The Road to Diamond, Day 87: Home Stretch

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on February 23, 2025 in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Family, Hiking and Nature, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Slow Food Prescott, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

February 23, 2025- “Are you having fun yet?”, asked the random man standing at a corner, as if on guard. “All night long!”, I replied, “Have a nice night”, and kept walking, as someone striking up a conversation in the dark usually wants one of two things-neither of which is good. “Good answer”, he called from behind me. Hearing no footfalls afterward, I continued on to Home Base I, at an unhurried pace.

Days and nights, in general, around here offer a consistency. One accomplishes as much as one wants, with as much, or as little, help from others as is welcomed. That is the measure of a proper Home Base. It is a village that raises children. It is a safe place for those whose only wish is to grow old in peace. It is a forum for Right and Left alike. It is the recipient of my attention, for much of the next six months, as we anticipate a particularly challenging fire season, followed by a monsoon period, the strength of which has yet to be determined.

I will have journeys during this time: Southern California (March 10-13); Nevada (March 25-30), part of which will most likely be spent with Filipino friends who plan on visiting; eastward (May 5-23), to visit with family and friends, in the Midwest, Northeast and South. The rest of the time will be spent with my teammates in Red Cross, Farmers Market, Slow Food-Prescott and my faith community. I will get in more hikes and, given the cutbacks in National Forest personnel, be more given to taking drives to monitor abandoned campsites- shovel and jerry can on hand, to put out any lingering smolders. I will be at Coffee Klatsch most Monday mornings and Soup Kitchen most Monday evenings.

Our national government is, by default, summoning more of us to focus on the well-being of our local communities, and it may be quite surprised at just how many people care deeply-and how much they care. The last time I was this focused on Home Base was in 2020, during the midst of COVID, and I had a lot of company, between here in Prescott and in Alexandria, Louisiana, (the latter due to hurricanes that didn’t care there was a pandemic afoot.)

September will bring the seal to this Home Stretch: Farm-to-Table Dinner is returning on September 6. I will be there as a volunteer, before (world conditions permitting) heading to Europe, and possibly East Africa, for the rest of September and most of October. In the meantime, my focus is as described above.

The Road to Diamond,Day 86: Weaponized

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on February 22, 2025 in Community, distraction issues, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 22, 2025- “YOU are at fault for HIM making a mess of things”, yelled the distraught woman at the well-dressed, composed vendor, who had simply said she wanted to make the best of the next four years. The ranter was furious about the wholesale cutbacks in Federal agencies’ staffs and was seemingly looking for the low hanging fruit to target . The word weaponize was thrown at the hapless vendor.

“Weaponize” is yet another word that has become thoroughly worn out. Right and Left toss the word at one another with fair abandon. So, it seems relevant to look at what the word actually means. From Oxford, we learn that: weaponized /ˈwepəˌnīzd/ is an adjective: weaponized; adjective: weaponised exploited for the purpose of attacking a person or group, or for spreading discord.”our courts have been used as a tool for weaponized litigation” ; adapted for use as a weapon.”a weaponized robot”.

There being seemingly nothing that can’t be put to use for hurting one’s perceived enemies, it’s a wonder anything is left standing! The reality is that such hyperbole is intended, like so much else in the land of over-the-top, for shock value. We, the people, are no longer shocked. Nothing comes to pass that is so unexpected as to leave very many folks speechless. Even Elon Musk’s announcement that the entire Federal work force must prove to him that they are worthy of continued employment is drawing yawns from a good many. Any would-be dictator in this country will likely experience being ignored by the masses, after about a month in power.

The reason is simple: Overuse of any word, phrase or practice leads to it being part of the woodwork. This is not just true of the United States. The Caesars found they had run out of useful threats, shortly after the death of Christ. Killing a Messenger of God having failed to instill as much fear in those subjects living in Spain or Britain as it did, momentarily, in Judea and Samaria, the tyrants needed to employ ever more outlandish ruses-until they ran out of ideas. Then, the Germanic tribes took over, and actually imposed rule of law-of sorts. The common folk just went about their business, as common folk are wont to do.

