C.B. Potts's Blog, page 28

Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine

The county road crew is sweeping sand from the streets today.

It is quite a process. They have a huge blue Ford tractor fitted with a brush on the front; as he creeps along up into lawns, he removes the accumulated winter sand and not a little bit of grass and such. For each section, he makes two or three passes. A big loader follows, first with his bucket down and going quickly - imagine trying to scoop up the floor with your dustpan and you get the picture. Of course, some is left behind, so...

Thursday Morning

The hardware store is a great leveler of men. Particularly here, where there are only two options, one of the left side of the road; the other, on the right. Everyone needs something, sometime, and this is where you come together. A congregation; holy ground of a sort - animosities will be set aside because you're not going to be a dick at Dominic's; you have to be able to come back tomorrow. Problems are presented and held in common; tell the clerk what you need, and everyone's g...

Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine, Rise and Shine

Today is a better day. After a day of being Cindy-crankypants, I slept like a rock and feel this morning capable of conquering at least a small part of the world. Sleep is the best medicine. (Of course, many other things are also the best medicine. Motion is the best medicine. Food is the best medicine. Sunshine is the best medicine. The company of good friends is the best medicine. Laughter is the best medicine.)

It turns out that there are many, many things in this world that are beyond my c...

Happy Cindy Gets A Surprise!

Today Tim went to the chicken farm and came back with a load of rotted manure: we had enough to cover the potato bed, the front flower bed, the broccoli bed and top dress the MIA/POW flowerbed, the asparagus and the bed where the Shasta Daisies are. WOO HOO!

Back to the Revolution

It dawned on me this morning that articulating ways we can help each other out is both a way to build community and a way to encourage people to reclaim their economic power.

It is important that there are ways to give very small amounts of money, so that everyone can participate. If you want to give money to the Red Cross online for example, you have to give $10. Sometimes, most times, I don't have $10 to just give away. It is a weird and unpleasant thing to be told that the help you can give...

Wednesday Morning

Sometimes I look at my to-do list and I become so freaked out that I get absolutely paralyzed. This is problematical, because you can waste a ton of time saying "Oh my God, I have so much to do!" and not actually doing anything. Throw in the fact that there are many distracting external events in the world, and woo hoo, this is not good.

On the other hand, sometimes I'm not very realistic about how much can be accomplished in any one day. Days where I actually accomplish a significant amount...

This Post Is For People Like Me

Watch this. There is a great big lesson here. Wisdom that comes from strange places is my favorite wisdom.

Back to the Revolution

Here is an article I wish I'd written: The Problem With Stuff

I don't have a lot today. Yesterday's news rattled me. What struck me though is that these events have become non-shocking to the remote observer. Not that this specific bombing was expected, but the fact that there are attacks like this isn't a horrible, perspective changing event in and of itself. I've learned what to do: limit the news coverage, talk to the kids about what happened, keep moving. Acknowledge, a...

Thinky Thoughts

The social ecological model of change addresses four areas: Society, Community, Relationship and Individual. What is important to understand is that poverty, particularly chronic poverty, can prevent one from feeling empowered of making an impact on any of these levels. You're not going to change the world when you're hungry. When you're scared. When you're cold. When you don't know that you can.

We don't all start from the same starting point. In these conversations we've...

Housing help needed for a friend in Washington State!

Originally posted by naamah_darling at Housing help needed for a friend in Washington State!A dear friend, snowcoma , has been in a bind, housing-wise, for a while, and is finding herself having to move again. (Through no fault of the lovely people who have been helping her out.)

She's really, really bipolar, has basically no resources, and I worry about her A LOT.

She's currently in Shoreline, WA.

We need to find a place for her to stay. Right now her only other option is . . . well, we...