Serious Side of Jokes

Once, when I was still very  young, I was told that the best jokes have a basis in reality. The other side of that is that the very best must take us to places that surpass our normal waking state. Sometimes, the masters of theater and story-telling can let us see things we could not fathom without their help. These are the change agents that I always have respected and honored, studying their deftness to attempt to understand their practice and prowess. Although we may not understand fully what we have learned, there is a ticklish feeling that comes from being profoundly changed. once learned, the gem-like messages within a joke often work to change our "normal" waking state forever. There are still jokes that change the way I hear words or link a word or two to whole stories, concepts and the jokes that they refer to or appear in.

A good friend and I have a game that we play where we just banter punch-lines and the whole of the jokes is made clear! Who hasn't heard the one about...

 I received a forwarded e-mail joke today. Oddly, it sounded like the "joke" revolved around a handbook for street theater and direct political action. Many in the past have taken their own unique steps to "sticking it to the man". I once witnessed a group of three women turn an entire table sized display of bras inside out. Their realization that their boobs, and the straps and cups that were manufactured to keep them "under control", were actually tools of oppression. Their tiny political protest in a matter of minutes had the power to poke a hole through the business as usual approach that most 1%ers use to take our money. Suddenly the sales staff was clucking and having to undo their dastardly deed rather than sell product. This ironic act of civil disobedience takes flight in this "joke" about Target. Any large chain store will do...I include the e-mail here, just as I received it.

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like most women - she loves to browse.

Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from the local Target:

Dear Mrs. Harris ,

Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband, Mr. Harris , are listed below and are "documented by our video surveillance cameras":

1. June 15: He took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other people's carts when they weren't looking.

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the women's restroom.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away'. This caused the employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from her Supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing management to lose time and costing the company money.

(This would be funny if there were actually unions for Target employees.)

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on layaway.

6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the children shoppers they could come in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs were called.

9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.

11. October 3: Darted around the Store suspiciously while loudly humming the ' Impossible' theme.

12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna look' by using different sizes of funnels.

13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'

14. October 22: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumed the fetal position and
screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!

15. Took a box of condoms to the checkout clerk and asked where is the fitting room?

And last, but not least:

16. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, and then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in here.'

One of the clerks passed out. 

Get creative people! One of my favorite disruptive acts is still to wheel through a drive through and ask, 'Do you have the vegetarian burger on a gluten-free bun yet?' This usually results in at least another question or two during which occasionally a manager gets called. A favorite response was "Are we supposed to?" I love people! Whatever momentary hiccup goes through the body capital, it surely interacts with many who would otherwise just show up wanting the same old same old. Some like to post a note on the ordering kiosk at the drive through. Free Drink or fries if you sing "Happy Birthday" to yourself, then drive up and at the top of your voice sing it. Just stopping in a drive through lane, especially when the line is about to get long, never intending to order anything can slow the grinding gears of fast food purveyors. Once upon a time I knew a radical who taught me a few things about theater for social change. He carried type-written, lucid graffiti and a small bottle of Elmer's glue, it saved time, didn't damage the restroom walls or products that he tagged and the commentary was far more respectable because it was not destructive. 

Social change agents need to remind themselves (me included at times) that our ability to change the world is not only about placing stumbling blocks for our oppressors to stub their toes upon, but to teach our fellow wage slaves of the way to survive an impending crash. Just as our own taking flight requires tireless attention to our responsibility to others, sending a message that all is not as it seems is just the first part of a larger conversation. Multi-national corporate interests seem uninterested in what we want, so the way to undermine them is to borrow some of their profit time to ask the simple question. After twenty years of asking, 'Do you have the vegetarian burger yet', I finally heard that they do have one IN FRANCE, OR JAPAN!

