Monthly Archives: June 2024

Camp Notes, Day 3

0
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

June 9, 2024, Bellemont- Today was Race Amity Day, across the United States, in advance of Juneteenth, a national celebration of the end of slavery in its last American bastions. Many Baha’i-sponsored Race Amity Day events took place in cities large and small. Here at the youth camp, we are living it. Several of the campers are from Democratic Republic of Congo. Others are from Brazil and there are people of Filipino, Dineh, Mexican and Iranian descent, as well as those whose ancestors came from Europe some time ago. There is amity in spades and any conflicts that might arise are more from misunderstandings than from any animus that is based on ethnic or cultural differences.

Day 3 is at an end and I am exhausted, after a bit more physical labour today. Other team members worked just as hard and will be hopefully appreciated by the campers, when Friday rolls around. I am just glad to be of use.

The one aspect of human relations that stands out on Race Amity Day is the matter of avoiding assumptions. Only a good measure of patience can keep that from happening, as well as considering a person’s behaviour or apparent attitude, from a number of angles. So I am making myself do, not so much in regard to the teenagers, as with respect to adults. So far, that forbearance has kept a few working relationships from hitting the rocks. Things are better between me and a few of the chaperones, than they were last year. May that continue throughout the camp.

Camp Notes, Day 2

2
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

June 8, 2024, Bellemont- “Life is tough; but you are tougher.” So says the logo on one of the campers’ t-shirts. This pretty much some up this group of campers, and though they are uniformly respectful and helpful to us, the staff, it is clear that many of them have been through quite a life, already. That is what draws them to this faith-based camp. Even those who are church-goers say they are looking for something further, in their spiritual quest.

So, they are engaged in both scriptural study and in developing communications skills-“Don’t run from a conversation”; “Engage, no outrage” and “Be the grace you want to see” are phrases I’ve heard tutors and animators use, these past three years. A troupe of budding Afro Beat dancers is among the campers, and there is no shortage of potential basketball stars, both male and female. Every key “racial” group is represented here and yet there is no conflict, no seething anger. Acceptance of rules is the norm, though it is also accompanied by questioning. These are, after all, teenagers.

Staff is uniformly competent, to the point that, besides handling sudden requests from campers and tutors, I have relatively little to do, during the day. I have taken on the role of primary dish washer, and function as security, making sure whatever needs to be locked, gets locked. Lights go on and get turned off. It is a combination of “staycation” (“praycation”?) and collective grandparenthood.

The weather has not been as hot as predicted, but that may change by the middle of this coming week. Stay tuned.

Camp Notes, Day One

4
Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Education, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

June 7, 2024, Bellemont-

The fire concerned all of us, starting as it did, two days before camp. I kept an eye on things, getting updates from the U.S. Forest Service, the Arizona National Guard and a retired Air Force major, who is the area’s State Senator. The fire, called Bravo, was south of Camp Navajo, a military training site. That brought military firefighting units, including slurry planes, to bear on the fire suppression.

The crews won their battle and, by noon, the blaze was mostly contained. Our camp could proceed. I stopped and celebrated this fortunate turn of events, with a fabulous, relaxing lunch at Mustang River Grill, off the beaten track, in Parks, a small forestry town, just west of Bellemont. I had intended to get a modest meal at a small market, north of the Texaco, but there was Mustang, a fairly new place, and well worth a try. Kimberly, a Nevada transplant, takes great care of all patrons and the lunch portions are well-prepared and just the right size.

That is probably the last meal I’ll be buying, this camp, as our three squares are part of the camp experience, and I haven’t had a bad meal as Bellemont camp manager, yet. The campers and their chaperones/tutors arrived right on time and we got the orientation out of the way, followed by an excellent spaghetti & meatballs dinner. The kids went through ice-breaker activities, after the meal, and now they lay them down down to sleep. Think I will do the same.

Forty-Two

0
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Historical, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

June 6, 2024- Eighty years ago, American forces began the process of landing at a series of beachheads, along the northern coast of Normandy, France. Contrary to some characterizations by people too young, apparently, to have much awareness of World War II, this was a real, and somewhat deadly, event. So, too, was the Holocaust that took place between 1942-45. Real people died, and others suffered mightily, despite what those who make apologies for Fascism would have the rising generations believe.

