Moments forming memories

I have not been religious about my posting recently an have not written anything remotely current in months. I have been posting writings from the last year as I realize that many of the thoughts, emotions and dilemmas are still very real for me-- so much for progress.
However, the last few months since i returned from China have been laden with realizations, relaxations and lusciousness. It also seems that I am gearing up for yet another adventure : this one may be the grandest all others paling in comparison (details to follow s the aspirations become more realistic.

But as for the recent past there is much that deserves recognition. And as my recent trend proves, I am better with pictures than with words. So Here I show what is going on in my mind and heart.

Western Side of the Eastern Shore

A visit to the Eastern Shore (Maryland) brought delicious and beautiful encounters with "love," life (death) and Butterflies. In between all that I got to indulge and visit with family from the oldest to the youngest (8 to 95). All of this makes me think how different things look from close up. How would it be if we looked at all of life this way?

12.1.07 Living a life without doors

A life without doors
in a country of chaos,
anxiety,
sunshine
and smiles
where no opportunity awaits
just around the bend.
nothing is just around the bend.
everything disappears into the darkness.
and there is no future
there is no change
there is no hope
of future or change;
Is this his reality?
The absence of doors merely mocks the reality
of being trapped
without identity,
individuality
or privacy,
naked for the world to see
like an animal in a zoo
yet invisible
to all
exposed
totally
and simultaneously
nonexistent
further humiliated
by the irony
of life.

10.2008 Last Week

The Silk Road
Urumqi to Dunghua via Turpan

The Uyger Hat-making Family of Turpan
Most of the people in Turpan (the second lowest place on the planet 154m below sea level) are the Ethnic Uyger. They are Muslim, they are Chinese, the speak a form of Turkish and use the Arabic script. Confused yet? They live in an oasis in the heart of the desert that has been fed by an ancient irrigation system nearly 2000years old. In underground canals, dug by their ancestors, the snow melt from the Tian
Shan Mountains (Heavenly Mountains) runs with the help of gravity to this natural depression creating the greatest place to grow the sweetest grapes. The Kiraz irrigation system is famous for its technique and effectiveness, keeping this community alive for centuries.

The Uyger family factory we visited makes traditional Uyger hats. We had an opportunity to learn how the bead-work is done and the practice a bit ourselves. It is not easy and very time consuming, especially for our city hands which are
particularly impatient and our young agile fingers are best at typing and videogame joystick maneuvering.

We were treated to delicious naan bread and local grapes under the shade of grapevine
canopy. We each were suited with a traditional hat according to custom; Men wear black hats with white beaded patterns, while women wear red or burgundy hats with gold and pink bead-work and tassels. In return I left them with a few photos. Their smiles said it all.

Muslim Village- Muslim City.
China is so big. There are parts of China that China doesn't even know about yet. In any particular day (and on one in particular) you can wake up in a crummy Chinese hotel, hop on a bus to an Israeli town past that into an Afghani village in the mountains, into the Egyptian desert, and finally rest in the afternoon under the grapevine shade of a Greek estate. China is not only Chinese, in fact more of it is not Chinese than is. While Han are the ethnic majority, the land is vastly not the typical CHINESE landscape and there are people over nearly half of it that are Tibetan, Mongolian, Kazak, Turk, Russian, Uyger and many other smaller ethnicities.
And even that is not all the city is another story all together. Yet they all are Chinese, Just ask them (in what ever language they speak and they will tell you.)

Week before last
Habitat for Humanity
Ganhaiza (a village too small to be on any map), Yunnan, China post one: The Village rests on the far side of a mountain. The nearest road stops in a local township where we stayed in a rugged "guest house." In the mornings after breakfast we would hike over the mountain to the village where we would work with the villagers, play and eat in rapid succession. The people of the village are ethnic Miao people. They
are one of China's largest ethnic minority groups and populate large parts of Southern China. The women wear their hair up in the traditional fashion once they have children. The men wear suit coats for all manner of work: digging, farming, basketball and eating. even some of the younger boys wear them. It is an ironic image to see a muddy man with pick ax wearing a ragged tailored suit.
many pictures in between

Post Two:
We worked on various projects: digging a foundation, picking and shucking corn, cooking, and then befriending the village and getting schooled on the Basketball court. The students worked with total dedication, played with enthusiasm and loved completely. I was so pleased with the work they did, the attitude they brought, the patience they showed with the projects and each other...; they were truly
amazing. I presented regular challenges and to every one they approached each completely. I have not remembered being so impressed in a while. The land we were working in spread out in front of us, below us and above us constantly inspiring awe. The air was fresh, a welcome alternative to Shanghai's din and suffocating heat and tangible air.

today's horoscope

My favorite places on the Moon are the Sea of Clouds, Sea of Fertility, Sea of Ingenuity, and Sea of Nectar. They're not actual bodies of water. The old astronomers who named them didn't know they were actually dark plains formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. But the great thing about the moon is that it piques our imaginations and massages our dreams as much as it speaks to our rational minds. And I encourage you to take advantage of that power now. Here's one possible way: Daydream a story about a heroic quest in which you acquire four magical boons, one each at the Sea of Clouds, Sea of Fertility, Sea of Ingenuity, and Sea of Nectar.
http://www.freewillastrology.com/

9.28 Off on an adventure

Today I leave for the first of two week-long trips that I am leading with students around China.
Will wake up and hop into a taxi to trudge through traffic, find a group of 16 teenagers then shepard them all on to a plan. We fly to Kunming, which is the major city in the southern province of Yunnan (near Laos and Myanmar). We will be working with an organization, during this week (which is the Chinese national holiday that celebrates Mao’s founding of the PRC), called Habitat for HUMANITY. We will be working in a remote village building houses and maybe a school. This will certainly be an amazing trip.