 

12,000 Tree Seeds, One Day, 25,000 Another

With any skill practiced, any undertaking repeated, time and time again, things happen. Efficiencies of scale and attunement take time. As we dial in, we become adept at spinning the wheel. Frequencies beyond our detection are all around us, vibrating like a pond's surface in a hailstorm. There are chords, perhaps the Lost Chord, that the Moody Blues sang of, that tie the frequencies together like an ethereal tapestry.

in the day, people were said to have good auras, or on occasion they might be a bummer, a downer or just give you bad vibes. Apart from the flakiness, what was spoken of was not the person, but their energy. Those who were able to stay in what we now call flow, or inspired, again there are many words for it. I first learned "In The Moment", true to one's own heart, trance, trippin', in the groove, spinnin' the wheel. At the moment that we merge with a greater whole, we tap into the very energetic world around us, leaving time, space and duality in the dust. When we are channeling "God/ess's" true purpose, nothing else matters. the swirling potential that flows over us at every moment is given physicality and purpose through us. that is the state that I slip into when I'm planting trees.

If you can find some seeds and plant them, you might know the breadth of my desire to do it again and again. The relationship between our selves and the eternal may seem tenuous at times, especially when we walk through the other dimensions of supermarkets and subway stops. Frequent the local tap or a religious institution or school and you will fine an atmosphere of anti-nature, Servoglobe, or some other altered state. when the raw wind blows through your hair and deposits ions all over your skin, it is hard to deny that we are one with nature. Practicing be-ing a part of nature rather than apart from it is the first step to understanding the sanctity of nature, the amazing abundance of it, the sheer miraculousness of our very being, here at this place and time.

As we practice our heart's own most treasured nature, we often find ourselves taking the time to adopt a critter or a plant, perhaps "just a fish", in a bowl. my thing is trees and when you sleep at night, or in your walking hours, know that I will be planting more real soon. at the tops of hills, in little glens, across vast expanses and in hollows the size of your neighborhood, I will be out, every chance I get, planting trees and tree seeds. Think of me as your personal landscaper of Mother Earth. I know dozens of trees like family and realize their habits and limitations. i know the conditions that make them thrive and always strive to place them in places that are appropriate for their long term success. In just a few hours each day, massive change can occur, not just in our own lives but across the planet. i will continue to express my love for and the voice of the trees through my commitment to them and to you to continue planting trees for the rest of my life. If I ever become too tired to plant a seed, please, let me go, the Earth needs me more than I need me.

The Latest Lies From Wisconsin's Governor

Bear with me for a moment. I would like to apologize to readers from other parts of the country, and world. Your government agents may be less despicable than Scott Walker, but the shenanigans that he has brought to his office need to be seen clearly if we are to avoid losing the tiny grasp we have on the democratic process worldwide. I believe it was Napolean who said, "I study my enemies so that I might hate them more aptly." Those familiar with my writing probably understand that I do not advocate hatred or misunderstanding, but by learning as much as we can about the modus operandi of the people who would enslave us and benefit from our pain and suffering, we can begin to find ways to remove them from their powerful positions and take back some of the wealth and dignity that they have stolen from the general public, me and you, through their exploitation and deceit.

As we enter the fourth recall election season in Wisconsin's history, it is well to look back on the reasons for the prior recalls and what was at stake so that we can realize how important our actions are today. In the early days, the only elected officials that served four year terms were the State Senators and the Judiciary. Until 1926, when the offices of  Governor, Lieutenant Governor,  Attorneys General and other offices were increased to four years, the window of opportunity for recall was too small to make it an effective tool against most elected officials. All that is required to force a recall election is signatures from 25% of the voters who turned out for the last election for that office. The idea that this is easy is often touted by the officials who face recall, but in fact, in my experience as a community organizer, the vast majority of Wisconsin residents are typically unwilling to sign petitions that force capricious extra expenses on the government. Certainly the cost of a statewide recall campaign costs many millions of dollars, but in the recall of Governor Scott Walker, the public has deemed the damage caused by his policies to be greater than the cost of another election process.

Historically, there have been nearly a dozen attempts to garner enough signatures to force recalls, but only four have resulted in actual recall elections. The first, in 1932, against Otto Mueller for his opposition to a tax proposal made by the Governor failed in the ballot box by nearly a two to one vote. The two prior successful recalls were both in relatively recent history The 1996 removal of State Senator George Petak, over his double-cross of the voters on the issue of taxing Racine residents to help pay for the new Milwaukee Brewers Stadium. He had claimed to be against the tax during his campaign for office and supported it when he got in. Again, the recall was utilized to remove State senator Gary George, in 2003, just prior to his imprisonment on corruption charges. The people of Wisconsin have now embarked on a serious campaign against big money, the influence it has wielded over our current representatives and with the election of Governor Walker, there has been a groundswell of sentiment that wishes to have the right to know what an elected official will do before they are elected, rather than having to sit on the sidelines while the big dogs run the State House. Repeatedly, the shouts and cries have gone up around the State Capitol, here in Wisconsin, "This Is Our House!" and the people mean it!

