Thanks for Asking

Hi Kids, you asked me about my favorite memories from your childhood. My goodness, where would I start? Bayard, you learning to shoot the B-B gun; Janel, learning to ride a bike,; Bayard, the look on your face coming out of your first encounter with the video game world at Rehobeth; Janel, growing our little garden at Raleigh Tavern Court. So many memories, so many now have become legends, and myths, and a rich store of family stories. But I also made some memories this weekend just past, from our wonderful visit. I emailed you about them.

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Hii Kids, yes, I did emerge from "Trump-shock" , eventually, and was, eventually, the better for it. By January following the election, my shock and disbelief, my distress and despair, that feeling that the world no longer makes sense-- all abated/transmuted rather suddenly into love of grace and beauty, a deeper spiritual life,.. and fuller sensory awareness of the world:: the Earth and earth-- I actually presently inhabited.. Nature Walks with Buster, the River Trail and the Farm, hanging our and talking Art and Life, the "Elastics" project, consuming vast quantities of You-Tube Art Videos as a sloppy cram course on Art History, .. and overall lively engagement.

Remember, this was the "Ellie period" and its aftermath for me and Alex. We both grew a lot when we all lived together, as we grew together in a new family configuration, as Ellie was declining. It wasn't always easy, but I have fond memories-- I commemorated some of the other kind here, but what shines brightest is the opportunity to be useful, a spiritual evolution if you will. The moral, I think: Be present to the Grace and Beauty permeating.

I certainly never dreamed my life would take the turns it did then or since, -and I'm very grateful for it. So thanks for asking.

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Hi Kids, thanks for asking. Yes, of course I sometimes miss the RappCo era.. no wait, not miss it, but I get nostalgic about that phase of my life, and say extravagent things like "Nuthatch will always be the home of my heart". And, in truth, it did take me far longer than it should have to let go of that period. ( Let Go, Just Let Go and Let it Go.)

All that community activism at the time was a tonic for me and a way to manifest some of what I came to believe teaching those enviro and land use courses. So the time appears to have been an evolution and new synthesis of theory and practice, an overarching theme of my career. Problably not, but there was certainly gratification in it, a feeling of being efficatious, of making a difference, that less frequently and less vividly accompanies teaching grad students.

Moving to the Blue Ridge after coming back from Norway certainly shaped my last years at GW,

when I "went native," cut back my time in DC, and spent more time adventuring with the Gaia Hiking Club and working on Laconwood and Catalyx . That my exit was rocky was entirely on me, lest there be any doubt. Much of the vision of "community places in virtual spaces" was never actualized-- this was pre-social media, and the technology was vey clumsy. Nonetheless, as I look back on it, it looms as a very fertile period. Some of my "art" from that period is, I think, better than much I've done since. But it is my own growth, of course, that endures, as life experience continues to provide learning occasions.

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Hi Kids, thanks for asking..