Category Archives: animal and plant life

The Road to Diamond, Day 233: The Raven Feather

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Travel

July 19, 2025- The feather lay on the asphalt, as I left Sportage and went towards Rafter 11, this evening. Remembering the significance, to First Nations people, of a feather lying on the ground, I glanced back and saw that the wind was carrying it towards the edge of the lot. Figuring it would not be run over and therefore safe, I went across the road to indulge in some hummus with pita and vegetable sticks and to enjoy a cover artist’s collection of country and folk rock tunes. Once I took my seat, glancing down, I saw the same feather that had been across in the parking lot. The breeze had picked up during the time it had taken me to cross the street and get situated, so this did not surprise me.

Dineh, Hopi, Apache (Inde) and other First Nations peoples regard a feather on the ground as a gift from the sky, establishing a connection between the receiver and the bird from which the feather came, by extension another link to the Creator. We live in a time when there is an increasingly tenuous connection between Man and the Nature of which he is a part. I have been in various natural settings, from sandy desert to deciduous urban parks; from Ponderosa and Douglas fir forests to high grasslands and desolate peat bogs; from the middle of the ocean to a Vietnamese rain forest. In each, there is a sign of nature.

Usually, that is something like a heart-shaped rock, of which I have encountered many. So have thousands of other people who are observant. Many of us have also seen animals that appear real, only to not be visible in a photograph, when they were present in the view finder, even as the shutter was pressed. I have been gifted with bird feathers by First Nations friends, over the years, and have carefully placed them in a web, attached to a dowsing stick that was given me by a Dineh friend, twenty years ago. The stick itself has two falcon feathers and a wild turkey feather attached. I also have an eagle feather that was given me by another Dineh friend, and which is attached to a wicker heart that Penny devised, in the early 2000s. I placed the raven feather opposite and slightly underneath the eagle feather.

Whilst sitting and enjoying hummus and strumming, I placed the raven feather in a planter next to my table. I found myself considering the matter of Labor Day weekend, six weeks away. I recently received an invitation to attend a Baha’i school in Colorado Springs. Having attended it three times in the past, it was on my mind this evening. With spiritual energy that I can only sense as coming from the feather, I pondered what is happening here at Home Base I, that weekend. I was reminded that my friends at Farmers Market will be busy preparing for the Farm-to-Table Dinner, a week later and that there may be only three of us who can work the market breakdown on August 30. I was also reminded, earlier this afternoon, that a Peace Day will likely take place on August 31. Then, too, after the Farm to Table Dinner, it’ll be off to Europe, and possibly east Africa ( safety permitting), during September and October.

At the risk of overthinking, I am staying put here, over Labor Day. I love the eastern Colorado friends and will pray fervently for their school’s success. I love the friends here, too.

The Road to Diamond, Day 229: Intensity Continues

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, children, Education, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 15,2025- My final feeding of and cleaning up after the cats was the quiet and easy part of the day. I was able to get past the road construction zone fairly easily as well. While heading to get coffee and breakfast, afterward, I came upon a fundraiser car wash, for a high school dance group, which is starting up this year. Sportage really needed it, and the girls did a great job. So, there was coffee, but breakfast waited until I got to my post as Blood Donor Ambassador. It was a bag of pretzels. I lived.

Once at the Red Cross Blood Drive, there was a steady flow of donors, most of whom were able to complete their donation. It was nice, though, that I was accompanied by a second Donor Ambassador. “Lunch” was a bag of Cheez-its. I still lived. The building was comfortable, even with the temperature of a meat locker, in the main donation bay. This is necessary, to keep the blood fresh. In the lobby, where I spent most time, the temperature was more conventional.

In a sign that the intensity of the past eight days will continue, I am now part of a plan to provide shelter for workers who were evacuated from the North Rim of Grand Canyon. If this works out, I will provide management for the shelter. It will be in Page, near Lake Powell, at the Utah border, and likely be from July 18 until the end of this month. Arrangements will need to be made tomorrow. On it goes. It is the least I can do, though, for people who have their livelihoods in the balance.

There was a prediction, not too long ago, that life would get more intense, after July 7. Looks like there may be something to that.

The Road to Diamond, Day 228: Simple Gets Complex

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, Assistance, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, impediments, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 14,2025- It was a sign that the day was going to see routine matters become complicated. The road scheme, in the neighbourhood where friend’s house is located, is under repavement, which means it is being dug up and will gradually get new layers of asphalt. As with any repavement in a close neighbourhood, there needs to be close cooperation and communication between the workers and motorists. I take care to make sure that there are no misunderstandings, so while a three-minute drive to feed the cats became seven, all was smooth.

