Tuesday,
March 20, 2007 7:26 PM
My rotweiler attack this morning brought a range of emotional
responses from you chicklets. Too much for this page, I've created
a new page called bigdog - where I
am putting everything you said without your names. Feel free
to send more or respond to whatever you read there. It appears
this topic is a strong emotional trigger.
Also Gary and I walked up the Q mountain today and found two
dead rattlesnakes - small ones. Someone had cut their heads
off and cut their rattles off. My first look at young Mohave
rattlesnakes. I was sort of scared to touch them.
I can't believe so many of you know I have a gun! Isn't there
anyone I didn't tell? Did I tell everybody about the 1000 ounces
of gold too? (just kidding). The gun issue is very complex for
me. I didn't kill a dog this morning because I wasn't carrying
my gun. I like dogs and I like most living things and if I don't
intend to eat it, I would like to avoid killing it, that and
kissing venomous snakes. I believe there is bad karma around
guns even though I have them. It is the same energy of fear
that I thinks makes people own big dogs. Karmically, a gun defense
actually creates the offense needed to justify the defense,
maybe. If you followed that, I am your grasshopper oh master.
On the other hand, if I could not protect someone I loved, I
would have a big problem with that. You see, I am one of those
people who go around saying, "why can't we just all get
along", and that makes me kind of a dufus in many people's
eyes. I am betwixt and between and that is why I asked for
your response. Life is complicated sometimes when you are
in it and not pretending to be the master of it. Meanwhile I
will wear the gun and yes I can get it out and fire in under
3 seconds and I am very accurate (hell on paper targets - don't
know how accurate if I was trying to aim while pissing my pants).
Yes I have the necessary license to carry concealed. Yes I have
been trained.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007 8:47 AM
Fucking Dogs. Fucking owners with teen weenie little dicks and
hearts and full of fear that they want a big vicious dog to
balance out their own personal short comings. This morning on
my walk I had a valuable lesson. I often future think, future
plan, and I forget the immediate small random (is there anything
random?) events that make up a small but dangerous part of the
present. A Rotweiler decided to attack me, defending his master
or just another out of control animal, not trained and certainly
overreacting to my presence. The owner was about a 100 yards
away and freaking out, screaming the dogs name, running and
yelling no, no, no in an extremely stressed voice. That got
me scared because this dog appeared to have an out of control
history, given the owner's reaction. I stayed slow, and as still
as possible while keeping my walking stick vertical between
me and the dog and not making eye contact. The dog got behind
me and I just went dead still. The owner was almost to me and
finally the dog raced around and back to him and stopped the
pulled back lip grimace. That was it, not bite, no time to really
be scared but it did set me on a thought path this morning.
People seem to have dogs why? Because they love picking up the
turds? Is it the unconditional love? But why big dogs and why
keep a dog that you will not train or control? Could it be that
fear is the reason?
By having an out of control weapon the owner can absolve themselves
ethically from the actions of the dog, though of course not
legally or morally. The dog is protection against bad people,
but isn't the dog more of a danger to people than the bad people?
Keeping a dog you cannot control whose reactions are seven times
faster than a human is like giving a shotgun to someone who
is reflexively insane and then absolving yourself of their actions.
The part for me is that I didn't have a chance or the tools
or the right clothing to protect myself and that means I either
have to carry protection mechanisms and damage my own sense
of peace and love and connection to all around me (and were
the fuck was that connection this morning. I had no idea the
dog was there until it was right up on me).
I believe fear is the reason people have out of control dogs,
they are weapons they don't have to admit to. And as I walked
back from Q mountain I realized that Empire is all about fear.
Fear of not having enough, not safe enough, running out, not
having a warm place to shit and eat and sleep, fear of others,
fear of the unknown, so all our construction is to lessen our
fear - or that is an element - what is defense except institutionalized
fear?
