In the remake of “Clash of the Titans”, Zeus (Liam Neeson) bellows, “Release the Kraken”, in his fit of rage against those who would dare challenge his authority.

Over the past week, Mother Nature has released her Krakens, taking a spark of yet undetermined origin and sending raging fire across Prescott’s iconic Granite Mountain.  Due north of here, folks in Calgary are facing a flowing monster- the rampant, overflowing Bow River, swamping a fine city’s downtown.  East, northeast, people in Magdalena, NM face a non-Kraken- dust, where water once was, in the village wells.

Nature is not the only force unleashing a monster, or two.  Bloodshed continues apace, daily, in places like Syria, DR Congo, Afghanistan, Iraq.  People beat each other senseless in cities and towns, across the globe- domestic violence is a world-wide plague, and is relatively under-reported.  The horrors of human trafficking, poaching of animals (both wild and domesticated), and the sullen, wanton disenfranchising of individuals, by people on whom they ought to be able to depend, go on each day.

I live a fairly fortunate life.  Being alone, it’s easy to drive into the garage, lower the door, come inside and shut the world out.  Like Eddy Arnold, I can “Make the world go away, and get it off my shoulder”, with relative ease.

This does not stop any of the above from finding its way into my conscience, and prompting action.  I do get out, do make an effort to better the lives of those around me- as most of us do.  Yesterday, though, seemed to be a day of rage building around my quiet existence.  In the span of ten hours:

• A Red Cross supervisor, from Phoenix, glared at me, while I was going about setting out lunch for the crew, helping to break down the soon-to-be-closed shelter and ending my shift- with a stare that all but said “What are YOU doing here?”
• Upon driving into my HOA compound, and stopping to get the mail, I was approached aggressively by a man whom I had not seen before, throwing his arms in the air in an “It’s on” gesture.  I said nothing and ignored him.  I was far too tired; just wanted to get my mail and go home.
• At an otherwise pleasant gathering last night, a long-time friend got up and left in a huff, because I was a good deal less than sympathetic, regarding a man who had abandoned his  Faith in an apparent fit of pique, a few years ago.

So it goes.  I will continue to exercise my privilege of volunteering my services, to the Red Cross, and other organizations, whether the paid staff of those organizations like it or not.  I break no rules and hurt no people or animals.  I will enter and exit my own neighborhood, as I see fit, with or without the permission of self-appointed authority figures.  Only the police, in times of emergency, will alter that.  I will continue to speak my mind on matters of Faith, or anything else, without first checking to see if “it’s alright with ________”.  Since they may do the same, I see no problem with it.

There is a quiet, eerie calm, this morning,  Later today, I will get on my socks and shoes, and go downtown for the rest of Prescott Bluegrass Festival.  Most likely, the crowd will be happy and congenial.   I will attend a Nineteen-Day Spiritual Feast at another Baha’i’s home, this evening.  Most likely, the people in attendance will be glad to see one another, will share prayers and Scriptural readings, and ideas about issues facing our Faith community, and socialize for a while at the end.  I will, during the course of the day, check this and other sites, to see if any correspondence has accrued.

In light of the tumult of which I have written recently, I sense a building of anger at me, a low growling in the background, that may appear as comments, here, in G-mail and on Facebook.  My small, loyal group of friends from Xanga will offer their support, though, and that will sustain me until this black cloud, if there is one, dissipates.

Life will go on, as I keep saying of late, and the various Krakens will be brought back to tether.

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  First off, I apologize to my faithful friends on Xanga, Facebook and WordPress, as what I wrote in my last post was the result of serious misconstruances and misperceptions on my part.  I will not be in the sort of relationship I had thought, with the exciting, creative and highly intelligent woman I last mentioned.  She is very well attended, in that department, and that is all I will say.

  
  

  I met the gentleman in her life, some years ago.  I did not connect the two of them until tonight, but they are very much together, albeit laid-back and comfortable with one another’s independent leisure pursuits.  She did not come on to me, or in any way act unfaithfully to him, during our recent introduction.  The lady is just that awesome and just that full of so many wonderful qualities, including being gentle, vivacious and affirming of others, that I found myself totally smitten.  Thankfully, I never let her know just how much so.

  
  

  Women, and before them, girls, have always been my Achilles tendon.  This is just a wake-up call for me to be in touch with my own longing and vulnerability.  The upsides are that I am fine, that there is no heartbreak involved, no hurt feelings and no victim.  I still have a friend, in fact probably two.  He’s a nice guy with excellent taste.  I am around, to love another day.  You just won’t see me braying about being in love again, quite so quickly, no matter how awesome the woman is.  That’s a promise, and I fulfill my promises.