Later in the day, I found that Soup Kitchen was laid out more like the Luby’s Cafeteria of old. There was twice the amount of fare available tonight, which was a fine midsummer’s treat for the guests: Three kinds of pizza, angel hair pasta with two kinds of sauce, two types of squash, two salads and a variety of desserts. I was the pasta and sauce person. The cleanup took a bit longer than usual, but the diners were most pleased. The line manager doesn’t always remember my name, yet she does know what I do, and is glad that I show up most weeks.

Back to feeding the cats, after Soup Kitchen, I found that the road work was winding down for the day, but it was still necessary to go slowly around heavy equipment that was being brought into position for tomorrow’s resumption of the work. Mundane tasks can become complex, at any time. It’s a good way to hone the skills of patience and humility.

The Road to Diamond, Day 227: Thoughts While at Rest

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 13, 2025- Today was an auspicious day. It is the birthday of my twin sisters-in-law. It is the anniversary of the beginning of a thankfully brief journey down a dark rabbit hole. It is also the anniversary of the passing of a good friend. In brief, July 13 is a mixed bag.

Today here in Prescott and at Bellemont was a peaceful day. The third day of camp was, by all accounts, splendid and people worked together to get the camp broken down and deep-cleaned. Here, I took care of the cats and did scant else, regrouping after yesterday’s full schedule and looking carefully at the fire reports from the North Rim of Grand Canyon. The news was terrifying: Grand Canyon Lodge, the North Rim Visitor’s Center, staff lodging and various cabins were destroyed. Fortunately, all workers and guests had been evacuated before the fire hit.

I never stayed in the Lodge, but enjoyed its lobby’s art and wandering around the neo-Victorian structure. The hotel was a rebuilt version of the original, itself lost in a fire in 1937. It will take time, but the likelihood is that the Lodge will be rebuilt.

I thought a lot today about where I am in the world. How much good am I actually doing? A project I had sponsored in the Philippines, in the first area I visited in that country, has fallen victim to thieves, who took building materials that were intended to improve a children’s school. So many people in this world look back on their own childhood, tell themselves that they were deprived and therefore, it’s okay for them to steal from the children of today.

I was raised to take the bitter with the sweet and to not expect to be put above anyone else. This is not a lesson that is universally taught, and thus we are in a hard place, as a species. Those who place themselves above the rest should not be at all surprised, when in the end, deprivation rears its head and takes back from them what was never due them in the first place. That is just a general observation on the way things tend to transpire.

It has been largely a restful day, but also one that has been bittersweet.

The Road to Diamond, Day 226: Through A Synchronous Day

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, collaborating, Community, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Slow Food Prescott, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 12, 2025- The cats began and ended my day, letting me know that they were not happy with the heat, even as it is mitigated by their comfy home’s AC. Animals can feel what lies beyond their enclosures. We all will get through the current heat wave, and will enjoy the rains, when they return in the middle of next week.

Two picnics, not far from one another, were planned to be simultaneous. They appealed to two different interest groups-and me. The Red Cross gathering was on the lawn of County Courthouse. The event was graced by the presence of a former President and First Lady of the Navajo Nation, and their two sons. This was auspicious, as RC has been strengthening its partnership with Dineh, supporting the Nation in its handling of a recent wildfire. Dineh handled the sheltering themselves, and we provided logistical support.

After twenty minutes with the Red Cross group, I headed over to a Slow Food gathering, in Granite Creek Park. This event was meant to highlight organic and heirloom foods. I brought spigarello, marinated in lemon lavender juice. Spigarello is an Italian green leafy vegetable, related to the broccoli plant. Its leaves are mild-tasting, lending themselves to being used in place of collards, or mixing nicely with tangy juices.

The Slow Food gathering was also a chance to offer healthful foods to some of the unhoused people, who have learned that many groups who hold events at Granite Creek are concerned for their welfare, and thus will include them in the gatherings. So it was today.

There was scant daylight between the Slow Food event and my regular shift at Farmers Market, so I got to work off the meal, and managed to get most of the tents, furniture and weights put away, before a quick trip to HB and a change of clothes. Our Baha’i Feast took place at 2 p.m., and I was the last one to arrive. No matter, everyone knows of my work at Farmers Market, and the time frame it entails. The Feast of Kalimat (Words) was a full house, and a much-needed break from the activities of earlier in the day. Our fellowship afterwards ran the gamut from a friend’s visit to the Mid-Atlantic region, with some grandchildren, to the inner atmosphere of a nuclear submarine. The foundation of all this, though, is love.

