[Oe List ...] Fwd: GMC July 4

[David Zahrt via OE]

*FRI July 4th*

It was a lazy day. I got up by 7:30 and heard that the Culbertson Fire Dept
was serving a biscuit and gravy breakfast with orange juice and cinnamon
roll. The pastor’s wife volunteered to do laundry for us. So first thing in
the morning I put my laundry in a bag on her back porch. Then I went down
to the fire station and had breakfast.  When I got back to the church I
discovered that the Marchers that didn’t want the Fire Dept’s breakfast
were cooking scrambled eggs and fried potatoes. I added some scrambled eggs
to my breakfast. We identified our place in the town’s 4th of July parade,
lined up and waited for the parade to start.  There were 2 guitarists and
we sang Izzy’s repertoire of songs: one of them was *This Land Is Your
Land.*  We also handed out NE Interfaith Power and Light flyers that
emphasized our stand against Keystone Pipeline.



A woman who was at least my age, stopped me.  She said, “China is the
biggest polluter. We won’t be able to stop climate change if China
continues polluting.”  I discovered that I didn’t have a response. I agreed
and moved on in the parade.  Later I reflected:

1.             We’ve set the example and China has adopted/copied our
Consume-and-Throw-Away-Lifestyle.

2.             The US—Walmart as an example—imports a massive amount of
goods manufactured in China, because of low prices.

3.             So first of all the US must change our lifestyle in order to
give China a new lifestyle to copy.

4.             And then the US must put a tariff on things manufactured in
China and begin building our own economy with new jobs.



Izzy is strong on Buddhism. He’s spent a lot of time at Omega Institute.
He's invited me to bring Lin and visit the Omega Institute in NY.  When we
got back from the parade, I asked him if he was aware of the times when he
practiced “compassion” and aware of the times when he was without
compassion.  He indicated that he was aware of some times when he practiced
compassion.  I told him that I wondered about compassion when he sang *This
Land Is Your Land.*  And that I found myself refusing to sing that song
after I spent some time with Native Aborigines in Australia, and Kikuyu
tribesmen in Kenya.  And when I returned to W. IA, I realized that we had
stolen *This Land* from the Native Americans living near us.



After the parade we had an impromptu lunch at the church then I checked
with the pastor’s wife about my laundry.  She indicated that she had seen
the bag and then it disappeared before she got it inside. I checked the
campsite and discovered that someone had moved it from the porch to the
campsite.  I got it back to her and she got it done by mid-afternoon. I
hung my laundry on the line and it dried by late afternoon. The rest of the
day was a Rest Day. We had a lovely evening meal and got ready for the next
day’s March. Those sleeping outside had to deal with a sudden
thundershower.  I don’t know how long it lasted but they got wet.



-- 
Peace, David
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