Gaia Community: TimeToShine's Blog

A Coach Built Pram 30 Years On

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:13:48 -0000

My day pauses as I receive the news that two little girls, one soon-to-be-born and one just embarked on the spoken word, together with their mum and dad, and anyone else (like me) who can't resist, will now have all the pleasure of a Mary Poppins coachbuilt pram (baby carriage) to brighten their days and lighten their loads...

Wow; they scored one on eBay! Such a brilliant contraption for real life!!

You can pile stuff in them, on them, under them, toddlers can sit up high or snuggle down low. Infants have no problem being stacked around with sibling {yes, kind of tumbled together like puppies), and all manner of gear a family might gather on any jaunt or journey.

Miles and miles we went on many-a sunny day, but overcast didn't stop us,and even rain storms were their own fun; miles and miles with that stellar suspension, that made it a pleasure too, for the one on foot.

A carriage with a spring such as this draws in delight by degrees, lending itself to walks that turn into cerished storybooks; sigh... slow down... listen...; listen to the children.

And that's why I paused in my day.. because that's what that baby carriage gave to me;
PAUSE; pause to drink in a moment in time, pause to weave the bright colours of the day, when two little girls were still about the business of arriving in this world; I got to really be there too.

Listen to the children; what they have to say
The world is changing each and every day
And still the ancient mystery goes on..
Help the children listen to its song
Help the children listen to its song...

PS I HAVE to say this about being out with little children in big storms; oftentimes it's really fun; great energy. There was a highly amusing book that came out in England years ago, we all had a good laugh over; the opening lines went something like this: The wind blew, and the trees swayed and the sky grew black.... and father said: "Let's go for a walk!"
Well my (Scots) father had that tendency for sure, and that book definitely struck a chord with the British public, so I guess our dad wasn't the only one; a bit o' weather never did anybody any harm, was the character-building belief. Obviously you can take that too far.. But I'd hate to think of kids, anyone, forever and always missing out on the sheer joy and power of storms! So I will leave you with this very cool storm story of Bob Walker in Ohlone Wilderness:

~ Hiking with friends on a ridgetop (Ohlone Wilderness), Walker stopped to photograph the landscape. Ominnous clouds began to fill the sky. The temperature plunged. Heavy drops of rain began to snap and pop against the light jackets of the hapless hikers.

With a deep and unanimous sigh, the group reversed direction and began a grudging retreat toward the head of the trail.

Well, not quite unanimous. Walker shoved his camera into his ever-present belt pack and headed for the shelter of the nearest tree. "Where's everyone going?" he called, "I'm staying for rainbows." ~

Quoted from:
AFTER THE STORM: Bob Walker and the East Bay Regional Park District, by Christopher Beaver, Wilderness Press, Berkeley, California, 2007
www.wildernesspress.com

I Send A Voice: Voices Are Rising...

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:20:47 -0000

The goose girl gallops down the track
What put that goose girl on horseback?
The Summer: bold and blue and wild
The Woman.. who has grown from child
An untamed horse who came, unbidden
A track.. that no one else has ridden

Ride little goose girl
geese can fly
Now You Have Spoken:
"So Can I"
*picking up from the much-beloved
"Spring rides no horses down the hill
but comes on foot, a goose girl still..."
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

breathing.. i'm breathing, that's all.. she's on it; phenomenal!

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:52:28 -0000


Astonishingly effective, simple, effervescent (for real!!!). (be stoked). Put in code "P678" for 20 bucks off an 8 CD course complete with Lesson Plans (a super sweet deal even at full bore, which is $120) http://www.workandlifemanagement.com/course.html

Training

train individuals and teams to be more focused, attentive and aware. Through training, individuals develop enhanced communication skills by learning to listen more attentively, and by gaining a greater ability to respond, rather than automatically react. Additionally, trainees cultivate a mindful state of stability leading to a noticeably higher degree of effectiveness in work, and in daily lives.

Clients

clients are educators, managers, executives, corporate professionals, clinicians, organizational staff, and everyday people.... company provides instruction for corporations, health care institutions, non-profits, educational establishments, and other professional organizations. As part of mission, staff generously donates services to various community-based centers outside the scope of established clientele.

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training is based on scientifically researched techniques and methods that create positive change in the brain and body while reducing negative qualities. These proven methods are very simple to learn and practice, as program is designed with ease of understanding in mind.

Work and Life Management is a professional organization and does not use any religious, spiritual
or other unconventional language or practices.

http://www.workandlifemanagement.com/course.html - worth every penny (and it's cheap!!!)

Brain Update

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:40:45 -0000

Love the way he moves!!

Scrying through Centuries and Entwinements

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:32:18 -0000

Very newly returned from my mother's 80th... a clan gathering in the house she served in as a wee maid of 13, with people she hadn't seen in 20, 30, 60.. years. Some we had never seen. No words yet... too soon. xox

Okay, so it's a couple weeks later and I know which bit I want to add in here... from my beloved sister Maggi Moon:

Maggi Rose Moon writes:

"....After the late night, singing till 3am with the die-hard songsters, I try to remember where I'm sleeping...Ah yes; Mum's room with the 3 beds in it. I probably get 2 hours sleep; between 3-5am the dawn light filters through to me and I'm galvanized to take in all there is to see and experience while here at The Ross Priory (to make the most of all Isa {big sister) has organised and made possible, aware that stuff could slip through the net of consciousness.

