Let There Be Light, But Just Not So Much

Since I've been sleeping outside on the patio for at least a week, I've pretty much gotten used to it being, if not completely dark, at least almost there. However, tonight screams daylight. Woke up about 12:00 to a beautiful moon so full and bright I thought it was noon instead of midnight. (slight exaggeration there, but not a lot). To top it off, my mom was still awake in the living room, reading, and that light spread outside to the patio. Then there are the ubiquitous streetlights. When I sleep in the bedroom, one shines directly into the window. Several months ago I quietly and sneakily unscrewed the bulb and no one noticed for a month. Perhaps it's time to do it again. Now I'm wide awake and have been catching up on friends' blogs, especially those from Sebastian, who I met several years ago in Kanab, Utah. He has been living in a small Casita trailer which he tows to various out-back and off-road places, and writes about the experience living "off the grid" with his cats. Although I don't think I'd like to spend most of my time so far away from civilization, this time in San Diego, with all the traffic, noise, light pollution, people, and speed of life has convinced me of the need to just get away from it all for a while, if only for a short time. The RV patiently awaits. Now if the price of gas would just go down a little more.

Transportation Decision

I've now been living in East San Diego County for six months and it's been okay so far. But, I can't keep from comparing the area to the way it was when I grew up here so many years ago. Like most other big cities, it's become too big with far too many people and few areas of actual quiet. Right now my jobs require a lot of driving from one area of the county to another. With the price of gas rising each day, now anywhere from $4.09 to $4.35 per gallon, I needed to make a decision. I could accept only those jobs within a small radius of my home, I could quit them completely, or I could find other transportation options.

I used to enjoy driving. However, I don't like to drive here any longer. Using freeways, I am able to get just about anywhere, using surface roads to complete a trip. But, that convenience is marred by too darned many other vehicles going at too fast a speed. It's marred by too many speed bumps, by too many dead ends, by too many roads that go nowhere, by too many "Right Turn Only" signs, by the need to make too many U-turns, by the need to shift gears in my pickup constantly on surface streets, by too-long waits at huge intersections, and especially by my impatience with all of these things.

Yesterday I discovered that I am old enough for a Senior Transit Pass, paying $18 a month instead of the normal $72 for unlimited rides on buses and trolleys. Considering that it now takes at least $50 to fill my gas tank, it's a no-brainer. Yes, trips will take much longer. Yes, I'll need to plan trips ahead of time. And yes, I'll need to do a little more walking from stop to stop. But I also see it as an adventure, as a way to thumb my nose at oil companies, and as a way to do my small share to make this planet a little greener.

The adventure begins today with a very short walk down the hill to the bus stop, a bus ride to the El Cajon Transit Center,

  and a short walk from there to Parkway Plaza Shopping Center for a mystery shop.

Then it's a walk back to the transit center and a trolley and bus ride into San Diego for another shop.

Finally, after a bus ride back to the trolley stop, it's another trolley ride back to El Cajon

and a bus up to the mountain city of Alpine. That bus stops directly at my destination so that will be handy. From there, I can ride the bus back to where I began, walk up the hill, and I'm home. We'll see how it goes.

While living in Portland, Oregon, I used to ride the MAX light rail everywhere, and buses where the MAX didn't go. So, there's really no reason not to get into that habit again. It might be interesting to keep track of how much gas I DON'T use this coming month.

Food Instead of Football

Conversion of college football field to an organic farm.
This story about a small Texas college converting their football field to an organic farm is probably one of the best things I've read in quite a while. I especially enjoyed reading about students' experiences eating carrots right out of the ground for the very first time, without even any ranch dressing to cover up the taste. There is hope.

Beach Thoughts

I drove the twenty miles down Hwy 52 to La Jolla Shores this morning to take a long walk on the beach and snap some pictures for friends in Oklahoma and Ohio. Thought they might like to warm up a little. It was a beautiful, sunny day though not extremely warm. However, there were lots of walkers, surfers, joggers, and cyclists taking advantage of the sunny weather.

While walking down to the Scripps pier, my mind leaped from one topic to the next. So, this will most likely be somewhat disjointed, with no apparent organization. Not exactly stream of consciousness, but close.