“Weaponize” conjures a two-edged sword, and so often, the edge that is pointed at the masses is the one that gets dull first.

The Road to Diamond, Day 85: Worn Out Phrases

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on February 22, 2025 in collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 21, 2025- “Woke” is worn out. So are “MAGA”,”DOGE”; and “Long live the king”. For that matter, “DEI” could use a vacation-as a slogan. Abraham Lincoln said “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. A country is like a house and for that matter, so is the human race.

Let’s look at the above-mentioned words and acronyms. Woke is the past tense of To Wake. It is also a term, taken from the Ebonics spoken by enslaved African-Americans and their descendants, to mean “aware of surroundings”,”paying attention”, and so on. That’s all it means and being “woke” does not, in and of itself, make one superior to all others. It just means that one is not easily fooled.

MAGA-“Make America Great Again”-catchy phrase, this-if one has been fooled into thinking that the change which this and other countries have been undergoing, in a time of global ferment, is somehow foreign to the human experience and thus should be resisted and counteracted. The United States of America has achieved several measures of greatness, precisely because of our diversity. White, male capital has needed the polyglot work force to bring its dreams into fruition. An educated work force is far more productive than a conglomerate of human oxen. This is one reason why Andrew Carnegie, no egalitarian by any means, nonetheless saw fit to relegate a hefty part of his fortune to a system of free public libraries, which became a model for such institutions the world over. The United States of America has never stopped being great. There is no “again”.

DOGE-“Department of Government Efficiency”: Here, we have taken our penchant for compartmentalizing aspects of our collective being to the next level. Efficiency, the good stewardship of what we are given, is somehow to be viewed as separate from every other element of our being. My parents, grandparents, parents-in-law- in short, everyone who survived the Depression, and before that, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Gilded Age, World War I, Influenza of 1918-must be spinning about, underground, to the extent that a 9.0 may be in the offing!

Every day of my formative years, I was told to count my dollars and cents, to know how much I earned per newspaper I delivered and to look about for further opportunities. I was taught to plan my day, each morning and to take stock of what had transpired, at day’s end. Efficiency has never been separate from any other aspect, of any enterprise that I have ever seen be successful. It falls to every entity to practice efficiency, in and of itself. We compartmentalize at our peril.

“Long live the king!”- That’s fine for Charles III or for Sultan, of Saudi Arabia. Kingship is their job. In a constitutional republic, kingship is a ludicrous proposition-even if the term is tossed out half in jest. No one man, or woman, can carry on alone. The above-mentioned monarchs know this-and thus, each has his Cabinet, his Prime Minister/Crown Prince, Parliament/Council of Elders. Only a lunatic actually believes in his own omnipotence. Shakespeare wrote King Lear, in reflecting on the reign of Henry VIII, for this very reason. No one of good will wishes death upon another person, but long life does not need to feature untrammeled obedience from one’s fellows.

DEI: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion. When I was 17, I was taken aback, momentarily, by the sight of a person of colour in a small rural community in Massachusetts. Looking back, it is obvious how silly my reaction was. This planet has been a diverse community since Day One of living things. Sameness doesn’t exist in nature. It does exist in monoculture, to an extent, and we can see that monoculture ends up choking itself out of existence, in fairly short order.

Why, then, should we pursue either a forced uniformity or a contrived, artificial diversity? The former brought about the latter, true-but it is time to relegate both to the scrap heap, and let mature humans pursue their natural inclination towards diversity. This means allowing all who seek to join in a given activity or enterprise, the chance to take part. Inclusion is a natural process, not a feature of statute, to be enforced by fiat.

Equity? When my parents were raising us, my youngest brother needed things that the rest of us did not He was given what he needed, to the best of our parents’ ability to provide. I did not begrudge him this. He, in turn, was not given driving lessons, or expected to get a part-time job, in his teen years. Opening the way for a human being to meet individual or small group needs is not discrimination against all others. Helping People of Colour to overcome, in specific ways, the effects of institutionalized bias is not a travesty. It is true that none of us alive today are responsible for establishing elements of bias. Why, then, do we act like we have such vested interest in them?