I suspect I've yet to find the spectacular gardens Mum and Dad spoke of at The Ross. so I'm out the front door facing due east in the full rays of early sunshine and heading around behind the house along the edge of the lawns that lead down to the loch side (Loch Lomond). The light is totally magical at this hour and I am enchanted....swathes of soft green mossy grass wind through mature plants and trees, leading to an old gate standing alone with no fence or wall to make sense of it; (walk through it or walk around it!). The area turns into a wider glade with an old sundial....then the walled garden; quiet and held, like holding it's breath with bewitching flowers, paths, roses and long arbor of green, I can imagine at one time ladened with grapes... Such abundance in one place!

And then the moongate....; inspired piece of creative architecture for a gateway through the southern wall of the garden... just like a moon... pushing a curve into the top edge of the wall (no actual gate) ..! have to go through though it's taped off (uneven ground on the other side, were you to step through, has been deemed hazardous). I can't quite believe this is the environment my own Mother worked in as a child during the war... I start to wonder if she was ever sent out here by the cook to get herbs for the kitchen or whether she walked here with Dad.

I have to investigate every corner of this space and after walking through the Arbor another delightful surprise; a second much smaller circular hole built into the wall near the north eastern corner. I go back to the house all bubbly with excitement to tell as many folk as possible to go see the walled garden ..I meet Don, Gavin's father-in-law and master gardener, just as I go back in, so tell him my walled.. my magic walled garden stories. He's lit up to hear of it and goes out forthwith, in search with my directions.

I spend a good hour and a half writing out 'Elegy Written in a Country ChurchYard' from a voice recording on my phone, I almost get done when the cleaner comes in to clear the bar for the coming day.

I learn from her that when the bar closed last night we were 'supposed to have moved' up into The Scott Room on the first floor.. This was the first I'd heard of it, so I go to investigate and find this gorgeous big lounge/study type of space overlooking the loch and Ben Lomond; lovely comfy private feel.. I'm already excitedly envisioning poetry readings and songs for those that want to in here for the coming day; confirmation perhaps for my 'Elegy poem' I had a strong feel to share in some form.

Then it's time to wake Heather, Corrina and Mum to catch the breakfast slot I'm aware some folk would miss if not woken; 8.30-9.30 (these Scots still frown on late risers!). The tables are beautifully laid with flowers and a wide selection of gourmet breakfast choices.

At 8.30 am it seems like breakfast is gonna slip everyone by....then, around 9.00, folk pile in from all corners of the house; the mum's of young one's first.

Our Mum comes in looking beautiful in her white blouse and white cardigan navy trousers she's beaming and totally lucid; she's really taking it in! Having integrated that she's the one everyone is gathered to celebrate and honour, she's back at the Ross, as The Matriarch! Finally Above Stairs, flying high above her humble 'station' of the war days.

There's a proud swelling in me for who she has become. I want to share her story with the staff serving our tables with breakfast despite that the first girl is obviously stressed and in a very Scottish irritation mode.. When I tell her Mum's story she totally softens and adds in her own family connection with the place and reconnects with why and how she came to work here. She is clearly inspired to hear of Mum's transition from the lowest to the highest.

Now we're not just punters, we're people with real human connections to the place.

My second visit to the gardens happened that same morning with Yinka - we hadn't been one on one for about 2 years, bar a brief hello/goodbye at the Abraham-Hicks evening in Bristol a couple months back. Lots has happened in between and once again I'm drawn into the magic of the garden seeing it again with new eyes from Yinka's angle & speed (wheelchair), equally delightful in it's own way as it was at 5am.

Yinka and I reconnect as we once did in our early days of our relating.. Deep profound conversation follows as we meander & pause to reflect in the little corners, soaking up the sun and one another's company. We spend a chunk of time in the sun trap north east corner near the small circular opening in the wall, debating the value of being fully in the 'Now Moment', as advocated by Eckhart Tolle (thereby creating luminous memory moments), as against the value of reflecting and appreciating past events and therefore not fully being here now...; the balance of the two...; the possibility of managing both..; the kind of conversation that leaves my consciousness feeling happily stretched and expanded. Reflecting on the paradoxes of life.

I brush out her sun-bleached hair, remembering how I used to do this task regularly as her carer. Now a rare treat to give her the pleasure of a firm competent hairbrushing. We talk about how the hairbrushing skills of her various carers compare.

On our return to the house via the avenue of ancient yew trees we discover the headstone of the family cat; dating we think from 1938 (turned out to be 1838!); died aged 20, we read. Bizarre to think of the differential of wealth required for a family cat headstone whilst human graves go unmarked in granma's nearby village of Gartocharn.

Yinka is charmed by this little memorial to the family cat. I wonder whether Mum or Dad ever saw it and what they thought of it if they did.

The most luminous moment of the entire weekend which has etched itself into my memorybanks is the image of Mum sitting in the moongate, sun lighting up her hair like a halo. She's looking into the garden.. I'm seeing her from behind; framed in the moongate, looking beautiful.. I'm thinking of the young girl she once was; full of energy, with limited access to all this, and how her life has come full circle back to this same spot, to this point of diminishing life energy, more calm and peaceful now, close to completion perhaps, probably more appreciative of it all now.

Such Magnitude, in that one life journey... come now to one still point. She vaguely recalls being allowed to come here to this place occasionally, and that Dad had been with her. There's no sense of ownership then or now just that she's so much in the picture; an essential part of such a big round Moon, like the story of a fully giving round bellied Mother giving from her heart, giving her best. Perhaps only a Cancerian Mother knows how; ruled by the Moon and Mothering fertility..; how could she not have so many babies!? Grandchildren and great-grandchildren?! Many moons have come and gone since her early glory days of Lochside Scottish freedom and visiting relatives, her special friendships, her emergence into young adulthood, and independence.

