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mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

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#WeekendCoffeeShare Pool And Protest

June 3, 2017 — 6 Comments

pool with reflection

pool with reflection

If we were having coffee this weekend in Tucson I would bring a pitcher of water and another of iced beverage of your choice out to the pool. The only place to be on a day when the temperature reaches 106 degrees is in the pool. I have all manner of flotation devices, and there is a table in the shade where we can sit for a chat after we get wet.  If you feel energetic we could chat while we do some exercise in the water.  I have taught swimming and water exercise for years, and although I am not currently certified in lifesaving I will keep you safe. Come on in.  The water is perfect.

This week was relatively uneventful, if you exclude all the political action in Washington, DC. I do watch with interest while Micheal Bloomberg, the states, and cities step up to fight climate change.  I am happy to see all the marchers for science but in Arizona this is not possible at the moment. We must protest fro the pool. I think the best way for me to contribute to the entire issue of environmental protection is to act personally. I think I am carbon conservative, but there are probably a few more items I could buy locally or go without for the good of the planet.  Rather than review the international scene, although that is of interest, I am looking for ways I can reduce my personal consumption of water, gasoline, and electricity.

While I fill your ice water glass again please tell me about your writing projects and your week.  Did you finish or start any new writing?  I admire those of you who write long works of fiction.  I may attempt it someday, inspired by your success.  It takes discipline as well as talent to do a long write.  I have written a few short pieces of fiction, but this week I created a poem in response to Sue Vincent’s photo prompt. It was about death, and was fully depressing like the previous week’s.  I do wonder at my creative self when I come up with all this dark gloomy haunted stuff.  I also wonder if that is a direction I should try to go for a longer story..haunted and creepy is a genre, after all.  I also wrote about my ancestors and tea, so it was not all gloom and doom…except the ancestors are dead, of course.  I wrote about some from the Byzantine Empire this week.

I think perhaps I am haunted by the politics playing out before me, but that does not matter.  Creative responses to horror and terror have always been used to change things.  Satirists are having a having a hay day with all the crazy times in which we live.  I wish I could draw cartoons, but I think this talent will be for another lifetime.  I will have to stick to poems to express my distaste, rage, or general revolt.  How do you best protest, gentle reader?Do tell, what makes you revolt (silently or otherwise)?

If you are in the mood, feel free to cannonball before you go.  Hydrate fully, and stay safe.  Please join the coffee party on the weekend hosted by Emily at Nerd in the Brain.  Contribute a post, or read, comment, and visit here.

Weekend-Coffee-Share-Pic

Weekend-Coffee-Share-Pic

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#WeekendCoffeeShare Ignorance Crisis

May 14, 2017 — 3 Comments

the web woven

the web woven

sticky business

sticky business

If we were having coffee this weekend I would serve you a long tall glass of iced tea. I am enjoying dewy cherry, a strong fruit flavored herbal tea with long lasting flavor. It is refreshing and beats the hell out of artificial cherry anything.  I switch the flavor of tea daily so we never get tired of any one of them.  It is also the time of year when we start of consume a lot of fresh juice. I can offer you watermelon, cucumber, tomato, or a combo of any of these juices.  I went to the produce site yesterday where I pick up 60 pounds of produce for $10, and decided to score to boxes for $20.  We are once again loaded with honeydew, watermelon, tomatoes, and bell peppers.  I am cooking up a storm, and drying tomatoes for the future.  This non-profit does not operate in the summer, since most of the Mexican produce they bring is not crossing the border in the heat.  It makes a big difference to our budget when we have to go back to paying up at the grocery store for our fresh fruits and vegetables.