DEI, as doctrine, should not even be necessary. Nor should MAGA, or DOGE, or rule by fiat. In this day, each of us is responsible for living an integrated, well-balanced life. Why, then, do we choose to compartmentalize?

The Road to Diamond, Day 84: Mixed Messages

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on February 21, 2025 in collaborating, impediments, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 20, 2025- On the one hand, Doc says that I have the constitution of a 45-year-old. I’ll take that for as long as I can keep it. On the other hand, my skin needs a few tweaks. I will go through the process of getting those treated, though thankfully, I don’t have anywhere near the horror blotches of the 2010s. Just a few small bumps is all.

We all go through the day and get some mixed messages. I got a few during my recent time in the Philippines. Now, though, I am getting much more clarity from my friend. We are still messaging back and forth-and the messages are straightforward, both ways. As with friends here in North America, our communication is honest, caring-and yes, loving. I feel blessed that everyone on my radar screen has my best interests at heart, and I, theirs.

Mixed messages come about when the messenger is not sure of self, let alone about feelings towards the recipient. There is, more essentially therefore, a primary duty to not send mixed messages to oneself. I have had to face this as often as anyone-wanting things that aren’t there, in an imperfect, phenomenal world. The solution to the latter is to get to work, and so I have.

Coming full circle, maybe this is the reason for my clean bill of general health. Proactivity reflects one’s work ethic.

The Road to Diamond, Day 83: True Friends

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on February 19, 2025 in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Travel

February 19, 2025- The ride back to Prescott had a nice twist of an ending. I was let off of the shuttle closer to Home Base I, as the driver was “running late” and my normal rendezvous point was out of the way. It helped that the driver was a former co-worker, who remembered me from one of the schools.

The person who was my prime reason for having gone to the Philippines, these past two visits, is the biggest fan of my work with Red Cross-and that is what matters most. She stands with me, the way so many in this town stand with me. She is keeping track of my experiences during these next six months.

I was welcomed back, by two friends in Phoenix, who have invited me to their home, early in March. These are people I have known for thirty-five years. One of them is Javanese, related to Filipino, and wants to hear more of what I experienced this past visit.

These are but three of the countless true friends who have stood by me, some for decades, others for the past fourteen years and still others of more recent vintage. True friends are not transactional or conditional with their loyalty. They are not sycophantic with their devotion. For me, thankfully, they are my source of heart wealth. They are found all over the globe.

The Road to Diamond, Day 82: Soft Landing

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on February 19, 2025 in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

February 18, 2025, Los Angeles- The plane seemed to barely touch ground, here at Los Angeles World Airport, (as the Cathay Pacific pilot referred to this grand sprawl. It was, further, not a long wait to go through Customs and Immigration, or to find lodging here, in advance of my flight back to Phoenix early tomorrow morning.

The sometimes frenetic outpouring of “Welcome back! Now let’s do these two dozen things, in the next two days” was not seen tonight. I have a stock answer to that-“My schedule is set until Friday morning, and Saturday is already booked-by service activities”. That should take care of things for a few days.

Seriously, though, my next several months will be largely about preps for the Fire and Flood season. My friend told me, more or less, that focusing on one Big Thing at a time is really best, and it makes the most sense to me. Besides, every other thought that has come into my mind, over the past two weeks, has been about disaster mitigation.

I spent the waking portion of the trans-Pacific flight, about four hours, re-watching “Apocalypse Now” and watching the Italian film, “Familia”. The former, as many know, is about dystopia, in our time-a cautionary tale about megalomania and the hellscape of war. The second is about the inability of men, in particular, to get enough hold of their insecurities that the women in their lives be treated with the dignity due them-and about the dichotomy between the way a husband treats his wife and a son treats his mother. “Familia” also touches on the neo-Fascism of Italy, from the 1990s to the present.

We have our struggles in the United States of America, right now, but nothing like those described above-yet.

The Road to Diamond, Day 81: “The Last Ten Minutes”

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on February 18, 2025 in Assistance, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

February 18, 2025, Hong Kong- I actually have time to sit and enjoy this spacious facility, after a brief and pleasant hop from Manila.

