As the world as we know it winds to a close thanks again for sharing your life´s work with yo mismo. From the place I´m at now I appreciate the courage it takes to step out of the mainstream and follow your heart, to use your creative talents and gifts for a greater good. The more we expand in consciousness the more light that shines into our world. And in the end it is not so much the words we say but the example we set that will bring about the necessary changes to create a heaven on earth instead of the one we have created.
While my sample size is very small I am connecting with people, women especially as I may have mentioned before, that are awakening or remembering who and what they are in relation to All That Is. In that there is hope. Love, joy and peace are energies of the highest vibration which no other can overcome. The more of it we put into the world the more of it that manifests until wallah, we have created something different, a nonviolent world at peace.
If there is a Second Coming it is perhaps not the coming of one individual but rather a rising of this inner light within each of us that comes into the world committed to a higher good each according to his or her talents, guided by Love. And by example, inspiring others to also change In this creative tapestry all threads are important. Yours must be green, coming from the heart.
So good on you for being part of the rising tide. Some thoughts rattling around wanting an exit path even as biting things have their way with this succulent flesh.
I´m enjoying my multicultural experience in Kaua, Yucatan, a small rural Mayan community west of Cancun. This gracious Mayan family took me in and has fed me out of their limited resources. Chickens and dogs run in and out the open doors, eating and sometimes defecating on the earthen floor but encouraged to stay out with a fly swatter. Sometimes their treatment is rough. One older dog has learned to be wary of humans. You can see it on its sad face.
Sixto´s younger wife just had her third child, this one by caesarian section, so far no infection but wears a band around her large mid section. She´s not supposed to lift heavy things but the work of caring for and feeding her children makes this nearly impossible. Still she has said to me she loves what she does, the hard work and caring for her children which both clearly adore. She nurses her child openly without a second thought in front of a stranger which is the natural thing to do. They both lie in their hammock, usually not together with baby on chest or at their side while rocking back and forth by pulling on a rope tied to a rafter. They had a fan blowing air towards the hammock until the cheap plastic hub shattered. Smoke from an open fire set between three large rocks has blackened the underside of the thatched roof and rafters. A metal grate rests on the three rocks to support pots or a flat metal pan to cook tortillas. This home is built more the way a traditional one which was the intent. The vertical log walls are held in place by vines as is every other support. There are spaces between each pole to allow fresh air to enter.
On this journey I chose to not bring a camera for the distraction it creates, preferring instead to continue with a practice of just being present in the moment. And sometimes this comes easier than others.
But not all is well here either as it is in many places. Plastic basura litters the landscape here and at roadside. Sixto took a bag of plastic crap into the jungle to dispose of it. Some of it gets burned. I have seen this many times in my travels. We have allowed this to happen without requiring that if something stands a chance of being disposed of at roadside or whereever, it should be biodegradable. Ultimately, until each of us takes responsibility for all of the messes we´ve created, not much will change except the hand wringing and rush to judgment.
He also said to me that the people feel they are slaves to a government corrupted by love of power and money. Sounds familiar doesn´t it. A civil revolution is possible here he said. Gabriel his nephew expressed a similar sentiment, saying that the patience of the people is not endless.
Still, I remain hopeful of a turning tide and choose to focus my energies on a revolution of consciousness guided by the way of peace which is Love.
Tomorrow it´s back on the bicycle and head for the north coast then maybe back south again through Tulum, flying back to Miami on the 16th.
And in that I remain perfect in my imperfections sending you much love and abrazos as we close out the old and ring in the new.
Don
PS It´s roast turkey, a special treat for this evenings fare.
On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 8:12 PM, Jean Aspen wrote:
Beloved Don,I am slowly working my way through your Meister Echart book, glad for the commentary. You have been pivotal in much of my reading and I appreciate very much your taste in metaphysics.
