Shields and non-violence training

Our community stood in unity and solidarity on Friday when the WBC came to town. 340 of us formed a line for 45 minutes, in front of the HS in a "shield of loving kindness". Halfway through the spewing of hate and disgusting language shouted through the bull horn, we all turned our backs on the protestors and faced our youth who were getting out of school. On our backs were bumper stickers "Power of Silence".

We stood in silence for 45 minutes, holding hands, in two long lines between the spewers and the students. We had been trained in non-violent action. During the training for 2 minutes we had to not react as another role player screamed at us, in language that was similar to what we would hear during our non-violent action. The training was actually worse than the event.

WBC is very punctual, they arrive when they say they will, and leave when they say they will. We remained silent in our lines, while the 8 of them got back in the mini-van.

As they turned the corner away from the HS there was a quiet cheer among the participants.

What I realized about 10 minutes into standing there, is that every muscle in my body was tense. I was on high alert. As soon as I realized this I relaxed my muscles. 3 days later my muscles, from being tense for those 10 minutes, are still sore.

This is a bit of a rambling post, but being trained in non-violence is really good for the rest of my life. I am more able to listen to people without reacting, and I am able to wait until they are done before I form a rebuttal. As I consider difficult conversations, I am able to listen, and look right through the person who is speaking. I am able to just not react. This will take lots of practice.

It really was a gift to participate in this silent action. The non-violent response is a shield I carry with me going forward.

Hard to have Hope - but I do

I know that President Obama can not solve all of the world's problems. There are a lot. As I hear of more people who are losing houses, losing jobs, losing retirement savings, etc I get pretty depressed. During the election I was pretty addicted to CNN and MSMBC, and since the election up until the inauguration, I watched. I am still watching. I watched Obama go into the basement of the White House and introduce himself to the media. I watch him in the Oval Office in his shirt, no suit jacket. I hear and am interested in his positions on the big troubles of the world.

So, I latch onto him for hope, and I also know that I need to get active and make a contribution as well. I have blogged about this before, BUT I have to get involved.

When I graduated from college, I wanted to get a master's. Almost 20 years later, I went back to get my degree, after I figured out what I was passionate about; training and development. It won't take me that long to get involved. Youth empowerment, and health care reform are two areas that always bubble to the top.

So, off to our office holiday party (we got snowed out in December) and I intend to have an evening where I don't talk about some of the ills of the world and instead have a drink or two, dance and play some poker in our casino. Off to Coniston tomorrow after Murg gets finger printed for his citizenship application.

The times they are a changin'

WOW, wasn't yesterday just about the most exciting day in a long time!!!!!!

Every move that Obama makes, convinces me that my vote was a good one on November 4th. Seeing him tonight on the news, as he sits at his desk in the oval office.

SO this is what if feels like to respect the person in the White House. I have never in my adult life respected someone so much. Clinton's first was close but his second was eroding.

I have been saying for a while, that we all need to get involved to make this administration successful, and he is going to hold us accountable to get involved. So how am I going to get involved? What is my passion?

On Monday, the day of volunteering, Bethany and I went to the Children's Room. They have a great mission and a non-profit like that could get me involved. Empowering youth and women are definitely my passions.

WOW, watching the news while writing this. Obama is in a shirt. Bush had a rule that you had to have a suit jacket on in the White House and Air Force 1. I am definitely liking this. How about Jeans?

This is an exciting time, and with the economic news, a scary time as well. What can I do right now to help out?

Respect for the White House, . . . this feels like a really great time to be an American.

Post Election thoughts

And this is why I love my husband, he wrote this email on November 5th to our kids:

"Crick, B,
1. I'm starting my citizenship papers tonight, since a pretty good number of you Americans have fended off what was starting to look like a fundamentalist Christian government.
2. That's largely due to a large number of young voters like you coming forward to take the country in a new direction and that can only bode well for future elections. Those over 64 are one of the few demographics that stuck with McCain and they will start to die off with ever increasing frequency. You young folks will shift the balance if you stick with it.
3. Just in time, we are going to have a president who can restock the Supreme Court with younger progressive judges to replace the older ones who will retire (as they surely will during his first term). With any luck he may need to replace one of the older judges of the opposing persuasion.
4. The resounding victory has given him some pretty good coat tails, that leaves other legislators indebted to him somewhat, while they helped sweep others out of power. So all of his initiatives should have a "relatively" easy passage.
5. I will be able to listen to a presidential State of the Union, or other public message without cringing or being embarrassed.
6. I can look forward to:
*A better Supreme Court
*An economic fix to our current problems, based in reality, Recognizing that a huge deficit means me and my older compatriots are passing on our debts to you two and others of your age group
*A stimulus package that shifts large parts of the economy towards addressing the crisis of climate change and rotting infrastructure
*A healthcare system that becomes a civic right rather than a profit center
*Civil discourse within our country, strong accords with our partners overseas, and even a dialogue with those who the current administration has demonized

Of course its not all a rosy picture, but I'll save that for after the inauguration speech, when its clearer what "change" #44 is talking about.

