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The eco event was sweet and lively with nonprofits & businesses providing information and resources about rainwater collection, bees, native landscaping and other practical beautiful ways to help address the environmental crisis.

Notably absent were any of the people I perennially hear screaming on social media, “WHY isn’t ANYONE doing anything about the ENVIRONMENT?”

The peace demonstration was lively with beautiful flags, banners promoting love and unity; a core of people who have gotten very organized — and I was just meeting them all for the first time.

Notably absent were any of the people I hear perennially screaming on social media, “Where is the OUTRAGE [in regard to recent white supremacist demonstrations]? Why isn’t anyone SPEAKING UP?”

They are. We are. You can too.

Whatever issue is bothering you, there are most likely people already on it (usually because they or their communities are more immediately affected). They are not hard to find. Get involved.

P.S. And on that note … It’s VERY humbling to recognize that, long LONG before I myself arrived on the scene as an eco activist (“formally” speaking, I would say sometime in the early to mid 1990s), other people were very very busy doing the heavy lifting. Particularly, indigenous peoples who protect ecosystems and are defending their very lives and homelands.

Speaking of humbling, this morning I opened up a newspaper-style publication that had been sitting for a couple years on my bookshelves and then for a week or so in my Little Free Library. It was an edition of Planet Drum from 1999. You want humbling; check out Planet Drum Foundation. Their publication itself may not be available online but I got a couple of their print issues by writing or calling Planet Drum. They may or may not have any left.

As just one example of humbling, this newspaper-style publication from 1999 had an article about decolonizing the environmental movement. 1999! Do you know when I first started being aware of decolonization and talking about it publicly? I think it was sometime in … 2020!

Believe me, whatever issue(s) are keeping you awake at night, people ARE working on those issue(s), and whenever you or I arrived on the scene, people were organized and working long before you and I got here. This is not to shame you but to encourage and motivate you.

Further Exploration:

• Planet Drum Foundation: “Planet Drum Foundation was founded in San Francisco, CA in 1973. In association with community activists and ecologists, Planet Drum(*) developed the concept of a bioregion. Planet Drum works to research, promote and disseminate information about bioregionalism, a grassroots approach to ecology that emphasizes sustainability, community self-determination and regional self-reliance. Through its projects, publications, speakers, and workshops, Planet Drum helps start new bioregional groups and encourages local organizations and individuals to find sustainable ways to live within the natural confines of bioregions. We believe that people who know and care about the places where they live will work to maintain and restore them.”

#jennyscorner #porousproperty #501house #community #bananagrams #BikeWeek

I started the Community Bananagrams experiment this morning as part of my ongoing project to spark joy, add to the store of peace & trust in the world, and build community via my little corner of “porous property” at the northeast corner of Harvey & Oleander. And of course to indulge my fellow Bananagrams fans. <wink>

Interestingly, the game on the table solves a problem i was not trying to solve at that moment, which is … “drive-by dumping”: people in cars using my corner as some kind of charity dump spot for their huge boxes of unwanted clothes & books! And even sometimes food! <deer-in-headlights emoticon>

Theft has not been an issue & neither has vandalism. Just a bit of litter here and there once in a while (other than the boxes of “bulk charity” which i then have to figure out how to dispose of without a car — usually i just hoist the heavy boxes into my wagon and lug them to the church down the street, or dump them on the empty lot next door for people to pick thru before trash day, at which time i load the remaining junk into my elderly neighbor’s trash can while I am putting out his trash at the curb).

Note about book donations: They go INSIDE THE LIBRARY. ON THE SHELVES. No exceptions. And please do not cram them. If it’s too many to fit, then distribute them around to the other Little Free Libraries — we have many around town. Or take them to your church or thrift store. Or, check out Little Free Library for tips & resources on how to start your own library.

Note about clothing & food “donations”: Please. This is a private residence. Please take your unwanted stuff to the appropriate organization. You have a car; use it.

I don’t mean to sound ungracious, but I’m simply not equipped to serve as a free KonMari for anyone’s 50 pounds of Fortran manuals and pulp romances, or rusted hurricane-ration cans of lima beans that no longer spark joy. Plus, that corner table is for socializing! Anyone local who might happen to stumble upon this post and be in the position of needing to unload a bunch of stuff, please text me and I’ll be happy to give you a list of bulk donation outlets so you can save yourself the time and gasoline of an unproductive trip. BTW it is possible that the highest use for a box of Fortran manuals (other than an IT museum if you know of one) might just be compost. The carbon in the paper balances out the nitrogen from all those fruit and veg scraps, coffee grounds, shrimp shells and other “greens.”

