Heron fished the river banks this morning. The second of an anticipated 4 oil trains, daily average, has passed in front of my house.  Miss Cat sleeps in the warmth of the sun. The Standing Rock Sioux and nearly 90 other tribes are standing in solidarity for their rights. Many others are there to support, take part in this act of prayer and song, to protect the water, the land, their sacred sites. I want to go there. They are peaceful yet the officials feel threatened. The cape primrose is blooming again. Bill Spaulding did you fertilized the hell out them? LOL! Oak Flat still needs saving. All over this country there is cause to defend human rights. Good people are doing so. Wopila! The turtle doves’ coo and my heart smiles. 247 dead in Italy. Saudi Arabia is an ally? Really? There is tension in my body. Chickadee. Still 2 feet of standing flood water in people’s homes in Louisiana. The morning is blessedly light, cool. Steller’s jay. Another train, this one with Boeing fuselage. The oil trains are typically twice as  long as the average train. Digging in. Doubling down like the loggers who were called to halt clear cutting Redwood forests – saws ran day and night to cut as much as possible before the deadline to stop. Happy skydivers are descending above me. The ice is melting. Perhaps we need not protect anything since  Maka will tend to this business herself, on her own deadline. Cottonwood whisper a breezy secret. I’m listening for their beauty, seeing so much beauty. As modern thinking man, woman, the ones with big brains and opposable thumbs – we’ve been short sided in our hast to conquer the world, with little, if any, consideration for the next generations. Violence escalates. Every violent act seems met with violent response. How can I be non-violent, at peace of mind and heart? Not participate, not escalate the violence? What buttons get pushed in me with this greed and injustice? Honey salve. Self-love. Heal myself. I send up prayers on the smoke, make ties. Barking dogs on Maple Avenue. They always seem angry. Happily, I walk on the other side of the street to give them their space, they eave me be. Randomly, my neighbor gifted me safety glasses. I am protected. Om Namah Sivaya! Thank you Creator for my life! For my son’s wellbeing and happy heart, for All My Relations of All Nations. I get to  see a hero of mine in the flesh today! I hope I get to shake his hand. Wopila and thanksgiving!  OM

Escalate Peace