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moving through it

001
raking away winter's leavings under one of the little Native Plum trees and lo and behold…these beautiful pods.  i have no idea what came before.  i often wear out in august or september and just let it all go wild out there.  and in this privacy, something grew.  many beautiful black seeds.   a gift.

001
the Mexican Elderberry.  She who gives good green from her leaves in copper

004
so…inbetween the Daughter Cloth stitches, i need to work on this.  it will be a variation on a dragon cloth…those central threads, the dragon and for the first time in days, my mind is creating pictures.   we'll see what else wants to be here.  but it is a very good feeling to feel the energy again.

Deb G said the other day about the sorrow in Japan:

"…how it could fundamentally change our lives, our perception of vulnerability"  and then  "equilibrium is going to be a long time coming i think, if ever".

then, Cindy said this about my mother's diaries:

"of all the things that happen in a day, what would we each choose to record?"

am thinking about these.  and in terms of moving through this period of time with both the very great sorrow of Japan and also the potential for almost anything in Lybia,  i am making my way through it as best i can and in this moment today, am thinking that there is really only one thing that i know for absolutely certain and that is of the destructive nature of nuclear energy.  and what i know for certain too is that in these last years, very little has been initiated in this state toward developing Wind and Solar potential.  these things i know.  all the rest…i don't know.  there are too many variables, too much that i am unaware of.  too many lies.  and so…with this one certainty, i will go forward.  i will educate myself so that i can be well spoken about the state of nuclear "business" in this country.  and it IS, nothing but business.   i will be thoughtfull and find clear ways to express what i come to know and i will then take every opportunity i can; in the grocery store line, on the telephone, at the gas station, to the neighbors at the post office, anywhere i am, and i will plant a seed for alternatives.  This i Can do.

the sludge is lifting, lightening.

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

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22 responses to “moving through it”

  1. handstories Avatar
    handstories

    grace, after making that comment, I realized that those of us here in this community are already making some choices of what to record. we record our passions, concerns, imaginings, stories, etc. in cloth, in stitches, in words. You have recorded something very important here today. I remember the excitement of nuclear energy when I was young, and then the fear that came soon after. how did this fear slip away unnoticed?

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  2. Penny B Avatar
    Penny B

    Dear Grace….thank you for your words. Words I have not written down in my public blog. Sometimes we don’t write about the events of the day because they are just so overwhelming, so devastating…even as an observer from half a world away.
    A map appeared on the news the other day pinpointing all the nuclear power stations…there were so many. Nature provides us with wind, sun, tides, water, and so much more…why did we have to go and complicate things?

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  3. KaiteM. Avatar
    KaiteM.

    grace, you say what so many of us are thinking and we are all becoming better informed recently about nuclear energy, whether we wanted to or not. I fear where it all is heading.

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  4. deanna7trees Avatar
    deanna7trees

    i too am concerned about the use of nuclear energy, however i do not have a good alternative to offer. the more we consume and produce new inventions, the more the need for more energy. wind and solar sounds good but from what i read it does not solve the problem, it just creates different problems. you might want to read this:
    http://www.wind-power-problems.org/
    there is no easy answer. we all know what we do not want but i, for one, do not have a solution other than conserving and using less energy so we are not constantly looking for more sources. i know this is not reasonable given the world we live in. there are people out there with good ideas that never get developed for a variety of reasons. wish i knew how to change that, but i haven’t a clue.

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  5. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Knowledge is one of the keys to understanding and I commend grace for this blog entry. I live in the state with possibly the most gung ho attitude toward nuclear power, TN. It is the only state presently building a nuclear power plant in the US at this time. This whole area is considered the “hub for US Nuclear Industry”.
    Did I realize this before we moved here? Did I know that less than 50 miles away from where I live is a nuclear power plant? NO.
    Sometimes when looking for a place to live/rent, we don’t stop to ask ourselves overarching important questions; we just want to get settled in and get on with our daily lives and it is not until a tragedy occurs, that we stop and stick our heads up.
    Now in light of what has happened in Japan, the local papers are asking questions. On March 17th, it was revealed that the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, the power plant less than 50 miles from me has ” two reactors that have the nation’s fourth-highest earthquake risk, according to assessments by the Nuclear Regulatory Agency.”
    Here is the dilemma: Nuclear energy is supposedly cheap power, measured in dollars and cents UNTIL a tragedy occurs and then we take a look at the cost in human lives, desecration to the land, the air, the water, etc. In this region of the US, nuclear energy provides many jobs and again, that economic factor is front and center. Yet according to info that I recently researched from the Tennessee Valley Authority, nuclear energy only makes up 28% of the power needs in the Southeast with the majority from fossil fuels, 62% and 10% from hydroelectric.
    Until each and everyone of us comes to grips with the ways we use and waste energy in this country, wind and solar and any other alternatives will fall by the wayside.
    OR maybe, the time to move beyond studies and endless committees to citizen action is now.

