August 22, 2025- The girls were forthright in asking for help on their writing assignment, asking me to help, instead of one of the regular staff. They were crestfallen, when I told them I had to take care of other business on Monday-but that they would not be left alone. I trust that a caring soul will be on hand, and tend to their needs. I was able to meet those needs today, so it was a good day.
A friend shared memories of childhood; of witnessing lynchings-the sort described by Billie Holliday, in her song, “Strange Fruit”. This is something that no child should ever have to witness. Another friend shared the news that a young man had taken his own life, shattering her immediate community. This is something that no youth should ever need to contemplate. In my own work, keeping children safe from both external and internal trauma was a major focus of time and energy. It had to be done with regularity, and without judgment as to what the urgency level may have been.
I was not able to prevent all suicide. No one can know for certain what the turmoil is. inside another soul. The first friend has never spoken of what was seen, until now. The young man did not share his pain, even with his closest friends.
I am fortunate, in life here in Prescott and in the various places I have been honoured to visit, over the past fifteen years. Rarely has there been a closed door, and then only because of my own shortcomings or faux pas. With that good fortune has come a fair amount of responsibility. So, I don’t think of time spent anywhere as “vacation”, even though to those whose life commitment is to stay put and focus on one community or one neighbourhood, any time spent not working-or not spent “blooming where planted” is a lark.
So be it. I will wake each day, no matter where I find myself and make the same commitment to the well-being of those around me, as I did in schools and communities, across Arizona and in South Korea, for 46 years. Some of that will be in schools; other will be on the road or in communities where I might be expected to relax. It will be what appears to be needed.
August 20, 2025- The Med Team at the VA Hospital called, in mid-morning, with “the bad news” that my appointment for next Monday would have to change, as Doc would be out of town. I informed them of my travel date, to which I got “We have a 2 p.m. slot today. Would that work?” Certainly! So, I went on over at that time, making the cancellation of a prior meeting that much more fortuitous.
I got a positive review of my health, at present. Doc, however, was telescoping into the future. Saying that I was only 74, he addressed a matter that could become an issue, when I am in my mid-80s, and offered a path to setting the stage for me to be a healthy octoperson, starting now. Being the proactive sort, I am going to follow his regimen, which will actually be less expensive than what I am doing now and seems to follow what I can see in the more rigourous research on the matter.
I have to do some telescoping of my own, vis-a-vis being more flexible on my upcoming sojourn than in previous journeys. I came to the understanding, in the various trips organized around Mother’s final years, that there was no sticking to a prior set schedule. It all worked out as it was supposed to. I want to keep that ethic, being more concerned with what is best for those I will visit, than just full speed ahead-my long time drawback. There is always room for a Plan B, which I also discovered last year.
August 17,2025- Yesterday, I came across several people who sang my praises. Today, the other side showed up. Their anger was muted and subtle, but still obvious. Life is a process of twists and turns, and one must, as my mother said, take the bitter with the sweet.
The strange energy that was everywhere yesterday was also muted today. I used the day to make sure Sportage is good for tomorrow’s drive to Phoenix and back, and to join four other Baha’is and a friend of the Faith for a devotional and light lunch. I also made further arrangements for the Swedish leg of next month’s journey.
‘Abdu’l-Baha teaches us to “see the Face of God in every person”. Further, if a person “has nine good qualities and one bad, focus on the nine. If there are nine bad qualities and one good, focus on the one.” Of course, we can hardly be expected to let those bad qualities work their ill, but He operates on the awareness that the person will come to see her/his good qualities as what will bring benefit, while the bad will be detrimental.
I pondered this, after reading a friend’s similar post, and in light of the various interactions I’ve had, over the weekend. Seeing the Face of God in one’s detractor is actually easier than it appears, at first blush. I have, over the past six years, taken the view of trying to glean self-improvement from negative encounters. ” What is the critic trying to teach me?” seems to work better than “What have I done to deserve this?” It has helped, in more ways than one.
August 16, 2025- The energy of the day showed its hand early. Sportage’s battery gave out, after four years of service. I had a new one purchased and installed, well in time to go to Farmers’ Market and assist in the breakdown. My co-worker also observed that the energy was a bit on the thick side and she wasn’t getting as much done, to her chagrin. I recalled that Penny was a lot about stopping and smelling the roses, where I had long been Mr. Full Speed Ahead. There is more of a mix between the two, these days, and I have my beloved departed wife to thank for that.
