POST # 97
Today, I will be the lone Canuck, sharing American Thanksgiving with others, here in Bend Oregon.
And if dad were alive, he would have been 97 years old today.
Plenty of other thoughts roaming around in my mind, but I think that for now, I will just leave them there.
Happy Trails
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
THOUGHTFUL: showing consideration for others; occupied with or given to thought; contemplative; meditative. WANDERER: moving from place to place without a fixed plan; or having no permanent residence; nomadic.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
WANDERING AGAIN
POST # 96
For reasons that have been stated in an earlier post, November 21st has been a significant day in this wandering life of mine. And today I will be wandering once again. Destination, Washington State for a break from all of this stressful house sitting. A guy needs to take a break every now and again. Shadow the cat, my companion for the past two weeks has been a real treat though, and I'll be a bit sad to have to say goodbye to him. Perhaps I'll see him again next year at this time.
However, when I think about a whole entire year ahead, I can't help but wonder just what things will be like by then. If Fukushima doesn't finish us all off, then there's always climate change, which by all accounts that I follow appears to be picking up pace, and even as that happens, the climate bureaucrats sit in Warsaw Poland this week discussing the matter. I reviewed a video clip this past week from the climate summit in Rio way back in 1992, at which David Suzuki's daughter had some choice words to say to the delagates all that long time ago. She was just 12 years old then. It made me cry, just to watch it. Fast forward to 2013, and nothing has been done, and that tells me all I need to know on that front. The big difference now though, is that the climate has taken charge, and so all of the bureaucrats can talk until they're blue in the face, and it won't make a hill of beans worth of difference. They've been doing it now for over 20 years, talk, talk, talk. They'll probably be at it next year. I wonder how many self reinforcing feedback loops will be in the system by then?
OK, so I've got that off of my chest, for this week at least but I'm sure that I'm not done with the topic. All I can do is to keep spreading the message for those who care to dig a bit deeper and look at the facts.
In the meantime I will continue to put one foot in front of the other and face each day, knowing that it's all that I have. Precious moments, one after another. In spite of it all, there is still time for laughter and joy. And time to wander.
Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
PS. If you want to watch the speech by Severn Suzuki, just google Severn Suzuki at Earth Summit 1992 and that should work. Have some tissues ready just in case.
For reasons that have been stated in an earlier post, November 21st has been a significant day in this wandering life of mine. And today I will be wandering once again. Destination, Washington State for a break from all of this stressful house sitting. A guy needs to take a break every now and again. Shadow the cat, my companion for the past two weeks has been a real treat though, and I'll be a bit sad to have to say goodbye to him. Perhaps I'll see him again next year at this time.
However, when I think about a whole entire year ahead, I can't help but wonder just what things will be like by then. If Fukushima doesn't finish us all off, then there's always climate change, which by all accounts that I follow appears to be picking up pace, and even as that happens, the climate bureaucrats sit in Warsaw Poland this week discussing the matter. I reviewed a video clip this past week from the climate summit in Rio way back in 1992, at which David Suzuki's daughter had some choice words to say to the delagates all that long time ago. She was just 12 years old then. It made me cry, just to watch it. Fast forward to 2013, and nothing has been done, and that tells me all I need to know on that front. The big difference now though, is that the climate has taken charge, and so all of the bureaucrats can talk until they're blue in the face, and it won't make a hill of beans worth of difference. They've been doing it now for over 20 years, talk, talk, talk. They'll probably be at it next year. I wonder how many self reinforcing feedback loops will be in the system by then?
OK, so I've got that off of my chest, for this week at least but I'm sure that I'm not done with the topic. All I can do is to keep spreading the message for those who care to dig a bit deeper and look at the facts.
In the meantime I will continue to put one foot in front of the other and face each day, knowing that it's all that I have. Precious moments, one after another. In spite of it all, there is still time for laughter and joy. And time to wander.
Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
PS. If you want to watch the speech by Severn Suzuki, just google Severn Suzuki at Earth Summit 1992 and that should work. Have some tissues ready just in case.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
PLATO
POST # 95
Due to a glitch on my home computer, I have come to the library and only have a short time to write for today, so I thought that a quote from Plato would be in order.
THOSE WHO ARE ABLE TO SEE BEYOND THE SHADOWS AND LIES OF THEIR CULTURE WILL NEVER BE UNDERSTOOD, LET ALONE BELIEVED BY THE MASSES.
PLATO
BORN 427 BC
DIED 347 BC
He hit the nail on the head all those years ago.
Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
Due to a glitch on my home computer, I have come to the library and only have a short time to write for today, so I thought that a quote from Plato would be in order.
THOSE WHO ARE ABLE TO SEE BEYOND THE SHADOWS AND LIES OF THEIR CULTURE WILL NEVER BE UNDERSTOOD, LET ALONE BELIEVED BY THE MASSES.