One of those who suffered mightily was a Jewish-American soldier, captured along the southern limit of the Battle of the Bulge, near Bellecroix, in Metz, France, in January, 1945. He survived, and returned to the U.S., in the aftermath of V-E Day. He married, and sired a daughter, who grew up to be strong, intelligent and of sound moral character. Forty-two years ago today, that daughter of a soldier became my wife. Our marriage lasted 28 years, 9 months, until her death, in 2011, from pneumonia that was brought on by a progressive neurological disease.

Penny led me to embrace a Faith that has made more sense to me than any other system I have ever studied or investigated. She held the bar high for me, as a husband, and more times than not, I reached it- just as she met my expectations of her as a wife. Those times when we each fell short were more growth opportunities than failures, and they served to give our son the roadmap to a successful marriage of his own, which began civilly in November, 2018 and became faith-based in March, 2019.

I have done a lot of reflecting on our time together, and on the flow of energy that has sustained me, in the thirteen years since her passing. Thirteen years of largely alone time, punctuated by a growing friendship with another strong, intelligent woman, of sound moral character, would not have been possible, without feeling Penny’s spiritual energy, a light brush against me or a strong message from the other side of the curtain that separates the corporeal from the ethereal. Forty-two years have passed, and I will never be the same soul I was before she entered my life.

The Heat

2
Posted by on in collaborating, Community, impediments, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

June 5, 2024- I read, a few days ago, about the “green glacier”-a euphemism for the growth and spread of junipers, also called red cedars, across a wide swath of tall-and-short-grass prairie, from north Texas to North Dakota. Trees are also spreading in the Canadian prairies, but more by design, and with less adverse effect.

Adverse effect? On the environment? From tree planting? Well, it seems that too many trees, in an area that is historically steppe, can serve to do things like darken the ground and make it hard for CO2 to escape back into the atmosphere. Too many trees can, in the view of some environmentalists, actually exacerbate global warming in the Plains states. My own view is that we hardly need to replace tall and short grasslands with forests, but that some forests are a good addition to the Prairie. I have hiked in small forests, in the Dallas area, when visiting my little family. On a torrid July day, being in the woods is never half bad-with proper bug repellent keeping insects and arachnids at bay and sunscreen/headgear on, for good measure, just as I would do anywhere else. I have, likewise, enjoyed outings all up and down the Great Plains, in forested areas.

Heat is here, at Home Base I-with June usually being the hottest, driest month of the year-closely followed by the post-monsoon portion of September. June Gloom doesn’t exist, this far inland, but we do share September Swelter with southern California. The high summer months are actually tempered, somewhat, by monsoon rains-at least here in the Central Highlands and in the mountains north and east of here.

I am fine, though, with ceiling fans, a window box A/C, plenty of water and an Amish drying rack for my clean clothes, freshly washed in cold water. Stay cool, calm and collected, wherever you are-and may humanity keep getting a handle on global warming.

Eastbound and Back, Day 37: Convenience

4
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

June 4, 2024- There was a fair amount of activity in downtown Winslow, as I approached my favourite spot there: Relic Road, which is also called Sipp Shoppe. The place is another of those that just has a relaxed and welcoming vibe, so being time for lunch, I stopped in for a bit-and was revived, somewhat, for the drive down mountain to Camp Verde and on back here to Home Base I. Of course, I pulled over, about ten miles shy of Happy Jack and took a power nap, but between the two, lunch and rest did the trick. Journey # 1 of 2024 is a wrap.

A day or so ago, I got a text from one of the other volunteers at Solid Rock soup kitchen, asking if I would be there that night. I was still in northwest Texas, at that point in time, and so, just fed him my schedule and the next time I would be on the serving line. June is Arizona-centric, but somehow not a whole less busy. Tomorrow, I head downtown and join another Baha’i to meet with our Congressman’s staff, regarding the situation of the Baha’is in Iran, who as readers know, are being actively persecuted by some in positions of power in that country.

Friday starts 8 days at Bellemont, a Baha’i facility west of Flagstaff, where I will oversee the camp operations for a gathering of Youth (ages 16-20). This will be the largest event I have run, since the Red Cross shelter in Watsonville, a year ago in April. As was the case then, a wonderful, competent team is in place, so all issues that arise will be ably handled.