An old friend interrupted her braiding of her second daughter’s hair, and gave me a bear hug, letting me know that various acts of kindness over the years have been fully appreciated. I am constantly, she said, on her and her children’s minds. That the kids are furtive and shy does not mean they are any less appreciative. I will be sure to visit them over Labor Day weekend, a week before wheels up to Iceland, Sweden and other points on the European continent.
Another old friend needed my affirmation of her worth. She is a person who has suffered much and yet gets a good measure of happiness out of hard work. Facing the sometime harsh realities of capitalism has also not been very easy on her. She is facing an aggressive and not altogether ethical competitor, who seems to have the blessing of their collective landlord. I let her know that I have her back and will look for ways that she can innovate, and meet her competitor’s challenge in an honourable manner. My father taught that other people are most often well within their rights, even if they cross my path. I take that very much to heart.
In all the ups and downs of living alongside other people, it has long been my view that there is no daylight, when it comes to paying attention to those around us and helping them play to their strengths. We also, however, must take care of ourselves, not depending entirely on those around us. So my day started with car care and ended with an evening of listening to long-time friends playing a mix of 60s-00s rock and country classics. The hummus plate was fabulous, as ever.
August 4, 2025- Another cancer patient of long-suffering winged his flight to the Spirit Realm, this morning, as I was preparing for a day of service. Like my friend who died yesterday, this man had been receiving the emotional, spiritual and material support of many, who were hoping against hope for a cure. Like my friend, he was simply suffering too much and called to the Divine for release.
Each day brings a passage of sorts to each of us. One either gets stronger, or weaker, or holds the line, in the course of the passage. Each change in body, mind and spirit happens according to which life lessons have been absorbed by the soul. Sometimes, as the body has earned its rest, the spirit goes on to a higher realm. Other times, as there are still life lessons to be absorbed and actions that must be taken by the individual, physical life continues. This is my limited understanding of the process.
I, like Robert Frost’s protagonist, in “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening”, “have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep”. The promises kept today were serving as Blood Donor Ambassador at a Red Cross drive in Prescott Valley and serving at the Monday evening Soup Kitchen. There will be several others, locally, that encompass this month. September and October’s promises go further afield; November’s will be fulfilled back here; December’s will be a mix; next year’s fall between the Philippines, Texas and Arizona. “Promise not that which ye don’t fulfill”.
We essentially engage in passages, so that those who paved the way for us might feel fulfilled and those who are following after us might see an illumined path. If I can do both, this life will continue to be well worth each day. My forebears watch from the next world and my progeny look on expectantly. I feel a lot of encouraging energy.
July 24, 2025- There are days when a common thread wiggles its way through the ether, and draws in other threads, which become fastened to it, through a process not immediately comprehensible. Today was such a day. The common thread was my task of getting documentation for possible shelter venues for the American Red Cross.
I had completed the first visit, to Page Unified School District, yesterday, and had made it back to Flagstaff, after a stop at Cameron Trading Post for a Navajo Taco meal. Saving about half of it for a second meal, later today, involved some positioning of the container in what is arguably the world’s smallest refrigerator. American Motor Hotel, where I spent last night, is a space-themed gem, looking somewhat like the brightly- painted lodging establishments now fairly common in the Los Angeles area. The in-room refrigerator is, well, unique and “interesting”. It is designed to hold maybe one or two cold beverages, and a couple of sandwiches. I got the meal container in there, by temporarily removing the shelf and inserting the container vertically.
All in all, though, Americana is a great place to spend a night or two, or even make a vacation of it, as there is an outdoor pool, a funky Mexican restaurant on site, a large outdoor patio area with shaded round tables and room decor that is both amusing (a blue orb that shines and rotates, when plugged in) and thought-provoking (framed posters). The congenial desk staff seals the deal, with cheerful attention to every guest and offering reusable metal water bottles as welcome gifts. Thus, my overnight in Flagstaff became a mini-break from the business at hand. Breakfast at an old East Flagstaff favourite, Miz Zip’s, was a further delight, with homemade corned beef hash as a well-enjoyed choice. Sedona, the lone server when I first came in, was cheerful and attentive to all, even as nearly twenty people showed up after I came in and sat down. Mz. Zip’s has lost none of the ambiance it had when I lived here in 1980-81.
East Flagstaff has its share of fun places, but it was time to head out towards Native American Baha’i Institute, a three-hour drive eastward. The ride was smooth, and traffic moderate, especially once I got past Winslow. I got there, greeted those present, in the Navajo way, with a handshake and “Yaa’tey” (Good day), and went over the requisite forms for a Shelter Survey. Then, it was time for a mini-birthday celebration for one of the elders, with cake. A discussion followed, about non-Navajos hunting elk on the Reservation, by using helicopters. It doesn’t surprise me that this is being done, but I expressed my view that the Navajo Nation Council should be the arbiter of such practices. The elders agreed, and one of them has already filed a complaint with his councilman.