On the way to the beach, I stopped for an oil change in the pickup since it had been over 5,000 miles since the last one. They tried to fix the "check engine" light, which has been on now for about two years. No place I've taken the vehicle has been able to figure out what is wrong. They reset it but the light comes back on as soon as I start the engine. So, I'll take it into a mechanic next week to see if they can figure it out. I need to have the light stay off in order to pass the smog test here, needed to register the vehicle in California.

While listening to KPBS while driving, I heard an interview with the author of The Gangster We Are All Looking For. When asked her thoughts about living in San Diego, she said she thinks it's necessary to leave for a while, then return, to really appreciate living here. Although I was born and lived here for 28 years, I loved my 35 years in Oregon and would go back in a minute. I also enjoyed my short time in Kansas and Oklahoma, except for the weather extremes. In the middle of a hot, muggy summer in Oklahoma, I attempted growing my hair longer and  found out it still had some natural curl. Not a pleasant sight.

No, I don't like the high prices of everything here, the number of people, standing in long lines for just about everything, or freeway traffic. But, the weather trumps all of it. That, and the beach. My body must be composed of 99% saltwater or something.

After walking in the tide line down to the pier and back, I sat on top of a picnic table in the grassy area and just people-watched for a while. I pulled out a new package of Fig Newtons, marveling at the easy-open pull tab on the top. That made it just too easy to pig out a bit. At least those cookies are fairly healthy. There's no way I'd dare to buy peanut butter filled Oreos with the same top: they'd be gone in less than ten minutes. And, my teeth would be black.

BTW, how do you eat Oreos? I've always carefully separated them, eating the filling first, then the cookies. My friend Lou eats the whole thing at once.

Back to the picnic table. I loved seeing the wonderfully-colored and decorated surfboards. One of them was blue and green plaid. Another was bright yellow with flowers. One guy had bought a bright, shiny red board, and someone else carried one that was light blue with a dark blue, diagonal stripe. All of them now come with an ankle strap to keep the board from getting away too far.

I watched a group of college guys play touch football in the sand. And, I read for a while, A Year by the Sea, by Joan Anderson. This quote made me think for a little bit: "Sometimes I think women are like the fog. We have a knowledge of what is underneath, but our real selves are obscured by what others think of us."

Food for thought.

Yellow Snow

This is dedicated to all my friends in frozen areas this morning, especially those of you who have animals to take care of. Dr. Demento used to play this Frank Zappa song all the time. It's fitting somehow. Enjoy - and STAY WARM!

Mystery Shopping

Because a number of people have asked me questions about Mystery Shopping such how to do it, how to get assignments, and so forth, I decided to put together a short post of some of the information I've found most helpful.

I've done mystery shopping for several years, and during that time it's been fun to observe and report about both excellent as well as terrible customer service. I've acted as a prospective member of fitness centers, inquired about cell phone plans, computer monitors, and party supplies, performed gas station audits, checked for serial numbers on the back of ice cream freezers, watched hundreds of movie previews (trailers), tried on clothing, shopped for new furniture, and eaten lots of fast food. The possibilities are as endless as the commercial establishments that use mystery shoppers to hopefully improve their customer service and sales.

If you're interested in making a little extra money as an independent contractor, I'd suggest doing some reading and research first to learn exactly what is required and to discover if you have what it takes to be successful. I've found the following two websites invaluable and immensely helpful.

Mystery Shopping Providers Association (MSPA) is a good place to begin. Please check out their website and bookmark it as a favorite as I'm sure you'll return to it again and again. It offers a wealth of information as well as constantly updated shopping assignments from a wide variety of mystery shopping companies.

Volition provides extensive A-Z lists of the many, many shopping companies you can sign up to represent.

Probably the most time-consuming part of becoming a mystery shopper is signing up for various companies. I've usually found those companies on volition.com. All companies require information such as name, address, phone number, email address, height, weight, gender, and so forth. You might be asked to provide a sample or two of your writing. Each company is different because each company represents a variety of companies. Some of them notify you of possible assignments by email; for some you will need to check their site for available jobs. So, be sure to bookmark all of the companies you sign on with. Also be sure to note the user name and password you use.

Here are just a few of the companies for which I have completed many assignments.

Business Evaluation Service

Second to None

Market Force

Blogs represent another excellent way to gain information from shoppers' experiences and hints. Here are only a few I found from a Google search.

