*TUE SEP 02* Near Rochelle to Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb, IL After we finished the Climate Justice Gypsy Band on Monday eve the café/bar was still open but the rest of the Center was closed. Izzy had left his guitar case and computer in the Lounge and they gave him a password to get back in. He tried to spend the night and sleep in the lounge. At 1am they kicked him out. He came back to the tent but he found the mosquitoes so bad he went to the cab of the Kitchen Truck. It was a 21-mile day so we were up at 4:45am. We got our lunch made and the cooks made scrambled eggs for breakfast. While breakfast was being cooked I got my gear into the truck. The tent was empty so I took it down. Izzy came by to help when it was time to pull the poles out of the roof. We put it back in the truck. Circle-up came at 7am—as scheduled! There was an extended conversation about the job our Illinois coordinator was doing. I the complainers should assume responsibility for the coordinator’s job and see what it's like to balance all the values. Some suggested that we continue the conversation in the afternoon. Since it was a 21-mile day that wouldn’t work so they agreed to continue the conversation. It seemed like a fruitless conversation so I left and headed for NIU in DeKalb. We were to check in with the campus police. I did so and found that the trucks had not arrived. I waited so long in the station that I took a nap. The staff wakened me and told me the trucks were here. I asked for directions and scouted for the trucks and didn’t find them. I went to the MLK Plaza where the Marchers were to meet. There were no Marchers there. I went back to the police station. On the way Izzy rode by. I shared with him the difficulty I was having. He went into the station to get information. We were directed to the North Parking Lot. We rode there and discovered the trucks way out east past the parking lot. We didn’t realize that there was a bike trail along the creek that went to the parking lot where the trucks were. We rode through the city to get to the trucks. The Marchers were still on their way. Izzy decided to take a nap in the park out under a tree. I went down the trail and tied a GMCA ribbon on the post where the trail started so the Marchers could find the campsite. I had accepted an invitation for a home-stay in DeKalb from Bob Cook. He phoned me to tell me he would meet me at the Gear truck in 10 minutes. I rode back up to the truck to get my equipment out and ready to take. Bob didn’t show up for another hour. While I was waiting for him a woman interviewed me for a possible NPR presentation. She said it would be local, and I don’t listen to the radio, so I don‘t know whether or not my interview got on NPR. I locked my bike to a pole beside the building and left with the hosts. They had known Bob since the mid-70’s. They took us on a tour through DeKalb and adjoining Cities. We had a late dinner, Bob and I had a chance to take a bath, and Phyllis did our laundry. Dinner, and conversation, wasn’t over until 9pm. it had been a long day so we went to bed. Every Home-stay has alarmed me because of the enormous residence that is periodically used, and all of the electricity that is used for no good reason, and the enormous phantom load that if constantly carried. Changing personal/family habits will be a big task. It seems that the middle-to-upper class Consume-and Throw-Away Lifestyle can’t be challenged or changed.
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David Zahrt via Dialogue