There are other activities this month, and for some reason, they all fall on Saturdays. My presence at Farmers Market’s breakdown, therefore, will be negligible, until August. That raises the issue of inconvenience. What is a chance to be useful to one person or group takes away from others. Solutions? There are a few-and I started with gentling reminding myself that there are 80,000 + people in this mini-Metro. Any presumption that an event will fail because I am not there is an ego trip that is best nipped in the bud. My friends know my heart, and will be able to carry on just fine when life takes me elsewhere.

We are not here to be creatures of convenience to others, but only are here to do the best we can, when and where we can be there. The flip side, of course, is to not be in the way-as I assured someone I love especially dearly, this evening, regarding time I will spend in and around her area, in the Fall. Life is an unending series of carefully choreographed dances, unending focuses of attention, that require careful judgment, as to when to engage and when to stand back. As my mother taught us, “It’s not about ME”.

Albert Camus, in his essay on the myth of Sisyphus, makes the summation: “What counts is not the best living, but the most living.” I would go one further step: What counts is the most of the best; the latter meaning Offering one’s own best, in the most situations.

Eastbound and Back, Day 36: Replenishment Alerts

2
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

June 3, 2024. Moriarty- The world is not so much finite, as it is a place of temporary systems. Each system has its unlimited aspects, each can only hold so much, at any given time. A stomach can only hold so much food; a cerebrum can only focus on so many thoughts, at any given time; a bladder can only hold so much fluid; a bank or credit union can only hold so many accounts; a border station can only process so many visitors, properly, on any given day-and so on.

Eventually, any given lack can be replenished. Any given problem, no matter how novel, can be solved. So it is, that I focus my energies on meeting some expenses as they occur, paying others in advance and making provisions for the maintenance and replenishment of my savings, however much they may be temporarily be needed in the interim. So it is, that I schedule time at Home Base I, no matter that I might be called away again-as is the case this weekend and next week, as well as in the second half of July-and in the Fall. So it is that time is set aside for health-related check-ups, and regular cycles of exercise, diet and rest, as a means of avoiding serious illnesses down the road.

Today was a long drive-from Grapevine (Home Base II) across a vast swath of northwest Texas and eastern New Mexico, to this favoured way station, roughly 30 minutes east of Albuquerque. I did not stop to visit friends along the way, because it is a workday and because I need to focus on choreographing the rest of my week rather tightly. A surprisingly nice lunch, at a Pilot Travel Center, in Rhome, TX and a few stops for refueling along the way, made the whole day flow. This coming Wednesday until Friday of next week is a busy time, mostly for faith-based activities. “To whom much is given, much is expected.”

Eastbound and Back, Day 35: Unwinding, not Unraveling

0
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

June 2, 2024, Grapevine- Two things constituted my contribution to the weekend here: I took the kids out for brunch this morning and I washed the dinner dishes, this evening. I also won the Scrabble game, which just goes to show that unwinding does not mean unraveling.

I tend to jump into life with both feet, which sometimes has gotten me into some boiling water. All the same, I have learned to modify the shower or occasional bath, by carefully adjusting the faucet to a temperature that won’t leave me looking like a lobster afterward. I also have learned to be efficient at showering, so little or no water gets wasted. The same is true of any endeavour. “Waste not, want not” is sage advice, not only for eating and bathing, but also for speaking-and by extension, writing.

It is important, though, to neither be parsimonious with love, while at the same time remaining transparent about the nature of that love. One can only feel romantic love towards one person at a time. All others may be loved fraternally, parentally, or platonically. That was how it was for me when Penny was alive and that’s how it is for me now. I am grateful for every friend who is in my life, and will do what I can to help anyone who makes a respectful and reasonable request. I have a duty to self, to my beloved, and to family to use my resources wisely, so time, energy and money will be stewarded accordingly.

Tomorrow begins the “homestretch” of this current journey, leading straight into a well-organized, and hopefully fruitful, six weeks of service in and around Home Base I, plus Bellemont Baha’i School-barring any family emergency. The year so far has been one of effervescence, resilience and problem-solving. I aim to continue along those lines.