8 Truths from a Mystery Shopper You Must Read Before you Get Started

Mystery Shopping Coach’s Update

Blogs About Mystery Shoppers

I realize this is just a very tiny bit of information about the field of mystery shopping. While doing your own research, you'll find your own favorites. However, I hope these ideas will at least get you started.

Compassion in Action, Working with the Homeless

 Since pretty much giving up the nomadic RV life several months ago and returning to San Diego to live, I've become more and more involved in homeless advocacy and assistance projects. At a training meeting with other volunteers for the Point-In-Time Count nationwide count of the homeless this week, I began wondering why I'm so passionate about these activities and decided to try to find a beginning point, something that got me started. However, my memory is a little fuzzy about many years ago, most likely when Reagan was president, so I won't use that as a starting point. But, that time is indeed a beginning.

While going to seminary in Seattle from 1999 to 2003, I began noticing more and more people on street corners and freeway on and off ramps, holding signs offering to work for food or requesting money. In a field work class, one of my classmates, a rather quiet, unassuming young man, spent much time walking around downtown Seattle, stopping to talk with homeless individuals. I was impressed that he could do that. It tugged at me in ways almost nothing else had for a long time. However, at the time I was not prepared to do it myself.

After graduation, I returned to San Diego to do a year-long CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) residency with the Center for Urban Ministry, hoping to be assigned an internship with one of the homeless shelters downtown. At that time, San Diego County had just experienced several of the worst wildfires in history. Seventeen people had died, and many, many were left with no place to live. The head of the CPE program asked if I would be interested in being a chaplain-intern with those fire survivors, so I did. It was one of the most challenging and rewarding things I had ever done. My office was my small Nissan Sentra and my cell phone. I visited people wherever they were; in tiny motor homes, in tents, in half-burned buildings, in motels, in the homes or relatives or friends. I tried to give them hope. Possibly I succeeded. Little did I realize at the time that I would soon be in a similar situation.

Because of a well-paid job that just didn't work out, I found myself without enough money to pay rent on the rather-overpriced apartments in the county. It wasn't as serious as it could have been as I could have possibly lived with a relative or even returned to Portland. However, I was newly divorced and really needed to "stand on my own two feet." So, I bought a very small motor home, 23-feet, traded the Sentra for a Ford pickup I could tow behind the RV, sold or gave away almost everything I owned, joined workamper.com, and found a job in Kanab, Utah, working as a breakfast buffet server for Parry Lodge. It was my first workamping job, one that provided not only an RV site, but also full hookups of water, electricity, and sewer, as well as pay for all hours worked. But, I was technically homeless, though not in an ordinary sense.

 Living in that very small space of one room with no separate bedroom, helped me understand a little better how the people I had tried to help in San Diego after the fires might have felt. Some of them had the same size motorhomes for their families of two or more people. I had a hard enough time taking what one person called "hokey-pokey showers," you know, "put your right foot in, put your right foot out..." I couldn't imagine two, three, or more family members doing it.

I was a full-time workamper for four years, working at various places during spring, summer, and fall. However, winters were difficult as there were very few jobs. Most workamping jobs were seasonal. So, I struggled to find places to live during the winter without having to pay an outrageous amount for space rent. Sometimes I parked in casino and Walmart parking lots for several nights. I volunteered one or more days a week at the Desert View Tower overlooking the desert in return for a spot to park that included electricity, water, and a fantastic view. Although not living on the street or in a shelter, I was technically homeless.

However, it was time to find a more permanent place so I returned to San Diego to live with my mother. It is working out well for both of us.

Two months ago I saw a request for volunteers for "Homeless Connect," a one-day event downtown that provided resources for the homeless population of the county; clothing, medical and dental attention, food, pet care, legal advice, spiritual assistance, haircuts, and many more. I worked as an escort, helping a 60-something woman find her way around the large room to get the services she needed. We talked a lot and got well-acquainted. Yes, I most likely knew in my mind that homeless individuals were people just like you and me, but it never really sank in until then.

I talked with representatives of some of the many advocacy and aid groups in the county and learned about the Point-In-Time Count (PITC) this coming weekend. It is a national program that counts the homeless population each year at the same time in all areas. The tallies are entered into a large database and used to help get more funding for homeless work. So I will be among more than 550 other volunteers getting out there very early Friday morning, counting homeless individuals.