  
  

  Life goes on, and tomorrow, a very bright sun will shine.  I am still full-on, and all in- with life itself.

  
  
  
  

Some of my finest adventures happen “close to home”.  This past watershed weekend was a prime example.  One of the organizations that has drawn me into itself is Slow Food Prescott.  This is part of a larger organization, founded in Italy in 1989, which seeks to revitalize the interplay between nutrition and socialization- a counterpoint to the phenomenon of eating in one’s car, or otherwise taking a meal “on the fly”.

This past weekend, several things happened.  Friday night, I attended a gathering at the American Legion Post, in Prescott, enjoying a well-prepared meal in a relaxed atmosphere, which we do several times each month at the Post.  This set the stage for the weekend of food that was to come.

Bright and early Saturday morning, I headed to Prescott Farmers Market, purchasing enough food to get me through the coming week, before heading out on my two-weeker, either to Colorado or Oklahoma/Texas, or both.  Prescott’s Farmers Market is balanced between produce and freshly-prepared foods, such as baked goods and artisan tamales.

After getting the food home and into the fridge, it was time to head to Bill’s Grill for the lunch which launched the 2013 meeting of Slow Food USA’s Southwest Region (Arizona and New Mexico).  Bill’s features organic beef, much of it from locally-raised cattle.

The Slow-Food group was well-nourished, and ready for an afternoon of agricultural tourism, by 12;30.

We first headed to Whipstone Farm, in the hamlet of Paulden, about 20 miles north of Prescott. This establishment raises a variety of vegetables, fruit and livestock,  from arugula and asparagus to raspberries and tomatoes,using organic methods.

There are many theories as to how we ought approach the task of feeding our numbers.  Genetic modification of crops is advanced, by industry, as the most efficient way to do this.    The organic methods, which I witnessed here at Whipstone, represent another, less-intrusive method.  Certainly, it’s more work to farm organically.  I have to say, though, that there seem to be fewer health issues arising from organic farming, than from other methods.  It’s noteworthy that the group with whom I spent much of the weekend look, almost to a one, about ten-twenty years younger than their chronological age-mates in the generality of society.

I don’t partake of alcoholic beverages, but I tagged along to Granite Creek Vineyards, on the north side of Chino Valley.  Here, several of the group members enjoyed six varieties of fruit of the vine, attended by a well- versed sommelier.   Afterwards, we retired to the lawn, enjoying live music and the company of a peacock.

Now, it was time for the main event.  We bundled into various cars, around 3:30, and headed to the hosts’ residence, just east of the vineyard.

This is another of the homes which have been carefully, lovingly refurbished and made resplendent by astonishingly handy owners, across the country.                    

So here, we enjoyed an Ark of Taste dinner. Arc of Taste alludes to Noah’s efforts at animal husbandry, and directly speaks to the effort to preserve and foster many local ingredients, which would otherwise risk being squeezed out, for the sake of monoculture.  Thus, we have the term Presidia, Italian for “fortress”.  A Presidia item, such as the Churro sheep being raised in the Four Corners region, on the Navajo Nation,   is one of the major focal points of Slow Food International.  Variety in our diet improves digestion, diet and overall health.  Many might differ, but may I say their sentiments are along the lines of “Been down so long, it looks like up to me.”

We thoroughly enjoyed a well-balanced and varied bill of fare, both on Saturday night and at the buffet-style breakfast, the next morning.  All was prepared from scratch.

On Sunday morning, after breakfast, we were honoured by a traditional Navajo blessing. I have missed this, for some time.

Richard McCarthy, the new director of Slow Food USA, is an accomplished gastronome, from New Orleans.  His efforts are creating sure order out of chaos and he has built a highly-functioning team at the New York headquarters.  Richard was honoured by our Dine (Navajo) friend.

Sunday, June 9, was Race Unity Day, so this blessing was particularly auspicious.  The Baha’i Faith has the Oneness of Mankind as its basic tenet.  Several of us gathered in mid-day, at Goldwater Lake.  I briefly took leave of my fellows at the Slow Food gathering, for this equally worthy event.  Spirit and body must surely work as one.

It was here that I learned a steadfast friend of 32 years had passed on, two days earlier.  This was a saddening, yet also comforting backdrop to the events of the weekend.  We now have one more angel pulling for us in the Divine Light.  Meanwhile, here in the Earthly frame, I can take comfort in have made several more friends:  Richard and his assistant, Aimee; the spirited Slow Food team of Santa Fe; and engaging, creative members of the Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff  Slow Food groups.

I look forward to so much that is good in life and to working through the challenges that lie ahead of us all.