Finally, please ENJOY my little corner in the spirit in which it is intended! It’s about It’s about sitting in the shade; connecting with each other; building trust, joy, community …
… and a Bananagrams group <wink; banana icon; yellow heart>!
BTW we have board games, cards, & other games available for the community’s enjoyment too!

Update!! I had planned to check on the game throughout the day, but w various things I was mostly out of the neighborhood for almost 12 hours. Came home tonight to find that someone had added a word!!!

To see the Bananagrams game and my “porous corner,” check out my slideshow on tiktok or my post in BNW News.

#CrankyEnvironmentalist #GreenSmackdown

Compiling a list of answers to this question I get (mainly from my fellow old white ladies, and interestingly enough it’s mostly the “liberal, eco-minded” ones asking this).

(Warning: Some of the answers might get a bit salty. You have been warned.)

• Magic carpet.

• The same way I always get here.

• Alive and in one piece, thank Goddess!

• My private jet.

• The way I got here was I decided I wanted to be here, and I made my transportation arrangements accordingly.

• There’s no way I can answer that question; any answer I have will be wrong. If I say I arrived by car, you get to use that to justify your decades of unquestioned car-dependent lifestyle. If I say I arrived by bicycle or foot, you get to go into your song and dance, coo and exclaim how much you “admire” me and how I’m so “unique” blah blah blah — in short you get to continue to marginalize me, treat me like a novelty or zoo animal. As opposed to a real live person who is modeling resilient, viable, practical options.

• But enough about me! What’s your transportation plan for your old age? How many more years do you plan to keep driving?

• I got here as best I could, given that our me-generation focused on our own individualistic convenience and comfort, and didn’t do enough to dismantle our society’s car-dependence and other structural oppression.

• Wrong question! What are you really asking?

• You might enjoy my upcoming workshop. It’s especially for us middle-aged women. On how we can stay independent and avoid becoming dependent in our old age.

I love when fellow Boomers tell me I’ll change my mind, wise up, understand knee pain, etc “when I’m older.” I’ve got news for them: I AM OLDER ALREADY, I am one of you. #60Pride #SeniorCitizen #CroneEnergy #OKFellowBoomer

And BTW I *do* know the knee pain — also beginnings of arthritis in hands etc. I sure appreciate my body more than I used to when I was young! I have my vices but am making more of an effort to take care of this physical vessel.

If we hate the super loud but joyful noise of bikers, racing, festivals, music, our neighbor’s parties … but don’t hate the day-in, day-out, deafening industrial noise from leafblowers, edgers, chemical sprayers, and other heavy mechanized equipment invading our neighborhoods to impose HOA-type “McLandscaping”;

If we hate the traffic from Bike Week and other festivals a few weeks a year, but don’t hate the endless traffic to the big-box consumer tabernacle stores, 365 days a year, generated by the demands of our car-dependent, resource-hogging American lifestyle …

Hmm … Think about that!! Could it be that we hate hearing other people have fun when the daily default lifestyle is such a dreary soul-suck? And if so, could it be that we need to remove the unnecessary drudge and busywork from everyday life, so we can add more joy?

PS. This post probably is mostly addressed to people who are homeowners, retirees, or both. A lot of the people who are renters/workers in tourist areas appreciate events for the income they provide. Not just abstract, civic-booster rahrah, “tourists bring money to our county” income … but actual, immediate household income, as in, “This Bike Week gig will help me catch up on bills, and maybe even afford a special treat from the Steak Tips vendor.”

#walkingourtalk #realitycheck

Being concerned for the destruction of our only home isn’t a “mental-health crisis”; it’s a sane response to the horror we are wreaking.

(We = “modern” industrialized Anglocentric cultures.)

#decolonize #rewild #landback #reparations

On taking risks – wise words from @Danny Iny at @Mirasee:

“I know that it’s scary, because things might not go your way.

“What we often don’t realize, though, is that the biggest risk is in not taking risks at all. …

“If we don’t take risks, then we stagnate.

“As people, as businesses, and in our relationships with those we’re connected to.

“And stagnation is the beginning of the end.

“So take some risks… but be smart about it. The idea isn’t to just do crazy, dangerous things and hope for the best. Rather, it’s about stepping just beyond your comfort zone…”

Thanks to Danny Iny at Mirasee for these wise words – And do visit Danny’s site and check out the various resources he offers for people who want to take wise risks.