What comes next? I have no idea. However, I am making lots of connections with groups in the area such as the Interfaith Shelter Network, and will be doing a little volunteer work with them through my Unitarian Universalist church in the next few months.

Yes, I am passionate about this work and hopefully compassionate towards the many homeless people in this county. There are too many. And, the economic and unemployment situation now just makes everything worse. We all need one another, regardless of political or religious beliefs, and I really hope I'm doing my part to at least help with some basic needs. It's the least I can do.

Notes from Social Media for CEOs Bootcamp

Social Media Bootcamp for CEOs

John Larson

Westin – San Diego

Jan. 19, 2011

500 million people on Facebook alone. 62% of people using social media are between 25 and 54 years old. 71% are employed, median age is 33, 47% married.

Point of using social media for business is to build relationships with large groups of people. A two-way conversation with your target audience. Leverage technology. Customers listening to each other and tuning out marketing messages. There is always a conversation going on about your industry. At least use social media to protect your brand.

“Turn strangers to friends. Friends to customers. Customers to evangelists.”

Old School	New School
Telegram	Twitter
Yearbook	Facebook
Rolodex	LinkedIn
Television	YouTube
Newspaper	Blogs
Encyclopedia	Google
Yellow Pages	Google

In using social media, don’t:

• Tell friends about bad food
• Beg people to buy from you
• Carry on a monologue. Instead, build relationships
• It is not just setting up environments and not doing anything with them

Large, Fortune 500 companies: 65% use Twitter, 54% use Facebook. On average, they post 27 Tweets and 4 FB posts per week. They post 10 videos and 7 blogs per month.

How to use social media to the best advantage

Develop your strategy first.

Define:

Goals, objectives, target audience, conversion activities (what you want people to do), budget, and resources.

Measure:

Performance goals

Branding goals

Cost per lead

Cost per acquisition

Refine:

Make changes for improvement

Create new objectives

Manage by exception i.e. Why?

If You Regularly	Your Profile
Blog, podcast, tweet, video	Creator
Write reviews, post replies	Critic
Update your profile	Joiner
Watch videos, read blogs	Spectator
None of the above	Inactive

You need to be a creator and a critic. Figure out and engage with people already having a conversation about your industry.

How to make informed decisions and “Lead with value.”:

• Use archived knowledge such as spec sheets, technical data. Write blog articles using that knowledge.
• Use real-time knowledge to influence buyers’ decisions
• Use humor (check out Old Spice videos on YouTube)
• Use products

Don’t be a narcissist.

There is a time commitment – resources and manpower needed

Ask questions and for opinions. Stay relevant

 Focus on your niche.

Educate – train customers to buy. Use key words and phrases on your website.

Tactics in a nutshell – short overview

• Listening:  to identify who you want to build relationships with
• Build community – grow social media environment i.e. friends and followers
• Broadcast – post stuff. Drive people to your content
• Content – if people want to share
• Convert

Tactics – long version

Listening:

• Key phrase research, include misspellings.
• Google Alerts. Set up on Google so they will alert you when people use your key phrases, etc.
• Twitter – search bar, hash tags (# in front of key word or phrase)
• SocialMention.com – it will search through media environments, real time.
• Industry sites and blogs. For example, websites listed in industry mags.

Build Community:

• Use “Follow” buttons on website
• Email-blast customers and prospects, under guise of customer service.
• Tweet, blog, post. People will follow you.
• Leverage search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM)

Broadcasting:

• Begin engaging with target audience
• Link social sites together to push content across multiple channels. Can use: One tfor Twitter – I can’t read my own writing but available on Twitter home page. Also Ping.fm and Hootsuite. Only need to type a message once. One click of a button will post to many sites.

“For every nine non-commercial broadcasts, you earn the right to one promotional one.”

Content:

• Define tone/voice. Do you want to be humorous, serious, just facts, personal, etc.? Have the company voice.
• Leverage content across media types using videos, blogs, etc.
• Make your content more than valuable: Make it remarkable (people will remark about it).

• Content ideas:

• Success stories/case studies
• Product comparisons
• Top 10 lists
• Write something controversial i.e. maybe write an opposite opinion in a blog.