Perhaps now the Sacred Hoop of Faith in Life and Love, that was broken can be fully restored.

xXX

Maggi

MOON

XX

Endnote: Maggi Moon did indeed have her moment, later, on this unforgettable day, in the glorious Scott Room, overlooking so famous a scene (Loch Lomond with the beloved 'Ben' Lomond mountain sweeping up from its shores), to read her (Thomas Gray's) "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard".

She read, unhindered by faded etiquette of polite drawing rooms; she read; her voice thick with her deep-river-flowing abiding Love for Her People, our people, with her pain for what they carried, for what they were 'not allowed', for what of their human dignity was not honored, for what of their human potential could not be lived.

Needlesstosay, there was not a dry eye in the house.....

"ELEGY WRITTEN IN
A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD"

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea,
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me. (this verse has passed down the generations...)

Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight,
And all the air a solemn stillness holds,
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds:

Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower
The moping owl does to the moon complain
Of such as, wandering near her secret bower,
Molest her ancient solitary reign.

Beneath those rugged elms, that yew-tree's shade,
Where heaves the turf in many a mouldering heap,
Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,
The rude Forefathers of the hamlet sleep.

The breezy call of incense-breathing morn,
The swallow twittering from the straw-built shed,
The cock's shrill clarion, or the echoing horn,
No more shall rouse them from their lowly bed.

For them no more the blazing hearth shall burn,
Or busy housewife ply her evening care:
No children run to lisp their sire's return,
Or climb his knees the envied kiss to share,

Oft did the harvest to their sickle yield,
Their furrow oft the stubborn glebe has broke;
How jocund did they drive their team afield!
How bow'd the woods beneath their sturdy stroke!

Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the Poor.

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Awaits alike th' inevitable hour:-
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

Nor you, ye Proud, impute to these the fault
If Memory o'er their tomb no trophies raise,
Where through the long-drawn aisle and fretted vault
The pealing anthem swells the note of praise.

Can storied urn or animated bust
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath?
Can Honour's voice provoke the silent dust,
Or Flattery soothe the dull cold ear of Death?

Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire;
Hands, that the rod of empire might have sway'd,
Or waked to ecstasy the living lyre:

But Knowledge to their eyes her ample page,
Rich with the spoils of time, did ne'er unroll;
Chill Penury repress'd their noble rage,
And froze the genial current of the soul.

Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.. (the verse we knew from our mother and her mother before her...)

Some village-Hampden, that with dauntless breast
The little tyrant of his fields withstood,
Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest,
Some Cromwell, guiltless of his country's blood.

Th' applause of list'ning senates to command,
The threats of pain and ruin to despise,
To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land,
And read their history in a nation's eyes,

Their lot forbad: nor circumscribed alone
Their growing virtues, but their crimes confined;
Forbad to wade through slaughter to a throne,
And shut the gates of mercy on mankind,

The struggling pangs of conscious truth to hide,
To quench the blushes of ingenuous shame,
Or heap the shrine of Luxury and Pride
With incense kindled at the Muse's flame.

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenour of their way.

Yet e'en these bones from insult to protect
Some frail memorial still erected nigh,
With uncouth rhymes and shapeless sculpture deck'd,
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh.

Their name, their years, spelt by th' unletter'd Muse,
The place of fame and elegy supply:
And many a holy text around she strews,
That teach the rustic moralist to die.

For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey,
This pleasing anxious being e'er resign'd,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day,
Nor cast one longing lingering look behind?

On some fond breast the parting soul relies,
Some pious drops the closing eye requires;
E'en from the tomb the voice of Nature cries,
E'en in our ashes live their wonted fires.

For thee, who, mindful of th' unhonour'd dead,
Dost in these lines their artless tale relate;
If chance, by lonely contemplation led,
Some kindred spirit shall inquire thy fate, --

Haply some hoary-headed swain may say,
"Oft have we seen him at the peep of dawn
Brushing with hasty steps the dews away,
To meet the sun upon the upland lawn;

"There at the foot of yonder nodding beech
That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high.
His listless length at noontide would he stretch,
And pore upon the brook that babbles by.

"Hard by yon wood, now smiling as in scorn,
Muttering his wayward fancies he would rove;
Now drooping, woeful wan, like one forlorn,
Or crazed with care, or cross'd in hopeless love.

"One morn I miss'd him on the custom'd hill,
Along the heath, and near his favourite tree;
Another came; nor yet beside the rill,
Nor up the lawn, nor at the wood was he;

"The next with dirges due in sad array
Slow through the church-way path we saw him borne,-
Approach and read (for thou canst read) the lay
Graved on the stone beneath yon aged thorn."

The Epitaph

Here rests his head upon the lap of Earth
A youth to Fortune and to Fame unknown.
Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth,
And Melancholy marked him for her own.

Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,
Heaven did a recompense as largely send:
He gave to Misery all he had, a tear,
He gained from Heaven ('twas all he wish'd) a friend.

No farther seek his merits to disclose,
Or draw his frailties from their dread abode
(There they alike in trembling hope repose),
The bosom of his Father and his God.

By Thomas Gray (1716-71).

