Escape the Okie Zone
this a personal creative non-fiction journal about a traveler and his evolving life. He saw the waning warmth of humans through his puppy's eyes and now he see the world through his child's eyes. He thought much of our country's warmth went dormant when Bush held our country hostage! Some of my hostile readers suffering from overinflated egos might actually think that I might be writing about them on this blog! Get a life please ;)Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Norm Stamper
Retired Seattle police chief, member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Posted March 28, 2009 05:57 PM (EST)
Comments (from Huffington Post)
The president's busy. He's got important things to do, like rescuing the economy, saving jobs and mortgages and industries. But we ought not to let him off the hook for his frivolous dismissal of a widely popular question he faced in Thursday's Online Town Hall.
At the top of the televised event, the president announced that of the 3.5 million votes on the thousands of questions received in advance, one topic "ranked fairly high." It was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and encourage job creation. He responded: "The answer is no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy." He then asked rhetorically what the question says about "the online audience."
Get it? His in-the-flesh audience got it, chuckling politely at the allusion to a Stoner Nation plugged in to the "internets." The problem for Mr. Obama is that marijuana reform was at or near the top of the list of all questions in three major categories: budget, health care reform, green jobs and energy. Our leader doesn't seem to understand that millions of his interlocutor-constituents are actually quite serious about the issue.
Which is not to say that drugs, particularly pot, doesn't offer up a rich if predictable vein of humor. Cheech and Chong's vintage "Dave's not here!" routine is still a side-splitter. As Larry the Cable Guy would say, "I don't care who you are, that's funny right there."But there's nothing comical about tens of millions of Americans being busted, frightened out of their wits, losing their jobs, their student loans, their public housing, their families, their freedom...
And show me the humor in a dying cancer patient who's denied legal access to a drug known to relieve pain and suffering.
Having just returned from Minnesota whose state lawmakers are entertaining a conservative, highly restrictive medical marijuana law, I can tell you what's not funny to Joni Whiting.
Ms. Whiting told the House's Public Safety Policy and Oversight Committee of her 26-year-old daughter Stephanie's two-year battle with facial melanoma that surfaced during the young woman's third pregnancy. The packed hearing room was dead quiet as Ms. Whiting spoke of Stephanie's face being cut off "one inch at a time, until there was nothing left to cut." She spoke of her daughter's severe nausea, her "continuous and uncontrollable pain."Stephanie moved back to her family's home and "bravely began to make plans for the ending of her life." The tumors continued to grow, invading the inside and outside of her mouth, as well as her throat and chest. Nausea was a constant companion. Zofran and (significantly) Marinol, the synthetic pill version of THC, did nothing to abate the symptoms. Stephanie began wasting away. She lost all hope of relief.
Joni's other children approached their mother, begged her to let their sister use marijuana. But Ms. Whiting, a Vietnam veteran whose youngest son recently returned from 18 months in Iraq, was a law-abiding woman. And she was afraid of the authorities. There was no way she would allow the illicit substance in her house. As she held her ground, her grownup kids removed Stephanie from the family home. Three days later, wracked by guilt, Joni welcomed her daughter back. "I called a number of family members and friends...and asked if they knew of anywhere we could purchase marijuana. The next morning someone had placed a package of it on our doorstep. I have never known whom to thank for it but I remain grateful beyond belief." The marijuana restored Stephanie's appetite. It allowed her to eat three meals a day, and to keep the food down. She regained energy and, in the words of her mother, "looked better than I had seen her in months."
Stephanie survived another 89 days, celebrating both Thanksgiving and Christmas with her family.
Shortly after the holidays, Stephanie's pain became "so severe that when she asked my husband and me to lie down on both sides of her and hold her, she couldn't stand the pain of us touching her body."Stephanie died on January 14, 2003 in the room she grew up in, holding her mother's hand. A mother who, as she told the legislative committee, would "have no problem going to jail for acquiring medical marijuana for my suffering child."
Following Joni Whiting's presentation, it was all I could do to hold it together during my own testimony. Such was the power of this one woman's story. And of the sadness and rage roiling inside me as I reflected on the countless other Stephanies who are made to suffer not only the ravages of terminal illness and intractable pain but the callousness and narrow-mindedness of their leaders.
When I finished my testimony, a local police chief, a member of the committee, angrily accused me of disrespecting the police officers in the room--who'd shown up in force, in uniform, to oppose medical marijuana. Wearing a bright yellow tie with the lettering "Police Line, Do Not Cross," the chief charged me with placing more stock in the opinions of doctors than of Minnesota's cops. Guilty, as charged. Who are we, I asked him, to substitute our judgment for that of medical professionals and their patients? Who are we, for that matter, to deny the will of the people.