It was that love, flowing towards me and back outwards, that got me through this frenetic day, and will see me through many more.

The Road to Diamond, Day 225: Dust and Fuss

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, impediments, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 11, 2025- Cat # 1 uttered a mild hiss, as I got between her and Cat # 2’s food dish. Somehow, though, when I’m not there, he gets his food and water. It is also hot, and even with AC, the atmospheric doldrums affect animals, making them more sluggish and more testy. Dog Days aren’t just for dogs anymore. So Cat # 1 was fussy. Her housemate was merely listless and content to lie still.

This was my second day of going straight from there to Bellemont. We finished setting up camp and with the campers & crew helping, the process was pretty much done by 2 p.m. I left the operation in my successor’s capable hands and will just check in with him tomorrow. Saturday is a full day, but it is all local activities. It is also a lot less dusty here than at camp. The dust is much thinner than in the past three camp seasons, so there’s that.

There are fires in the area around the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and its market town, Jacob Lake. Our team is keeping watch on that, through app.watchduty.org, which shows major fires in the contiguous United States, west of the Mississippi River. If a shelter is requested, there will no doubt be some of us involved. I will stay close to Home Base until Wednesday, but will guide anyone who does go to serve.

I found myself a lot calmer and more centered today, than had been the case earlier this week. Kerrville/San Angelo had a lot to do with the agitation. It appears there is more closure for the families, but some victims may not be found for some time yet, if at all. For some, the closure will never be total; everyone mourns in their own way and to none is given the right to question their state of being. I continue to send waves of loving energy to those communities, and to Ruidoso, the earthquake-torn areas of Guatemala, the flood-ravaged areas of Nepal and Pakistan-we are all one people.

The Road to Diamond, Day 224: Full Moon Crunch

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, collaborating, Community, Education, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 10, 2025- Cat 1 put her whole face in the food bowl, eating for about five minutes-and consumed about 1 1/2 out of 4 teaspoons of food. She would eventually take 2 1/2 tsp of the meal, during the course of the day. Cat 2 was full-on voracious, or maybe he had “help” from Cat 1, but his bowl was licked clean. He’s a “boy” after my own heart. I have been in the Clean Plate Club, 99.9% of the time, since I was about 8. I never had a helper though.

The day illustrated the complex, and at times chaotic, nature of the energy that has arisen since July 1. A fire emergency rose, got everyone’s attention, led to several calls to Red Cross team mates, then the fire was brought under control. I then was able to focus, fully, on setting up Bellemont Baha’i School for this weekend’s camp. Though I am not going to be on-site for more than a few hours tomorrow, the prep work involved counting and setting aside supplies, then running to a hardware store for extra push lights and strike plates for electrical outlets. All that was accomplished, with the help of a couple of team members.

In both the Red Cross and Baha’i matters, there was a blizzard of text messages and phone calls. Some of us reflected back on how such things were done, pre-cellular and Instant Messaging. It just took longer, with more time sitting by land line phones-and the use of telegraphs. Many younger folks have no concept of telegrams, or even of the FAX machine, which was the tool of the connected, in the 1990s and early 2000s.

The synchronicity continued this evening, as another fire emergency arose, just as I was headed into a community room to give a presentation on Red Cross to residents of a small village, 30 miles east of Prescott. The emergency waited until I could get back here and e-mail a group of about 18 people, to ask their help over the next several days. (Clarity: The fire is a long way from the village where I made the presentation.)

The heavy energy will continue, tomorrow and Saturday, even without the fire to face: Camp, the cats, and two simultaneous picnics on Saturday, along with the Market and a Baha’i Feast. Ah, the joys of retirement! 🙂

The Road to Diamond, Day 194: On Silent Wings

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, children, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

June 10, 2025- At the close of an online meeting of friends, marking the Strawberry Moon, one sister lauded a young man who had traveled to the border of Tibet and had laid a vase in the ground. This practice of interring ceramic vases in significant places has gone on for nearly a decade, inspired by the words of a Nepalese monk. The vases are found all over the globe.

The sister spoke of an owl, which graces the skies of her home in Alberta, “flying on silent wings”, and likened the young man’s journey to that of the great raptor-quiet, graceful and with mission.