We
are mired in the trailing edge of Empire's relentless death
struggle. I am living in a transition period whereby even when
attacked I must allow the dog the right to bite me or not -
their decision, because even if I had a gun on me, and killed
the dog, I would have civil consequences to that action and
possibly criminal consequences. So in this weird time, dogs
can choose whether to bite me and I'm impotent in this situation,
playing the odds, to minimize the economic impact on me and
the hassle. Also, I just don't want to kill a dog who loves
his master and because of the master's fear, fears the world
and me for the master. It is a weird hole in our fabric of decaying
society and really, I don't know what to make of it. It is like
driving at 70mph with headlights at night. Overdriving your
vision and hoping nothing will happen. Why, because we all agree
we must drive at night. Same with dogs, they have been here
biting people for millennia and therefore that is just the way
it is. The difference now is that I'm not easily allowed to
defend myself and people are more and more stressed and so are
their dogs. I totally forgive the dog, he was doing his job,
it's the master I have the issue with. I would really like to
hear what you chickies think about this. Monday,
March 19, 2007 6:13 AM
I've been reading about milpa, an agricultural
system that in several places in Mexico has been in continuous
food production without chemicals for over 4000 years. It
works on the very a small scale and mixes corn, beans, squash,
avocado, peppers, and amaranth all together. The resulting
food is a complete protein source, carbohydrate source, vitamin
and fat source. The land is cleared, burned (yes slash and
burn), planted to years in a row and then allowed to lie fallow
for eight years. This is a method that will well suit itself
to sustainable agriculture at the family level, even a migratory
family or tribe. The Indians in the Southwest USA planted
hills of corn, beans climbing the corn, and then squash around
the hills to deter animals from getting in close to the corn
and beans.
In the book, 1491, they make the case that the milpa was exactly
what the Indians showed the pilgrims in New England, and that
this long term permaculture technique had spread from the
Olmtec all throughout the Americas, even to New England. It
is something I am looking at in the design of a small agriculture,
hunter gathering tribe based on many of the American Indian
social designs. I see a small group that hunts, plants for
a growing season, with several earth structures along their
route. The moving keeps the impact of their farming and hunting
spread out, reduces problems stemming from monoculture diets,
provides multiple water sources of differing minerals, and
allows materials at different elevations to be available,
and best, allows mild climates by positioning the migration
pattern in synchronization with the seasons.
One point I'm learning from many sources is that the edge
of change in landscape is always the place to be. If you have
a choice between ocean and land, choose the intersection of
the two. If you're on a desert plain, move to the edge of
mountains. At each juncture of change more materials, water,
game intersect providing a richer environment to live from.
Migration routes would limit our impact on ground water, soil
depletion, fuel depletion, and game depletion. Being part
of this new world is not about not participating in it. I
think our future participation must be a partnership with
our migration routes and the earth, to increase top soil were
we have traveled, to create areas of diversity where game
will flourish, to encourage gentle trade between neighboring
groups that will enhance the health and quality of life of
each of the groups that we meet, and to constantly work on
limiting the possibility of another Empire forming.
Sunday, March 18, 2007 3:21 PM
Honey bees rarely make the news but an epidemic of HIve
Collapse is sweeping the US and Canada. The link I'm showing
to Hive Collapse is newspaper link and will soon expire. Honey
bees play an important part in any future where we wish to
continue very small scale home food growing - I hesitate to
call that agriculture since the word has been co-opted by
agribiz. It is worth a look, and just one of the many pressures
leaning on the collapse triggers. Which brings me to the topic
of triggers and what to watch for. This is a large topic requiring
some heavy lifting - more that I feel like doing on a hot
Sunday in March, but just to get the thoughts churning, consider
that while some collapses - like immigration from a hurricane
area may be quick to the inhabitants of the region, they are
localized and there is time for the body of society to absorb
the people. So while a hurricane can be a trigger of a total
world collapse I think that would be extremely unlikely. The
triggers will be economic and by the time you recognize them
on the street it would be probable that your debit card no
longer worked, banking holidays were called and unrest broke
out where people could not access cash to get their daily
primary necessities - including cigarettes and beer. So we
are looking for triggers that seem small, and occur earlier.
ONe thing
that immediately comes to mind is when you here that ATMs
are not working and people around you mention that it true
at their bank too. Your ears should go up, and you should
have your hunker down or bug out plan in play. Call the shot,
get out, call in sick, and later if nothing occurs no big
deal, you get a practice run.
If something big is going on, restoring civil order is going
to be a prime prerequisite.
We'll
think more and read more about what others see as triggers
in a collapse scenario later.
Saturday, March 17, 2007 8:29 PM
Oh man it was unseasonably hot today. Well over 100 at Gary's
trailer. I don't have a thermometer because I don't want to
really know. Over the months here I've become more and more
comfortable in the desert, I've become feral to a degree.