There's much value in humor, even during times of pain and tragedy. So long as the joke is not at the expense of the suffering.
It's been a bad couple of weeks for the president. His Leno comment about the Special Olympics while self-deprecating and not malicious was certainly tone deaf, followed soon after by his casting gratuitous aspersions at serious advocates of marijuana reform. But Barack Obama is a decent and honorable man, compassionate and wise. I can't believe he would do anything other than what Joni Whiting did if, God forbid, he faced similar choices within his own family. I can't believe he doesn't realize the political value of taking a more reasoned, courageous stand on drug policy reform in general. Or of at least providing honest, thoughtful answers on the issue.Perhaps we should show him what's in it for him? Perhaps we should make certain that in every future "town hall" the president is reassured of the seriousness of the legions of voters working to end cruel and ineffective drug laws.
Retired Seattle police chief, member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Posted March 28, 2009 05:57 PM (EST)
Comments (from Huffington Post)
The president's busy. He's got important things to do, like rescuing the economy, saving jobs and mortgages and industries. But we ought not to let him off the hook for his frivolous dismissal of a widely popular question he faced in Thursday's Online Town Hall.
At the top of the televised event, the president announced that of the 3.5 million votes on the thousands of questions received in advance, one topic "ranked fairly high." It was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and encourage job creation. He responded: "The answer is no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy." He then asked rhetorically what the question says about "the online audience."
Get it? His in-the-flesh audience got it, chuckling politely at the allusion to a Stoner Nation plugged in to the "internets." The problem for Mr. Obama is that marijuana reform was at or near the top of the list of all questions in three major categories: budget, health care reform, green jobs and energy. Our leader doesn't seem to understand that millions of his interlocutor-constituents are actually quite serious about the issue.
Which is not to say that drugs, particularly pot, doesn't offer up a rich if predictable vein of humor. Cheech and Chong's vintage "Dave's not here!" routine is still a side-splitter. As Larry the Cable Guy would say, "I don't care who you are, that's funny right there."But there's nothing comical about tens of millions of Americans being busted, frightened out of their wits, losing their jobs, their student loans, their public housing, their families, their freedom...
And show me the humor in a dying cancer patient who's denied legal access to a drug known to relieve pain and suffering.
Having just returned from Minnesota whose state lawmakers are entertaining a conservative, highly restrictive medical marijuana law, I can tell you what's not funny to Joni Whiting.
Ms. Whiting told the House's Public Safety Policy and Oversight Committee of her 26-year-old daughter Stephanie's two-year battle with facial melanoma that surfaced during the young woman's third pregnancy. The packed hearing room was dead quiet as Ms. Whiting spoke of Stephanie's face being cut off "one inch at a time, until there was nothing left to cut." She spoke of her daughter's severe nausea, her "continuous and uncontrollable pain."Stephanie moved back to her family's home and "bravely began to make plans for the ending of her life." The tumors continued to grow, invading the inside and outside of her mouth, as well as her throat and chest. Nausea was a constant companion. Zofran and (significantly) Marinol, the synthetic pill version of THC, did nothing to abate the symptoms. Stephanie began wasting away. She lost all hope of relief.
Joni's other children approached their mother, begged her to let their sister use marijuana. But Ms. Whiting, a Vietnam veteran whose youngest son recently returned from 18 months in Iraq, was a law-abiding woman. And she was afraid of the authorities. There was no way she would allow the illicit substance in her house. As she held her ground, her grownup kids removed Stephanie from the family home. Three days later, wracked by guilt, Joni welcomed her daughter back. "I called a number of family members and friends...and asked if they knew of anywhere we could purchase marijuana. The next morning someone had placed a package of it on our doorstep. I have never known whom to thank for it but I remain grateful beyond belief." The marijuana restored Stephanie's appetite. It allowed her to eat three meals a day, and to keep the food down. She regained energy and, in the words of her mother, "looked better than I had seen her in months."
Stephanie survived another 89 days, celebrating both Thanksgiving and Christmas with her family.
Shortly after the holidays, Stephanie's pain became "so severe that when she asked my husband and me to lie down on both sides of her and hold her, she couldn't stand the pain of us touching her body."Stephanie died on January 14, 2003 in the room she grew up in, holding her mother's hand. A mother who, as she told the legislative committee, would "have no problem going to jail for acquiring medical marijuana for my suffering child."
Following Joni Whiting's presentation, it was all I could do to hold it together during my own testimony. Such was the power of this one woman's story. And of the sadness and rage roiling inside me as I reflected on the countless other Stephanies who are made to suffer not only the ravages of terminal illness and intractable pain but the callousness and narrow-mindedness of their leaders.