It is good to hear of your journeys and know that you continue loving each day. I think that is the simple-but-not-always-easy "answer" to life. Live the day you are given with the joy and curiosity of a child. It is a dichotomy, of course, for there is also the wisdom to make the difference you can without giving your gratitude.Tom and I spent our summer in the Brooks Range healing and filming. We plan to go there as long as we are physically able to walk and haul water. I have promised him next year that I will not write, but will film and go for long walks with him. I resigned my position as OB Coordinator at the hospital and now live with less money and no health insurance for the freedom of the mountains and time to be creative--a worthwhile trade in my opinion. I just completed my fifth book and have it out to readers for input. It is the story of how I became who I am, and is the most complex piece I have written. You recall that it is a work that has engaged me for 6 years. In addition, Tom and I have recut our documentary, Arctic Son, for the PBS time slot of 2 hours. We are currently crafting five special features, averaging about 15 minutes each, for the second disc of the documentary set. They will not be simple "sweepings from the cutting room floor," but each is a little gem, requiring weeks of layering and work. We filmed voice-over and background footage last summer at our cabin with a good hi-definition camcorder. One feature is a tribute to Lucas, one is about living your dream, one is about legacy and stewardship, one is a piece of upriver exploring from 1992 that is excellent--but couldn't fit into the original documentary because of time constraints--and one is a musical piece using slides that span my lifetime (60 years) in the Brooks Range.Next summer we will be filming for another documentary, "Arctic Daughter" using the excellent 35mm slides I took when I lived in the wilderness with my first husband in 1972-1977. It is good to have the ability to weave one's life into art and share it with others. What else is there to do?Wishing you Joy, Inspiration, and strong legsLove, Jeanie"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" -- Mary Oliver
On Dec 20, 2012, at 1:50 PM, Don Ross wrote:
Hola Tom and Jeanie,
Arrived safely in Maya land with bicycle two days ago. Staying with a friend near Akumal about 40 miles south of Cancun after a flight from Miami. Pedaled here from the airport, a major adjustment in the heat and humidity.Tomorrow spend 12/21 with a Mayan friend not far away. But today enjoying being on the beach and mostly out of the sun. Catching up on email and use of a computer.Been a wonderful journey of discovery and renewed friendships. And looking forward to how things unfold, exciting to be here. And can't say I miss the cooold of Fairbanks this time of year.Hope this finds you well and your project perking along well as you as you hoped. Have a blessed Christmas and New Years and perhaps a pheasant under glass for a grateful meal of celebration.Much love abrazos and bendigas,Don
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Responding to an email from T and J New Years Eve day 12/31/12
Beloved J and T,
Re: While I'm NOT your proctologist….MERRY CHRISTMAS! - my response to J, 12/24/12
Yahoo or ouch or may yipee,
Swarms of ants on my tent this Christmas AM. But the rest was peaceful here in the Yucatan.
More down the road. Thanks for the greetings and the same to you both.
DonOn Sat, Dec 22, 2012 at 7:20 PM, <jamesfittz@mac.com> wrote:
James Fittz, DMA
Prof. Emeritus of Cello
School of Music
University of Northern Colorado
contact information:
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Peace Rider from Kaua, Yucatan 1/1/13
Hi Lois,
This to you will also go out on the blog for everyone else following these postings. I trust you will circulate this to a wider circle of Friends.
A few highlights from my time with the Maya. At the moment I´m sitting in an Internet cafe in the small. rural community of Kaua on the road to Chichen Itza west of here. The Itza part gets dropped by the locals. Kids are on a computer to my left sucked in to a world of virtual reality. It´s a bit more subdued to my right but the volume of noise in here is increasing. Will see if I can make it through to the end.
I´m now staying with the Sixto Maxon family a kilometer in the other direction from town. Sixton is the uncle of Gabriel whom I stayed with in the community of Muuchximbal, roughly two days of cycling southeast of here outside of Tulum. From the day the world as we know it came to an end (12/21) until now I´ve been more off the road than on. But it´s been just a wonderful experience of other ways of being and living. Both of these families live close to the earth and most of the time directly on it. Kids, cats, four, two month old puppies, an adult smallish dog, and the three remaining young pullets run in and out of Sixton´s casa maya at will. It´s a hard scrabble life for the animals who eat scraps off the floor and are sometimes encouraged to leave with hard swat from a fly swatter. But for all that they are not the scrawny ill treated creatures I have seen elsewhere in my travels. Sixto´s younger wife Araselli loves having the animals around. And as she said to me the work is hard but she loves it, the making of tortillas, cooking over a wood fire set between three large rocks. She uses a flat plate to cook the corn massa for tortillas which in turn rests on a metal grate suspended over the fire. This was the traditional way of cooking. Before metal it was a thin fire resistant stone Sixton told me. He works at Chichen having something to do with archaeology and anthropology. My Spanish and understanding of it is improving but still missing some and mangling others as I speak. But the effort seems to be appreciated.
For those of you who have not visited this part of the world before, I am now in the State of Yucatan, I was in Quintana Roo east of here. There is no surface water, it´s all underground but appears at the surface in cenotes or sink holes in this very porous limesstone. Most of the original forest is gone and what remain is in parks. Gabriel has a lovely little cenote near his place, and Sixto has one on his land. This part of the Yucatan has a bit more top soil but it´s quite shallow where Gabriel lives. I had to put stones on all my stakes to hold my tent down there but not a Sixton´s.