Eastbound and Back, Day 34: Taking Stock

2
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Family, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Slow Food Prescott, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

June 1, 2024, Grapevine- The new apartment, Home Base II, is a tad smaller, kitchen and living room-wise, than its predecessor, but my little family is happier-which is all that counts. I am as comfortable here as I was on the other side of Grapevine Mills- a testament to the serenity that Aram and Yunhee have with one another. True to form, we dined in nicely, for all three meals and I joined them on a shopping journey, this evening. Sushi was for dinner and a Korean comedy followed, starring the actor Don Lee (Lee Dong-seok), a bilingual actor who is well-known in both South Korea and Los Angeles, for playing tough guys with hearts of gold. This one had Don as a would-be arm wrestling champion, who has to face down small time mobsters-a piece of cake, this being a comedy.

June has ever been a month of transition for me: It was the month when I got married, went on pilgrimage to the Baha’i Holy Places in Israel, both 42 years ago. It was in June, that my father passed, 38 years ago. I graduated high school this month, 56 years ago, and joined the U.S. Army, a year later. So, June has become my time for taking stock and making whatever adjustments that may need to be made, in life and lifestyle.

In a few days, I will be back in Prescott, Home Base I. There are already appointments and commitments set for several days this month, most intensely the management of a youth camp, in Bellemont, for eight days, starting next Friday. A visit to our Congressman’s office awaits, followed by a visit to my chiropractor- though not because of what might happen that morning. Our Red Cross meeting comes a day later, and I will serve as Blood Ambassador, on June 20, then help with a Slow Food event on June 22.

In the background, though, is a family situation that may trump all of the above. We just take the matter one day at a time. It is the Hands of the Almighty now. Life in the wider world will always go on, regardless of what we face as individuals, or as families.

Perhaps the biggest change, long-term, is in how I am called to serve humanity. I have spent much time on the road, these past thirteen years, feeling that my time was best spent in one place or another. There remain, this year, a road trip to British Columbia, via the Pacific Northwest, and visits with friends, one in particular, and service activities in the Philippines. East Africa had been on the itinerary, until security concerns (relative to a transit stop in west Asia) prompted the airline to scrub the flight.

Extensive solo travel, and solo life, may well be coming to an end, with the above journeys. That’s all I feel it prudent to say for now, but I feel a change in the wind. One day at a time, dear Lord, one day at a time.

Eastbound and Back, Day 33: To The Prairie Home

2
Posted by on in collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Education, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 31, 2024, Grapevine- The hardened but mannerly farmer must have already been on the job for several hours, and he was ready for a true farmhand’s breakfast. We introduced ourselves, we shook hands, and he groused about the previous day’s event in New York, as the footage droned on, on the small cafe’s TV. Then, we both focused on breakfast.

On this drizzly morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find a haven of charm, organization and good food, in the small cotton town of Ruleville, founded by J.W. Rule, in 1898, expressly as a cotton processing center. It was the home of Fannie Lou Hamer, who brought the Civil Rights struggle to the cotton farms.

A worker bee of a woman, named Winde, exuding grace, strength and a focused work ethic, runs Stop and Shop-Not Your Mama’s Tea– a long name for a boutique and cafe, but as fine a place to enjoy a full country breakfast as any of the full-on cafes I have experienced on this journey. Here, I found the South at its finest.

Winde’s breakfast stood by me all day, through western Mississippi, across Louisiana and the eastern third of Texas. My mission was simple: Get to my little family in this bustling airport town, by a decent dinner time. That, I did, stopping to deposit my month’s rent at a bank branch in east Texas, and alternately driving along a nearly empty highway, then finding people driving like bats out of the underbelly-each trying to outdo the other.

I got in to Grapevine, despite a few accidents that had traffic snarled more than usual, and a scrum that blocked access to the short route here. It was okay, though, to go the longer way around, as it actually deposited me closer to the apartment complex that lies a bit west of Grapevine Mills Mall.

So, this quieter day, with no focus on history or scenic spots, brought me to Son’s side, as he applied himself to a major portion of the work that will bring his baccalaureate study to a successful close. It will be an affirming weekend for the three of us- Aram, Yunhee (his wife) and me.