With love - Rod, Dad "

I am also attaching a youtube video that was taken at B's college after the election winner was announced (the screaming OMG is my daughter, honestly she makes me so proud):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pe_aI7bSK4

My most pressing thoughts right now are how we make sure Obama is successful. We were all with him all along the way and supporting him so we cannot let our foot off the pedal now. We have to act and press on to make sure we overcome and win.

This is an amazing time, and a scary time. The alternative to Obama would have been a lot more scary.

Press on . . .

Bikes - a journey

So I did something very stupid yesterday. I had left my bike at church on Monday and needed to get it back to the house, and Qammi needed a walk, so we walked over to the church, picked up the bike. I hand-walked the bike to the bike path, and once there decided to ride it with her running along side. It worked for the most part, and I had a couple of near misses that I learned from. I learned to not have my hand on the handle, with the leash in it, in case she chose to stray. I learned to watch for dogs that she might want to chase.

These near misses brought up vivid memories of my bike accidents, including the one when I was 8 or 9, and I realized this many years later, that it might not have been Fleagle who ran in front of my tire. It might have been me who was distracted being a Klutz. That accident I was taking the sandwiches and iced tea to the haying crew and Fleagle ran in front of my bike and I went head over heels. I had on Mom's yellow scarf, which I put over the gash in my head, and went to the closest house, which was about 1/4 mile away, to call Mom. Where we lived was 7 miles from a town of 200 people in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. The ranch was the Lazy EH ranch. I was about 1 mile from home, and I cannot remember whether I got a hold of Mom and she came to get me, or I walked home. I do remember vividly the blood on her scarf, and the butterfly bandages she put on my gash. Whenever I see that color yellow, I see it with blood on it. So maybe it was not Fleagle's fault, as I reflected yesterday on the 2 near misses and my other 2 accidents.

The second one was about 10 years ago. I was riding my bike home carrying a plastic bag with stuff in it. The bag went between the spokes of the front wheel, stopped the bike cold and I went head over heels again. My bike helmet had pieces of gravel in it, which is a testament to wearing helmets. I took it to the youth group to show them. I doubt if any of them wear helmets more frequently because of that but one can always hope. The other sad thing that happened as I was walking up our street, with blood dripping off my face, is that our elderly neighbor met me. He did not see the blood dripping off my face, but was in a panic himself since he was locked out of his house and needed to call his wife. Even with the trauma I had just been through I was taking care of people. I was not well developed enough to scream at him "Allen, look at my face. Shut up." Today I would say, "Allen, sorry I cannot help you right now, and go be nice to the women in your life." I am so glad to be married to a sensitive man who would notice the blood on my face.

Right after my bike accident, I got a new pair of roller blades. The old pair had brakes on both feet, but not the new pair. So as I went for my test run down our street, I braked BUT that was the foot with no brake, so I fell really really badly and scraped my leg. That was a bad time for accidents for me.

All of these, show my personality. I would step in pot holes all day long unless I had people to tell me where they are. I have also learned some caution from the accidents. I know not to have the leash connected to the handlebar, and to check which foot has the brake on it. I imagine I will be one of those 90 year old women, who falls and breaks her hip, because of a pot hole I have not experienced or seen yet.

Yes, as Qammi almost ran in front of my bike yesterday, I wondered if it was Fleagle who ran in front of my bike or me being a Klutz?

Happy Patriots Day

This is one of my favorite holidays. That is strange, I know. Daddy's favorite was the 4th of July, over his birthday, over Thanksgiving etc.

Mostly this is my favorite since I moved to Lexington where we reenact the battle at the exact time that it was fought. I have only missed this once in 16 years, because we were away.

Our Sr. Youth Group sets up their booth right in front of our church and they sell coffee and donoughts starting at 4:00 am. (we had an interesting discussion at 5am, about the spelling and pronunciation of donuts).

We also had some interesting discussions last night as we set up the booth, which BTW has been around for at least 20 years. They want to repaint it or build another one. I think every group wants to repaint or build another one, but lack of inertia takes over and the next year we drag out the rickety frame from behind our boiler in the church. A new group each year, figures out how to set it up with very little guidance and a few markings on the actual structure. The tarp that goes over the frame is really gross, but it is also very endearing. I actually think we could replace the tarp and make the whole thing more aesthetic, BUT, is that why we are out there at 4am, to look aesthetic. Actually at 4am, nobody is paying attention to the tarp, because of darkness or last of caffeine. It is when the bloody British are strolling by 5 feet in front of the booth, on their way to Concord, having shown us who is in charge, that the tarp looks grotty. Maybe we should never change it for that very reason.

So by now, the whole structure has been put away for another year, tucked behind the boiler in the boiler room and next year, a different group of youth the Sunday before Patriot's Day, will drag it out, figure out how to assemble it, curse the lack of direction. They will stand under it once again, and serve caffeine and lard to that captive audience of viewers of the battle.

This year I watched from inside the church, out the balcony window. This is perfect for me, to not hear the shots, but it allowed me to declare once again to myself how evil and silly wars and battles are . . . and how sad them are in retrospect.