Convert – to get leads, etc.:

• Enable people to request a catalog.
• Offer free consulting – do a service for someone, help solve a problem
• Promotional products – to get contact information
• Offer an online webinar/workshop

To maximize conversions:

• Enable people to know what’s in it for them.
• How to take the next step. Be very clear and specific about this. If you’re not mailing anything, don’t ask for a mailing address. People don’t like this.
• Send follow-up thank you by email
• Invite people to follow you on other sites.

Monitoring:

• Use Dashboard software
• Aggregate view
• Real time
• Analytical data
• Use Google Analysis (free)

Social Media Cornerstones

Twitter:

• Be human. Let your personality shine through. (Check zappos.com CEO Tony)
• Tweet 3-7 times per week at a minimum. For example, Dell Computers tweets coupons.
• Always personally reply to new followers
• Build a professional-looking profile

Facebook – 500 million people:

• Set up a company page
• Post 3 or more times a week – each business day
• Add “Like” feature to page
• Add video from YouTube

LinkedIn:

• More business oriented than Facebook or Twitter. Google loves LinkedIn
• Update personal status 3 – 5 times per week
• Create company profile with key words in mind
• Connect your blog to your personal profile and company profile
• Start a group tailored to your target audience with lots of links

Blog:

• This should be the central command post for all your content.
• Blogs never go away – they last forever and can be found.
• You can aggregate other things like Twitter, FB, etc. Optimize with key phrases and words.
• Should have a professional appearance
• Post a blog at least 4  times per month and/or once a week.
• Post the blog headline on FB, Twitter, LinkedIn to let people know it’s there
• Post a related video on YouTube
• Link to sign-up for email newsletter
• Link to embedded video
• Social environment links (buttons) should be at the top in plain sight for easy use

YouTube (This is the main thing right now):

• Post one new video a month.
• Not the place for amateur hour. Should be professional, TV-quality video
• Keep it short and optimize. People have short attention spans. Approximately 1-3 minutes
• Post videos on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
• Videos are 53 more times likely to get on the first page of search engines
• YouTube is the second most favorite with search engines. 2.6 billion visitors per day.

Read “Business Week”, July 15, 2010 article about social media.

Social Media Professionals:

Position	Annual Average Salary
Social Media Strategist	$120,000
Community Manager	70,000
Copywriter/blogger	40,000
Video production	50,000

Working in a Barn - a P.S.

 P.S. Before being turned into a theater, the Old Barn at Parry Lodge in Kanab, Utah used to be a working barn. There's a very good chance that Trigger, Buttercup, Silver, Scout, and one of the many horses John Wayne used got to sleep there during movie filming. 

 There also used  to be a speakeasy-type club in back called The Black Cat where the stars used to go for their entertainment. Kanab has always been quite a quiet, Mormon town, and even though it's fairly close to Las Vegas, sometimes a little liquid refreshment or a game of cards on site hit the spot. The place burned down long ago, and not many people know about it. Now you do.

Working in a Barn

Like me, I'm sure you've occasionally done something stupid enough that someone asked, "Were you raised in a barn?" Well, although I was definitely not RAISED in that barn, I've now spent lots of time in one.  Since beginning work at Parry Lodge in Kanab, Utah on April 1, I've hung around in a barn three hours a night, five nights a week, showing old Western movies that were filmed in this area. 

Being raised during the 1950s and '60s, I grew up watching the Lone Ranger and Tonto save the West from the bad guys, the ones who almost always wore black hats. I very seldom missed an episode of "Gunsmoke" or "Daniel Boone," or "Have Gun, Will Travel," but gave absolutely no thought to where those TV shows were filmed. But now I know. 

Have you ever heard of Kanab, Utah? Before coming here four years ago to work at Parry Lodge, I didn't know this place existed until my brother once told me that he and his wife were considering moving here. My intelligent comment at the time was, "Where?" They didn't, but I've now spent a total of fourteen months here, a lot of that time showing old Western movies in The Old Barn. 

All of the films we show, nineteen this season, have been filmed in this area of Kane County and Kanab, Utah. Although the fantastic red rock scenery doesn't show to good advantage in black and white, in Technicolor it's beautiful. What a great place to make Westerns!

Actor Joel McCrea starred in many movies here: "Cattle Drive" in 1951 with a very young Dean Stockwell, based on Kipling's "Captains Courageous; "Ramrod" (1947) with a luminous-looking Veronica Lake; "The Outriders" (1950) with Arlene Dahl; and one of my favorites, "Trooper Hook" (1957) with Barbara Stanwyck. That movie was ahead of its time in serving as a commentary on toleration and acceptance of differences.