Well, I´m not going to quite make it to the end so will have to break off here and continue tomorrow when sometime maybe I can hit the road again. It´s heading toward dark now at 5:30 and I don´t want to be on the road after dark with cars roaring by. Fortunately, not far to go and there´s a wide shoulder just out side town.
Don Peace Rider
This to you will also go out on the blog for everyone else following these postings. I trust you will circulate this to a wider circle of Friends.
A few highlights from my time with the Maya. At the moment I´m sitting in an Internet cafe in the small. rural community of Kaua on the road to Chichen Itza west of here. The Itza part gets dropped by the locals. Kids are on a computer to my left sucked in to a world of virtual reality. It´s a bit more subdued to my right but the volume of noise in here is increasing. Will see if I can make it through to the end.
I´m now staying with the Sixto Maxon family a kilometer in the other direction from town. Sixton is the uncle of Gabriel whom I stayed with in the community of Muuchximbal, roughly two days of cycling southeast of here outside of Tulum. From the day the world as we know it came to an end (12/21) until now I´ve been more off the road than on. But it´s been just a wonderful experience of other ways of being and living. Both of these families live close to the earth and most of the time directly on it. Kids, cats, four, two month old puppies, an adult smallish dog, and the three remaining young pullets run in and out of Sixton´s casa maya at will. It´s a hard scrabble life for the animals who eat scraps off the floor and are sometimes encouraged to leave with hard swat from a fly swatter. But for all that they are not the scrawny ill treated creatures I have seen elsewhere in my travels. Sixto´s younger wife Araselli loves having the animals around. And as she said to me the work is hard but she loves it, the making of tortillas, cooking over a wood fire set between three large rocks. She uses a flat plate to cook the corn massa for tortillas which in turn rests on a metal grate suspended over the fire. This was the traditional way of cooking. Before metal it was a thin fire resistant stone Sixton told me. He works at Chichen having something to do with archaeology and anthropology. My Spanish and understanding of it is improving but still missing some and mangling others as I speak. But the effort seems to be appreciated.
For those of you who have not visited this part of the world before, I am now in the State of Yucatan, I was in Quintana Roo east of here. There is no surface water, it´s all underground but appears at the surface in cenotes or sink holes in this very porous limesstone. Most of the original forest is gone and what remain is in parks. Gabriel has a lovely little cenote near his place, and Sixto has one on his land. This part of the Yucatan has a bit more top soil but it´s quite shallow where Gabriel lives. I had to put stones on all my stakes to hold my tent down there but not a Sixton´s.
Well, I´m not going to quite make it to the end so will have to break off here and continue tomorrow when sometime maybe I can hit the road again. It´s heading toward dark now at 5:30 and I don´t want to be on the road after dark with cars roaring by. Fortunately, not far to go and there´s a wide shoulder just out side town.
Don Peace Rider
Friday, December 21, 2012
Some Thoughts on Gun Violence in America 12/21/2012
My dear friends,
I feel compelled to say a few words about the multiple shootings and death of young people by gun violence. There are things all of us can do to stop this insanity. And yes, tighter controls on guns are a part of it but only a part of the answer. But gun regulations do not get to the root of the problem we have created in our society.
As I have said here before all things are connected energetically. We really need to reexamine everything we are doing from an elevated consciousness that knows and understands this reality. When we allow young people to disconnect from the real world for a make believe virtual one that frequently fills young minds with nothing but violent images and they see this repeated in real life events,war for example, and other media forums we've engaged in a form of unintended brain washing of impressionable young minds. And what do these images and events imply but that use of violence is acceptable for resolving our differences. In the virtual world there are no consequences for the protagonists. In the real world there is real blood on the ground and dead bodies. Stop this insanity. Give our children and young people positive things of a nonviolent nature to live for rather than spill real blood and die for. Reconnect young and old alike with their roots in the natural world rather than being fed a constant diet of negativity and violence found in the virtual one and not infrequently in the real one.
We create from our thoughts individually and collectively. Thoughts are creative energy. And we have created a violent world from the misperception that we are somehow separate from other sentient beings or All That Is, known by many names. We are only harming ourselves. This is worth repeating until it really sinks in and begins to make a difference. Hit you head against the wall often enough and pretty soon you'll figure out this really doesn't work so well and you'll stop doing it. It is time to stop.
On this auspicious day let us resolve to make peace on earth and peace with the earth a priority for all of us. Your peace center lies in the heart. That is the first place to begin real peace work. Let your cultivation of that inner light shine forth brightly into our world to help heal and create a new earth from this day forward.
Feliz Navidad y Ano Nuevo del Yucatan, peace, love and joy to all,
Peace Rider
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