Fossil = DoDo (the true cost of coal)

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:26:19 -0000

I lifted this straight from Britt Bravo's 'Have Fun, Do Good' blogger blog:
http://havefundogood.blogspot.com/2008/06/ilovemountainsorg-bloggers-challenge.html

TAG! (You're It!)

iLoveMountains.org is a campaign to stop mountaintop removal for coal mining. What is mountaintop removal you ask?

From the iLoveMountains.org web site:

"Mountaintop removal is a relatively new type of coal mining that began in Appalachia in the 1970s as an extension of conventional strip mining techniques. Primarily, mountaintop removal is occurring in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee. Coal companies in Appalachia are increasingly using this method because it allows for almost complete recovery of coal seams while reducing the number of workers required to a fraction of what conventional methods require."

Some of the effects of mountaintop removal on people can be loss or pollution of drinking water, flooding, living with blasting up to 300 feet from your home 24 hours a day, cracking in wells and foundations, and sludge dams that can leak and contaminate drinking water.

You might be thinking, well, that's sad, but it's kinda far away. There isn't much I can do about it from here. That's why iLoveMountains.org came up with the What's My Connection tool. It allows you to type in your zip code and see how you are connected to mountaintop removal.

For example, when I type in my zip code in Oakland, CA, it tells me, "Your electricity provider, Pacific Gas Electric Co., buys coal from companies engaged in mountaintop removal." Once you've seen your connection, you can sign a pledge to help end mountaintop removal, forward the page onto friends, contact your Congressperson, and contact your power company.

iLoveMountains is asking bloggers (and non-bloggers) to tell folks about all of these tools, and about the mountains that can still be saved by sharing videos about America's Most Endangered Mountains. The 4-minute video above is the story of Daymon Morgan who lives on one of America's Most Endangered Mountains, the Huckleberry Ridge in Kentucky.

Here's how to join the iLoveMountains.org Blogger's Challenge:

1. Go to ilovemountains.org/bloggers-challenge and enter your name, blog URL and email address.
2. Create a personalized "Spread the Word" widget to embed on your blog.
3. Track anyone who "Spreads the Word," or joins the Blogger's Challenge from your web page, or blog on your personal impact map.
4. Read what other bloggers are writing about mountaintop removal on the Blogger's Challenge "White Pages."

As of this writing, 172 bloggers have joined the iLoveMountains.org Blogger's Challenge. Here are posts by a few of them:

Little Green Animals
Life in Small Bites Environment Blog
faithfull on the Daily Kos
STOP Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

"Utah" Phillips: A Tribute

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 05:45:04 -0000

Utah Phillips passed away in his sleep at 11:30PM PDT on May 23, 2008.

A larger-than-life figure, Utah beams across stages and ages, color and creed; endlessly surprising, endlessly delightful, awesome Being. My little flowgram tribute includes his "The Past Didn't Go Anywhere" performance (with Ani DiFranco) and the special role he played with and for the co-founders of Eco-Farm Conference: http://beta.flowgram.com/f/p.html#g8w2p3da4sg3au

Nicholas Wilson has a whole web-based photo gallery of "Utah" Phillips
www.nwilsonphoto.com

PlaNetweaver lights up the grid

Wed, 21 May 2008 18:24:21 -0000

PlaNetweaver lit up today as I was naturally weaving through my chosen 'tasks'. What an awesome weaving this multi-faceted shimmering fabric, this inter-woven vibrant community of souls who together are lighting up the grid.... ahh, breathe, my heart, my love...

Planetweaver
You dreamed this awake

World citizens
Who know the Earth’s at stake
We dedicate Our Lives to you who dared to say
We could be so much more,
there’s got to be another way..

One day in each of us rebellion rose
And Old World B/Orders could not keep us bound
Remember when they said the world is flat
And one by one we dared to say, It’s Round!

The Renaissance of open hearts has come
And lucid minds that readily discern
One global family dressed in diverse form
One common heart to beat in our return

The undercurrent starts to overflow
Compassion is the warmth by which we see
The energy that weaves this planet dance
Yet Passion is the driving quality

We plant our feet with passion on the earth
And passion gives us wings to fly
And as we all aspire, Passion is the fire
That feeds and fuels each solitary cry

It’s time to ground the visions that we brings
To firmly anchor in each separate part
There’s no one obsolete or useless thing
As this picture born of peace brings home our heart.

Corrina Cop Rain
Earth Day 1992

"The Church says the Earth is Flat
But I know that it is Round
For I have seen the shadow on the Moon
And I have More Faith in a Shadow
Than in the Church"

Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521)

Time To Shine… because time is of the essence

King Arthur Was Buried So Legends They Tell It...

Sat, 17 May 2008 18:53:52 -0000

Okay, I know that's Robin Hood there but this is about equitable so the legends converge!

King Arthur was buried so legends they tell it
Deep under the mountains in days long ago
With twelve faithful knights dress in armour like silver
With their long swords beside them in scabbards of gold
But dying is only a new kind of waking
Or a new kind of sleeping resplendent with dreams
If times they are hard you have only to call me
And you’ll not catch me napping said Arthur the King

So we’ll kindle a beacon on every high mountain
To the sound of our music the valleys shall ring
To waken the sleepers of long-vanished ages
To waken the knights and Brave Arthur the King..

Well the dragon may prowl in the streets of the city
And the world may turn out to be not what it seems
And many-a-job may be lost by tomorrow
And we may be obliged to abandon our dreams
But bring it the Fool with her motley and bells
And remember the minstrels who taught you to sing
And the Quest it begins with the steps of the dance
Won’t you please take your partners said Arthur the King..

