Tag Archives: mentoring

The Road to Diamond, Day 115: Seed Mania

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Slow Food Prescott, Social, Spiritual, Striving

March 23, 2025- Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve liked edible seeds-when they have been shelled and especially when they are part of say, a muffin or on a bagel. Seeds in fruit are not so enjoyable, but I see their value, in perpetuating life. So, I have learned to set them aside and let them dry-from apples, pumpkins, squash, even tomatoes and peppers, when there is space on the counter. I have planted them, in season. Some years, they produced lots of tomatoes and peppers. Other years, they have made gophers and javelinas very happy.

This afternoon, Prescott Farmers Market and Slow Food co-sponsored Seed Mania, with several kiosks promoting local farmers and their wares. There were several presentations by still other farmers, reportedly marked by spirited discussion among them, regarding each other’s methodologies. There was also plenty for the kids to do, with school garden displays-which they helped to create and fun educational activities that were seed-related.

My spot was mostly manning the Slow Food table, and encouraging new arrivals in the area to sign up for mentoring, by one or another of the local farmers or garden educators. Fifteen such newcomers signed on, many from areas where the growing season and topography are much different from those of this area. It was a revelation that a local garden center was promoting blueberry cultivation. It was NOT a revelation that the bushes produced small, sour berries-if they produced any at all. Apple trees, I have found, don’t produce much in the way of fruit around here, either.

Plants are fairly fussy, and want certain soil, water, compost nutrients and only certain exposure to sunlight, as well as a degree of temperature control. I guess that makes them like other living things, even a bit like us. We each thrive in different environments.

The Road to Diamond, Day 51: “Everything’s Gonna Hurt”

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

January 18, 2025- So said a veteran athletic coach to a pre-teen with whom he had worked a few years back, and had not seen in a while. This was in reference to the boy saying he was almost twelve, which sparked Coach’s musings on the joys of adolescence. Everything does hurt, physically, mentally and emotionally, as the body goes from childhood towards adulthood. It is one reason why, after taking Developmental Psychology, I let go of any residual anger I might have felt towards those who bullied me in junior high school. They, for the most part, grew up to lead lives of industry and decency. Those who did not were pretty much nasty to everyone. They also died young.

I have had few aches and pains in my life. There was a bad back, after lifting my semi-conscious wife in 1991, in a situation that is too delicate and personal to share on this blog. (It was, long story short, due to an allergic reaction to medication.) The rest is negligible, especially compared to the constant woes suffered by so many of my peers. A lot does hurt, as one gets deeper into seniorhood. I give credit to Life Long Vitality supplements, Zinzino oil, healthy diet and regular exercise. Sobriety also has a great deal to do with it.

After a brief bout with some sort of crud, I woke up healthy enough, and non-contagious, so today was a full one: Farmers’ Market, Zeke’s and a Baha’i spiritual feast. I took in a concert by another of Prescott’s best, a cover band called Scandalous Hands. That was where Coach was advising his young protege’. A while later, a man two years my senior was advising a couple of other men close to us in age about thriving in one’s seventies. He himself looked like a picture of health.

It could happen, one day, that everything will hurt. For now, all I am doing for myself and for others is enough to keep the pain at bay.

Heroes

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Family, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

July 3, 2023- He was arguably one of the finest chefs I ever knew, although my own knowledge of him was fleeting. His wife of forty years was not far behind, in the culinary field. They were, aside from their mastery of the kitchen, a handsome couple, as far back as I can remember. They were both athletic, and highly personable. Rod would tease the heck out of a number of people, including yours truly-but I never got the sense he was putting us down. He and Kathy were never elitists. Rodney P. Lavoie, Senior was a coach, a craftsman and a master of so much that he took on. He was just one of those people whom it was not necessary to know well, in order to admire. It was a shock to learn of his passing, early last week. He was a genuine hero to many young people, in and around the town of my youth.

I’ve had occasion to ponder who the heroic figures in my life have been. What determines that status? It’s not age. I have seen heroic acts by people as young as six. It’s not gender. Many of my heroes, even role models in certain respects, have been women and girls. It’s not familial. Though my parents and relatives are high on the list, there are many, even sometime adversaries, who are there as well. I don’t even have to know them personally. Public figures, and occasional strangers, who don’t shy from tending to the well-being of those around them,

Two men in a nearby community took four relative strangers into their homes, despite their both being fairly ill. One of them has had cancer turn for the worse, and reluctantly asked his boarder to move on, as room had to be made for a live-in caretaker. Another kind soul quickly stepped up and provided living space for the young man. These acts of loving kindness are also the stuff of heroism.

As a community, we have taken time to honour the brave nineteen men who died on Yarnell Hill, ten years ago. Over a dozen First Responders have died in the line of duty, since that harrowing day. That they exhibited heroism and sacrifice goes without saying. The most heartening aspect of this is that their children, and others who learn of them, are drawing the right lessons. Herosim will continue.

David Bowie’s depiction of two brave souls standing by the Berlin Wall, in the dark days of Soviet rule, says it all.