When I finished my testimony, a local police chief, a member of the committee, angrily accused me of disrespecting the police officers in the room--who'd shown up in force, in uniform, to oppose medical marijuana. Wearing a bright yellow tie with the lettering "Police Line, Do Not Cross," the chief charged me with placing more stock in the opinions of doctors than of Minnesota's cops. Guilty, as charged. Who are we, I asked him, to substitute our judgment for that of medical professionals and their patients? Who are we, for that matter, to deny the will of the people.
There's much value in humor, even during times of pain and tragedy. So long as the joke is not at the expense of the suffering.
It's been a bad couple of weeks for the president. His Leno comment about the Special Olympics while self-deprecating and not malicious was certainly tone deaf, followed soon after by his casting gratuitous aspersions at serious advocates of marijuana reform. But Barack Obama is a decent and honorable man, compassionate and wise. I can't believe he would do anything other than what Joni Whiting did if, God forbid, he faced similar choices within his own family. I can't believe he doesn't realize the political value of taking a more reasoned, courageous stand on drug policy reform in general. Or of at least providing honest, thoughtful answers on the issue.Perhaps we should show him what's in it for him? Perhaps we should make certain that in every future "town hall" the president is reassured of the seriousness of the legions of voters working to end cruel and ineffective drug laws.
Git-er-done!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Jim GilliamFounder, WhiteHouse2.org
Posted March 26, 2009 12:51 PM (EST)
Pot Saved My Life, Mr. President
Today, in the historic first online town hall, President Obama fielded questions from nearly a hundred thousand people online. One of the most popular questions, and indeed, one of the most popular questions in any forum that lets people vote on what matters to them, was about whether legalizing marijuana would help improve the economy and job creation.
Chuckling, the President said: "I don't know what this says about the online audience, but [laughing] this was a fairly popular question, we want to make sure it was answered. The answer is no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy."
I've never smoked pot in my life, indeed I've never smoked anything at all. Despite that, a couple years ago, I needed a double lung transplant. My lungs were scarred beyond repair due to side effects from radiation treatments I'd had nearly a decade earlier in my two battles with cancer.
I lost a lot of weight in this process, to the point where it was life-threatening. My lung doctor suggested "marinol," the synthetic (and legal) version of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. I laughed at him, and asked "Was this going to make me stupid? I don't want to be a pothe
ad!" He said one of his patients put on 40 pounds with it. I didn't have any other option.
It worked. Marinol allowed me to put on enough weight to get me out of the danger zone until we figured out the underlying problem was a bleeding ulcer in my stomach, a reaction to one of the anti-rejection drugs I was taking for the transplant.
Pot saved my life. It's a miracle drug, even the crappy non-organic kind made in a lab.
The President will be asked this question again, and maybe next time he won't laugh at us.
http://blog.norml.org/2009/03/26/president-obama-what-is-so-funny-about-taxing-and-regulating-marijuana/
Chuckling, the President said: "I don't know what this says about the online audience, but [laughing] this was a fairly popular question, we want to make sure it was answered. The answer is no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow our economy."
I've never smoked pot in my life, indeed I've never smoked anything at all. Despite that, a couple years ago, I needed a double lung transplant. My lungs were scarred beyond repair due to side effects from radiation treatments I'd had nearly a decade earlier in my two battles with cancer.
I lost a lot of weight in this process, to the point where it was life-threatening. My lung doctor suggested "marinol," the synthetic (and legal) version of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. I laughed at him, and asked "Was this going to make me stupid? I don't want to be a pothe
ad!" He said one of his patients put on 40 pounds with it. I didn't have any other option.It worked. Marinol allowed me to put on enough weight to get me out of the danger zone until we figured out the underlying problem was a bleeding ulcer in my stomach, a reaction to one of the anti-rejection drugs I was taking for the transplant.
Pot saved my life. It's a miracle drug, even the crappy non-organic kind made in a lab.
The President will be asked this question again, and maybe next time he won't laugh at us.
http://blog.norml.org/2009/03/26/president-obama-what-is-so-funny-about-taxing-and-regulating-marijuana/
"UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!!
Since many of you are writing President Obama on your own, NORML would like to assist the process by providing you with a link for contacting the White House directly. Please log on and send your e-mails by going here.
Also, please check The Hill.com (Read and comment here) and HuffingtonPost.com (Read and comment here) on Friday for updated versions of this commentary, and please post your feedback to those forums as well.
Speaking live moments ago President Barack Obama pledged “to open up the White House to the American people.”
Well, to some of the American people that is.
As for those tens of millions of you who believe that cannabis should be legally regulated like alcohol — and the tens of thousands of you who voted to make this subject the most popular question in today’s online Presidential Town Hall — well, your voice doesn’t really matter.