I find that when it is this hot I just became a still and
quiet lizard. It was hot enough at 5pm that a bunny came across
my campsite, where Gary and I were talking, got between two
bushes and flopped down flat.
Many of you are watching "The Secret" and have mailed
your comments to me or called, thank you! I learned that there
are older versions, or different versions of "the Secret"
out there. TJ found one that has Esther from Abraham-Hicks
fame in it. She was not in the one I watched. Why did I recommend
this in the context of this website? Well instead of the "laws
of attraction" I have been mentioning "expectation".
What we expect we get and that is the tool with which we will
build a sane world after the collapse. I don't like the word
collapse. One website calls it the Great Turning. I like that.
Expectation is a way of asking and waiting for the changes
you want and expectation of a new sane self limiting culture
is what must be created. "The Secret" identifies
som powerful and simple tools for personal change, and cultural
change will begin right there, with each of us changing our
expectation, thus being part of the dismantling of Empire.
I wrote the other day that I had a difficult emotional day
and I realized that I never mention when I have the opposite.
Despite the heat, the last few days have been wonderful. There
are conversations with Phil, and Gary and many letters and
phone calls with blog readers and friends. Maybe it is the
high heat but it seems like synchronicity is all around. Everything
I reach for seems to come in from two directions and right
now nothing seems accidental. I love my life and today was
delicious. I hope yours was too. I'm often pushing change
at you, change, expectation and preparation. Change is always
unsettling, but it is powerful and joyful as well as nerve
wracking. Take heart, what we explore now makes it easier
for us to be prepared, flexible and of use to each other in
the future. Night chickies, I'm going to take advantage of
the dropping temperature and sleep early, then walk early
tomorrow at 6:30am up my hill.
Saturday, March 17, 2007 11:26 AM
Rick has been working on his own preparation and he is organized,
unlike me, so I asked him a few days ago to send me a list,
kind of a template of his thinking on basic preparation for
untoward happenings. Here is Rick's
Preparation List! If you see things you would add, or
are adding, email them to me and we'll make a composite list
together!
Saturday, March 17, 2007 7:59 AM
How many of you have seen "The Secret?" Raise your
hands. OK, when I get pointed at a movie from such a diverse
group of people, I had to see it. It was loaned to me yesterday
and I watched it last night, late. I will probably watch it
one more time today. I had the Cosmic Diva call me a week
and a half ago - saying it's like a more fun "What's
the Bleep?" movie, and you don't fall asleep half way
through. Jesaka, the Cosmic Diva, cares nothing for money,
only about transforming the world. I also heard about it from
two people who had recommended to friends so that they could
get rich. In one frame it is all about money, another frame
is is all about self change, and finally it is none of these.
Glitzy trappings and the focus on the most base desires, LOTS
OF MONEY, LOTS OF PROPERTY, GREAT RELATIONSHIPS, there is
the core of this movie which is dead center right on. It is
the Abraham-Hicks material - a piece of it, but a great introduction
to SELF change. I have much more to say, so get a cup. I'm
going to spoil the movie for you by telling you the secret.
If you hate that, go rent the movie and drop back here later
and see what you agree with and what rankles.
Still here? OK.
The secret is that when you ask for anything it is always,
in every case, no exceptions, given to you. Sometimes there
is a delay but mostly because you haven't really asked for
it. Like maybe you say, I want 1 million dollars. Ten minutes
later you say to yourself, "what a bunch of crap".
Your million that was already on the way gets stuck or slowed
up. The movie has two themes. That is the first. What you
ask for you get. That is the primary secret. The second is
a "law." You attract whatever you think, or more
accurately - what you feel. So if you feel happy, happy things
and people come to you. If you feel it is hard, terrible,
and painful, that too is drawn to you from every source. This
is called, "the law of attraction." So when you
ask for your million dollars, if you visualize it, feel it,
see yourself spending it on things you want, and you become
convinced, truly convinced that it is already yours, like
in the mail for instance, then you set up a very powerful
law of attraction - which the universe, Gaia, god, Buddha,
whatever your creative name for that which is larger than
us - speeds it on the way. Every time, no exceptions. The
power of the movie is that they have specific techniques to
focus your asking and to put you in a soft place in your heart
to start. One suggestion, which I did myself, was to wake
up and write down everything your are grateful for - in a
list. Read it over to yourself. This allows you to remember
the value of those blessings you have. It also works through
the Laws of Attraction to bring what - right! People are grateful
back, PLUS you have eyes to see it.
