As it happens...

I've been feeling a bit weary lately, about the BP situation mostly -not that I can do much about it. I feel helpless, caught in the messy affairs of bigger cats in the block. Cats who take advantage of the ignorance of others, others being us -the people, as opposed to profit-seeking corporate machines. Us, the people is what it come to. Leaders come and go, and anyway, power is tricky and corrupting. The closer one gets to it, the blinder one becomes. Us, nationalities and religious affiliations set aside, is what it comes to. That is why I'm feeling weary. That is why I'm feeling helpless.

Sadly, this 'Us' looks rather fragmented right now, and maybe, it has always been so, and will always be so. Some optimistic historians say that things have gotten better -imagine. I look at the Middle East and wonder when that affair will get better. The Isrealo-Palestinian debacle started before I born -so how long before it gets better. Will the blindness of men ever be cured?

What is it that makes us so fearful that we have to draw blood? What is it that makes us behave the way flesh eating ants do? Why is it that every prophet, every spiritual teacher was a recluse? Why is that every message of love is turned into a rigid doctrine, into books of rules and laws? I wonder. I wonder...

Looking at our past, considering our present, it would be easy to say that our prospects as a species look rather grim. But I am an optimist. So, I know that weariness will pass. I know that there is always room for improvement. The past can never define the choices we are about to make today. The past is gone, and there isn't much we can do about it. The present however is a whole different story. The present is always a blank page. Today is always the first day of the rest of our lives, as the line goes in some film I can't place right now. Yes, we can always choose to turn the page, start afresh, be smart, be wise, be caring, or we can go on messing around, not giving a nickel, or is it a dime, to what it is we are doing.

Closer home, there is a family of farmers who's been running a dairy sort of cooperative, and they are getting heat from the Man -not sure if its the state, or the county. But, whomever the Man is, he is trying to close this family's business. Because you see, there seems to be a bogus expired license issue, or maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with the fact that this family happens to sell raw milk products, in a state where selling raw milk is considered illegal. Grazing acres is the name of this cooperative which has been operating through a legal loophole -and I'll leave it to that. What's important is that Grazing acres has been making a lot of raw milk lovers happy.

Personally, I don't like milk and don't even mention butter -I know, what's wrong with me. But let's stick to the issue at hand, which is: these people need help, need the 'Us' factor. And although, I can't really relate to raw milk loving folks -I have no doubt that they're nice people- I, surely, do appreciate freedom of choice, and alternative ways of thinking. So this morning, I called this number: 608-266-1212 to complain about the Man's actions, and about the lawsuit that has been thrown at this family of rebels. After all, we have to support our local rebels, otherwise who will?

Meanwhile, I met Michael today at Harbor. Good guy Michael. Wise and sharp, then again he grew up in Brooklyn. He always makes me laugh, or at least grin. This weekend, I just found out, Michael turns sixty. So I say, "Keep up the good work and congratulations."

Finally, if you see me at the Borders cafe, with eyes glued to my tiny laptop, wearing a cool and wet towel around the cranium, it's probably because I am working on something super important -as you can see.

Be well, and do remember that we are One -no matter how hard it is to believe.

Felt like sharing, hoping you don't mind