No War on Syria

 24 hours.. about 100 people and a good balance of ages and political perspectives. Not Bad! It was also 97 degrees and Labor Day weekend. I think our community did a good turn out but what I am particularly happy about is that Obama got the drift from the citizenry-- wait for Congress. What a relief!

 I particularly like this sign. Who is the enemy? The military industrial complex and those big corporations engaged in the Trans Pacific Partnership (Google: Flush TPP)

 We the people have figured this one out. Help Syrians, by all means, especially those fleeing violence. Put those who have used chemical weapons on trial in the Hague but don't muscle into this seriously divided country.

 Emily and Leslie and Cathy... dynamic women with our message in a three sign nutshell. Love goes out to all those everywhere who created through their activism the space for diplomacy and democratic discourse. Peace. Peace also to those who suffer in the Civil War. The whole world is watching-- don't forget you war mongers... justice will find you.

Tomorrow we go back on the road... out across Nevada... out from the vortex of Chico and back into Veggie Voyaging. Whew!

Intermittent Life at Occupy Beale AFB- pt. 2

 Shirley has a Prius and was showing off this wonderful, elegant and affordable hatch tent she got from www.habitents.org

 Toby invested in the Light Brigade battery powered letters with our simple, heart-felt and profoundly important message-- NO DRONES

 And Veteran Michael Kerr stood his early morning ground with Janie and Flora as Shirley attempted to give out flyers to those entering the base for their day of "work." Toby had made up an eloquent two page "To all of you at Beale AFB" flyer.. some of the links she cited are www.bradleymanning.org, www.CourageToResist.org and www.VeteransForPeace.org as well as the prize winning daily news program www.DemocracyNow.org
I hope some of you readers will check out those references.

 Because finally, isn't it all about Pamela's message here? In a shrinking and dangerous world it behooves all of us to work for Peace and reconciliation and understanding. Our powerful government ascribes to being democratic which means the people's voices are what elects the representatives and informs them of the peoples' will. It is fundamentally our responsibility to make sure these simple but profound commandments are upheld.

Intermittent Life at Occupy Beale AFB

http://mondoweiss.net/2013/08/10-ways-to-reduce-the-threat-of-terrorist-attacks-on-americans.html

It felt so natural to be back at Beale protesting drones with friends from Nevada City, Sacramento, the Bay Area and Chico. I love that these folks never waiver in their commitment. 'Just wish we could get more people to join us. Despite a bit of heat and mosquitoes it was a very good time to stand up against the ongoing illegality of drone strikes. See the link above from Medea Benjamin.

 We were visited by the county police because the Veterans for Peace flag was attached to the Stop sign... now that was an important use of tax payer dollars. The base sent the officer out (20 miles round trip?) for that little intervention.
Lorraine, below, is working on an Injunction against drones in Nevada County. She is right to be proactive in stopping local drone acquisition and use before it becomes an issue in her county. This is something we all should be working on.

 After our p.m. shift leafletting and vigiling by the side of the road at two gates we met back at the Main Gate for supper, sharing and the sunset. No one had a table so we potlucked out of the back of a car and Chuck set up coffee for the morning on the engine of his truck. This is always my favorite time of the day with the sun setting over the Sutter Buttes and the wild oats brilliant and illuminated surrounding good company. Where we were this time was shaded and not right up on the base border--a local policeman (in a bullet proof vest, poor guy,) even dropped by to tell us we were ok where we were for the night... that was reassuring.

Goin a little nuts

 We are trying to leave Chico, yet again. This time we have to wait for Michael's energy and for a new turbo for the truck. I'm not done with my share of things either. The full blue moon has come and now wanes and the kids are back at school and we are still here fussing with things and staying linked in with the community.

 The draft Sit/Lie ordinance which would have kept people from sitting on the sidewalks downtown did not pass and for that I am grateful. The people who propose this talk about behaviors but we all know it is about appearance. They don't want the manifestations of poverty in their view shed.