So we’ll kindle a beacon….

There’s no need to look far to find news of disaster
Of wars and of rumours of gathering gloom
And it’s hard to escape the dead-weight of inertia
As we hear the fraud words of the prophets of doom
But each one is equal around my Round Table
And each has a note and a ribbon to bring
And the quest it begin with the jig and the reel
Won’t you take out your fiddles said Arthur the King

So we’ll kindle a beacon….

There are times when the fog is so thick on the hills
Fell enchantment has settled on river and lake
And the poisons have sunk so far into the earth
That we ask is there anything left there to wake
But bring in the Morris the sword dance the step dance
The music is there and you know how to sing
And the Quest it begins with a song from the heart
Won’t you join in the chorus said Arthur the King:

So we’ll kindle a beacon on every high mountain
To the sound of our music the valleys shall ring
To waken the sleepers of long-vanished ages
To waken the knights and Brave Arthur the King.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
If you want to hear the melody for this song, you can hear it here (bearing in mind it's best sung in a crowd and this rendering is just me!):

http://beta.flowgram.com/f/p.html#P94CT57FTY789L

King Arthur was composed and sung by true troubadour, Jehanne Mehta.
I heard it first on her classic album (a cassette tape from the last century!). Green Jack.

Available now on CD from Jehanne's UK website:
"These folk songs of the earth and seasons are written and performed by Jehanne Mehta, accompanied by her husband Rob and friends. With beautiful melodies and lyrics that reflect Jehanne's deep spirituality and wisdom, these songs are calls to remember who and what the Earth truly is; that her irrepressible powers of renewal are always with us, and that now, if ever, is the time for us to remember how to love her." http://www.thebluesun.co.uk/acatalog/cds.html

Trees are Breathing Us, We are Breathing Trees...

Thu, 15 May 2008 05:07:42 -0000

Me and him are watching to see if that widget down the bottom will transform itself into my 2 minute Flowgram (apparently it all depends in Gaia...). And, in case my widget never comes... here's the good old-fashioned link:
http://beta.flowgram.com/f/p.html#JDLH09YTOIMX7O

Ponder Ye Also these awesome facts about our beloved trees.
This list came from http://www.treeinabox.com/Tree%20Facts.htm

In 50 years one tree recycles more than $37,000 worth of water, provides $31,000 worth of erosion control, $62,000 worth of air pollution control, and produces $37,000 worth of oxygen.

Two mature trees provide enough oxygen for a family of four.

Trees help reduce the "greenhouse effect" by absorbing CO². One acre of trees removes 2.6 tons of CO² per year.

Forest planting is one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing CO². To remove 1 pound of CO², planting tree costs less than 1 cent, developing more energy efficient appliances costs about 2 ^1/2 cents, and developing more fuel-efficient cars costs about 10 cents.

By cooling the air and ground around them, the shade from trees helps cool the Earth's temperature.

Trees are good noise barriers, making a city and neighborhood quieter.

Trees help prevent city flooding by catching raindrops and offsetting runoff caused by buildings and parking lots.

Hospital patients heal faster, require shorter stays and less painkillers if room windows face trees.

A tree-line buffer between fields and streams helps remove farming pollutants before they reach the water.

Well placed trees help cut energy costs and consumption by decreasing air conditioning costs 10-50% & reducing heating costs as much as 4-22%.

Trees are the longest living and largest living organisms on Earth.

People who plant trees become healthier, better looking, richer, and have more friends (well maybe that's stretching it a bit) - plant a tree and find out!

In deserts, leaves absorb moisture from the dew and frost of the cool nights and release it to cool the air during the warm days.

Trees enhance the aesthetics of our environment. Their grandeur, tenacity, and beauty are probably the most enjoyable aspect of trees.

Tree bark and fruit have many medicinal properties, which are still being discovered. *In 50 years one tree recycles more than $37,000 worth of water, provides $31,000 worth of erosion control, $62,000 worth of air pollution control, & produces $37,000 worth of oxygen.

Two mature trees provide enough oxygen for a family of four.

Birds and animals use trees for their homes and shelter and as a source of food.

One person causes about 10 tons of carbon dioxide to be emitted a year. One tree removes about 1 ton of CO₂ per year. Planting 30 trees per person will remove each that person's carbon debt for the year.

Trees increase property values by 5 to 20% due to their landscaping value

WIDGET-TO-BE:
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World Without Oil.... Still Playing

Wed, 14 May 2008 17:26:37 -0000

"The End is Near " snapped by 'Peak Prophet'
WWO serious-game-for-the-public-good player(!)

So I'm still having fabulous Flowgram (2 mins) fun which makes it the perfect time to give an update on the continuing good fortunes of World Without Oil, winning web awards left right and center, and for whom I was a podcaster!

And just in case all that embedded code doesn't turn into a fine-looking widget... here's the Flowgram link!: http://beta.flowgram.com/f/p.html#AH8AFH7JHGIFK2

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Pangea Day Phenomenon ~ It Rocks

Tue, 13 May 2008 22:43:33 -0000

IMAGE is from Go-Gratitude Stacey Robyn: http://www.gogratitude.org/

PANGEA DAY WAS....
"An incredibly inspiring event!! It brought me both tears of joy and sadness on several occasions. Best four hours spent in front of the television EVER!"

Here's the link to Pangea Flowgram:
http://beta.flowgram.com/f/p.html#KYC15G3ACGNZ6M

Dear Global TED Community,
did you see Pangea Day? What was your experience? And what would have made it better? Please write to us: feedback@pangeaday.org. No one has ever put on an event quite like this before, so it's really important to me to hear the collective wisdom of the TED community.