A Queen and Her Precipice

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

February 5, 2022– It’s been a busy day, with a service project and two meetings to keep me honest, until mid-afternoon. This is all part of what Elizabeth Peru talks about, when discussing keeping the soul relevant and staying connected to the Oneness. Besides, I do things that I enjoy.

It is also bittersweet, as the morning paper brought an essay on Cheslie Kryst. The suicide of any young, highly intelligent, sassy, multi-talented and comely human being is a disaster, at both a deeply personal and a profoundly social level. I looked at the images of Cheslie and could only think, “God, I wish I had known her, could have intuited something was wrong and reached out. ” If I have been guilty of overkill in any area, it has been of a near obsession with the well-being of the younger generations.

Yet, I leave my son to forge his own destiny, while dropping everything when he calls. The thing is, he knows he CAN CALL, day or night, and I will drop everything else. I devote snippets of time, here and there, to those in my circle of friends, of all ages, whose issues are chronic, even seemingly intractable, with the understanding that I will get over to see them or at least talk with them, when I can. The bottom line is that each one continues to matter, and none need consign themselves to the scrap heap.

Cheslie Kryst had family who loved her dearly; friends and mentors who guided her, the best they knew how to guide. She had a loving group of well-wishers, who cheered her on, throughout her wonderful moments of triumph. There was also a chorus of dementors, who hounded her to end her life, and in that final, terrible end moment of dejection, that last group forced her hand.

Simply put, no one deserves the fate wished on them, by those whose own lives are miserable and who lack the courage to set those wrecked houses in order. No one deserves to feel so alone, even in the dark of night or early morning. If you read this, know that, in a moment of despair, you may reach out and I will find a way to send out a message of hope-that you may back away from that ledge of doom.

“I’m Up Here”

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Personal Values, Social, Striving

March 9, 2020-

The above statement is often made by a woman who is reacting, in a gently upbraiding manner, to having a man (or boy) focusing his attention on her torso.  I haven’t had that sort of correction being offered me, up to now, though it’s been a self-teaching process, over the years, to direct my attention to a person’s eyes, as we are engaged in conversation.  My autism had me looking down, anyway, so I recognize the imperative of eye contact- if for no other reason than to establish trust.  Besides, it takes three seconds to ascertain if someone is physically attractive; there’s no reason to stare.

It seems to be working, especially these past fifteen years, and definitely of late.  The ubiquity of  those who are either wearing tight clothing, or are “scantily clad” is something I’ve come to regard as mostly for the person’s comfort.  I find Millennial and Generation Z females both more modest in their interpersonal behaviour and more assertive with regard to their rights in the public sphere, than many of my generation were at the same age.  That may not be everyone else’s conclusion, but it’s what I see, in the course of my work, in my travels and at musical gatherings, such as the one I attended yesterday.  Then again, there is the fact that my relationship to the rising generations is one of mentoring, affirmation and overall support.

I like to engage people “up here”.

One, Two, Three, Four- The Plans

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Posted by on in collaborating, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

January 22, 2018, Prescott-

Every so often, I come out with details of my plans for this or that.  One year (day, month) at a time, I have been advised.  That makes sense for anyone my age, on up.  So my plans for this year, 2018, ought to be a foundation for what comes next.

This year, I will work, diligently, both at my day job- which will see an uptick in the number of students we have, come August, and at my financial effort, which is, admittedly, still in its fledgling state ( I can hear the Boo Birds, now- “There he goes again!”), but is being pursued, carefully, with a lot of expert support.  This will bring me to San Diego, the fourth weekend in March, for a mentoring conference.  Prior to that, I will have had nearly 60 hours of training and mentoring calls.  I have detailed other travel plans, in a previous post, and those still stand for next month, and for May-June.  An uptick in income would also allow me to join other mentoring events.

That covers the number one.  “Two” takes in 2019.  Next year marks the Bicentenary of the Birth of al-Bab, the immediate predecessor of Baha’u’llah, and His Herald.  This event, marked in late October, will be the overarching event of the year, for me and for millions of others.  My summer travels will bring me back to the Pacific Northwest, and southeast Alaska.  My work and financial ventures will continue apace. Then, too, who knows what the Universe will add on to all that?

“Three” brings us to 2020.  As I turn 70, in November of that year, its March will see my final physical Fast, under Baha’i law.  The Fast will have spiritual import for me, the rest of my life, but abstaining from food and beverages will not apply, once I reach the age of seventy.   I hope to be at, or past, my financial goals by New Year’s Day of that year.  Travel wise, I am looking at a Trans-Canada (BC to Newfoundland) road trip, in June and July.

“Four” means 2021.  This year will mark the Centenary of the Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’u’llah’s eldest son and His Successor, as Head of the Baha’i Faith.  My longtime readers may remember that, in 2012, we commemorated the centennial of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s visit to North America.  2021 will, thus,also be a special year for us Baha’is.

For me, personally, it will bring the end of my full-time employment as an educator.  I have ambitious, but still tentative, plans for international travel.  Besides those, I will be more active on the volunteer front, in whatever community (ies) I may find myself, once “retired”.

So there are the substances of numbers one through four, as they pertain to my humble life.  Many of these could very well come to pass, though the Universe does throw a curve at each of us, every so often!