Rod Cameron starred in the forgettable, at least to me, "Oh! Susanna" (1951), which has absolutely nothing to do with a Susanna other than the title music.The plot concerns strained relations at an army fort during Indian wars. He also filmed "Ride the Man Down" (1952) with Forrest Tucker, a much better movie.

Two of my favorites this season have been "The Fargo Kid" (1940) and "Wagon Train," (1940), both starring Tim Holt, the one with a beautiful smile. "The Fargo Kid" is a light Western comedy about mistaken identity.

Of course, the hands-on favorite of just about everyone this season has been "The Lone Ranger" with Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels, filmed in 1956. Every night it's played to a full house with applause afterward.

As in any decent old movie house, I sell freshly-made popcorn as well as soft drinks and various kinds of ice cream. The comfortable, mismatched seats once graced various rooms in the Lodge. If you get there early enough, you can choose the most comfortable ones in the place--two plaid, overstuffed rockers.

Many guests have asked me how many people usually show up for the movies and, being honest, I tell them there's really no way of knowing beforehand. It all depends on how many people are registered at the Lodge on a particular night, how many tour buses, and what country the folks on those tours are from, and how many people from the community show up for a night out. The French rarely come, most likely because of the language difference; the films were made before subtitles. However, the Japanese, as a rule, love their Westerns and their popcorn. Germans like the movies, as do the British. Most of the old Westerns have enough action to satisfy just about anyone.

Enough talking. Here are some pictures I took the other night.

End of the season reflections

Here's a  little Kanab "movie-in-the-barn" trivia for you. Last night I calculated just how many times I've shown the 24-minute short feature, "Return to Little Hollywood," since April 1. My first season here, I complained about having to watch "Buffalo Bill" 38 times. Well, the figure for "Little Hollywood" is now at 160 with four more to go this coming week. Gee, do you think that might be the reason I can repeat it all in my sleep? However, I really love the freedom of this job. And smoozing with guests from all over the world is wonderful fun, especially when some of them dance to the pre-film Western music or applaud at the end of  "The Lone Ranger." That makes it all worthwhile.


It's the same here in the workampers RV park. As long as the place looks decent, I can pretty much do what I think needs to be done and set my own time for doing it. Getting rid of huge, still-green tumbleweeds is ideal as they take up a lot of space yet are very easy to pull up.

 The trick is to time their removal right before trash-emptying Thursdays. Otherwise they get dry and stickery before I can shove them into the dumpster. But,  I think it's going to take a while before I'll be able to see one in the desert somewhere and not think, "gotta pull that one up."

Goodbye, Monkey Mind

Writing the cookie blog this afternoon served as a way to get back into blogging more. But much more importantly, I hope it also served to focus my thoughts a little in order to keep my "monkey mind" from jumping from thought to thought to idea to idea to idea without really focusing on anything. 

I used to meditate regularly. And I thought that moving into the little RV would make that practice even easier in the small space. However, as sometimes happens, the expectation and the actuality turned out to be completely different. Perhaps in traveling from place to place, living and working in such a variety of spots, my mind also reverted to doing the same. I've found I can no longer sit still or focus on something for longer than a minute at most lately, spending lots of time on Facebook instead. As fun as that is, I feel a need to begin a regular practice again. 

There is much to consider, many things to think about, people to see, jobs to do. However, I would like my meditation practice to take precedence, beginning today. After all, my experience for several years was important and challenging enough to help me decide to become a minister and appreciate the wonderful experience of three years in seminary in Seattle. But somewhere along the way I changed. And I miss that other me very much.

More later.

The Cookie Lady

While volunteering at A Third Place Community Center in Turley, Oklahoma last year, I became known as "The Cookie Lady." Simple enough--every time I drove the 35 miles down there from Bartlesville, OK, I took along a supply of homemade cookies. They disappeared quickly and people started expecting them. And, who was I to disappoint such wonderful people! Of course, that's when I was living in a small house and had the use of a regular oven and even a bit of counter space. 