There are many purposeful journeys being undertaken now. Across the globe, children looking to be born make their way towards the light, in their mother’s safe and loving wombs. The women themselves walk the hard road towards delivery, in most cases supported by loving companions. Those of us who are past the child bearing or child rearing age walk the path of self-reliance, of self-healing, for as long as our minds and hearts allow. Youths who are not yet ready to assume the mantle of adulthood make their way through the morass of discovery.

No matter how we walk, ride or fly; whether we are silent, or noisome, the journey continues. Sometime, it is in fits and starts. Other days, it is smooth and steady. There are those who press on, ever forward. Others, longing for a past that was seldom as idyllic as they imagine, push backwards. To me, those who, like myself, recall a rather happy and fulfilling childhood and adolescence, are not fearful of change. Those whose memories are dark and terrifying want a reset, if for no other reason than to experience some light in their life, which they can associate with childhood innocence, even as their bodies are aging. Then, too, there are those who seek stasis, a period of entropy. Both in physical and metaphysical terms, these are bound to face disappointment. In both the visible and invisible realms of the Universe, nothing stands still.

So it continues, the flight on silent wings.

The Road to Diamond, Day 157: Phalanxes

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 4, 2025, Socorro, NM- All along my drive through the Gila Mountains of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico- and into the grassy foothills, they stood, alternately grazing and watching me, from the safety of the road’s edge. They were veritable phalanxes of elk, probably four dozen in all, from just outside Alpine, AZ to just south of Datil, NM.

The last pair, between Datil and Magdalena, were an adult cow and a juvenile bull, the latter of which tentatively decided to challenge Sportage for the road. As I turned the car to the left and gave him space, he decided that two tons of metal and fiberglass was more formidable, and moved backwards, sparing us both the grief of a collision.

There were near phalanxes of rabbits, also. Most of them scattered at the approach of the SUV. Only one ran under the car, and sadly met death. Rabbits being fodder for coyotes, I was pleasantly surprised to not see the canines out and about. Deer were also nowhere to be seen, though they tend to not compete with elk for forage.

This all took place after the second day of our Baha’i conference in Phoenix. We have discussed the matter of forming strong communities. The idea of a separate group of people setting the tone for the wider community only works to a limited extent. The community as a whole must be, and feel, included in decision-making-whether it be a matter of spiritual growth or material well-being. Further, there can be no separation, no us and them, in the process of community growth. The phalanx must be one.

It was thus a very full day, and I am most happy, relieved, at being in this comfortable room at Economy Inn. Socorro has had its struggles, but it is a nice town. I will rest well tonight.

The Road to Diamond, Day 145: Fifty-four Years Later

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, collaborating, Community, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 22, 2025- We are at a point where it is felt, by the government, that it is time to halt “coercion”, in matters of the environment and caring for Mother Earth. The case is being made for individuals and entities to tend to matters, without “government interference”.

The last time this was official policy, in the late 19th Century, there was a moral laxity afoot and the emphasis was on maximum profit, with the attitude that Nature would take care of itself. The legacy of that ethos led to such things as the fire that broke out on the Cuyahoga River and the Santa Barbara oil spill, in 1969, which in turn led President Richard Nixon to establish the Environmental Protection Agency, a year later. Earth Day, on April 22, 1970, was the national public response to the catastrophic events.

It has been celebrated every year since, with some Administrations supporting a measure of environmental safeguards and others leaning more on the judgment of business and industry. The current Administration seems to be taking the latter course.

To be fair, business and industry of today are not as blinkered, or myopic, as their forebears. “Green” technology is viewed, rightly, as profitable, when pursued in a cost-effective manner and incrementally. Sustainability is recognized as being good for business, in the long-term. There are ham-handed industrialists and financiers, as yet, but their likelihood of staying in the drivers’ seats of publicly-held corporations is not a given. Many business people with whom I have talked are quite concerned about leaving a viable enterprise and a livable world for their children and grandchildren.

So, the long-term prognosis for our planet is not as bleak as it may seem, in the wake of climate change and the increase in catastrophic natural events. We have part to play in mitigating the severity of these events, and that means working together on solutions, which will neither bankrupt our economies nor add to the suffering of those already in the crosshairs of the storms, fires and quakes that are striking us with seemingly unpredictable regularity.

Fifty-four years after the first Earth Day, it falls to the citizenry to show Mother Earth our love and concern.