Asked this morning whether he “would … support the bill currently going through the California legislation to legalize and tax marijuana, boosting the economy and reducing drug cartel related violence,” the President responded with derision.
“There was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation, and I don’t know what this says about the online audience,” he laughed.
“The answer is no, I don’t think that [is] a good strategy.”
Obama’s cynical rebuff was short-sighted and disrespectful to a large percentage of his supporters. After all, was it not this very same “online audience” that donated heavily to Obama’s Presidential campaign and ultimately carried him to the White House?
Second, as I’ve written previously in The Hill and elsewhere, the overwhelming popularity of the marijuana law reform issue — as manifested in this and in similar forums — illustrates that there is a significant, vocal, and identifiable segment of our society that wants to see an end to America’s archaic and overly punitive marijuana laws.
The Obama administration should be embracing this constituency, not mocking it.
Third, will somebody please ask the President: “What is it that you think is so funny about the subject of marijuana law reform?”
Since 1965, police have arrested over 20 million Americans for violating marijuana laws, yet nearly 90 percent of teenagers say that pot is “very easy” or “fairly easy” to obtain. That’s funny?
According to this very administration, there is an unprecedented level of violence occurring at the Mexico/US border — much of which is allegedly caused by the trafficking of marijuana to the United States by drug cartels. America’s stringent enforcement of pot prohibition, which artificially inflates black market pot prices and ensures that only criminal enterprises will be involved in the production and sale of this commodity, is helping to fuel this violence. Wow, funny stuff!
Finally, two recent polls indicate that a strong majority of regional voters support ending marijuana prohibition and treating the drug’s sale, use, and distribution like alcohol. A February 2009 Zogby telephone poll reported that nearly six out of ten of voters on the west coast think that cannabis should be “taxed and legally regulated like alcohol and cigarettes.” A just-released California Field Poll reports similar results, finding that 58 percent of statewide voters believe that regulations for cannabis should be the same or less strict than those for alcohol.
Does the President really think that all of these voters are worthy of his ridicule?
Let the White House laugh for now, but the public knows that this issue is no laughing matter. This week alone, legislators in Illinois, Minnesota, and New Hampshire voted to legalize the use of marijuana for authorized individuals. Politicians in three additional states heard testimony this week in favor of eliminating criminal penalties for all adults who possess and use cannabis. And lawmakers in Massachusetts and California are now debating legally regulating marijuana outright.
The American public is ready and willing to engage in a serious and objective political debate regarding the merits of legalizing the use of cannabis by adults. And all over this nation, whether Capitol Hill wants to acknowledge it or not, they are engaging in this debate as we speak.
Sorry Obama, this time the joke’s on you."
Friday, March 27, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
I think he needs a shave and needs to clean out his ears!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Letter to Garvald
I think many of us humans go through this feeling of depression or melacholy, depending 
on the lunar cycle (?) perhaps...
when I herbalize and realize my anger sometimes when "i'm on a budget and what you thought was a few drinks turns into an expensive outing...you worry...you show high anxiety, not the go lucky playboy lifestyle that perhaps you envisioned??
How can you handle all the pressures of fatherhood??
I have bills to take care of , taxes to pay, insurance to pay over in America, calls to the immigration lawyer, calls to find an accountant...
4 years ago, it was a lot less worries, depression...
all you seek maybe is a no worries sort of bliss bringing up Colin Murray Garvald and having an essentially low impact and carbon imprint lifestyle...
I want to enjoy it for as
long as possible...
I don't no how long it can last...
I feel overwhelmed, especially opening the mail to find all these financial complications overseas and the health care being canceled because my bank went inactive!!
Life is not a box of chocolates...
but it sure is nice to go out and check the waves to get away from the kind of funk your mind is going into!
on the lunar cycle (?) perhaps...when I herbalize and realize my anger sometimes when "i'm on a budget and what you thought was a few drinks turns into an expensive outing...you worry...you show high anxiety, not the go lucky playboy lifestyle that perhaps you envisioned??
How can you handle all the pressures of fatherhood??
I have bills to take care of , taxes to pay, insurance to pay over in America, calls to the immigration lawyer, calls to find an accountant...
4 years ago, it was a lot less worries, depression...
all you seek maybe is a no worries sort of bliss bringing up Colin Murray Garvald and having an essentially low impact and carbon imprint lifestyle...
I want to enjoy it for as
long as possible...I don't no how long it can last...
I feel overwhelmed, especially opening the mail to find all these financial complications overseas and the health care being canceled because my bank went inactive!!