My friend, Kathy, has a descriptor for the late phase of any event, activity or process: The last ten minutes. She mentioned, in last night’s coming to terms between us, that we were, generally speaking, in that phase of our lives. My silent retort was that I intend to soak up every nanosecond. She later, independently, gave voice to the same sentiment, regarding her own life. Vindicated!!

We have had far more interesting conversations today, with the vagaries of romance having been set aside. One of the points she brought up was that one can really only do justice to one major personal event or process at a time.

For me, this would be taking the lead in Red Cross Disaster Cycle Response for Yavapai and Mohave Counties, Arizona- particularly from late May to early September, aka the Fire and Flood Season.

It makes no sense to play juggler. Rushing back to Manila would be little more than an act of giddiness, and I’m a bit long in the tooth for giddy.

She has some equally cogent plans, helping her younger son complete his education and a possible upgrade to a Baha’i- owned property in Metro Manila. We are pulling for one another. At some point in the next few years, I will visit “the Phils” again, because several people would like to see me again, and some of them will be visiting here, over the next little while.

For now, though, I’m in a good place, headed back to a place where I might “shine” as my friend put it.

The Road to Diamond, Day 80: Two Views of Life

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on February 17, 2025 in collaborating, Community, distraction issues, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

February 17, 2025, Manila- I left an umbrella at Glorietta Greenway Mall, in Makati. Someone who needs it will be out of harm’s way. I am not leaving my heart here. Out of the blue, K told me, this evening, that she thinks I need to serve the American Red Cross, which means staying in northwest Arizona. I will not make a knee-jerk decision on the matter of my future, yet. That will wait until the time between March 1-16. Part of the deal is that I need to prove to myself that I am able to set up a shelter from scratch, in the simulation exercise on 3/15.

The reversal of my relationship here is nothing new. On the one hand, I have not really felt really accepted as a life partner, completely, by anyone. It took a long time and a lot of work to secure my marriage, and only after 20 years or so was it a fait accompli. I wouldn’t have ever given my wife less than my all, and I never once considered abandoning her. This time, not much is lost, though it would be awkward to return to Manila to live permanently.

The other side of the coin is, unrequited is unrequited. There are women to whom I have not reciprocated a romantic interest, so maybe this is all a trade-ff, or cosmic payback. Most of them have, over time, remained my friends, and K, after a fashion, will likely see me in the same light, albeit from a distance.

Some people, usually men, see their partners or spouses as servants, chattel, part-time interests or outlets for frustration with life. Such people don’t show much in the way of self-respect, so it stands to reason they would not know how to treat others in a decent way. That doesn’t make it right. I have at least built an ethic of standing firm for the rights of others, even if they hold me in disregard or disdain. The Divine, not mortal man, has infused each creature with worthiness. We have yet to approach that sense of worthiness, in our views of one another.

I will head back to the United States, tomorrow evening, by way of Hong Kong. Chapter Two of this unnerving, but vital, year, will start fresh, on Wednesday morning.

The Road to Diamond, Day 79: Affirmations and A Temple Site

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on February 16, 2025 in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

February 16, 2025, Manila- Two of the adults, of whom I spoke yesterday, have offered me a place of residence, in a city about an hour south of Manila. This gives me a landing place, once I am able to draw down my time in Arizona. That could reasonably be accomplished, in a caring and dignified manner, by the end of May, at the latest. There are organizations about whom I care deeply: Red Cross, Prescott Farmers Market, Slow Food-Prescott-and the Baha’i Community, in which I want to help foster and nurture leadership. There are friends who will never leave my heart, who need to know that they have nothing to do with my moving. I have made it crystal clear who the impetus for the transition is. She is still very much my primary focus, aside from my little family, who themselves would be cause for returning to the U.S., at the drop of a hat. I will have quality time with them and other family members, in early-to-mid May.

