*SAT OCT 04** St Clarence RC Church, North Olmstead to Unitarian Universalist Church, Cleveland Heights, OH* I find myself continuing to wake up at 5:30 am even though we’ve had the Autumnal Equinox and dawn doesn’t come until 7am or later. My routine is that I pack up my sleeping gear and get it out to the Gear truck to avoid the ‘rush’ that comes after breakfast. The weather looked favorable so I rode my bike. The first 16 miles of the ride was NE on Loraine Rd. It was a cool 50º! The Unitarian church where we will be staying two days was hosting the evening potluck. I got a call from Jane McWilliams indicating she had a package from Camarillo for me. She said that she would bring it to the potluck. Rachel, the woman who offered me a Home-stay, arrived and took me to her house to get me settled in to the guest-room in the basement. She and her husband, Peter, had a dinner engagement so they took me back to the church for the potluck and went on to their engagement. After the dinner we went to the sanctuary for a meeting with all the attendees. I noticed that there was a collection of the 18 to 24 year old Marchers still downstairs in the auditorium. They were interested in their own meeting, I guess. Liz led the conversation. One of the local persons stated that Fracking was the major issue in northern Ohio. It is causing monumental pollution to air, earth, and water that affects the physical health of the communities. It produces natural gas that delivers more pollution than coal. It requires more financial investment and therefore ties the industry to the process regardless of its pollution. As Liz was going around the circle she asked me to comment. I broke down in tears as I said that I have been demonstrating all my life that we need to respect Mother Earth, that I saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and that we don’t know what difference the Climate March will make. But we didn’t know what difference MLK’s March would make until after the fact. So we must do the March and look for its outcome. I personally am committed to recruiting Dave Finnegan’s course *Climate Change Is Elementary *across the nation, and hopefully, children will hold their parents accountable for reducing the Consume-and-Throw-Away lifestyle that we, in the US, are practicing. It was right around 8 pm when I finished my response that Rachel arrived to pick me up. I grabbed my box that Heidi had sent and went with her and Peter. I settled into a real bed and soon went to sleep. *SUN Oct 5* I slept in. Rachel had done my laundry. I took a shower and went up for breakfast. The thermometer hanging outside the kitchen window read 40º--nice to have a bed inside. Rachel went on a walk with friends and took Cocoa, her dog. I spent some time catching up on my email. Rachel returned and served chicken soup for lunch. Rachel and Peter joined some friends for an afternoon bike ride. They spent the whole afternoon away and contacted another host, Anne, to shuttle me to the Grog Shop where there was scheduled to be a meeting. Anne was hosting Mack and Sean and invited me to dinner at her house. I willingly accepted because I suspected that all that would be available at the Grog Shop was grog. We had a leisurely meal. I had a chance to explain Dave Finnegan’s program < climatechangeiselementary.org>. After dinner Anne shuttled me back to Rachel and Peter’s and on the way she, a retired elementary school teacher, indicated that she’d like to get involved in the program. When she dropped me off I immediately emailed Dave to let him know he had a recruit. -- Peace, David
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David Zahrt via Dialogue