To see and hear the heinous fallout that has come from the policies and pen of a single man is to know the ire that exists in Wisconsin right now. Just yesterday, it was revealed that with a single stroke of the Governor's pen, a loophole that had been closed, that allowed corporations to funnel their activities through shell corporations in other states that have no income tax, was reopened. This single change will take over 300 million dollars out of the state coffers in just the next two years. That is equivalent to 1/3 of the "savings" that Governor Walker has been touting. He says that he has cut the cost of state government and created jobs, but when we look around, we see a different story. Layoffs are in the news almost daily, and as the government programs are cut further, more and more citizens are being forced to live on less. Wisconsin leads (and that is a terrible word) the nation in job loss. We are dead last in job creation and as we look around the state, many of the standards that we have worked for decades to establish are being undermined and eviscerated. One of the most dramatic steps back occurred after the election of Governor Walker, but before he even took office. He pledged to cancel plans for high speed rail between Milwaukee and Madison. Thirty years of hard work had gone into the planning and enabling legislation that would lead to 21st century transportation in the most populous part of the state. Now, the congestion and danger that exist on the highways, as well as the cost in time, fuel and automobile purchase, maintenance and repair will continue to increase for those living in that corridor the foreseeable future.

We need affordable transit, not only in the urban south, but through the Fox River Valley as well. The most dangerous and deadly highway in the state runs through my neck of the woods and because of that, there have been groups trying to get a high speed rail option here for three decades. The current governor has proven to us by his actions that he not only does not care about our wishes, but that he has contempt for them. Rather than entering into any serious dialog, he has sequestered himself from the public and entertained no possibilities for listening to anyone who opposes his quest to turn Wisconsin citizens into tools for the production of increasing corporate power. We the people, must no longer stand by, while our environment is sacrificed, our children and elderly are abused and neglected, teachers vilified, and the voters of the state are spoken to in condescending ways or fed lies that are constantly "propped up" by more lies.

I offer this information as a call for everyone, worldwide, to stand for truth, demand responsibility from our elected officials and command respect from those who are supposedly leading us into the future. We cannot turn the clocks back to the age of Ozzie and Harriet anymore than we can affect the tides of history. We are embarking on a pilgrimage to one of two futures. One, appears to be more in harmony with nature, one another and able to support everyone at a higher standard of living at less cost. The other, I routinely call "business as usual" and involves more money flowing into ever-fewer hands and the power that comes with it keeping ever-greater numbers of us as wage slaves and in poverty. Stand for all that is right and good with the world, Lord and Lady know, we need to change the direction that we have been heading for the past few generations.

Celebrate!

Saturday, Japan is shutting down the last nuclear power generating station. Unlike the US, their licensing process includes an annual review in which public opinion is taken into account. Here, in America, we license our nuclear facilities for twenty years, often rubber stamping their permits with callous disregard for public opinion. When TMI (Three Mile Island) blew, our bucolic world in rural Pennsylvania was dosed with rad waste and the cover up continues today. Officials still claim that there was no reason to worry although massive quantities of radioactive material had been spewing from the plant for over two weeks before the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) was notified of a problem at the site. Allowing corporate interests to police themselves has not worked in Japan, nor has it worked here in the US. We just have a better handle on how to squelch public opinion. The last nuclear protest that I participated in was "overseen" by at least three dozen police from several jurisdictions. There were also intimidating and threatening gestures and actions from a handful of local residents who screamed insults and slogans that made my skin crawl. hearing of an entire nation banning together to practice true enlightened action in the face of evil and unconscionable danger makes this world citizen proud.

