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“Once you carry your own water, you will learn the value of every drop.” (Source unknown; quote & image came across my social media feed this morning.)

Totally! I do it. I mean, I live in a normal city house where we have running water and indoor shower and all.

But I myself largely utilize rainwater, which I scoop and hand-carry to the trees & other plants in the yard, and take “peace corps showers” in my outdoor enclosure, and use for washing clothes in a tub and so on.

Definitely I feel every single drop I carry! Especially in the dry season when it’s starting to get hot and the rains haven’t come yet.

And I’m very conscious of rainfall patterns as well. When a drought comes, and the barrels start getting low, I start to get worried!

BTW this post is also true in a broader sense of opportunity / resources other than water. In my permaculture practice I have observed that constraint sparks innovation, whereas extreme abundance can lead to waste.

Speaking of carrying water, one of my favorite quotes is: “Before enlightenment, carry water, chop wood. After enlightenment, carry water, chop wood.” (It’s a Zen quote, and when I get a minute, I will double check to see if I find a more specific source and also to see if I got the word order right from memory.)

Just now as I was attempting to drill pilot holes to screw a multi hanger thing into a board in my garage glamp-partment, the drill bit snapped.

It wasn’t entirely unexpected. I even reminded myself in advance that the finest bit, the one that’s best for drilling a pilot hole into the tough tough wood, is also the one that is most likely to snap. And cautioned myself to take care and go slow. Alas, I didn’t go slow enough or more likely my wrist was floppy and fell into a sloppy angle. And so, snap-eroo!

The drill bit, and it’s broken off state, was still sharp, as often happens when the drill bit breaks. I should mention that this is a punch drill, also known as a Yankee drill. A hand tool that uses mechanical springs to increase leverage.

I’ve always loved hand tools. No batteries to charge; no cords to get tangled, no having to mess with an extension cord to get the electricity out to the place where there’s no electricity. Plus, no matter what people say about how much more effective power-tools are, I just seem to do better with hand tools.

In the tiny metallic universe of my toolkit, my punch-drill has a dear dear place in my heart, equaled only by my ratcheting screwdriver.

Well, I decided to try to use the now-jaggedy-pointed bit to keep trying to drill. And it worked to a degree. It actually worked better than the unbroken bit had worked! And although the pilot holes I managed to create were really little more than tiny divots, I did get my multi hanger thing mounted.

Providing instant relief in the form of a good place to hang my little shopping bags and windbreaker jacket and other daily essentials. It’s amazing what a lifesaver something like a little multi hanger thing can be, when you’ve been using some half-assed substitute (bent wire, floppy hook things, etc.). It’s the little things, it really is. It’s the little daily things that wear us down; and it’s the little daily things that can totally make a difference in our day.

And the difference influences our mood, which in turn ripples out to the people around us, as I’m sure you’ve noticed by some examples in your life! The repaired screen; the door that suddenly shuts smoothly instead of having to be pushed really hard; the key that suddenly actually works without having to be jiggled.

But gosh darn, that wood is so so hard. Old treated wood from a fence. That, or else my wrists have gotten weaker. The latter is rather likely, actually.

But what I learned from this little morning escapade, among other things, is that the jagged drillbit can work too. Not only can work, but in this case actually worked better. There’s a lesson in that for us people. We are broken and jaggedy in our various ways. And yet, we can continue to be of help and to serve the greater good. In fact, sometimes — as happened just now with my drill bit — the jaggedy edges are what make us the most helpful!

I’ve written in this blog before about a Hindu goddess who started captivating my attention some years back. Her name is Akhilandeshwari, the goddess who is never not broken.

Being broken can be an advantage! It can be just the thing for dealing with an obstinate board … or a broken world.

Laura Amazzone sums things up beautifully in this article “Akhilandeshwari: The Power of Brokenness,” in Sutra Journal. This is a deep, intricate, sumptuous piece; a real treat.

TED Talk by Van Jones, with transcript. I would like every fellow American, of any and all political stripes, to watch/read this. He said it in advance of the 2020 election, and it is all the more relevant now.

https://www.ted.com/talks/van_jones_what_if_a_us_presidential_candidate_refuses_to_concede_after_an_election/transcript?language=en&fbclid=IwAR339a9gRZeDkwFNgRemNomg3sV82htO0mOLmguuwtKR08sWKbNUjxgUxZA

The importance of the concession speech; how to stop a coup

This is a useful article for any citizen who wishes to make change. It definitely squares with what we’ve learned in my community, about how much power a neighborhood can have by organizing.

When City Council Won’t Listen to Reason (Elmwood Guy; Dear Winnipeg)

“As we labour together for bottom up change, it’s a great reminder that sometimes you need to get a little closer to the bottom of the ladder of engagement in order to recover your mojo and get back out there!”

I particularly found his little illustration with the rocks useful. The four-level hierarchy: your city; your neighborhood; your street; you.

Interestingly, over the past several months I seem to have intuitively stumbled on this hierarchy. And started acting accordingly. Which seems to be saving a lot of bandwidth and personal energy. My own, and other people’s.

The Florida House is discussing a bill that would ban sleeping in public places. (Many cities I’ve seen in Florida already have this ban in place.)

GROSS!! <multiple anger emojis; crying emojis; the scream emoji>
I once heard a quote, can’t remember who said it, but something to the effect that the elites / oligarchs don’t need to wage war on the working classes; they can easily just get us to wage war on each other.

At some point we will learn that making life miserable for those less fortunate than ourselves just backfires on us all.

Like for example, when benches are removed because homeless people might sit there. And now nobody gets a place to sit. Ditto with closing public restrooms, shutting down water fountains, etc.