If we were visiting today I would tell you about the latest installment of the attempt to complete my non-fiction book.  I have written this book over the course of many years and published it here on this blog in real-time, as the story developed.  It could have been a short story about justice triumph and community policing.  Sadly it is a true story about how the local police department accidentally used their “neighborhood watch” program to promote felony crime (charity scamming by the HOA board using our corporate property, our corporate treasury and our corporate lawyer) in the hood.  It does sound like an incredible tale, and I wish it were not true.  I have published each part of the book and sent the evidence to the city of Tucson since 2013, but the criminal activity has gone on much longer than that.  Each time I reported the crimes I thought it would be the last time I would need to do it because I thought the city would want to stop supporting and promoting the most obvious crime in our neighborhood. Alas, the police do not understand that HOA fraud and charity scamming are against the law.  They encouraged the scam, and even promoting cramming the fire lane full of cars in order to run the 24 hour donation drop off for the scam.  They thought this was a community service.  They thought they were serving us by protecting and promoting felony crime (including postal fraud) in front of everyone here for almost a decade.  They thought that by setting up an illegal knock-off of the food bank in the fire lane of a residential condo village they would serve our community.  They never understood that their actions were very detrimental to safety, property value, quality of life, and certainly did a lot of damage to respect for law enforcement officials.  They flaunted obvious obstruction of justice for years and told us it was community service.  They might be that ignorant, but the people in this ‘hood are not.

The national political scene is all a-twitter about a constitutional crisis caused by all the latest developments.  There is nothing new happening.  With all due respect to anyone who thinks they can fix national politics, I believe the crisis is one of extreme national ignorance.  The governed have no idea how government is supposed to work, and neither do the folks who work for the government.  If anyone knew how the justice system was intended to operate, it would be something other than a for profit prison system that fails enrich or protect the community.  If people knew what the presidency was supposed to do, they would shape that mandate in the voter’s booth.  I think our position in the world today is a result of a long era of willful blindness and withdrawal of education to the masses.  If they can’t read, write, spell , or do math, they will probably not challenge the powers that be because they don’t even know what and where they might be.  Ignorance and willful blindness are the enemies, gentle reader.

And thus I will conclude my political rant against ignorance in the United States.  I have advised the city of Tucson that there are laws against charity scamming and HOA fraud, as well as blocking the fire lane with traffic for a decade in front of my house.  They have yet to respond, so I can’t have a happy ending to this book.  It is about the truth, and the truth is that they still think they have the right to come out here and mislead people in order to promote crime.  I will end the book and let you know when they finally respond.  They do not have the right to remain silent, but the continue to do so.  I rarely go on political rants, in fact I consider this to be an education rant.

Thanks for joining me today while I let off steam.  Please read, write or comment on the state of your personal affairs at the weekly party hosted by Nerd in the Brain.  Enjoy sipping digital beverages with bloggers from all over the world each weekend. Please pipe up with your own stories.

#WeekendCoffeeShare

#WeekendCoffeeShare

 

 

Habitually Blind

May 10, 2017 — 2 Comments

While time passes by your window and blows through your mind
Where are your connections to the natural world?
Are you just habitually blind?
Does the rising of the tide of hatred sting your immortal soul?
Or do you sit in the corner twiddling your thumbs
When everyone becomes a merciless troll?
Did you have a purpose for being born on earth?
If so you better get to work, because things are getting worse

hole in the wall

hole in the wall

#WritePhoto The Family Obelisk

May 4, 2017 — 11 Comments

obelisk

obelisk

The family sailed from England when they had a chance to come to America.  The hardship of the voyage and the harsh conditions in the colonies took a toll on the surviving members of the family.  They wondered about the decision to live in the new world, and felt lost without the comfort and status of British society.  Carving out an existence turned out to be much more difficult than they had ever imagined.  They lost touch with the roots of their family back in England and had no way to return even if they wanted to go.  They had little money and just barely the time to protect and feed their offspring.

Eventually they came to feel pride in the American adventure they founded, and erected a monument to the first Morses to come to America.  They had sailed from a harbor with a large assuming obelisk that bid them adieu when they left their homeland.  The group decided to model the new world monument after the last sight they saw as the ship left the shore.  British no more, but connected to the language and the culture of the motherland, the American obelisk builders were sure that God was on their side.

Morse Monument

This is a piece in response to Sue Vincent’s weekly photo prompt.  Please join writers from around the world each week to read or submit your own story.