There is little that can be said about the ways we have chosen to do business in our neck of the woods. When the public began to understand that nuke waste is dangerous for tens of thousands of years and requires armed guards around the depots where it is stored, basically forever, the phrase "nuclear energy will be too cheap to meter." began to be bandied about. I'm not sure about you, but we still have a meter on our house. When increases in cancer were understood to be the result of being dosed with fallout, it was immediately compared to the radiation you would receive from sun tanning (which was thought to be "healthy" back then) or (for those with a desire to enter the "jet set") the amounts of radiation you would receive from taking a trans-Atlantic flight. If public opinion hovered just above fifty percent against, the next straw was added to the back of the public. Many who live in the townships that do have nuke facilities pay no property tax. Who wouldn't like that? The fact that no one will ever want to buy your house if it is in the shadow of a hazardous waste production facility, even knowing that they would pay no taxes on the property for life, makes no difference to those who have been convinced of both the need for and the safety of this insane way of making electricity.

I have readers in Japan, for them I say Bless You! Their public opinion has pushed the hand of government further toward sanity in one brief year than hundreds of thousands of protesters have done in the US in my fifty year lifetime! Even when what we warned about came true, the nuclear disarmament crowd was marginalized and the nuclear power opposition was painted as unpatriotic Communists (when that was the worst word in our political dictionary) or Socialists today. Caring about everyone as much as we care about ourselves is antithetical to capitalistic values I guess. I thought that we were a country of freedom but that our freedoms ended where they imposed on the noses of our neighbors. Not so in the case of generating electricity. We allow our freedom to flip a switch to impact hundreds of generations who have not yet been born. They will inherit the waste that has been created today with no means of paying back the bitter cost of stupidity with which we saddle them with our waste. Even as a child, I understood the odd disconnect between those who advocated for nuclear energy production and the facts. for all the touting of nuclear energy as "carbon-neutral" that claim is bogus. I have written of this before, so if you understand, jump ahead a paragraph or two. The litany of carbon-fueled activities and processes that are required to produce electricity through nukes is almost unfathomable. whether the Japanese understand it or not, they have taken a bigger step toward sustainability than they could possibly imagine.

First of all, massive amounts of fuel (carbon-based) need to be spent securing title to land that is "appropriate" for siting a facility that will be dangerous, works best near an inexhaustible source of water and requires sturdy bedrock to support the massive weight of a reactor core and the attendant containment facilities. Ideally, it would be near points of use, to keep transmission line costs down, then the construction requires hundreds of thousands of tons of limestone to be baked in kilns (also using carbon based fuel) for the cement that holds concrete together. Conventional fuels (read, carbon releasing) are pumped in to the facility in the form of backhoes, bulldozers, trucks, rock crushing and screening operations and you also need to keep the lights on in the design and drafting facilities. flying your representatives around to secure permits and lobby for leniency amongst the regulating agencies expends more jet fuel, etc. Riding herd on public opinion has a very real cost as well. Going to several dozen public hearings, putting out ad campaigns and negotiating settlements to placate local and regional opposition can require many resources and also hinge upon cheap carbon-based energy.

Then, there is the cost of fuel for the process. Naturally occurring "ore" is getting less and less available and what we have is at ever lower concentrations. Massive mining operations are required to get the raw material for fueling up a nuclear generating station. Once mined, again using carbon based energy, the ore must be crushed, refined, concentrated and transported from facility to facility to accomplish each of these critical steps. The next part requires even more energy and is called enrichment. This is what we are so mad at Iran for doing today. Massive centrifuges must be made to spin for years to extract enriched fuel for the process. These centrifuges are best energized by electricity, produced mostly from fossil fuel in our country. Finally the fuel needs to be pelletized and transported to the reactor.

When I was a child, I envisioned the entire process as similar to winding up a rubber band powered balsa wood airplane. The only difference is that the order of magnitude is much, much greater. The propeller is so much harder to spin that we scar the land as we spin it. We hemorrhage massive amounts of fuel in winding up the mechanism. We scar communities and create massive monolithic concrete structures that must eventually be disposed of as hazardous waste. Even during the period of "free flight" there are risks and costs that make the whole process seem more like a bad acid trip than I can express in mere words. I have always understood the threat from these facilities as equal to, if not greater than, the threat of nuclear weapons. Like the person driving while texting, you never know when their destructive power will be unleashed. At least with weaponry, you have to decide when and where to unleash the deadly power, accidents can happen any time, any place. Add to this the long-term consequence of producing extremely long-lived waste and you can see the whole house of cards come crumbling down.