If sleeping in public places is banned, does that mean people will be ticketed for napping on the beach??? There’s no way to just punish homeless people with stuff like this. The net is cast over us all when we do stuff like this.

Not that homeless people deserve to be punished!

If there’s not enough places where people can live affordably, we can hardly fault people for sleeping outdoors.

Actually, I think people should just be allowed to sleep outdoors if they want to, period.

It used to be perfectly normal to take naps in parks and so on. I have done it many many times, more than I can count.

In the book A Pattern Language (one of my top favorite permaculture design books that never mention the word permaculture) by Alexander et al., sleeping outdoors is even presented as one of the essential patterns making up a sustainable society.

Note, many cities already have camping bans, prohibiting overnight camping. But this is going further, banding any kind of sleeping in public at all. At any time of day.

With just the camping ban, at least a person only has to stay out of sight of the police and pearl-clutching Karens / “law and order” neighborhood watch types overnight. Whereas with the total ban on sleeping in public it makes life just all the harder. For people who are already living harsh.

#classism #elitism #respectabilitypolitics #CasteInAmerica

— Oh, and if you want to know more about the unacknowledged caste system in the USA and around the world, please go see the movie ORIGIN. Very, very eye-opening and explains a lot!!

Update: possible action step

And on this topic, today I just happened to get an email newsletter from @Care2, urging people to sign this petition asking the Supreme Court to forbid cities from enacting prohibitions on sleeping in public.

Here is the text:

“In cities across the United States, unhoused people are being punished simply for existing without a home. This is the harsh reality faced by countless homeless individuals across the United States, as they are ticketed for sleeping in public spaces — a direct consequence of their circumstances. This practice not only worsens their struggles but also challenges the very essence of human dignity and compassion.

“Sign this petition to urge state governments to enact laws that prohibit ticketing homeless individuals for sleeping in public spaces.

“The Supreme Court’s upcoming decision to consider whether cities may issue tickets to homeless people sleeping on public property is a critical moment. It raises fundamental questions about our society’s treatment of its most vulnerable members. Unhoused individuals often have no choice but to sleep in public areas, especially when adequate shelter or housing is not available. Penalizing them for this is not only cruel but counterproductive. No matter what the Supreme Court decides, states must pass laws that forbid the ticketing of homeless individuals for sleeping in public spaces. Sign this petition to support the enactment of laws that protect the rights and dignity of homeless individuals.”

Go here to sign the petition:

https://www.care2.com/go/z/e/A0c5K/zy6./bXtMT

Item came across my feed recently:

A coffee shop in Kent, UK. has made the brave decision to only serve customers who bring their own cup to the store, and to illustrate why they are doing this they filled their store floor with disposable cups.

Otto’s Coffee House & Kitchen hopes its new policy will inspire other coffee shops to follow suit around the world.

Credit: Otto’s Coffee House & Kitchen

See the original post, with photo of the floor covered with cups several feet deep, at Heartland page on Facebook.

— While I hear that this shop closed after eight years, the Kerrville Folk Music Festival has had a “reusable cup only” policy for decades. And it’s remarkable how people bring their reusable cups when they have to in order to get a beverage!

Dear eco event organizer,

I’m sorry, I will not be able to make it tonight. I spoke too soon when I RSVPed for this event.

It turns out the bus isn’t an option. I had misread the bus map and schedule.

And I do not feel safe riding my bicycle there, as the route is mainly high-speed, congested roads. 

A concern that I was going to share tonight is how unfriendly this area is to people who are not driving cars. So this is perfect! 

And no, I’m not fishing for anyone to give me a ride tonight. Because it’s not just about me. I choose to represent people who have no choice other than foot, bicycle, and public transport.

I am car-FREE by choice, but I at least know how to drive, am able to drive, have a driver’s license, and would be able to afford the expenses of car ownership (if I were willing to sell my house and live in the car). There are so many other people who have no choice.

We environmentalists need to push more to stop the erosion of public transportation and walkable density. This isn’t just for the environment. This is for the well-being of elders, children, and even the driving population. I am only one person, but at least I can cast my one vote.

Getting there by public transport and/or bicycle was going to be my transportation activist homework adventure for the day, but it just physically is not going to work. So I guess in a sense I did still do my homework. I researched and found that the bus does not get close enough or run late enough for me to attend this event. And would be dangerous to try to go by bicycle, especially at night.

Conversation ongoing, and let’s shape a safe, sane transportation future for our area and for the planet.

POSTSCRIPT: Well, this whole thing ended up coming full circle, in a good way. Because a couple weeks ago, when I first got what I thought was the invitation to this meeting tonight, I emailed the person back to see if it was outdoors. (Because I have been trying to avoid indoor meetings as much as possible, so as to limit unnecessay exposure to Covid and other health risks, since I am in multiple high-risk categories and also work with vulnerable populations.)

The person who sent me the email (a person I don’t know) told me no, it’s only indoors. So then I asked her if a virtual option is available and she said no.

Then I thought, well, maybe it’s important enough for me to risk the exposure. And I decided to make it a transportation activist homework assignment.

Now, fast forward to today, my good friend who is high up in this eco organization told me that the meeting is in fact available by Zoom. And told me she wasn’t sure who I had been emailing with.

Well, it’s a very large organization so I will have to sift through my emails to see who it was who emailed me. And obviously what this other person was inviting me to must be a totally different meeting. (This organization is not only massive but has many many different levels.)

But long story short, I can attend tonight’s meeting by Zoom tonight! A very eco-friendly transportation options: virtual meetings!

POSTSCRIPT POSTSCRIPT: Except no, I had the wrong info yet again. The meeting organizer is not having it by Zoom. Well, as I am often saying, some of the most powerful activism is what we are doing right in our own homes and neighborhoods. And by postal mail and email too.