Clare Consultation, LLCAmerican Connections
“It’s as old as humanity itself. Literature is filled with stories about the warriors who come face to face and discover that they’re actually destroying themselves.” Andy Walton This morning I had separate conversations with a sustainable energy professional, a poet, a Starbucks barista, a wildlife biologist and an ex-offender. All are Americans. All spoke of matters central to their lives. They were regular conversations, nothing special. The kind of chit chat… Read More
Weather Report
I tried all day yesterday to write this blog. My distraction: Weather. Three days ago in Portland, Oregon the sun shone and the temperature hit 65. Very unusual. Ultimately adaptable Portlanders were, of course, into it – rollicking in skimpy tops and wielding hoola hoops, Frisbees, bocce balls, and even croquet mallets. Two days later…that would be yesterday, the morning started out sunny with hints of warming but by afternoon, when I was walking… Read More
Change and Topography
Last year by this date, the EX:Change project had taken me, via Mini Cooper, across about 5000 miles. That’s a lot a lot of miles…and I was only half way. Already and more times than I can begin to recount, I’d been swept into that American road trip bonus: The mix of surprise and awe at another unfolding of landscape – even the stretches I’d seen so many times before. The land of this country… Read More
American Dreams
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver During this week last year, a comment appeared on the EX:Change blog from <expatrick>: “Asking people to put their dreams into words is asking a lot, but it also helps them get a step farther down their own path. These are people’s prayers you’re hearing.” The other thing I’m remembering from that time was… Read More
Tigers and Valentines
“I tell you the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” Vincent van Gogh So, love is the thing I haven’t wanted to write about. Maybe it’s not even appropriate for this blog. Actually, I’ve given some thought to that possible inappropriateness and decided to reject it. The whole motive for the EX:Change project and its road trip can be boiled… Read More
So, where do we go from here?
“I think change is trying new things and trying to see if something works for the better or for the worse. ” Alcena, HighTech High LA Yesterday, Bob Herbert used his column in the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/opinion/09herbert.html?th&emc=th to lift the curtain on the economic numbers behind the ‘average. ’ On average, as reported this past week jobless rates were vastly improved – i.e., decreased. Herbert quotes a recent Center for Labor Market Studies report:… Read More
ROAD TRIP!
“When life has been given to you, you must take it very seriously.” Calvin Hecocta There’s something about the open road. Something about road trips. Something about how there is just no way any amount of planning and dreaming can remotely predict what will happen in the way a road unfolds time. A year ago today I drove out of Portland. I had organized my small bag, small supplies and… Read More
“I can’t do this alone.”
“Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” Howard Zinn Last night in the State of the Union Address, President Obama said these five words. “I can’t do this alone.” He said many notable things. Two in particular match well with what many of the people who make up the 100 voices of EX:Change were saying this time last year. The public officials elected by… Read More
Home — 70 Days In
3-27-2009 Just South of Division Ave. Portland, OR Home a week. I’ve slept for most of it. And I’ve walked. Home again to the neighborhoods, to the stretches of bank on both the east and west sides of the Willamette River, and to the downtown streets – careful, clean and bustling. Aaaaahhhh. Portland, Oregon. Home sweet home, indeed.
Saving Grace
3-19-2009 Near the Airport Salt Lake City, UT It’s a long way from Chicago, IL to Salt Lake City, UT – especially in two days by car – tiny car. Fortunately, there’s been saving grace – lots of it. One certain sign of this abundance is the fact that I’m sitting here right now, safe and sound after so many miles through all kinds of weather and, in the instance of I-80 through Iowa… Read More