#writephoto

#writephoto

#NaPoWriMo Barriers and Boundaries

April 28, 2017 — 1 Comment

When barriers go up they exclude thought
They intend to protect, but offer no real shield
From the harsh reality that must be taught
In order for the entire community to be healed
Boundaries are healthy, they define our rules
Selfish stonewalls of ignorance are built by fools
Know the difference between freedom and deceit
Listen carefully for shenanigans and vain conceit
Don’t bind your mind too tightly, don’t hide in your yard
You may find, to your dismay, you’re hoist with your own petard

ruins

ruins

Please join poets in the month of April for National Poetry Writing Month.  Find new material to enjoy at the #NaPoWriMo site, or by following the hashtags on social media.

#NaPoWriMo The Most Famous Ignoramus

April 21, 2017

When history is reviewed in full and we need to name us
The most outrageous public acts throughout the ages
Time will tell who will become the most famous ignoramus
Each era sees the living proof politics are a scary spoof
Only in retrospect will we be able to judge all presidents
Warriors, princes, rebels and kings against all other things

My poem today is inspired by a letter written by Jean-Paul Sartre that contains wisdom I appreciate written in a way I adore:

My dear,

There may be more beautiful times, but this one is ours.

Look back, look forth, look close, there may be more prosperous times, more intelligent times, more spiritual times, more magical times, and more happy times, but this one, this small moment in the history of the universe, this is ours.

And let’s do everything with it. Everything.

Falsely yours,
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre

 

Read other poetry at the #NaPoWriMo site and on social media by using these hashtags:  Enjoy this month long celebration by finding new poets.

#NaPoWriMo Veracity vs Mendacity

April 9, 2017 — 2 Comments

 

Cactus in bloom

Cactus in bloom

What happened to our capacity to judge complete dreck from veracity?
How low will we need to go before we recognize the well disguised foe?
Supporting wolves in sheep’s’ clothing will replace our peace with loathing
Pull the wool from over your eyes, look directly at the reasons they lie.

Please join poets from around the world to ride  the poetry train in April.  Read, write, recite, or compete in one of the many contests.  Check out the action here.

Entitled Ignorance #NaPoWriMo

April 3, 2017 — 1 Comment

Power to the heavily armed, confusion for the rest
Our resources have been confiscated to feed the hungry pest
Who dominates our life and times with injustice and pain
It is hard to say how many will survive this corrupt reign
Sitting it out is impossible because it runs right up to your door
Knocking down all that is holy in the name of an eternal war

#NaPoWriMo2017

#NaPoWriMo2017

Please ride the poetry train all month in April to find new poets, or find the poet in you.   All are welcome all month.

#GloPoWriMo

#GloPoWriMo

Gold And The Green Flash #WritePhoto

March 30, 2017 — 12 Comments

gold

gold

Golden reflections of sunset over the ocean took over my senses and transported me back to the first time I saw this place.  My memories of this place stretch for miles and pleasant miles along the Pacific Coast Highway.  I started to visit these beaches when I worked as an illegal alien in Tecate, BC, Mexico. I crossed the border to party and go to the beach in San Diego on a regular basis while I was teaching at a spa for Americans in the beer border town known as TKT in local lingo.  As a wetback gringa I enjoyed easy free passage through the border.  My employers bribed the Mexican aduana, and the US side was much different before 2001.  We had an ideal way of life that included being paid to live at a destination spa.  I made the most of it while it lasted, and am always happy that I did.  Those days will never return. I kept crossing into Mexico to work until 2003, when I decided it had become too violent and scary to continue.  The good old days were gone forever.  Mexico lingo y querido had vanished forever.

Standing on a cliff in Encinitas I watch the surfers below me catch a few waves at the end of the day.  I stop to watch the horizon for a green flash when the sun meets the water.  A pelican glides in front of the light, fishing.  The natural beauty of this stunning place in nature has endured through many political upheavals.  I thought about the pelican and his flock needing no visa to cross the border.  I wonder if man is conquering nature or nature has conquered man. FLASH!!! There is a moment of bright green that marks the end of this day.  Most of us consider the green flash to be a sign of good luck. I am optimistic.

This is a story inspired by Sue Vincent’s photo prompt.  Please visit Sue at the Daily Echo to read, write, or just enjoy posts from around the world interpreting this image.  Every  Thursday we take on a new image.

#writephoto

#writephoto

PCH

PCH