That's the secret. If you have previously followed the Abraham-Hicks
links on the future page you have been introduced to the laws
of attraction many times. The movie has an advantage in that
it gives you example after example of successful asking.
So what
does that have to do with my blog, the uncertain future and
the coming collapse. Now I move off of the narrow focus of
the movie and move into wider and deeper waters. The Secret
stays in shallow water to push a single point to try and get
by the bullshit detector and cynical walls we maintain. If
they broadened out, the way Abraham-Hicks and many others
do, then the experience becomes less likely to pierce through
to the majority of people. I understand that. I you asked
me to do the movie, to explain the laws of attraction, how
would I motivate the first time exposure for most people.
I would have people who were successful asking for MONEY,
PROPERTY, RELIEF from DEBT, and LOVE. And that is exactly
what they do and exactly what I felt was false. .
What if you made the movie and instead showed people who asked
for more creativity, integration of all people's wants in
a frame that did not rupture the entire planet's resources
to supply it, what if you showed people who asked for others
to be fulfilled, happy, and healthy? Too complex for a first
exposure, so that is why I think the movie has a cheesy glitzy,
ask for big money, espensive real estate approach. That also
means that this movie targets the middle class who wish to
be upper class. I would have trouble loaning this to a Chinese
political prisoner who is making your running shoes in a prison
camp. Instead of food we would bring "Secret" missionaries
who would suggest the prisoner ask for more, dream bigger.
It feels like the message doesn't scale well, playing best
in afflulent societies.
But the
techniques are the important part of the movie. I wrote that
last paragraph because I know that many free chicks will be
turned off by the wishing for a car shit in the movie, and
the various talking heads glowing with moist eyes over big
real estate. But there are very powerful tools demonstrated
in the movie and they will work in service of any desired
outcome. They could and will be used to create the kind of
future that our world can support. It is all in what you want.
What you ask for. What you expect and what you FEEL.
So I recommend the movie, and I recommend that you suspend
your disbelief or revulsion at the choice of what other people
ask for. Just keep your head in it to the end and take out
the tools and use them. It has good, great, critical things
that we need. It is showing many people their very first glimpse
of a way out of the miserable world of Empire and sterile
existence. The tools are the thing. So a big thumbs up for
the movie and a heartfelt apology for the production and values
of the people in it.
Also, if you are so motivated you should move on to the much
more real and moving Abraham-Hicks. If you have not heard
one of their talks, get in touch and I'll send you one of
their CDs. Her voice, her cadence and her clean heart are
so apparent, that I would rather listen to her tell me to
do my taxes, than listen to any of the people in "The
Secret" tell me that a million dollars was on the way.
You do have to resonate with the teacher, and in "the
secret" I do not. But the tools grabbed me. They are
a practical tool chest to implement the laws of attraction.
Thumbs up.
Friday,
March 16, 2007 6:15 AM
The desert is a soothing stability for me. It is early morning,
and the false dawn is just beginning. It has been unseasonably
hot for the last 3 days and will be for two more days before
the high temperatures drop back into the 80s. March is usually
the best month for being here in Q.
Yesterday was a difficult day, a maelstrom of emotion for
me from every direction. What is wonderful about being here
for months is that I could sit in the shade of La Casa Blanca
yesterday afternoon, after a short solar shower, and just
let the air flow over me. I have a baseline developed over
time. A baseline of who I am and what is important to me,
and emotions that used to tumble me don't now. But the pains,
desires, wistfulness, love and concern for those around me
is much more defined and felt, and paradoxically, harder to
bear because the desert has allowed me to get quiet and feel
more. I know it doesn't seem like that to you, my reader,
as I often seem a chatterbox, but I often go days without
any in-person contact, and my mind is settled, I am at peace
here, and in a way, I am home on this Sonoran desert floor
like no where else in the world.
So I sail today with slightly tattered cloth, but I am surrounded
by bunnies now, and my dove family that has abandoned the
nest and seems to come back in ones and twos at dusk around
my trailer, and in one half hour I will put on my pack and
climb up Q mountain as I have every day for a long time now.
I will get back to bashing Empire, preparing for a uncertain
and low energy future later today, but this morning, chickies,
the air is cool and I am soon to be leaving here (about 8
days). I am grounded, sad, alive. I wish you all peace today.
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