What we were never told is that the entire charade began because we needed some of that waste to refine again, rendering even more of the landscape inhospitable for hundreds of generations, to get weapons grade material. Instead of just enjoying the "free flight" during the years of electricity generation, the whole game was to make the ultimate weapon. The gods and goddesses are smiling on the land of the rising sun. Today, tomorrow and for centuries to come we must continue to celebrate Japan's good sense and compassion. Not only for their people, but for the people of the entire planet! At their peak, the (I believe) 54 nuclear generating stations (I have also heard the number fifty) provided 1/3 of Japan's demand for electricity. In spite of this fact, the people of Japan decided to stop throwing money and their future down the rat hole of this dangerous and short-sighted form of electricity generation. The rest of the world needs to follow their lead and develop alternative and less destructive means of meeting our needs. Conservation, efficiency improvements and alternative methods of production are readily available to us all and we need to begin spinning the wheel in the directions we want to go, not backward to a time of decadent ignorance and the immorality of subsidizing dangerous and deadly industries that leave our children with unrivaled debt.

We all need to celebrate the wisdom with which Japan is pursuing sustainability. We also need to keep pressure on our own leaders to eliminate this relic of cold war thinking. No one is better off under a system that puts our nation and the rest of the planet under threat of catastrophe. Radiation from Japan is already here. Even though the government is trying to downplay the facts, we need to understand that the massive bolus of radiation that continues to leave Japan is not "less dangerous" because we are finding isotopes with short half lives. In some ways, that is indicating that the problems are far worse than we can imagine. Short half life materials, detectable over a year later indicate even greater and more concentrated plumes entering the atmosphere than we had calculated. spread the word, we have finally come full circle in the nuclear age. I personally find it somewhat ironic that the first place on earth to be decimated by nuclear attack has gone through a process that led them to fully embrace the devilish technology and then commit to ending the nuclear nightmare once and for all in just two or three short generations. This is the blink of an eye in the time span of radioactive waste and needs to be celebrated by every man woman and child on the planet!

These are some of the first trees that ECO-Tours planted. Donations continue to allow us to plant more trees!

This is about three acres of woods. It lies to the West of the house and in summer they cast shade on the house to help keep it cool inside. The old brick farmhouse used to get baked in the afternoon sun! Wind out on The Ledge, as locals call it, wind too is a huge issue and having a thick hedge of woods as protection against prevailing winds also helps make life just that much sweeter! On these three acres, we started with about three hundred trees and have added several hundred more over time as the first ones took off. We have planted over two hundred acres and continue to plant in areas that have impact on local water quality, live-ability and as the forests grow, we are fixing carbon in the form of tons and tons of new tree each year! If the US would reimburse ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc. for every ton of carbon we sequester in our trees, we could plant tens of thousands of trees more as the forests regenerate. With the help of individuals from around the world, we have planted well over 100,000 trees.
ECO-Tours of Wisconsin Inc.                                      1445 Porlier street Green Bay, WI    USA 54301

The Most Expensive Thing in the World

Perhaps you have read, or heard, one of my favorite expressions of all time. "The only thing more expensive than education is ignorance."  Ben Franklin coined the expression. I'm sure that it comes from somewhere back in the beginnings of our culture. Throughout time there have been forces that sought to keep us ignorant, if for no other reason than keeping us from being able to make sound choices. I consider my own education to be one of the most valuable things that I rely on. It cannot be taken from me, and if I had been paid for the time I have put into studying, even at a paltry dollar per hour, I would be a millionaire. Well, maybe a 145,600aire. It would take ten dollars per hour to make it 1.456 mil. This week I finally got in touch with an artifact that I have sought since early adulthood. Early in my career, I was working at a summer camp for troubled youth. The vast majority of our charges and indeed, many of the counselors came from poverty stricken and crime riddled neighborhoods. I'm not even sure if the term "at risk" was used back then, but center city children often confront an array of difficult factors that can limit their potential.