Life is not a box of chocolates...
but it sure is nice to go out and check the waves to get away from the kind of funk your mind is going into!
but then at least for a little while, you can escape to the ocean and swim past the last breaker..
just before the sun sets behind the Mermaid Beach homes of some very rich Aussies!
you watch the sun sneak behind these palaces...
you watch the sun sneak behind these palaces...
you are floating in the higher gravity salt water, biding your time to catch that beautiful wave, you watch the sun set 
while on the peaks of the waves.. when that beautiful and dangerous wave beckons you to
while on the peaks of the waves.. when that beautiful and dangerous wave beckons you to ride her for as long as you can...
before you have to lift your head for a breath!
before you have to lift your head for a breath!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
More and more, I am so happy that I am father to such a beautiful old
soul asmy son..
He smiles at me and laughs with joy every time he sees me in his waking conscious!
I sing a song with him listening intently to my every word...
I play with him in
front of the large bedroom mirror...understanding the mirror is a whole new event...he sees a reflection of himself and then of his father at the same time...How does this make sense...He takes it all in!...and
gives a little laugh of glee...I dress him up in his mermaid beach surf lifesaving shirt and speedos!
I can't wait to show him off to our favorite staff at the club!
when I look at him, he seems to be all knowing ....almost as if he's had a whole 'nother life in another world...He comes into to this world with 2 parents clueless about parenting...both of us focused on your happiness and well being!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Instant waves of thought surfing the cyberocean!
Someone just did a search and found my site:
"Escape the Okie Zone - 19 visits - 12/27/08
I just had a cool chat with a regular lifeguard, Dave White yesteday. He was the bloke that pulled the great white shark from the ocean. ...www.escapetheokiezone.com/ - 977k - Cached - Similar pages -"
Just few minutes ago, I checked the cities of the world that visit my site from Feedjit...
a surfer from Brisbane did a search for "Dave White Lifeguard"
He seems to be a kind of celebrity here on Mermaid Beach...He is a very relaxed cool gentleman that would be an asset in any surf rescue....
I'd like to go into more detail sometime...
I mentioned this site to him so if Dave,
I hope that I'm right about your pulling in the Great White???
Please feel free to comment?
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4HPAB_enAU311AU287&q=dave+white+lifeguard
"Escape the Okie Zone - 19 visits - 12/27/08
I just had a cool chat with a regular lifeguard, Dave White yesteday. He was the bloke that pulled the great white shark from the ocean. ...www.escapetheokiezone.com/ - 977k - Cached - Similar pages -"
Just few minutes ago, I checked the cities of the world that visit my site from Feedjit...
a surfer from Brisbane did a search for "Dave White Lifeguard"
He seems to be a kind of celebrity here on Mermaid Beach...He is a very relaxed cool gentleman that would be an asset in any surf rescue....
I'd like to go into more detail sometime...
I mentioned this site to him so if Dave,
I hope that I'm right about your pulling in the Great White???
Please feel free to comment?
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4HPAB_enAU311AU287&q=dave+white+lifeguard
HOW DO WE DEFINE HAPPINESS??
OR CRAZINESS??
but now there is someone who might be around 50 years from now?? you being here is the reason he is here and will b
e here!!.... Perhaps a continuation of your consciousness 
Remember (?))
IF U ARE CRAZY, U MIGHT AS WELL BE HAPPY!
So DON'T WORRY!!
Be Happy!
WE GET OVERWHELMED WITH WORRY AND THEN YOU THINK WHAT WILL IT MATTER 50 YEARS
FROM NOW??
WE GET OVERWHELMED WITH WORRY AND THEN YOU THINK WHAT WILL IT MATTER 50 YEARS
FROM NOW??but now there is someone who might be around 50 years from now?? you being here is the reason he is here and will b
e here!!.... Perhaps a continuation of your consciousness 
Remember (?))
sneaking into the old haunted fibro made boarding house over 43 years ago in the summer/Xmas of '65 looking for those big green coke bottles that could be turned in for threepence each!!
With that many bottles , you could buy your favorite rubber soldiers and a tasty icecream from the local store down Hedges ave... when it was not "Millionaire's beach"...
You had no clue that finding this place would pique the curiosity of my father and Uncle Ron....
A Xmas vacation in Oz with my Aussie family!!
I was so happy playing with all of our cousins from my Mother's and father's sides 
from the variety of cities of this beautiful country I ca
lled home!!
from the variety of cities of this beautiful country I ca
lled home!!....being cuddled by this loving family that were extensions of myself and my culture...I escape back this wonderful warm cozy feeling...when there were no worries...I kept a diary and was proud of myself and my future...
with actually no worries of the future....puff, puff, pass...
Your self image should not depend on what others believe about you
and the image that you might create??