All these things come to mind, following my first visit to the site of a future Baha’i House of Worship for the Phiippines. It is in the city of Antipolo, about 17.6 km (10.9 mi) east northeast of Manila. There was a gathering for the election of a delegate to the Baha’i National Convention for the Philippines, which will be held at the end of April. There was the usual fantastic pot luck lunch (adobo, inasal and creamed cauliflower were abundant-as was white rice, of which I took only a small helping.) There was spirited, but always respectful consultation-most of it in Tagalog, so I understood only small snippets, but I could tell the civil and elevated nature of the discourse, by watching body language. K was busy elsewhere, but it was enjoyable to hang out a bit with a couple of her family members, and get to know them better. The vibrant gathering of 45 people was welcoming and supportive of my considering living in their country. Children were free to play at their own developmental games. Dogs, cats and goats wandered about the grounds, interacting with people-mostly for scraps of food, though they are all well-fed by the caretakers.

Here are a few scenes of the Temple Site grounds.

Gathering site for a small business meeting, future Baha’i Temple site, Antipolo, Rizal, Philippines

Fruit tree grove, Baha’i property, Antipolo

Gathering of participants at Baha’i Unit Convention, Antipolo

After the meeting, as we drove back to Manila, it occurred to me that I was becoming more familiar with the roads around the Metro area. I could even help navigate a driver, if asked. Just don’t ask me to drive in the Metro-there are too many motorcyclists, coming every which way.

The Road to Diamond, Day 78: 17 Presidents, 1 Scoop of Rice and 12 Line Dancers

Posted by Sagittarian Seeker on February 15, 2025 in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Entertainment, Historical, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

February 15,2025, Manila- This is my last weekend in the Philippines, pending a few decisions on this end. Those choices will determine what I decide, once I get back to Home Base I. I leave the adults who are making those determinations to their quiet spaces and mindsets.

Today, though, was full of Philippine history, dinner at Mall of Asia, followed by a visit to Okada Casino, in Paranaque. Let’s look at Malacanang Museum-the heritage center of Malacanan Palace. For a description of the reasons behind this distinction, see: https://carlakalay.wordpress.com/2017/09/08/malacanan-or-malacanang-the-philippines-version-of-the-white-house/.

We visited two museums, the first of which, Ugnavan House, housed details in the life of the current President, Ferdinand Marcos, II. These include a replica of the staircase in Malacanan Palace, which the incoming President ascends and the departing President descends.

Replica of the Presidential staircase of Malacanan Palace, found in Ugnavan House.

Bahay, is pronounced like Baha’i, and in Tagalog, it means “house”.

Entrance to the museum of the sitting President of the Philippines.

We listened to the life story and accomplishments, thus far, of President Marcos, Jr., then went to Teus Mansion, which houses the “Treasures of Malacanang”, the heritage of the sixteen past presidents of this country, beginning with Emilio Aguinaldo, who served for two years as President of a nascent Philippine Republic, from 1899-1901, during the country’s struggle for independence first from Spain, then from the United States. Aguinaldo never gave up his campaign for nationhood, even while imprisoned in the United States, and was honoured by each of his successors, including Diosdado Macapagal, who presided over a State Funeral when Aguinaldo died, in 1964. The Philippines have had a continuous series of Presidents since 1935, when Manuel Quezon was elected President of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, still under American tutelage. While Quezon and his Vice President, Sergio Osmena, were in the United States during the Japanese occupation of 1942-45, the country was administered by Jose P. Laurel, ostensibly a puppet ruler acting on behalf of the Japanese, but in reality a conduit for the Quezon-Osmena administration to keep close watch on the country.

The country has essentially moved forward in material progress, and has learned some hard lessons about the trade-off between that progress and the right of people to chart their own path.

The rise of material progress was evident at Mall of Asia, where we enjoyed dinner at a crowded Inasal. The ladies chose chicken and I tried pork belly (liempo). My scoop of rice was Java Rice, a good alternative to “unli” (unlimited) white rice. We all enjoyed halo halo, (ice cream and fruit, on a bed of shaved ice) for dessert.

Okada Casino Resort was sort-of on the way back to Manila, so we stopped there, to take in a show that featured line dancers, some gymnastics, a juggler and hoop dancers, a talented singer-and some spectacular fountain art.

Fountain action, Okada Resort (above and below)

My friends pull out all stops, when it comes to an enjoyable day. Tomorrow will be another one-at the Baha’i Temple Site, in the mountain city of Antipolo.