The wealthy often point to the miniscule percentage of these children that seem to be annealed by the fires of poverty, inspired by lack and who tenaciously cling to a dream despite nearly constant oppression. What this post is about is not by what methods these individuals succeed, it is not even about why we often find stories of inspiration in these people's lives. My intent is to make a point of the fact that even in our relative lives of luxury, we too can surpass our circumstances, if we just practice a few simple steps. I am here to spread the word, as I often do, about just how we might break the shackles of our own oppression and dissolution, reach beyond our limits and those that others put upon us, reach out, touch others and gain perspective that sheds light on areas of our own consciousness that remain hidden from others, but have the most detrimental affects when they remain hidden from our selves. The unfolding of a new age awaits, it is driven by love and abundance. May we all be aware of what we choose to bring forward. It is determined only by us and that which results from our actions, as well as our inaction are only attributable to our selves. Learning to live true to our inner selves is complicated and for some, the challenges are great, but the rewards of tuning in to the higher self are infinite.

Long ago, I listened to outside voices that told me there were certain things that I could not do. Perhaps I am still doing that on some level today. I understand that this may reduce your confidence in what I am about to say, but in some respects it just proves that I know of what I speak. Rather than fighting for my limitations, I am writing to express the infinite variety of possibility that awaits each and every one of us. I am not interested in sharing my dream with you, or foisting them upon you. I only mention them as something to point to. Like Magritte's Ceci n 'est pas une pipe, it is by way of reference, so that you might make it your own. I am attempting to get you to understand that your own dreams deserve spending time with, exploring, committing to and ultimately, finding your own way clear to discovering. there are miracles there for you to explore! Too often, we find the world imposing itself on our lives, often in ways that don't ring true to our spirit. This is why so many of us become unpaid cab drivers for our children, (before you react, realize that any number of activities can be substituted in place of that one.) endlessly scheduling and bouncing around from commitment to responsibility to obligation can usurp our power and undermine sense of self, satisfaction and bliss. Similarly, going to endless meetings, diversions and ceaseless organizing can inflict a toll on our ability to self realize our dreams through action as well. This is where listening to our true nature becomes tricky, as we take on responsibility, we have to develop tenacity and discipline, rigors that sheeple never have to contend with.

Listening to external voices can be tricky. At once they seem genuine and they often have the seduction of being couched in terms of endearment. "You should...", "You can't...", "It would be best if...", Why aren't you..?" I'm sure you have heard many forms of the same schpiel. However, even in these well understood terms we find varieties and layers of our own experiences to sort through. mine are certainly different than yours, though we probably share many in common as well. Don't shit where you eat comes to mind. Perhaps ignorance is the most expensive thing in the world, but from my perspective, listening to others is even more expensive. When you dip your toes into the waters of spiritual quest, the advise of others can lead to limitation, destruction and loss. Our true nature cannot lie about who we are or who we have become. Only ego can do that. When we become aware of who we truly are, we become forever changed. As I have said before, when you have tried all the keys, it is time to use the skeleton key. That part of you that no longer serves your dreams needs to die away for new life to be discovered. I hope that each one of us can break free of our limited "self interest", absorb the energy and resources to break free of our shells, grow and blossom into the person we are called to be, unencumbered by the admonition of others, inspired by the Lord and Lady, God, The All or whatever term you choose. Surely, allowing any other to make peace between yourself and the eternal is a fools errand. Blessed Be in your quest! May your spirit swiftly find it's way Home!

Mayday, Mayday!

I have always liked the fact that in military and mariner parlance, the term means roughly the same thing as S.O.S. The holiday that marks the beginning of the planting season is also a time of emergence so it follows that emergency would be just a why ("y") away... The hows and whys are often the most telling parts of salient questions. My long-time readers know that the perspective from which I come is not so unique as it is universal, the terms and language for many of my themes may require a bit of a stretch at times, but with luck and hopefully a bit of skill, when the dust settles it helps to clear the air on some of the stickier issues that we confront routinely. Unlike most sources of information, I try to elaborately dissect tricky ideas and concepts, so that we may move forward with positive changes on the road to sustainability with fresh eyes. I have long recognized that we are in a dangerously overburdened boat. Our lives depend on one another, but too often we turn our backs to the basic maintenance of the ship of state. Today, we have a holiday that stretches back into the dark recesses of time and offers a spark of new life in the age of so much death, carnage and destruction.