It is ultimately your own belief in yourself and the way you surf those waves of life...
from the very tiny waves that you don't notice on a very calm sea to the large ominous waves coming in from the remnants of storms out at sea...
it's up to you to catch that large gorgeous wave just at the right moment to be in that zone just ahead of the frothy turbulence for as long as you can hold your breath....
kick like crazy with the help of your magical extension of your foot, the
flipper...
flipper...you are swimming (??) faster than you ever have before as the water rushes against your body....
you know that as soon as you catch your breath...
you'll lose that gorgeous wave !!
"We have chosen to be on earth because there is something we want to learn that can only happen by inhabiting a body. Some of us are here to repay a debt, learn about love, or teach forgiveness. Most of us are here for a combination of reasons, we carry this information in our souls, all we have to do is remember. As you go through your journey, try not to forget how brave you are, being here now. Honor yourself." from the Daily OM
Sunday, March 22, 2009
I look forward to the surf/swim handicap race with the Mermaid Beach Surf Club!
We go off about every 30 secs with some swimmers starting as early as 2 to 5 
minutes....we swim out past the last breaker....there are often several sets of waves that we have to swim past unless we able to catch the rip current that escalates us out to the sea past the waves and calmer waters...I stay calm in the middle of the race while passing each of the buoys...I see others along with me in the waters
and then past the second buoy floating in the waves...I mistakenly swim a little further down the current while I see a lady pass me on the left about 10 meters while I wait for some good
waves. I don't stay calm ... a wave overtakes me and churns me around in the turbulence while I struggle to reach for a breath....then I am fighting against the current until I finally catch a wave sometimes swimming on my back to keep an eye on the ever coming waves... I stumble in at 11 minutes with a couple veteran ladies
coming in a few seconds ahead of me!
minutes....we swim out past the last breaker....there are often several sets of waves that we have to swim past unless we able to catch the rip current that escalates us out to the sea past the waves and calmer waters...I stay calm in the middle of the race while passing each of the buoys...I see others along with me in the waters
and then past the second buoy floating in the waves...I mistakenly swim a little further down the current while I see a lady pass me on the left about 10 meters while I wait for some good
waves. I don't stay calm ... a wave overtakes me and churns me around in the turbulence while I struggle to reach for a breath....then I am fighting against the current until I finally catch a wave sometimes swimming on my back to keep an eye on the ever coming waves... I stumble in at 11 minutes with a couple veteran ladiescoming in a few seconds ahead of me!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
wow...I just love these epiphanies!!
I realize more and more that this is the place for my Queenslander, Aussie son...
it would have been so wonderful to just get him the Aussie passport...
the passport to life on the beach!
It will be so cool to bring up Colin Murray Garvald on the beach swimming everyday!
wouldn't it be wonderful to finally have it all together as our paradise on earth??
I realize more and more that this is the place for my Queenslander, Aussie son...
it would have been so wonderful to just get him the Aussie passport...
the passport to life on the beach!
It will be so cool to bring up Colin Murray Garvald on the beach swimming everyday!
wouldn't it be wonderful to finally have it all together as our paradise on earth??
I see ourselves living vicariously through his eyes!
Friday, March 20, 2009
it was so cool visiting with Stevo's Ocean street surf club...all of these cool blokes love to surf and drink beer...they are the local neighborhood of surfing mates...they represent what is one of the wonderful things about the "fraternities and sorororities" of matedom...the quintessential (?) essence of the Aussie spirit...
folks here care about their friends and other aussies!
on a slightly americanized tangent, I watched this DVD,""Surfer Dude" with Willie Nelson as the "dude's" mentor/muse/spirit/cannabizer/wizard (playing a small role giving him the magical grass and goats to eat his lawn's grass....I always had the same idea ever since I bought a home in Okiehoma City! ...many a lazy,
cannabized summer, I regretted having the simple low carbon imprint of goats...maybe a male and female...so we could have kids and milk...maybe even make some goat cheese...yeh ...I had dreams of this magical hippy commune in the early 80's...will this ever happen??....puff, puff, pass?please? ;)wow....thanks to the epipephenous herb, I adding a few colors of the rainbow....
I had delusions of writing this Aussie?american novel/ documentary and movie of my life and adventure!! anyway the movie would have better with better acting from Mathew Mcdorkil...I don't know why chicks g
o crazy over this dude?? gag me with a mangrove seed!I love Willie and Woody Harrelson with (his documentary on weed..so he played the stoner mate well, but they could have picked a more enigmatic/ charismatic character like Val Kilmer with Bill Murray's sense of humor!>..other than that the movie was flat!
But these dudes love the movie...I am guessing because of the way the movie did capture the surfer's obsession with the waves...I wish they could have had an actor that captured the sufer's philosophy...he could have been more laid back and basically more charm!
