples of adults who had what some would call dysfunctional or who were raised by single parents or adoptive parents or even generations of parents who figure into their lives in strategic ways, ways that make sense when we witness the final result.

All this is to say that we can never give up on a child. Yes, it is wonderful when the man and woman who conceive a child are able to stay with that child into adulthood. Yet in some cases, the children from the Ozzie and Harriet Nelson families don't fare near as well as those children who came from other forms of families mentioned above. For example, remember Ricky Nelson and his brother David? Ricky had his share of problems (a life riddled with drugs and debts, according to Wikipedia) and died as a young man. His brother David fared better, but most often worked out of the limelight, dying earlier this year.

But let's look at three men whose lives started out rather chaotic, but who will yet wind up in almost every history book as some of our most successful men. They are Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Apple founder Steve Jobs.

I'm not saying that these three men didn't have loving adults in their lives, but all three had distant relationships with their biological fathers. Clinton lost his biological father in World War II. His step father was an alcoholic. Obama's father and mother divorced when he was very young, and both later remarried. Obama's maternal grandparents became important persons in his life while his mother was often away. And Jobs was born to unwed parents in 1955. His mother was American; his father was Syrian. He was given up for adoption. I understand his adoptive parents did their job well, his father instilling an exploratory passion in his son as he taught him how to take things apart and put them back together again. Yet even Jobs I believe was affected in his youthful years that may have stemmed from his confusion over his abandonment by his biological parents, who later married and raised his sister.

Jobs also experimented with drugs, dropped out of college, fathered a child that he did not claim until she was seven, and only married for the first time in the early 1990s.

Yet, miraculously, even with a few character flaws in these men (probably Clinton's were the most outrageous), all three of these men inherited tremendous levels of intelligence from their biological parents even if perhaps these very same persons did not all do a model job in rearing their sons throughout their lives. Nevertheless, each outshines their contemporaries who came from in-tact nuclear families.

So never give up on our young people. Steve Jobs, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama all had people in their lives who became powerful influences in their lives. Each of them went through some rough times in their lives. For example, Obama survived on food stamps for awhile as a child.

There is something in the human DNA I think that is like that acorn from the giant oak tree. Some of us are destined for greatness. Others of us have all the good genes and good nurturing that we needed, but still ended up with lives that came no where close to such greatness. Some of us may even be living lives that some would call failures.

We can't know who will make it in this competitive world, and who won't make it. All we can do is try to clear the path along the way. We can make mistakes in our children's lives when they are babies, adolescents or as teens. However, that's not saying those very children won't grow up to also go into our history books one day as heroes. Don't give up on anyone ever!

And I would love it if some of you can also send me examples of successful women who have also lived heroic lives themselves even though their childhoods were less than perfect.

Is there an Occupy group forming in your town? Savoring Meditation #178

2011-10-06T23:53:00.000-04:00

Asheville is a part of the Occupy Wall Street movement that is now active in more than 400 cities and towns across the country. And this has happened in less than three weeks.

Many of us old timers from the 1960s wondered when this day would come. And I can only keep my fingers crossed that this day has truly arrived. For once I'm seeing young people take leadership and run with it, while we elders look on with pride, deep pride.

People are camping out in this movement. Local restaurants are feeding activists at no charge. Other businesses are signing up as supporters of the local and national occupation.

What is particularly exciting is that this is an inclusive movement. It isn't Democratic or Republican. It's not another version of the Tea Party. Nor is it the Greens or Libertarians. Instead it is all of these. What do occupiers have in common? They see that there is something seriously wrong in this country. They are also among the 99 percent of this country who are trying to live right but find themselves losing ground on a daily basis.

Occupiers may be teachers or cops. They may be people with advanced degrees or the homeless. (And sometimes, folks, these people are one in the same.)

These people are tired of a system that gives the other 99 percent crumbs from the other 1 percent's table. We often hear about feeding the hungry, providing a bed for the homeless or giving school supplies to poor children.

Charity is wonderful. Many people wouldn't be here today if someone hadn't provided them a little charity at one time or another. But charity provides very little self respect, nor does it require a society that is based on a system of justice and equality and the opportunities for everyone to be in pursuit of happiness.

People want to pull their own weight in society. All they are asking for is a level playing field. And right now Wall Street, often with the blessings of our elected leaders, are on top of a steep mountain and pushing the rest of us down further and further because they want it all for themselves. We eat up the crumbs that fall from their tables as they feast at the top of the mountain.

Meanwhile I daily see in my job people who live in their truck, people who have been foreclosed on, who have moved back in with their parents, people who can't find work or can't get transportation. I see persons who are sick and can't get medical care, or those who live with other injustices that shouldn't be a part of a society that is built on equality and justice for all.