Like flying the flag upside down, at this moment in time, we best use every tool at our disposal to reach out, plant seeds and take care to develop the relationships that will carry us through the next dark time. although many are already making plans for the summer, our attention to tiny details in this moment will unleash their power over time to enrich, enlighten and nourish us in times of lack and need later on. Obeying the messages that come from our flickering screens and digital media alone will surely take us down a photon mediated path toward isolation and neglect, but what I will try to elucidate here are some of the terms under which we can all renew our selves, drink at the crystal clear spring (Spring) and share some of the powerful forces that allow this Mayday to mark, once again, a season of hope and integration. We not only need change at this moment in time, but we need to embody change, now more than ever. The ways that we reflect such change may be as varied as our numbers, but one thing is certain, without everyone in our community becoming engaged in this renewal, tough times will face us down the road. swift thinking and rapid action alone cannot save us from the damage caused by sowing sterile seed or the wanton destruction that usurps our power. What we need to do now is reach out to one another, stitch our dreams together into a vast tapestry and find a way forward together or surely die in isolation.

This understanding has been with me a lifetime. Being brought up in a land that has so fully gulped down the myth of the cowboy, it has seemed at times as if I was the only one confronting whatever difficulties appeared on my radar. Pagan rites are not just activities, they are physical manifestations of thought experiments. Like thought experiments, they allow us to "see" beyond mere physical limitations and both find and become intimate with concepts beyond our normal awareness. Like the variety of learning styles we all have, the ritual combines food, sound, touch, sight, aromas and spiritual connections to elaborate ideas that we cannot pick up from a book. That is why we dance the Maypole. Fortunately, there are those storytellers who keep ancient tradition alive and guide us on to a new and vital time when we are supported and integrated into a greater society. Especially in times that are characterized by estrangement, neglect and isolation, these are powerful messages with great value for our time.

The ribbons that we hold, when we begin our spiral dance around the pole are not just mere strips of colored fabric, they are physical manifestations of our connection to one another and the godhead. When we do our Maypole, we call out the colors and aspects of our relationships that the ribbons represent. Anyone familiar with the chakrahs will understand the relevance of color in our spiritual being. We include no only the rainbow colors, but usually ribbons of black, white and brown as well. We also discuss envisioning our hopes, dreams and prayers for the future being woven into a wonderful wholeness as we dance and spin our way around the Maypole. Our disparate paths combine into a brilliant design and this reflects our part in community, our integration into a social order in which no one is more important than any other and amongst whom all of our talents and dreams become relevant to the whole. The pole stands as a testament to this reality until the beginning of the dark time at Halloween, then with honor and respect for all that the pole represents we put it to bed for another winter, nesting, resting and renewing our bodies for another year of growth during our next spin around the seasons. This spinning of the sacred wheel of life is a way to make not only ourselves, but the communities that we inhabit whole, vibrant and secure for the coming generations a more hospitable place where they too will be heard and carry on our traditions.

Even if you do not have a place to put up a Maypole, you can do the ritual in your mind. Even if you cannot find ten friends to help you dance, there are ways to imagine the whole process. The joy that I have found in the process of actually dancing the Maypole is that over time it helps to create connections to both the past and the future, just being in the moment with the ribbons vibrating in the wind, I find myself made whole in ways that are difficult to express. There are plenty of resources out there for folks wanting to dance the Maypole, but if you have questions about how we do it, I welcome questions. This is the time to reach out to others, in community, integrating with others and forging relationship. We are a tribe of one on Spaceship Earth, we are all crew. Let our hands unite in affirming the earth in Her abundance. Let us till and plant, as one people, the seeds of our children's success. The best way that we can honor our own ancestors is to overcome their shortcomings and burdens as well as learn the lessons of apathy that led to their exploitation and grief. Before, during or after your ritual it is well to reflect on the hymn of the worker's struggle:We Are a Gentle Angry People
We are a gentle angry people,
and we are singing, singing for our lives X2

We are justice seeking people,
and we are singing, singing for our lives X2

We are young and old together,
and we are singing, singing for our lives X2

We are a land of many colors,
and we are singing, singing for our lives X2

We are gay and straight together,
and we are singing, singing for our lives X2

We are all in this together,
and we are singing, singing for our lives X2

We are a gentle loving people
and we are singing, singing for our lives X2

The times, truly are changing. It is for us but to spin the wheel in the direction we need things to go!