[FairfieldLife] Re: A walk in the park

[dhamiltony...@yahoo.com [FairfieldLife]]

7Ray writes: it made me wonder how far from something do you need to be to feel 
safe.  Likewise years ago in reading the International Herald Tribune it 
sounded like all Western Civilization was going to collapse with the murder and 
mayhem by the Red Brigade in Italy. After an ATR rounding course with Maharishi 
in Switzerland I traveled down to Rome and looked around. Life was going on as 
normal and when I asked Italians what was going on they responded that it was 
just some students over by the university section. Made me wonder much more 
about the business of news making.  -Buck
 
 
 I had some business late this afternoon in north St. Louis, in the general 
area of Ferguson.  Voyeur that I am, I decided to drive back taking the 
thoroughfare where all the protests were occurring.  Turns out the street was 
closed off by police, so I took a detour, not knowing where I was going to come 
out. 
 
 I ended up coming out exactly at ground zero.  There was the burnt out Quik 
Trip right in front of me, and the the beauty supply store that was looted.  
There were probably 500 protesters marching down the street, and about 50 
reporters.  There was no police presence at all where the protesters were 
marching.  They were all on the periphery.
 
 A curfew goes into effect tonight at 12.  Word is, that it won't be able to be 
enforced.
 
 On a philosophical note, it made me wonder how far from something do you need 
to be to feel safe.  I would say the level of tension in the whole area here is 
elevated. Everyone is a little on edge, but there are no problems outside the 
area where the protests are taking place.
 
 But, in a sense, right down the "road" is Syria, is the Gaza Strip, is 
Ukraine, is Africa.
 
 I guess things can be seen as closer than you think, or farther away than you 
think.  Or something like that.  
 
 (-:
 
 ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <fleetwood_macncheese@...> wrote : As I 
was pulling out, to go to Bidwell Park this morning, 7:30-ish, a guy runs by, 
he's about 6'5, all muscle, deep tan, floating down the sidewalk, but fast, 
like an antelope, with blond dreads halfway down his back. That was different. 
Then off to the park, 1800 acres, with lots of back country - I decide to walk 
the full circuit, nine or ten miles-ish, about a three hour round-trip - 
starting up a ridge, above a canyon, a steep and rough trail, climbing for 
awhile, then back down to the park trail that skirts the creek, at first a 
hundred feet below the trail, then eventually level with it, and back to the 
car. 
 
 As I hike deeper in, I bury myself in the wilderness, and the strengthening 
silence and heat - all encompassing. Walking for miles, into the silence, 
hearing my footsteps, my breathing, sweating, the strike of my hiking stick, an 
occasional bird chirp. Not much dirt trail, most is exposed volcanic rock, and 
basalt. Huge rock formations above the canyon, so old, and still here. The 
entire landscape is rocky, dry, ancient, and hot, and I love it. After awhile 
my one water bottle runs out, and I am trudging back, thirsty, and even then, 
getting into it. When I am almost done, a woman comes by with two dogs, a lab, 
and what looks like a small pony from a distance - short reddish fur, and a 
back that could easily carry a saddle. I nodded to her, smiled, and said, "big 
dog", as I walked by.