 Dave H built this little tear drop trailer with the intent to use it to market his potatoes which he grows here at Riparia. So sweet!

 And I just haven't been taking pictures at all. These were a couple of my many berry photos from last summer at this time up in Canada. So much has happened since then and now we have that new lease on life people talk about. But it comes with a shorter leash and smaller loop. The plan right now is to go straight away to Nevada-- we can pick up veggie oil or bio-diesel in Vinton at Simple Bio-fuels up on Hwy 70..where the desert is just begining. We mean to hoof it to Utah, then head north into Wyoming where we can slow down to Veggie Voyagers pace.
When I sit with myself like this...(I'm fasting) I can feel myself pouring like water toward those places to come. Yet my home is perfectly ok, perfectly comfortable. What is that urge to not be here? It has to do with the things I take on (the Trust Act and fracking and the Guantanamo Vigil and concerns too numerous to mention about the direction and dynamic of changes in the country/planet.)  There's also a lack of engagement with a part of experiencing that is simple and joyful and relates to being recharged by the beauty of the manifestation of the earth. I sit with the remedy pending when I should be packing....

Climate Change Denier

 At this time last year we were looking out over the Salmon Glacier, near Hyder, Alaska. You can see the shrinkage of this still mighty glacier by clicking on the photo. This year, the only hint of coolness was this polar bear mural at the corner of Downer and Robinson Streets in depressed Oroville, Ca. just steps from the office of our congressman Doug LaMalfa.

 LaMalfa ran for Congress with signs that said, "He's one of us," but none of us have had over 5 million dollars of farm subsidy payments since 1995 nor even considered gutting the Food Stamp Program for needy Americans. LaMalfa is one of us in that he is human, has children and lived nearby before he went off to Washington to join fellow tea baggers in the House of Representatives. His votes have been awful and I compiled a list of the ones promoting the fossil fuel industry and cutting funds for the E.P.A., sciences and renewable energy. My friend Joni, below, spoke out at the rally we attended today about Climate Change and our forests-- her talk was sobering but the rally was amazingly lacking in bitterness.

 We presented LaMalfa's staff with a Unicorn statue inscribed with a Climate Change Denier Award at the base. All the people there were quite united but when I reflect on the message in this girl's sign it really puts me into a pause. Children deserve a future. Yes. The course of evolution has been long and tinged with traumas but nothing so obviously short sighted and massive as the auto-die off our leaders are planning on their way to the bank.

 I stand with Gregory here. We must STOP GLOBAL Suicide. Mr. LaMalfa and Congress may be in denial and may be in their own little bubble-world but the rest of us are responsible enough to pop that bubble and guide their minds back to some semblance of reality. This amazing planet and all the species on it are depending on us.

Hiroshima and Mon Amor

 Michael is off getting a shot to strengthen his bone marrow and give it the oomph it needs to make new cells. He missed two weeks in a row of getting his last chemo dose because of this "neutropenia" and it has been concerning since he didn't bounce back at all after the last dose. He has to rein in his desire to work on the truck, run errands or do things around here. Hopefully he will be up enough tomorrow to complete this long treatment process that has gone on since December. Meanwhile, August is upon us and the earth is very dry and the sun generally sooty with the valley inversion layer.

 Today is Hiroshima Day, we honor and we remember today, the largest terrorist attack ever perpetrated. In the moment of our silence I could feel the quivering of the living world and all the stirring. It is going to be difficult to avoid an extinction event on this earth. We carry the longing for peace and the awareness of injustice inside ourselves in each moment..choosing each new moment as compassionately as we can.

 Meanwhile, change continues. This is where the old dry cleaners was that dumped the solvent TCE into the storm drains and gave us a plume that continues in the groundwater 20 years later. This is where KZFR had its first studio and where I learned to host the Peace and Justice Program... since the start of the first Gulf War in 1991 when things were as bleak as ever they could be. Now, a tabula rosa, a dazzling white expanse of possibility (after complete destruction.)