Tag Archives: thrift stores

The Road to Diamond, Day 138: Biology and Belief

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Hiking and Nature, impediments, Inner Struggles, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 15, 2025- A strange dream, just before I woke this morning, presented me with an alternative version of my late twenties. I was tooling around a remote area of the Great Plains, and connected with a young lady, much more easily than I actually did, back then. When I awoke, it occurred to me that, while the dream was pleasant, I would not give up one minute of the life I actually ended up having, for even such a comforting revision. The idea of not having my Faith, Aram and my twenty-nine years with Penny is really beyond my comprehension.

This morning, I brought a friend to inquire about getting an appliance, at one of the area’s thrift stores. For one reason or another, though the appliances in question had arrived last Thursday, I was only able to help her today. All the appliances were sold. This, she quickly determined, was the result of inherent bad luck and the system being stacked against her. My take was, “first come, first served”, though I recognized how painful it must feel to her, to have drawn the short straw, again. We found ourselves hitting every red light, at the intersections going back to her house, another indication that there was a “conspiracy afoot”. Well, no-it is just a day when I paid the universe back for all the other days when I caught every green light, from here to Spring Valley.

I have seen self-loathing or a victim mentality draw the worst energy, from random mishaps to disease. The latter, of course, perpetuates the dark energy, to the point where the poor soul often ends up being socially isolated. Many of the emotionally down and out of my past have died prematurely. This is all the more reason why I have cast aside my own self-loathing, with a view towards living several more years, to the fullest, in good health and surrounded by family and friends.

So, after this morning’s errand of mercy, I joined Akuura on another exploration of the Williamson Valley trail system. This time, we found the previously elusive water tank, that is a landmark for the trail to petroglyphs that lie somewhere atop a hill. We will have to locate the ancient scripts on another adventure, but here are the things we did find this afternoon.

Williamson 1
Akuura and a boulder
WV 2
Rock Madonna
WV 3
Dino Head
WV 4
Bowling Ball, or dinosaur egg?
WV 5
The elusive water tank

The upshot of the hiking story, as regards biology, is that this hobby is one of the factors in my own relatively good outlook on life. Of course, good friends, a healthy diet and maintaining a realistic view of both good fortune and misfortune, have their places in the game plan of longevity.

The Road to Diamond, Day 129: Cleansing

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

April 6, 2025, Kingman- On a table, in the backyard work area of our Quad, there is a sturdy aluminum pot, left behind by a now incarcerated former neighbour. The pot is caked in some sort of goop, and once it is cleaned, later this week, it will be given over to the Disabled American Veterans, along with any other items that may still be on the front wall of the property just to our south.

I believe in making left-behind items available to families in need, instead of stocking the landfill at Sun Dog. So, a man’s bicycle, a large pasta strainer, two or three chairs, a few lamps and the aforementioned pot could be still there, waiting for me to take to the Thrift Store on Tuesday morning.

This morning, at breakfast with some fellow veterans, I found myself in a self-deprecating mood when one of the guys teased me about what he thought was my lack of a love life. Thinking back on my teenage years, it was not hard, this morning, to joke about being seen as less than desirable by some of the A-list girls. It felt like a sort of cleansing, as it’s been a long time since such a judgmental pecking order has mattered to me. It feels nice to be in a self-assured frame of mind-and I have my marriage of 29 years, and the Baha’i Teachings, to thank for that confidence.

There is another sort of cleansing afoot, as the Federal Government whittles away at part of many people’s savings, including my own. I will continue to live as I see fit-mostly in a frugal manner, but also doing things like hosting a couple of friends from the Philippines, this week, and visiting family and friends back East, in May. The wealthy officials who are telling us to tighten our belts, are themselves doing whatever they feel like. I will thus do what I feel is right, including some of what I want to do.

So, here I am in this crossroads city, and tomorrow, will head to Las Vegas, pick up my two friends and introduce them to Arizona, over the next six days. All of this feels very cleansing.

The Road to Diamond, Day 89: Gift Bags

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

February 25, 2025- We ran out of razors and toothpaste first. Toothbrushes and shampoo were the last things left. Even so, 50 bags of toiletries were assembled by seven people, this afternoon. It’ll be a small contribution towards lessening the want and uncertainty that faces the homeless/unhoused community, each day of the week, in a great many cities and towns, across the nation and the globe.

Prescott and vicinity have a fair share of people with no permanent residence. There are various meal programs in several churches, in both Prescott and Prescott Valley. Shelters are available in both towns. Food banks tend to those who are worst off among the populace.

The situation may get worse, before righting itself, as the national governmental focus is on giving support to an entrepreneurial class, believing that this will ensure investment in the well-being of the less fortunate. There could be some of that, but if the last such effort (2017) is any indication, most of the money sent back to the wealthiest citizens by Congress will be invested in the things that make those citizens’ lives ever more comfortable.

So, we gather items for gift bags, support thrift stores and staff serving lines at soup kitchens and other feeding stations, around the planet. We alternately discourage people from begging, while imposing means testing as a way to separate the “worthy” from the grifter. The ranks of the unemployed may rise, due to the shake-out now going on at the Federal level. Will entrepreneurship rise to the challenge, and set a private enterprise hiring boom in motion?

It will take far more than gift bags and food pantries to get through this current set of challenges. Stay tuned.