“I am leaving on Saturday to join a team of medical professionals to support AIDS LifeCycle – a 7 day, 545 mile bike ride from San Francisco to LA.” These were the first words of an email I received this week from Calliope Crane (Voice 99 in 100 Voices – Americans Talk about Change). Calliope and her cycling companions are pictured here. In the way people in this country do with pretty… Read More
I am back in Portland. Three weeks, now. Shortly after my return I receive email with the subject line: yes-youmadeit/Dr. Dapo! My dear and long-time friend, Dr. Dapo Sobomehin (voice 90 in 100 Voices – Americans Talk about Change), wanted to get together for coffee. This morning we finally made it to the corner of Hawthorne and SE 37th for a few hours of catching up. Every time we meet, I am compelled… Read More
Here are some things I have come to know: The land of the United States remains vast and more beautiful than any imagining. The people of the United States remain more capable of wisdom, kindness and cooperation than our media and leadership lead us to believe. GPS systems can get you almost anywhere – sometimes by incessant nagging, sometime with astonishing grace. I hear there may be an annoyingly breathy replacement coming… Read More
Yesterday I drove through rain at the end of 8 hours on the highway. I drove I-80W again — through what this time I learned is the National Silos and Smokestacks Historic Area. I hadn’t noticed this three years ago and found myself tweeting ( a behavior I still can’t quite square with my sense of self), “Who knew?” Beyond the rain was Council Bluffs, Iowa and a family of four —… Read More
Alongside what changes is what endures. Each is finally contained in the other. Many times, what remains most reliable does so because of its capacity to change. Here I am, visiting the UK because of one of those enduring things — family — more specifically, my beloved expat daughter. Today is Easter. That means many on the islands are following the tradition of gathering with families over meals — elaborate and larger… Read More
Sometimes I turn to internet sources for news updates. Huffington Post, NYT, stories posted to facebook, local papers’ websites for learning about where I am along the road. Often there are stories with photos of crowd scenes. Some are international, but I’m thinking today of domestic stories – Occupy, Tea Party, vigils, protests on the National Mall or at statehouses across the country. In the case of crowd photos from the U.S.,… Read More
A year ago, I spoke with Susan Stout (Voice 075), a PhD forester with primary oversight of significant research in the forests of the Allegheny of western Pennsylvania. Then, yesterday I marched with a small group of people who gathered in the small downtown area of Whitewater, WI. These things fit together. Almost 9000 miles down the road, I’m taking a break to visit here in Whitewater for the month. This is… Read More
“In a world dedicated to distraction, silence and stillness terrify us.” A friend in North Dakota just sent this to me. His name is Anthony. He’s a black man, a gay man. He’s a playful prophet who lingers profoundly on the living side of dead serious. Today, his quote came from a man named Sogyal Rimpoche. The trouble with distraction seems vast. The people I’ve been spending time with here in the… Read More
Yesterday, well south of the GOP caucus hubbub, I had one of those two-hour conversations you want to remember for the rest of your days. Not so much the words, although the stories were as precious as sunshine…really, but the feeling of it. Sara Bernice Moseley has been an inspiration to countless women and men across the 94 and ½ years of her life. She is and always has been grace in… Read More
Better than you believe; stronger than you seem. Carol Ackerman “What we know is that the more people affiliate with other people, the more their sources of positive experiences and possibilities for energizing and purposeful activity in the world.” This is my best shot at something my mentor, Jane Conoley said to me yesterday morning. We were sitting in her living room, the Sunday morning light breathing itself across the bamboo floors,… Read More
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