Stevo is a charmer/philosopher/guru of the surf.... he is a leader/minister of this philosophy/church(??)...
each day, religiously, they come to the Ocean st. perch...along with Dano, Shano, Richo, and a few other regular mates of the Ocean St. club...
he imparts many bits of wisdom about the ocean and the Gold Coast joie de vivre ...
I love chatting with these blokes of the coast... They all have adopted the philosophy of loving
the beach/surf and all of her varying nuances... We all want to pay our omage to the Godess of the Sea...My son was born on the coast...He will be immersed in this wonderful culture!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Wowww!!! 
All I can say is ,
Follow your dream!!
Don't let anybody stop you!!
My older brother just gave the same ole, same ole...
I don't hear from him at all except when he thinks he's been the good older brother
...
apparently word got out from my cousin's mother...(who I love dearly)
that we need help and shouldn't be hanging out in oz???
at least that's the general opinion of most of the relatives...
so what do I say ???
Fuck it!
Let's take a road trip and enjoy ourselves!
It's vacation!
Should I cave in and let ourselves fly back to the states with our tail between our legs??
Fuck No...I have been talked out of of this paradise for too l
ong!! Lets workout, take care of business and have a kick ass beautiful family that knows how to have fun on the beach!! It's our future!
Go team Garvald!
All I can say is ,
Follow your dream!!
Don't let anybody stop you!!
My older brother just gave the same ole, same ole...
I don't hear from him at all except when he thinks he's been the good older brother
...apparently word got out from my cousin's mother...(who I love dearly)
that we need help and shouldn't be hanging out in oz???
at least that's the general opinion of most of the relatives...
so what do I say ???
Fuck it!
Let's take a road trip and enjoy ourselves!
It's vacation!
Should I cave in and let ourselves fly back to the states with our tail between our legs??
Fuck No...I have been talked out of of this paradise for too l
ong!! Lets workout, take care of business and have a kick ass beautiful family that knows how to have fun on the beach!! It's our future!Go team Garvald!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
overwhelmed as usual because of my fault...prograsstination!!
need to call immigration authorities about visas...our future!
need to call about making sure my land tax will be exempt next year!
need to call immigration authorities about visas...our future!
need to call about making sure my land tax will be exempt next year!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
The cyclone is over...the full moon is over...and hopefully we all can recuperate and stabilize...
l
Looks like the oil spill that hit a reef further north has not reached the gorgeous Gold Coast...
always everything seems to better on a sunny day , especially out here with our gorgeous view...
why worry?, be happy!
lFriday, March 13, 2009
KHATMANDU!
Khatmandu visited my blog!! wow...for what reason could a famous town in Nepal pull up my site??
"On the way through the desert between Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan
Several young backpackers in the late sixties and the early seventies travelled the long way by land from Europe to Kathmandu through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to Nepal. The majority spent a few months or half an year out there, and a few of them settled in Nepal or India for years, living on a low budget with hash and other drugs. It became a trend, unmistakable connected to the hippie generation, founding the backpacker's massive conquer of the world several years later. But why did they do it? There are several answers to that question. The romance of the road, the attraction of drugs, the need of breaking the daily, monotonous way of living, the search for direct experience, the desire to explore what's on the other side of the desert or the mountains, the curiosity to foreign, exotic cultures. And to quite a few, a search for their own identity. However, no matter which reasons took them on the trail, they have one thing
in common: Few of them remained the same persons after their return, and it's no exaggeration to say, that the trip became decisive for their behaviour and points of view for the rest of their life. Several Danish backpackers from that period, who came home after a long stay in India or Nepal, were unable to do very much during the next half year after their arrival - apart from gazing at a wall, trying to digest their great experience! Frontiers of many kinds were crossed by the hippies and the backpackers of the past. In the late sixties and early seventies, travelling to the third world was much more complicated and unusual than today, and for the same reason, places like Kathmandu and most of the sites along The Hippie Trail were much more exotic than now. In the sixties and early seventies, individual travels to The Middle East and The Far East was an exotic experience, which had the capability to change you forever. Backpackers from the sixties and seventies didn't have today's security at all. E-mail, credit cards and mobile phones didn't exist, and a phone call to your home country was a rare emergency action. On the other hand, travellers still had the feeling of being true pioneers and explorers. Those who had never been outside Europe or the other western countries - which was by far the major part - got the cultural shock of their life. The first really exotic country on the route was Turkey, but the biggest challenge of them all was the confrontation with India. India still has a vast diversity of religions, culture, languages and nature to offer, but to many - especially if you are not used to travelling as an individual - the country can be a real challenge for you! The best things to bring with you are a relaxed mind, patience and a good sense of humour. However, if you don't like curiosity, crowds of people, bureaucracy and a certain amount of insanity, you shouldn't go there, not even today!"
