“Just when I thought I was ready for bed last night, I smelled something funny in my kitchen. Not the first time it’s happened, and it’s never welcome. Gas? Or the toxic aroma of what lies beneath a nearly empty tank, signaling an impending absence of fuel or possibly the need for an emergency delivery. Frankly, I’m tired of being thrown into a panic, over systems breakdown. I’m not sure it’s the best use of my time to be always reacting to things coming at me from the outside, and feeling lousy about myself, and my life, as a consequence. It’s the surface theater that inflames us, and draws us into a storyline that is not natural, or wanted. Even lack of fuel, which has been taken so far from our hands, despite all our efforts to cohabit with the forest, seems a manipulation coming down from above. They will have to pry my wood stove from my dead fingers, before I let go of it. Not to be dramatic or morbid, of course, for in reality, I always return to my sense of humor to get me through most insane scenarios. Regardless of how you’ve chosen to heat your house, I can only say that all roads must stay open, and all skill sets that relate to our local economy, must be kept fresh and viable. Live and let live. That’s how its done, here in Vermont. Ideology is a modern contrivance, which is often at odds with practicality and common sense. And I’m feeling that so much, today ... today, which happens to coincide with national events that I know to be a lively soup of farce, hope, despair and carefully constructed pomp. And I choose to steer clear of any contact with it. I’ve heard it said, that anger enters thru the ears. I would do better to stay in my studio in headphones today, or listen to the dripping faucet. For those who might be tempted to consider this evasion, or even apathy, I beg to differ. My long years as a student of history, and alternative history, and my own personal history, have taught me to lay low, until deeper truths compel me to act. And those actions are not diminished by their being creative, unpopular, or small. Size, including grandiosity, is not important. It’s how you live your life, that matters. Not what you believe, or take up as a righteous cause, based on what’s been doled out to you, and sold to you, as your “new” reality. I’ve always had dreams of being surveilled, bombed and killed, by nameless power. It’s naive to think this kind of genocide is not happening, somewhere, to people like us. So if we find ourselves lucky enough to be living peaceably in villages, or cities, or even able to travel as a tourist, we should consider ourselves blessed beyond measure. Be the unbiased one who can see all sides, & understand why each lonely soul holds a hope and prayer, misguided as it may be. Estrangement and confusion have infiltrated every home. But it’s not about the charade of characters that parade across our screens. Our distraction with them is our worst enemy. It’s about standing up, and holding a candle, without taking any side, except that of kindness, inclusion, and love.”
