Life with the Alligator-Sheep

[H2O Man]

The news over the last 48 hours has put me in a mood best summed up by Jimi's song and a Gandhi quote: “It seems to be so very hard to maintain detachment of mind in the midst of raging fire.” A lot of my associates are feeling anxious about tomorrow's rallies. I'm not …. I am old and far beyond fear for my own well-being. But the Israeli attack on Iran has me concerned for the world my children and grandchild will inhabit when this wrinkled bag of bones and lard gives out, and I enter a different frequency.

The last two days, I watched my grandson while my son did some work on my sister's house. At almost three years of age, he is faster than me. On a walk towards my niece's house, he spotted a rabbit. As it was the buck, it runs a little at a time, to lead potential threats away from its nest. Soon it was leading my grandson down my niece's driveway, so I had to speed up.

Because we have had a heck of a lot of rain, it was an error on my part to think I could run fast. I cannot. My feet flew up shoulder level, and I slide past my grandson. Since pain is more painful at my age, it took me a second to gather my half-wits. My poor grandson was crying at the site of me, and kissed me X3 on my knee. Then he suggested we go blow bubbles.

My granddaughter is almost 8 months old. She lives with my daughter and son-in-law in Europe. We “face-time” almost daily. We have a routine: we say hi, then wave, then clap, then she kisses the camera. Her parents want to live in this country eventually, but not when maga is trying to destroy it. I think they may change their minds about even visiting this year.

As I pour another cup of coffee, I note I will need more cream tomorrow morning. Thus, I head to the grocery store. A nice lady asks if I remember her? I explain that a serious head injury in 2017 damaged my brain's ability to identify some of the faces I have haven't seen since getting out of intense care. She brought up the hunger strike I did years ago, to bring attention to an environmental threat.

On the ride home, I pass some sheep that my grandson had noticed yesterday. He pointed and said, “Dad, look at the alligator!” My boy pointed out they were sheep. My grandson said, “Yeah – alligator sheep.” I think he might have seen some of the people with maga yard signs, for they are indeed alligator-sheep. I see that both my son and daughter have sent me videos of my grandchildren while I was at the store. The very idea of alligator-sheep screwing up the world they inhabit results in an inner change. For a couple of moments, I feel my old self rising to the surface, the same cold focus I had as a young man, having my gloves tied in the dressing room before entering the ring to knock the heck out of some guy who wants to beat me. But the lady at the store's message began to come to mind.

I've been saying “we must rise to higher ground” over and over for the past two weeks, enough to annoy even the most patient of community members. That need is true, for it is the only way we will defeat this beast that threatens us all. That “higher ground” is not external. It exists as a potential within each of us. And it then, and only then, that we can access the Power of the Good Mind that Chief Waterman spoke of, as a community.

My mind goes back to when I spoke at a church in Cortland, NY. I got there early – I have no patience with people who are late, as my children learned growing up – and noticed some frames of old newspaper articles on the wall. They were from the 1950s, when a young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke there. I knew that none of us were on the mountain top he reached, but we can all be among those thousands of people who answered his call.

On the ride home, I thought of King and Gandhi. While they are among the Great Souls sent to teach us through their sacrifice, and I a common human being, I had to attempt to reach that higher ground, if only temporarily in this struggle for a safe environment. It was on that ride that I thought I would do a hunger strike, starting on Martin Luther King Day, to try to force a state senator to at least meet with the environmental community.

It took a while, but I remembered Rubin telling me in 1973 that with patience, the smallest creature can climb the highest mountain. I ended up speaking to 1,200 people in the capitol building in Albany. I was pretty out of it by that time, feeling like a damp wash cloth tossed on a floor. I spoke off the top of my head, and watching a film of it today, think it was pretty good. But I don't remember it. The only thing that stands out was a lady who must have felt very sorry for me started petting my hair. I looked at her, and she said, “Hi! I'm Debra Winger.” I was too tired to propose to her.

Within an hour after speaking, I encountered the senator, and we had a meeting in his office. If I can do small things, anyone can. Added together, we do big things.

[Silent Type]

1. Another enjoyable post. I like how your grandson thinks, "Then he suggested we go blow bubbles."

[H2O Man]

2. Thanks!

I read a message from a Jewis women's peace group last week. It said when a child who has been orphaned in war cries for her/his parents, it is all of our duties to step up and care for them.

[berniesandersmittens]

3. You have such a beautiful way with words

Your little grand baby giving you kisses is so sweet! I hope you're not too sore from your fall.