PLATO
BORN 427 BC
DIED 347 BC
He hit the nail on the head all those years ago.
Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
Thursday, November 7, 2013
SHADOW REVISITED
POST # 94
Sometime around 4am this morning I heard voices, but then I drifted back to sleep. My sleep was interrupted around 6:30am to the sound of "Meeeeoooowwwww". It was Shadow the big black cat letting me know that it was time for breakfast, don't ya know. "Chill out Shadow, it's way too early for that." Thankfully he took my advice and allowed me to enjoy a couple more hours of beauty rest prior to getting up this morning.
After an extended vacation in Hawaii, I am now back to "work" taking care of another pet. This is round two with Shadow, having been here exactly a year ago, and it should be a very easy house sit. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks, while the owners relax in Mexico for their annual holiday.
Wow, another entire year has gone by. They sure do pass quickly these days. Last year I was hobbling around with a cane, and this year I'm down to a pronounced limp, so I'm thankful for that.
Try as I might, I am finding it difficult to get Fukushima off of my mind these days. The latest news, is that TEPCO has decided to delay the removal of the fuel rods from reactor number 4. For how long, I'm not sure. Either way though, the situation looks rather precarious. Removing them is going to be dicey, and leaving them where they are isn't much better. In the past week, even David Suzuki put in his two cents worth, when speaking to an audience at the University of Alberta in Edmonton at the end of October. See below.
David Suzuki at the University of Alberta, October 30, 2013 (At 2:45 in): Fukushima is the most terrifying situation I can imagine. You ask, what can we do? First of all you have got a government that is in total collusion with Tepco, they’re lying through their teeth. […] The fourth one has been so badly damaged that the fear is if there’s another quake of a 7 or above that that building will go, and then all hell breaks loose. And the probability of a 7 or above quake in the next 3 years is over 95%. […] They don’t know what to do. We need to get a group of international experts to go in with complete freedom to do what they suggest. Right now the Japanese government has too much pride to admit that. I’ve seen a paper which says that if in fact the fourth plant goes under an earthquake and those rods are exposed, it’s bye-bye Japan, and everybody on the West Coast of North America should evacuate. Now if that isn’t terrifying, I don’t know what is.
Any way you slice it, things are getting very "iffy" over there in Japan, and so I prefer to keep up to date with what's going on. All of a sudden, Vancouver isn't looking like the best place to live after all. Events will continue to unfold and decisions will need to be made accordingly.
In the meantime, I am going to enjoy my time with Shadow. Sometimes I think it would be easier to just be a cat.
Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
Sometime around 4am this morning I heard voices, but then I drifted back to sleep. My sleep was interrupted around 6:30am to the sound of "Meeeeoooowwwww". It was Shadow the big black cat letting me know that it was time for breakfast, don't ya know. "Chill out Shadow, it's way too early for that." Thankfully he took my advice and allowed me to enjoy a couple more hours of beauty rest prior to getting up this morning.
After an extended vacation in Hawaii, I am now back to "work" taking care of another pet. This is round two with Shadow, having been here exactly a year ago, and it should be a very easy house sit. I am looking forward to the next couple of weeks, while the owners relax in Mexico for their annual holiday.
Wow, another entire year has gone by. They sure do pass quickly these days. Last year I was hobbling around with a cane, and this year I'm down to a pronounced limp, so I'm thankful for that.
Try as I might, I am finding it difficult to get Fukushima off of my mind these days. The latest news, is that TEPCO has decided to delay the removal of the fuel rods from reactor number 4. For how long, I'm not sure. Either way though, the situation looks rather precarious. Removing them is going to be dicey, and leaving them where they are isn't much better. In the past week, even David Suzuki put in his two cents worth, when speaking to an audience at the University of Alberta in Edmonton at the end of October. See below.
David Suzuki at the University of Alberta, October 30, 2013 (At 2:45 in): Fukushima is the most terrifying situation I can imagine. You ask, what can we do? First of all you have got a government that is in total collusion with Tepco, they’re lying through their teeth. […] The fourth one has been so badly damaged that the fear is if there’s another quake of a 7 or above that that building will go, and then all hell breaks loose. And the probability of a 7 or above quake in the next 3 years is over 95%. […] They don’t know what to do. We need to get a group of international experts to go in with complete freedom to do what they suggest. Right now the Japanese government has too much pride to admit that. I’ve seen a paper which says that if in fact the fourth plant goes under an earthquake and those rods are exposed, it’s bye-bye Japan, and everybody on the West Coast of North America should evacuate. Now if that isn’t terrifying, I don’t know what is.
Any way you slice it, things are getting very "iffy" over there in Japan, and so I prefer to keep up to date with what's going on. All of a sudden, Vancouver isn't looking like the best place to live after all. Events will continue to unfold and decisions will need to be made accordingly.
In the meantime, I am going to enjoy my time with Shadow. Sometimes I think it would be easier to just be a cat.
Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer
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