Wanting to get back to Home Base by early evening, I bid farewell to the Dineh friends and drove back towards I-40. Close to the entry point, I encountered a lady who said that a car was on fire up ahead. Lo and behold, a Navajo Police officer had parked near the vehicle that was indeed on fire. Saying a silent prayer for the safety of all concerned, I thanked the lady and turned around, being able to warn another driver about the situation, before taking the detour to the highway. A fire truck and water tanker came by, just before I hit the road.
That brings me to the next unanticipated thread. I gave a ride to a Dineh man who was heading, via circuitous route, to his granddaughter’s birthday party, far to the south. Turns out, he has been working for a modular home manufacturing company, which closed its factory in Page, just this week. The situation is complex, but here is a man, one of many, who is being left high and dry. This is the first I had heard of the situation, but it would not be the last. I heard him out, and got him to a location, south of Holbrook, from where he could catch a further ride. The rest of the drive home, via Winslow, Clints Well and Camp Verde, was serene and in fairly light traffic. I enjoyed the rest of the Navajo Taco in the comfort of Home Base I.
Thus did the thread of my main effort, getting the process going for Red Cross shelters in two more localities, find itself interwoven with wildlife conservation and protection, the housing industry’s woes and their effect on workers and their families and the pleasurable lodging and dining options on Flagstaff’s east side. It was a good 48 hours.
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.
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.
June 8, 2025- The message was crystal clear, this morning: “You need no coffee right now. Water is more urgent.” It was certainly a no-brainer; it’s hot, for the next several days. This, however, is a long-term notion. I can, and will, drastically cut back on coffee consumption (no more 3-4 cups a day), and when visiting lovely cafes, can order items such as “Golden Milk”, fruity coolers or chai, especially during our lengthy heat cycle. (It’s not just here in Arizona. Both places that are potentially alternate residences-North Texas and the Philippines, lend themselves well to consumption of cool beverages. Europe (September) will also have a plethora of healthy beverages, besides great coffee-and tea.
I have often relied on spirit guides, and the loving advice of friends and family, in both health-related matters and planning activities or travel. In planning changes to my diet, the past day or so, my own inner voice took charge. So, cool water or shakes will be at my side, while I read the morning paper.
Meals are always smaller in the summer. Breakfast, except for the Post on Sunday, is fairly small. Lunch is a plateful of nuts and crunchy (the traditional meaning of the word) mini-pretzels. Dinner is a modest portion of something healthful, though not often vegetarian or vegan. There is no going back to heavy.
I owe it to my little family, to someone else who I love very much and to so many, both here and across the globe, who have been so kind and devoted to my well-being, to cultivate and listen to the inner voice that wants me to stay the course, for another 25 years at least.
Raise a glass of cucumber or melon water, or a cup of coolness, to the faithful inner voice!
June 6, 2025- As I sat this morning, contemplating what to do, as a hiking plan was interrupted by unforeseen circumstances, messages came to me from the single most important soul in my life, thus far. I was to firm up both short-term and long-range plans, for service in Prescott and Bellemont and for visiting friends in Europe, come September.
Forty-three years have gone by, since Penny and I committed to each other. That commitment endured a number of challenges, most seriously her hereditary disease, which dogged her all her life, but came on strongest in the 2000s, and eventually took her life. Those close to me know that she and I went through this hellish time together-and I did not flinch.
A friend of Kathy’s and mine, who also lives in the Philippines, wrote that the need of any woman is for her man to stand by her, and not use her as a plaything. Nothing is truer. My primary interest in Kathy is that she realizes her dreams and her own life plan. We both must tend to our respective families first, and if it comes to pass that we have time together, that will be gravy.
Getting back to the promptings of the spirit mentioned above, I have a few days at the turnover between June and July to devote to a group at Bellemont. There will be a lot of Red Cross work, both in person and online, the next two weeks. Slow Food, the Farmers Market and Solid Rock soup kitchen will continue to figure in the mix, throughout the summer.
I will fulfill promises made in 2016 and again last year, to visit friends in Sweden, Croatia and Great Britain, in September, with an initial stop in Iceland. There may be other places during and right after these visits. I have been told to stick to a one-day-at-a-time mentality, and so it will be.
In the end, today was a re-assuring day and a fair number of things were resolved-just no hike. I am ever grateful to all the people in my life, especially to the women, both living and in the ethereal world.
A Sagittarian Seeker 