I posted the following in the Loners Group that goes hand in hand with your post:

"Gardening helps remind me that there is a season for everything and that transformation is inevitable. The seeds of kindness and tolerance will not wither on the vine and hard work will come home to roost when we need it most.
The play Death of a Salesman was a perfect analogy to our current time. We reap what we sow."

[H2O Man]

5. Thank you,

and what a wonderful quote! Exactly on point!

My niece send me a picture of her son, who just finished sixth grade, from his yearbook. Here is what she told me:

"Today, Ezra graduated from elementary school. His yearbook quote? 'Hamburger.'

When I asked why, he said, 'I had nothing else to say after they rejected my first quote: "I am surrounded by idiots."
I almost choked on my water.

I don’t know whether to be proud… or concerned that I’m one of the idiots."

There are but two possibilities: either it is DNA, or he was channeling his grandfather! I think of these things while gardening. This includes tending to flowers & shrubs that others planted long, long ago. Yesterday, I was showing another son how I let certain plants go to seed in specific beds, cutting back on re-planting each year.

Then I go inside my house. In several rooms, there are old family pictures starting with relatives getting ready to leave the Old Sod to come here. I sit in my lifetime favorite rocking chair that belonged to my g-g-grandfather. My children, who are all smarter than me, are fascinated in these things. They are the next cycle. I remember the chiefs at Onondaga telling us to look to see the next generation's faces in the earth ...... so literally true as we are one form of organic life here on Earth!

(My children say one of my very worst "dad jokes" is when I tell people I run a 15-week course on becoming a hermit. I only ask that no one show up or contact me. I didn't realize there is a loners' group! Nice!)

[berniesandersmittens]

6. "I'm surrounded by idiots"

That boy is going places! They should have let that one in!

I like to get clippings and bulbs from family. I have several plants from my great grandparents house that remind me of their deep faith. The kind of faith that gets passed down through acts of kindness and light heartedness.

I always enjoy your posts. Thank you so much for sharing your journeys!

[senseandsensibility]

4. Love your message

and you are so correct about our collective power. I hope you have recovered from your boo-boo.

[H2O Man]

8. Thanks!

Luckily, I landed exactly on the region of my back that is metal & bone paste, as a result of a distracted driver who failed to see two stop signs and a red light, hitting my driver's door at 55 mph, and rolling me into a third vehicle. That's the toughest part of my body these days. If I were ever to return to the boxing ring for fight #330, I'd have to remember to keep my back turned to my opponent.

We have a great collective force!

[dweller]

7. A most poignant message

Punctuated with a personal point :

“when this wrinkled bag of bones and lard gives out, and I enter a different frequency “

I’m going to have to remember that one .

Let’s elevate this environment !

✌🏻

[H2O Man]

9. Thank you!

After I wrote that, I remembered when Dan Rather was confronted by some freaks aggressively demanding of him. "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" While I disagree with him on one 1963 incident, I respect Mr. Rather. From versus Nixon to things he says today, he's a good man. Intelligent. Caring. And he knows we are in a heck of a struggle.

As simple as it sounds, we are the good people in this struggle. We need to elevate it in many ways. That starts on an individual level -- and I know you know this -- going inside for self-evaluation. And reaching the point where we access our inner-Gandhi/King. To become our own leader ..... fully capable from telling right from wrong, and fully able to confront it.

[malaise]

10. I love your OPs

Please slow down - hope the aches and pains will soon disappear

[H2O Man]

12. It was only about

three weeks ago that I was babbling about how rabbits have dreams, and wondering what they dream about? And now I know of at least one rabbit that will have pleasant dreams about the human falling flat on his back!

[malaise]

11. I love your OPs

Please slow down - hope the aches and pains will soon disappear

[Easterncedar]

13. What a great time for this inspirational message

Thank you. Thank you.

[H2O Man]

15. Thank you!

Less than 12 hours until the rally!

[Saoirse9]

14. We can do small things with great love

I am semi laid up with a sprained ankle so no protests for me tomorrow. I have to keep my foot elevated. So all I can do is practice realizing the Power of the Good Mind.

What activity would you recommend for that? Blowing bubbles? Ask your grandson for me would you?

[H2O Man]

16. We have talked

several times over the years -- actually, decades! -- about Senator Robert F. Kennedy's historic speech in South Africa. It's one of the greatest American speeches, even if it took place on the other side of the Earth.

I will be watching the fights with my grandson Saturday night, and will ask him. One of these days you'll have to face-time with him! My son sent me a couple videos of him today, out hunting "noises" with his new squirt gun. As it was warm out, he opened the back of the gun to get a drink while squirting his father. The guy has style!