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  6. helen salo Avatar
    helen salo

    Very enlightening post. We have a wind energy station in the thumb of Michigan, but I really don’t know enough about it, i will have to check out Deanna’s link. I myself have been skepticle of nuclear ever since 3 mile island. You are on the right path, Grace, as change only comes about by action and an open mouth. On the other note, it looks like your pods are a mmoney tree. anyone else think that?

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  7. deanna7trees Avatar
    deanna7trees

    are you referring to the silver dollar tree which is a kind of eucalyptus? that’s what i thought at first but on a close up look, it is not. these are 3 dimensional pods. i’ll do some research and see what i can find.

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  8. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    it should not have…there have been significant incidences. but they have somehow been downplayed…again,
    for
    convenience
    of some
    but the interesting thing to me in this moment is that
    with the instantaneous communication that has become so
    commonplace in very recent time, nothing goes unnoticed.
    it truly is that we share the back yard.

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  9. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    being honest, penny, i hesitate to say things sometimes
    because it seems so grim. and we, or, i, don’t want to
    be felt as a grim person. but i don’t FEEL grim. i feel
    very much just a part of it all, the beauty and the
    grim and i really need to live within it all because it
    is just
    there.
    to ignore what is not “convenient” is not an option

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  10. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    well…..i’d like to “go down” with honor, if that’s what
    it all takes…
    i look at those little children, barely able to walk yet
    being scanned for radiation and it is just totally
    unacceptable.

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  11. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    deanna…before i went to work this morning, i read
    through quickly and will go back again tonight. THANK
    YOU for this link. it’s what i am looking for in my
    effort to be clear within myself.
    what i didn’t see, though, is who or which organization
    was offering this info? i may have missed it…will look
    again…
    xoxo

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  12. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    Marti…i knew i could count on you to research…you
    are a journalist at heart and an excellent one at that.
    and the key word here is UNTIL.
    and Until ….. will occur. it is so not worth the risk
    and so much one of those things “you can’t undo”. There
    is so much, but this one thing is Undoable. I watch
    closely now…and wonder how anyone can imagine that these
    reacters can just be “fixed” and things will go one as
    before..
    it’s just a matter of time.
    thank you, Old Same

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  13. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    an open mouth

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  14. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    nope…not money plant
    and also, it’s really ok that they remain a mystery.
    these are the second mysteries here, brought i am sure
    by the birds. i will post a pic of the first which
    was totally amazing

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  15. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    Deanna is right that we really need to look at consumption too. It’s a crucial part of the issue. And that’s one of the things that scares me because there are a lot of people not willing to use less…

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  16. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    Deb…yes. consumption is easy for me. and a very
    actually, Happy thing. and yes. it is scarey. the
    blithe consumption. but these are things that will come
    with the failure of “economic growth” that i am thinking
    will simply die on the vine. i think you are aware of
    Sharon Astyks thinking. Derrick Jensen.
    but these things can wither of their own accord.
    and will.
    What occurs in this window of time is what worries me most.
    How i think there is the urge to simply put it all back
    to “how it was” in Japan. just “rebuild”. it won’t work.
    i look at the pics of the “rebels” in Lybia and think how
    each would like a small “home”. a lightbulb. “enough”.
    it is such a complex moment.
    and as Helen said…An Open Mouth moment. like you on the bus the other day.
    i live in a very poor area of the United States of
    america. my across the road neighbor Margie hasn’t had
    running water in her trailer house for some years now, i
    think 6? since the stray dogs had a big fight under
    her trailer and broke her pipes. the family next door
    just were evicted. i suppose some of their own cause, but
    really, not totally. Poor is poor. but it is not at all the end of the world. we all here, muddle on quite cheerfully, really, for the most part. so
    i don’t know, Deb. i really don’t.
    i’m trying to understand so many things.
    but FOR SURE
    i am CERTAIN than nuclear ANYTHING is way more than
    we are capable of.

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  17. deanna7trees Avatar
    deanna7trees

    wind-power-problems.org is the organization, grace. however there are many others if you google “problems with wind power”…i’ve been researching this subject for quite awhile and i see no answer. there is no form of energy that doesn’t come with risks. most people are not willing to conserve energy. the only way i see a change is if we start training children in school to conserve energy and maybe in 2 or 3 generations things will change.

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  18. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    I think no nuclear is a good line to draw. Yes, the rebuilding and having is a big issue, part of the consumption issue…how we prioritize. I don’t know either, one day at a time I guess….

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  19. Deb G Avatar
    Deb G

    The internet creates a kind of global village, maybe it will make a difference.

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  20. Herm Avatar
    Herm

    with not much knowledge about nuclear plants, i think what they should be doing here is improve “transportation”, especially trains! we don’t have nuclear plants in Oregon, thank God, but who knows the one in Japan or anywhere else will get us here too?

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  21. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    i guess for me now, it seems that it’s all “near by”. what affects any of Us affects All of us. they effect the Earth…which to me is always my first mother, my first
    of kin.

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  22. grace Forrest Maestas Avatar
    grace Forrest Maestas

    and also…just looked…there WAS one. Trojan in
    Rainier. was closed down. much protest. i’ll read more.

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