If you missed it, or want to revisit, there's a one-hour highlights package here and all the films can be viewed on the pangeaday.org website. Or check out the LA Times' write-up.

A giant thank you to the many people in the TED community who made this day possible. It's been truly thrilling to see Jehane's TED Prize wish, that seemed so impossible two years ago, turned by you into dazzling reality.

- Chris

Chris Anderson
TED Curator.

Here follows just a small sample of the thousands of comments we've already received.

Barbara A. from Mexico
This has been one of the most inspiring and beautiful events I have ever experienced.
Let's never forget what we all felt and experienced today.

Organizer DR from Dominican Republic
As the only organizer of a public event in the Dominican Republic I was pleased incredibly. The show exceeded my expectations completely...

karima saad from United Kingdom
I am speechless. But i am sure of one thing, that while i was attending Pangea Day in London, those 4 hours were felt as if i was part of the whole world as one community, rather than countries divided by borders.

Cmsilva from Portugal
We joined 45 in a private event in portugal. It was great. Next year we'll be more, for sure.

Carolyn from United States
Thank you for doing this. I laughed, I cried, I was enlightened, I was moved and touched and inspired. I watched almost the whole thing without getting up. Too bad I had to watch it alone...

Marina from Brazil
If I had to express my experience in words, I would not be able to. These were the best movies I have seen as an expression of art. And all the movies combined, just changed my way of thinking....

Marcosncosta from China
Loved the event. Hope next year it can be bigger and better.

Galleher from United States
The Alaskans gathered in Anchorage to be witness to this global campfire were inspired and appreciative

LIDIA from Argentina
I didn't know that Pangea existed. I feel too moved to speak and happy that so many people feel that really all of us are ONE.

Biriscalin from Romania
We all are "Pangea Day". We all represent one earth, one life. Now is time to act !

RicardoSilva from Portugal
I've been using the internet since the 90's, but this is truly the first time that I feel that here, for brief hours, was a global community talking. I hear people from Canada to Pakistan, Shanghai, New Zealand, Chile, Romania...

CassieBrady from United States
I have always dreamed of a united world. I never knew how to act on my dreams, so I am so happy that it is finally happening. Imagine peace. Imagine a global community not separate countries. This is what the world needs.

Jacqui from Jamaica
I wish that this had been a public event here in Jamaica for people from all walks of society to see. It was truly a spectacular event , I sat riveted in front of the television.

Sana from United Arab Emirates
Hugs and love from United Arab Emirates.... It aint little...Its a big start considering we are thousands of miles apart and felt the same last night...

Light Sister from United States
Thank you all so much for this World Consciousness Raising Event. In my 59 plus years of life, I have never felt so hopeful about the direction this world is taking...

Nabeelkarim from Pakistan
There are matters greater than that of political, economical and social nature...they are the environmental and humanitarian ones!!! it is clear that a change is required...and each and every one of us can make a difference.

Marcusmeisel from Austria
Austria says thank you for all this work of love, passion, and devotion that went into realizing this dream come true.

Danna from United States
Pangea Day was an incredibly inspiring event!! It brought me both tears of joy and sadness on several occasions. Best four hours spent in front of the television EVER!

Divamover from United States
Several hours after the "end" of Pangea Day 2008, I am especially moved to see such an outpouring of support and longing from the US. I cannot help but believe that there are many in the US who want a united world...

Umc59 from Canada
i just stumbled onto the last half hour of the pangea day show here in toronto and am sooooo happy i did. i'm 48 yrs old and i got the most wonderful feeling of finally belonging to a community that speaks to me.

Rhea from India
I am 23 years old and I just finished watching the Pangea Day broadcast. it's 4:00 am here and I couldn't go to bed without writing to you and telling you how beautiful, thought provoking it was.

Nabeelkarim from Pakistan
Just for starter...each one of us could just start by helping just one person/or doing something good.....once a day....

IBelieve from Canada
Hello World; What an amazing day! I laughed, shed tears of joy, smiles of love, and tears of compassion.
Sherryl from Australia
A powerful vision and enormous drive has brought Jehane's dream to reality. Confucius c. 500BC said; In his teaching the wise man ...opens the way but does not take them to the place. Pangea Day has opened the way....

PANGEA DAY - IT'S HAPPENING NOW!!

Sat, 10 May 2008 04:53:17 -0000

PANGEA DAY - Powerful enough to unite

PANGEA DAY - building trust, inspiring action...
"In this age images are powerful. Powerful enough to divide, to spread fear, to remove hope. Powerful enough to unite, to build trust, to inspire action. Until now images of the many have been held in the hands of the few. Finally that is changing. Millions of people around the world are telling their own stories. For the first time in history we have the chance to see the world differently, to see it through the eyes of the other."

CHECK OUT MY TWO MINUTE FLOWGRAM
http://beta.flowgram.com/f/p.html#KYC15G3ACGNZ6M

I would wholly appreciate your feedback if this Flowgram doesn't flow right! Each page was made with special little notes that were very much a part of the creation (like post-it notes) but I just discovered that on one friend's monitor none of these (important!) little notes were visible.

PlaNetweaving Toward Pangea Day

Fri, 09 May 2008 07:08:14 -0000

Pangea Day May 10 is upon us... I'm experiencing a distinct PlaNetweaving surge in the Global Village. Synapses firing, new neural pathways (forging)... it is the most scintillating thing to suddenly have these far-flung luminaries linking up...