So tomorrow or next week give a smile or a dollar to your local Occupy activist, whether that person be your neighbor or that stranger downtown. This isn't a movement of the poor against the rich. It's the poor and middle class against the very rich who have finagled they system at the expense of the rest of us.

There are no specific demands at this time. Occupy activists are not corporate. They are organic. They will have demands as their new brand of grassroots democracy takes shape. There is still time for you to put in your two cents worth. No matter what your age, your ethnicity or your shape or gender, you are welcome to be a part of a historic movement, Occupy Wall Street in YOUR state, maybe even your town.

Savor this opportunity! Meditate on it! Then act as you are led.

2011-10-04T18:22:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I just want to Pinch Myself: Savoring Meditation #177

2011-10-03T23:33:00.002-04:00

No place is perfect. And Asheville would have to fit into that category. Jobs are hard to come by here. Sidewalks and some streets are a mess. We have some crime just like any other metro area.

Nevertheless Asheville continues to amaze me with its diversity and passion for life. One day last week, I just wanted to cry as my eyes marveled at the bright Carolina blue skies with dancing billowing clouds splattered within it.

But Asheville is more than its blue skies, or its jobs, sidewalks or crime statistics.

It is people, a passionate people frolicking in life, its spirituality, its ability to work for social change, its love of good brew, good food and good conversation.

Last Friday set in motion a smorgasbord of events and activities that symbolized just an average weekend of stimulation and diversity of opportunities for those who don't want to sit home.

First thing was a video presentation by Luna, a Warren Wilson alum, who gave a talk at Firestorm Cooperative Cafe and Book Store about Occupy Wall Street. The small cafe will filled to the brim with activists ready to recreate this movement in their town...and they have, with marches for the last three days!

After this talk I walked over to Malaprop's Book Store, where an author was speaking about Hawaiian shamans. This meet, as well, was filled to the brim.

I ran into a friend and we walked around town for awhile, stopping at Old Europe Cafe for a cup of decaf and key lime pie.

The next day was one of greeting shoppers as a marketer for home services by Sears. One meets some very interesting persons in that job! Once finished with that job, I went to my community house where I talked with a housemate for hours.

On Sunday, it was church at one of the most progressive in Asheville, a church which opened its doors to us for International Day of Peace, and is now supporting the I Do protest going on at Buncombe County Court House, whereby gay couples go to get marriage licenses knowing they'll be turned down because same sex marriages aren't legal currently in North Carolina.

That afternoon I joined others to pray around the bed of a seriously ill fellow activist at her home. We prayed, we chanted, we sang, we laid on hands, we ate, laughed, talked and some of us cried.

From there, a friend dropped me off at the church (First Congregational United Church of Christ) where I participated in a workshop dealing with the end of capitalism.

Then tonight I attended a Building Bridges meeting at the church above. We talked about white privilege, and how we white persons all benefit from it whether we know it or not.

And it's only Monday. And I also had time to write in my journal, eat, shop for new Medicare supplemental insurance and work on my mushroom drying.

I felt the pinches, so I know I wasn't dreaming. In the former town where I used to live, perhaps five people may show up to discuss the subjects described above, and most likely they wouldn't want to do anything in response.

Instead, we would go to Golden Corral and feed our faces all we could eat, and then go home and sleep it off. Not so for this gal in Asheville. I'm lucky if I find time to eat a meal in this town.

Sometimes I lament the loss of a marriage, of my old beautiful home on a tree lined street amidst smoggy skies and stinky chemical air in Kingsport. But then I pinch myself....and I'm happy to be living the life I live now instead.

And shucks, I missed the Friday night Drum Circle at Pritchard Park!

Good deeds Turned Upside Down: Savoring Meditation #176

2011-09-25T22:48:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you try so hard
To be just right.

To be kind and thoughtful
All of the time.

A gift that shows you have
Standards that value the tomorrow
While celebrating today.

But it's accepted begrudgingly
Like you had a selfish motive.

Or you plan an event all the way
Through with a team of players
Only to find you did it all wrong
And made enemies for life instead.

You wonder why, just what did you do
To gain such wrath from unselfish acts?

Did you overlook feelings or misread
The signs?

Did you get carried away with the result
And not value the path along the way?

Are you too sensitive?
Does this happen to all mothers
And activists who change the world?

When you stick out your neck
Does it get chopped off clean and straight?

Are you really an unfeeling grotesque
Mean daughter of a bitch (Sorry Mom!)

Or are you too dumb to see your foot
In your mouth leaving you deformed?

These should be moments of fulfillment,
Of joys galore.

But instead they are grueling scoldings
When all you meant to do was
To do the right thing.

I want to tell a good friend,
To cry on a shoulder so strong,
To have someone wipe my tears
And tell me all will be all right.

But instead I sit alone in my blog
And talk to the computer instead.

What did I do wrong?
Why did I do wrong
When I thought I did it all just right?