As if that were not enough… I will be leaving again only hours after returning from that week…
China Alive is an annual trip the school sponsors for all freshmen and sophomore students. 7 trips explore various, historical, cultural and tourist destinations in China. I will be leading a trip of 60 students along the ancient Silk Road in western China… from Durban?? To Urmiqi… by train and camel etc. to the turpan pendi, a place only my students and the random person knows about, as the second lowest point on the planet (154 meters below sea level), past the singing sand dunes reported in Marco Polo’s account of his controversial visit to China during the Yuan Dynasty (1280- 1366). This will certainly be an amazing trip. I have already packed my cameras and film.

Both experiences will be incredible. I am excited and a bit exhausted already, I will load pictures onto the blog and report details of all adventures upon my return.

I will drop off the radar (more than already) in the next two weeks because I know I will be beyond internet access and mostly out of cell range. Thank goodness. There are so few cell free zones left on the planet…. Be well and eagerly await tales of adventure, sweat and adolescent brilliance, humor and growth…. And my typical wordy observations.

10.10.08
The Village rests on the far side of a mountain. The nearest road stops in a local township where we stayed in a rugged "guest house." In the mornings after breakfast we would hike over the mountain to the village where we would work with the villagers , play and eat in rapid succession.
The people of the village are ethnic Miao people. They are one of China's largest ethnic minority groups and populate large parts of Southern China. The women wear their hair up in the traditional fashion once they have children. The men wear suit coats for all manner of work: digging, farming, basketball and eating. even some of the younger boys wear them. It is an ironic image to see a muddy man with pick ax wearing a ragged tailored suit.
We worked on various projects: digging a foundation, picking and shucking corn, cooking, and then befriending the village and getting schooled on the Basketball court. The students worked with total dedication, played with enthusiasm and loved completely. I was so pleased with the work they did, the attitude they brought, the patience they showed with the projects and each other...; they were truly amazing. I presented regular challenges and to every one they approached each completely. I have not remembered being so impressed in a while.
The land we were working in spread out in front of us, below us and above us constantly inspiring awe. The air was fresh, a welcome alternative to Shanghai's din and suffocating heat and tangible air.


I have been around the world without leaving the boundaries of China. I have traveled the Silk Road in the dry desert of western China and build a house with Habitat for Humanity in the red earth of the Yunnan mountains.

Learning Tower. 8.11.07

My accidental up-brining and my intentional growth and travel as an adult have taught me a great deal. I have learned how to live comfortably with less... If I can, I know we each can.
I have seen people around the world with more smiles and kinder heart who have virtually nothing but each other. the human spirit is incredible and we can nurture our community and our spirit by
living with less.
The modern world has encouraged us to consume a lot, desire a lot and waste a lot. I know that I especially grew extremely attached to the things that i owned... a fortunate set of events this past year arranged for me to part with nearly everything I had owned and acquired. It was a remarkable process to let everything go. It was a challenge at times, but the result was amazing … and continues to fill me with a sense of calm… ( or something nearly impossible to express… but like that)
I have moved to a new country and have not replaced most of the things that I have learned to live without. I am living simply. And it is almost a cliché. There is a magazine that you can order that tells all about how to live simply … and all the products you can buy to simplify your life… WHAT IRONY> I think that is where we all have it wrong.
And I am not advocating we all renounce our belongings and become nomadic, but there is something to be said for really examining our lives and habits to see what is essential what is important, what is real in each of our lives.

I think it is even as simple as eating a little less. We treat or bodies like we treat our homes; we fill them with crap, most of which we don’t need and can easily live without. And that stuff follows us around. I am really speaking mostly of myself. But when we let go of it, and look closely at what we bring in then things change.

So to list my ideas… and THINGS THAT I REALLY DO:

*Eat less, maybe two meals a day, OR just several snacks
*Re-use every bag. I will never buy trash bags in my life.
*Turn off the lights
*Turn off the air conditioning. (when I use it at all I cool the house for an hour in the morning and then it stays cool all day.
*Put on a sweater before turning up the heat
*I host COUCH SURFERS.- I let travelers stay at my house. I have more space than I need and it creates a little family.
*I am cautious and conscientious of what I buy EVERY TIME>
*I wear my clothes more than once before washing them- maybe it sounds dirty, but dirty is a relative concept.
*I don’t own a TV and I don’t watch it… I don’t want to share my mind space with advertisements.
*I sweep my floor
*I don’t through away food.
*I share my ideas with people I know
*I am willing to make mistakes, fuck it up and try again. I am not perfect, don’t intend to be, but I want something better for my children and your children.