Is it 10 years ago that I first heard David Whyte giving the keynote address at Natural Products Expo West.. '98 maybe? "Life, Work and the Poetic Imagination"; I was enthralled.

He coached us not to applaud after each poem he delivered but to just take it in... and each poem, he spoke it through a second time, even as we were sitting enrapt in the electric stillness of the first rendering. Now I know, this is David Whyte's hallmark. I brought home a recording of that first presentation and never tired of listening.

"What do you do when your lost in the forest" was on this first recording I ever had and I will forever link it with David Whyte's inspired delivery to a sea of owner/managers in the natural food industry, as he spoke to the challenge of sustaining the authenticity of their story in their work-life and love-life and life-life as they grew and adapted and responded to the vageries of the marketplace...

What do you do when you're Lost in the Forest?

What do you do when you're lost in the forest?

Standstill, the trees ahead and the bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a branch does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.*
*~*

Now here's Oprah in Week 5 of her 10 week series with Eckhart Tolle (working through his book 'New Earth') and she is compelled to share this same poem (she starts the poem right about the 1 minute mark):
This was also the week she shared that the "New Earth" web class had hit 11 million webstreams and downloads...

Then, towards the end of the 10 weeks series, Oprah announces that Jill Bolte Taylor, author of 'Stroke of Insight' and presenter at TED, will be her first guest on her Soul Series the week after she completes with Eckhart Tolle. Jill's TED Talk was a web phenomenon in itself, whipping round networks so fast I learned that I was not alone in my experience of receiving it simultaneously via email from friends in my extended network who do not move in the same circles. Reminded me of Bioneers phrase "It's all alive, it's all intelligent, it's all connected, it's all relatives.." www.bioneers.org
*Lost in the forest poem: by David Wagoner: from Traveling Light Collected and New Poems, University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago.

On Using Trees For Paper

Thu, 08 May 2008 02:07:14 -0000

The Redwoods have a knowledge
all but forgotten here
Breathe their presence
seek their majesty
who know the Rainforest...

They hail from Middle Earth
none can compare with these
nothing can touch the beauty of
Meeting with Remarkable Trees...

CCR McF.

(Pictured above): Trunk base of a Coast Redwood tree in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park: Simpson Reed Discovery Trail, near Crescent City, California

Paper Tigers, Tall Trees (New Paper Paradigm) A Two minute Presentation...click on this link:

http://beta.flowgram.com/f/p.html#JDLH09YTOIMX7O

Paper tiger is a literal English translation of the Chinese phrase zhǐ lǎohǔ (Chinese: 紙老虎), meaning something which seems as threatening as a tiger, but is really harmless. Wikipedia

A beatiful film made with students at Cavendish School, Eastbourne (UK) and Global Action Plan about the preciousness of paper, how we use it and the effects on our environment.
So of course paper isn't always made from trees but the students in this film are rightly taking the first important step, making the connection; we ARE still cutting down trees for paper...

Bill McDonough says...

“Imagine this design project:

Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, provides habitat for hundred of species, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates microclimates, changes colors with the seasons, and self replicates...; Yeah…Why don’t we knock that (TREE) down and write on it…”

So... Here's Bill McDonough speaking at Vanderbilt University Sept. 26, 2006 It's a full length lecture; 80-something minutes long . But just to hear him run his awesome TREE rap, roll the movie along to 30:10 - 31:40 mins & listen to that bit.. (and some time when you just want to breathe and be uplifted, come back and just listen to this guy ~ he's one of my planet heroes from the first time I ever heard him present).

William McDonough, international architect, industrial designer, business leader and Hero of the Planet, was given a standing ovation by all departments of the United States government after he presented this end goal and the Cradle to Cradle Design strategy* in the White House on January 21st 2004:

“We hope for a delightful, safe and healthy world
with clean water and renewably power,
economically, equitably, ecologically
and elegantly enjoyed”.

The central question of Cradle to Cradle Design is:
“How do we love all of the children of all species for all time?”

In Cradle to Cradle Design we are talking about conceptually sound and hugely profitable strategies that are socially equitable and environmentally intelligent that celebrates healthy closed-loop industrial production while we regenerate the biosphere.

* 'Cradle to Cradle' Design Strategy recognizes that we have to think beyond throwing things ‘away’ because there is no ‘away’ to throw things (we're in a closed-loop system).
*~*~*~*~*~*~**

William McDonough's grandfather and my father, both, were big tree loggers. In Bill's words; there's some big tree karma to work off...

PAPERPAPERPAPER
LOGGERS CUT DOWN TREES
BUT NOW WE KNOW THAT GRASS WILL DO
THE SWITCH CAN BE A BREEZE

PAPERPAPERPAPER
LOGGER'S FOUND A 'B'
AND SO IT WAS THAT BLOGGERS BLOGGED
AND ROUNDLY CRIED: "DON'T SMASH THAT TREE!"

Daughter of Scotland seeks Airmiles

Fri, 02 May 2008 14:31:12 -0000

50,000... to fly round trip San Francisco or San Jose, California, to London or Glasgow (United Queendom) for mother's 80th in July.

Income streams/springs are trickling but not currently apparently sufficient to accommodate this one.

If perchance you have a crazy amount of Airmiles and could (be the) 'Spring' for me I would be honored/quenched/relieved/happy.

