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Just airing the laundry....

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Thursday, January 06, 2011

A Poem for Winter Into Spring

Mother Plant

Seeds thrown to
The wind...
Physically
By Mother Plant.

Final effort of
Life Force
Too knowing....
Mystery of life unfolding
Through death
of mother.

Nurturing remains
The last frontier
Ever changing
Within
Mother Plant.

6/21/1987

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Witch #101 : Know Your Environment

Thursday, July 01, 2010

The Tale of the March on Acton, CA

Once upon a time, in the early 70s,there was a disc jockey in Southern California.

As a young college student, radio was my main entertainment commuting.

So, when my friend and I heard about the March on Acton ,called for by a personality we both enjoyed, we thought, sure! Why not.

It was about an hour's drive and a chance to meet him.

Costumes and noisemakers were called for, so we packed a trumpet and drum with a top hat & fancy clothes....... and a jug of water "just in case".

The call was for 8am (early by any standards), so we set off in the Datsun as the sun rose. You always want to arrive early at these things ~ in order to choose your paradigm of reference (for future re-encountering ).

This proved to be a trip down the Alice in Wonderland hole of cultural identity and how a cup of coffee can cure just about anything.

We parked in the 'designated area' marked with some balloons, about a 1/2 mile outside of the small "not-even-one-stop-sign" at the time outpost of Acton.

I approximated about 100 permanent residences, considering the trailers and houses seen; the one and only 'mercantile establishment' that included a well-worn horse tether set-up in front, right next to the old Chevy pick-ups that looked the equivalents of desert ghost towns.

And, it looked like all 100 residents had come into 'town' for a cuppa coffee this sunshined AM.


The DJ was upbeat and in prime alpha-male, perched on the back seat of a classic cream-colored Cadillac convertible ~ dressed in a full bridal gown with a veil. Did I mention he sported that 70s Village People mustached look?

Being the young yahoos we were, we passed it off as 'wow~he's really brave N funny, eh?'   The rest of the rather Wonder-Bread-NPeanut-Butter crowd who started to gather in the area were of the same 'curiosity', but , hey! We're gonna March on Acton! 

Did we bother to ask WHY we were to March on Action? No~not really. Seemed the DJ had been dissed in the town, and so everyone was to be there and support him, see?

So there we were. And we started to march. About 50 of us. From all over the Southern California high desert area.

Loud & brash, with the DJ's Cadillac placed strategically in the middle of the crowd for 'photo ops', the crowd entered Acton and paraded up to the 'mercantile establishment'.

The Cadillac stopped, and the DJ started to proclaim his 'March on Acton' to take it back (from what we still weren't quite sure), when the crowd went silent-except for the distinct *click of the guns in the hands of the citizens of Acton, CA that were pointed at us.

Did I mention this was before video taping was used in the field?

There we stood. Each side grasping the situation from their paradigm.

Someone stirs on the porch of the 'mercantile establishment'.....

"I think we all need a cuppa coffee" says the gentleman, loud enough for all to hear,  standing back a bit.

"And it's my treat!" says the bridal-gowned DJ with the Village Person mustache as he flounces out of the Cadillac & up onto the porch ......

Ice broken~boundaries established~problem understood~locals respected~possible real real nasty situation nipped in the bud.....

And all we were there for was to March on Acton!

And, Acton told us exactly what they thought of that.

Definite lesson learned.

Pick your fights.  Trust, but verify.

Herding Cats #101 : A Look Back at Progressive Media

 It's always good to review where you've been before proceeding. If any of you ever wondered "just where did this 'progressive press' thing get off the ground?" ~as they say~ a picture is worth a thousand words.

One rainy winter weekend in Santa Cruz, CA... a gathering occurred ....

 
  

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