Remembering how much people appreciated those cookies, I started making them for the night front desk people at Parry Lodge here in Kanab, Utah. This time it's a little more difficult because the RV I'm living in doesn't have an oven nor counter space. I use the toaster oven and shuffle things around a bit in order to get enough room to make the cookies, and it works. Just takes a little patience. I've also started taking them on the nights I need to show the Western movies in the hotel coffee shop instead of in the barn, figuring since we can't have popcorn, soft drinks, or ice cream, at least people can have cookies, coffee, and ice water. After all, who ever watches a movie without something to nibble on?

The most popular ones are the Oatmeal/Raisin/Chocolate Chip cookies, followed by regular Toll House cookies. I even found a great recipe for gluten-free oatmeal/chocolate chip cookies for a friend. 

Ingredients are the key. I use real butter, fresh and unsalted, that I've found at The Dairy Store in Colorado City, AZ, a short drive through the desert on the way to Hurricane or St. George, Utah. That makes a mediocre cookie into an excellent one. We're lucky here because we can order really fresh eggs from a friend. Those also make a huge difference. And I always wonder, why bother using fake chocolate chips when real ones taste so wonderful?

Of course, it's so hard not to chow down on the cookie dough or the finished cookies. I haven't figured out a good way to handle that problem except willpower. Unfortunately, that's sometimes in short supply!

July 31 Thoughts While Sitting Outside with a Glass of Bailey's Irish Cream

I'm looking at an expanse of red mud in what used to be a pretty good looking garden here in the high desert of Utah. A big thunderstorm with heavy rain last night did a better job of dirt removal and moving than even the best heavy machinery. It did a pretty good job here, making it necessary for two of us to spend quite a while cleaning things up, using, of all things in the desert, a snow shovel to clear the mud off cement patios. However, the results three miles away in Kanab itself were even worse. Streets, parking lots, and yards were covered with thick red mud. Motel swimming pools resembled the red sea. Workers were out in force trying to clean up all the mess, in some places bringing in large tanker trucks full of water for the cleanup job. Water and mud oozed its way under doors in apartments, houses, motel rooms, and stores. Not pleasant.

Here are some pictures Fran Meadows took early this morning on her way to work.

 Yesterday I bought a book by Craig Childs called The Secret Knowledge of Water. Looking through it this morning, I discovered a chapter entitled "Flood at Kanab." I've always been quite a believer in synchronicity but that was just a little too much.

While looking out at the red mountains behind us tonight, I also thought of friends and former colleagues who have spent two to three days in Phoenix, Arizona demonstrating and participating in actions against Senate Bill 1070. Many of them were Unitarian Universalist ministers and lay people, and a large number were arrested for standing up for their beliefs and for the people who will be most affected by this insane Arizona law. I'm so glad that Federal Judge Bolton rescinded the worst parts of it. However, it still took affect yesterday. One friend emailed me tonight with her experiences overnight in jail. Although I'm still not entirely convinced I'd be brave enough to get arrested, I'm leaning more and more in that direction, realizing it's more important to stand up for something I believe in than just pretend it will go away or that someone else will do something about it. I feel so proud of everyone who participated and know that if at all possible I will count myself among them next time.
Lee Marie Sanchez, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Anaheim, California, wrote this letter to her congregation about her experience in Phoenix.

Dear UUCA'ers ~

Dawn Usher and I were released from jail today

after spending about 30 hours in Joe Arapaio's

dungeon... otherwise named the Maricopa County

Jail. We were arrested after taking part in a

Civil Disobedience action at a huge intersection

outside of Arapaio's office at Cesar Chavez Park.

This experience is beyond words to describe it.

We began the morning by getting up at 2 am to

be at a prayer vigil with people who had been

praying and fasting for 104 days. We marched

to Trinity Episcopal Church for an huge interfaith

and very inspirational bilingual worship service.

Then we walked a couple more miles where we joined

with about 30 other protesters from Puente and

other local organizations but of which about half

who were Unitarian Universalists. Dawn and I had

taken hours of training the night before but nothing

could compare with what happened. We marched

in a solid square of human beings into the intersection

where we were met with police in riot gear. The

scene was like something out of a movie, with literally

thousands of supporters massed down the boulevard 

and hundreds of Phoenix police surrounding us, asking

us to move. We did not comply. The sound was really

deafening as after about a half hour of our peaceful,

but loud, chanting, singing and speaking, the police

moved in to tell us that we would be arrested.

I have to give the Phoenix police credit as they made

every effort to be polite and helpful as they unlinked

our arms and handcuffed us, taking all our valuables

and putting us into police vans.