She was a ploughman's daughter. Her father ploughed the fields with his two Clydesdale horses. She was born in a London Mission Hall but was evacuated during World War II to her father's childhood home in Scotland, raised in her granma's cottage. At 13 years old she went to work in the nearby mansion (' the big hoose') as a little maid.

To that mansion (Ross Priory), no longer privately owned but part of Strathclyde University, is where she now comes to be celebrated as the 'Lady of the House', by her extended tribe. And here she is with my 'wee' sister Maggi, on the grass at Lochside Cottage (my paternal grandfather's childhood home):

Minnie Mikhaila Perry in Elizabethan attire

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:06:16 -0000

Okay, this is not chronological but I never showed you Minnie dressed in her Elizabethan costume. Since her mum, Ninya Mikhaila (my daughter!), IS The Tudor Tailor, this was a fairly inevitable turn of events!
http://www.tudortailor.com/

Pangea Day May 10

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 05:51:24 -0000

Listening to this did give me thrill-bumps. It's powerful and profound. It breaks right through the narrow nation state mentality. Like Einstein said, our problems won't be solved at the level of consciousness at which they were created. I remember Arundhati Roy saying something about national flags being used to shrink-wrap minds in life and drape coffins in death. This, singing each other's national anthems is so simple but it is like being in someone else's skin, and it took a leap in consciousness to come up with it.

Now I will c&p excerpted Pangea Day briefing...

Dear Friends of TED...

Full details will be posted on our website next ! week.

The Pangea Day website and trailer.

The series of anthems sung by one country for another that I sent you earlier this week, e.g.

France sings for USA

Kenya sings for India

A viral Pangea Day film that debuted at TED this year.

....I'm convinced today's media have the power to humanize "the other". To help people make the mental switch from "them" to "us". Telling stories through film is especially powerful in this regard. At the start of a film, you see someone strange-looking. At the end you feel kinship. There's no moral effort involved here. It's just a natural mental repositioning. Call me idealistic, but I really believe that that mental shift holds the key to our shared future.

Of course, May 10th won't lead to an outbreak of world peace. But I do think it will reveal a sense of possibility: the possibility that there are incredible new ways of using technology as a force for good; that peoples' minds are not locked in a dark place forever; that our global village can start the long journey from "us/them" to "we".

As the Pangea Day website says: Films can't change the world. But the people who watch them can.

(Excerpted)

Chris Anderson
TED Curator

For All Of Us.

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 00:09:53 -0000

~ 100 Years on Planet Earth ~

The embodiment of Namaste...

*~*~*~*~*~*

The way I walk
I see my mother walking
My feet secure
And firm upon the ground
The way I talk
       I hear my daughter talking
And hear my mother's echo
       in the sound.
The way she thought
       I find myself now thinking
The generations linking
       In a firm continuum of mind
The bridge of immortality I'm walking
       The voice before me echoing behind.

The Bridge by Dorothy Hallard

Take me back oh hills I love,
Lift me from this lonely bed,
Light my way with stars above,
Curl soft winds about my head,
Wash my feet in crystal streams,
Cradle my arms in boughs of oak,
Breathe the scent of pine for dreams,
Wrap me tight in earthen cloak.

~Appalachian Round

Welcome, welcome every guest,
welcome to our music fest.
Music now may be our cheer,
fill both soul and harkened ear.
Sacred muse teach us the word,
sweetest note to be explored.
Softly fill the trembling air,
this our solace, this our fare....
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Remembering Eleanor Wasson: Centenarian activist lived life to the hilt

TOM RAGAN - SENTINEL STAFF WRITER

Article Launched: 04/07/2008 01:31:14 AM PDT

(Excerpted) --

"Known for her great sense of adventure, spirit of volunteerism and her catchy book, "28,000 Martinis and Counting," Eleanor Wasson, a Santa Cruz resident for nearly two decades, died early Sunday.

She was 100.

...If there were ever a woman who lit fires, inspired the apathetic, changed the courses of lives, talked politics and immersed herself in volunteer work, it was Wasson....

....In Santa Cruz, Wasson was the impetus behind the formation of WomenRise for Global Peace, a local organization whose beginnings can be traced to just before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001...."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

ELEANOR STARTED OUR WOMEN'S CIRCLE, which became WomenRise for Global Peace www.womenrise.org ~ we all totally cherished our Monday nights at Eleanor's, week in, week out. She was fun and sharp as a tack, and drove her own car almost 'til the end of her life. My mother, 20 years her junior was utterly astonished to learn that Eleanor was still driving, and Eleanor responded, "Well, I always say if you can see and you can hear and you can think, you can drive!" . She certainly could do all three. She had been a pilot in World War II and she had lived through prohibition, hence her Martini hallmark; she always asserted that prohibition was a terrible idea, encouraging more law-abiding citizens to break the law than has ever happened on a single issue before or since!

I Come From The Forest And I Am A Tree..

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 21:22:22 -0000

"I come from the forest, and I am a tree
and this process is natural, even for me...

.. My leaves may be browning, A fire there may be
to quicken my cycle for life of a tree
but don't doubt that I' will see you
and give to you again
for that is the ever-present process we're in..."

excerpted from the poem by Jeremy Paster. In Loving Memory of an amazing hero.

"Jeremy was an activist and an advocate for the planet and its people. He worked for many non-profits including Rainforest Action Network and Greenpeace. He was known all over the world as a hero. Right before Jeremy died, he wrote a poem and recorded himself reading it. It was the first poem he had ever written."

Thank you thank you Jane Hillhouse for tuning me into this YouTube gem with such exquisite timing..