We were taken to the the Maricopa Sheriff Jail and,

while I was given what I felt was some special attention

as I was wearing my clergy shirt and collar, I am an

older woman and I am white, not everyone was treated

this way. Some experienced rough and rude handling.

When we arrived we were taken out of the vans but

then placed back in as our UU Presient Peter Morales

and Susan Frederick-Gray, minister of the UU Church

of Phoenix, along with Puente people and other UU

ministers moved in to blocked the jail entrance. We

watched in horror as the sheriffs inside the belly of

the beast prepared in riot gear, shields at the ready,

and tear gas canisters in hand, scrambled to counter.

Everything broke loose, it was angry, crazy, chaos,

controlled by the overwhelming police force. Drums

were beating, people yelling...like a movie scene.

I will tell you more about the actual jail experience

later. For now, let me tell you it was horrendous.

We occupied several cells, mostly UU's by this time,

with men in some and women in about three. We had

the lights on for 24 hours, were watched by men and

women guards constantly, no clocks, not enough of

the cinder block seating for all of us. When we tried

to sleep it was without blankets or pillows right down

on the very hard, cold floor! Yes, on the floor, but

not everyone could even lay down, some stood. 

We were joined by several women from the general

jail population, as well as Puente women. We sang,

chanted, tried to share the cramped space, used an

open-to-view toilet and were constantly moved about

from cell to cell to disorient us. Our only food was

peanut butter, oranges, packaged cookies and a little

bottle of sugary drink.. NO cups for the water in

the sink. The 2 phones usually did not work and we

had no idea what time it was or what was happening.

We were "awoken" (those few who slept) at approx

2 am for our cells to be cleaned & we moved again.

That night the UU's and Puente and others held a

prayer vigil outside the jail and we could hear the

drum beats outside the thick walls. The next day

after hours more of "processing" we were released.

I hope never to experience such an inhumane and

humiliating experience again. Dawn and I now have

a police record, we have pleaded not guilty and have

an August court date to return to AZ. More later...

I thank you all for supporting this action and the

two of us and I hope our church action was a success.

Apparently, we had lots of press, CNN, local AZ and

even the OC Register. More pictures and YouTubes will

be available soon and I'll send some of them along.

Tomorrow we need to keep collecting our gear which

was all over as we were not allowed to have ANYTHING

in the jail. There are more actions planned. Right now

as I type this Dawn & I are completely exhausted after

2 days with no sleep and a terrible jail experience, 

but our feelings of deep commitment along with the

friends we made with women of many colors & faiths

has left us with a feeling that nothing will ever again...

~ Standing on the Side of Love, feeling an overwhelming

sense of gratitude, & with more stories to tell about our

shared experiences, with love & !Si se puede! Lee Marie

Go here for all the late-breaking stuff happening now!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Standing-on-the-Side-of-Love/87377228013

and here for what was in the OC Register!

http://www.ocregister.com/news/phoenix-260006-arrested-civil.html 

Forgiveness

 For the past few days, I've been reading an excellent book by Paul Rogat Loeb,  Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time. It looks like I have an older copy because in searching for the Amazon webpage, I found the subtitle is now "Living with Conviction in Challenging Times." Interesting. 

Several years ago my youngest daughter gave me one of Loeb's other books, The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear. The title was more prophetic than I believe she knew at the time.


However, this blog entry won't be any kind of book review. No, I found two very meaningful quotes in Soul of a Citizen that I'd like to share. The first is from one of my favorite authors, Catholic theologian Henri Nouwen: "To forgive another person from the heart is an act of liberation. We set that person free from the negative bonds that exist between us. We say, 'I no longer hold offense against you.' But there is more. We also free ourselves from the burden of being the 'offended one.' The great temptation is to cling in anger to our enemies and then define ourselves as being offended and wounded by them. Forgiveness, therefore, liberates not only the other but also ourselves. It is the way to freedom of the children of God."


The second quote is from Doris Donnelly: "Without forgiveness, hurts grow unchecked and we recycle failures, resentments, bitterness, and mistrust in our lives. With forgiveness, hurts are acknowledged and healed, and we are able to break a mindless cycle of retaliation by saying that the decisions of human life, even when they turn out badly are not beyond repair."


Strong stuff - and particularly meaningful for me at this time.