Several young backpackers in the late sixties and the early seventies travelled the long way by land from Europe to Kathmandu through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to Nepal. The majority spent a few months or half an year out there, and a few of them settled in Nepal or India for years, living on a low budget with hash and other drugs. It became a trend, unmistakable connected to the hippie generation, founding the backpacker's massive conquer of the world several years later. But why did they do it? There are several answers to that question. The romance of the road, the attraction of drugs, the need of breaking the daily, monotonous way of living, the search for direct experience, the desire to explore what's on the other side of the desert or the mountains, the curiosity to foreign, exotic cultures. And to quite a few, a search for their own identity. However, no matter which reasons took them on the trail, they have one thing
in common: Few of them remained the same persons after their return, and it's no exaggeration to say, that the trip became decisive for their behaviour and points of view for the rest of their life. Several Danish backpackers from that period, who came home after a long stay in India or Nepal, were unable to do very much during the next half year after their arrival - apart from gazing at a wall, trying to digest their great experience! Frontiers of many kinds were crossed by the hippies and the backpackers of the past. In the late sixties and early seventies, travelling to the third world was much more complicated and unusual than today, and for the same reason, places like Kathmandu and most of the sites along The Hippie Trail were much more exotic than now. In the sixties and early seventies, individual travels to The Middle East and The Far East was an exotic experience, which had the capability to change you forever. Backpackers from the sixties and seventies didn't have today's security at all. E-mail, credit cards and mobile phones didn't exist, and a phone call to your home country was a rare emergency action. On the other hand, travellers still had the feeling of being true pioneers and explorers. Those who had never been outside Europe or the other western countries - which was by far the major part - got the cultural shock of their life. The first really exotic country on the route was Turkey, but the biggest challenge of them all was the confrontation with India. India still has a vast diversity of religions, culture, languages and nature to offer, but to many - especially if you are not used to travelling as an individual - the country can be a real challenge for you! The best things to bring with you are a relaxed mind, patience and a good sense of humour. However, if you don't like curiosity, crowds of people, bureaucracy and a certain amount of insanity, you shouldn't go there, not even today!" I wondered what the fascination of hippies and old classic songs had for Khatmandu?? So I did a search and found this other site...
Beautiful Burleigh
Coincidentally, the Burleigh ranger, stopped by the Ocean St. perch while Daniel and I were chatting about all the nuances and science of the surf... we were chatting about the diminishing forests along the coast and he said that the bloke that with the ranger uniform is the Burleigh ranger!....the kinda job that everyone wants including my wife...like working on Hamilton Island!!maybe not as nice as that place...(they had a contest paid by the Queensland tourist bureau for the best ranger of Hamilton Island?)
This pic was taken from
Burleigh of Little Burleigh,,,, I took this photo while riding my bike to this little island of what is left of the subtropical rainforest...There are many endangered plant species that grow here and in only a few other place...It is a cool place to ride your mountain bike around..(bikes aren't allowed but just be careful of pedestrians ;)I just had a cool chat with a regular lifeguard, 
Dave White yesteday. He was the bloke that pulled the great white shark from the ocean. The shark had pulled the orange bu0y
which was attached to the baitline close to the swimming are
a while I was swimming on October 18th.. I had been swimming along shore from the magic mountain area down the beach when I had seen him paddle out to check what was causing the buoy to move so much. He had pulled it up and saw the shark hooked to the baitline at the end. He had thought it was dead but when he had pulled it into shore the waves revived him. It was alive when it was brought to shore.
Dave White yesteday. He was the bloke that pulled the great white shark from the ocean. The shark had pulled the orange bu0y 
which was attached to the baitline close to the swimming are
a while I was swimming on October 18th.. I had been swimming along shore from the magic mountain area down the beach when I had seen him paddle out to check what was causing the buoy to move so much. He had pulled it up and saw the shark hooked to the baitline at the end. He had thought it was dead but when he had pulled it into shore the waves revived him. It was alive when it was brought to shore.
I'd like to go into more detail about this story sometime. There are a lot of stories of the Gold Coast and it's history... Dave mentioned to me about a gentleman named Roger who knows a lot about the history of the coast. I would like to add the pics and movies that my father, Colin , had taken. It would be a shame to not help document the history of our family.
By coincidence, Dave, had worked for my uncle's meat factory in Towoomba, the birthplace of my mother!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
WHY WORRY? BE HAPPY!
Things were so simple...when I had no worries...
I was a tennis bum who evolved into a middle aged
beach bum/stoner/philosopher/volunteer lifeguard-body surfing/father/husband..... 
the last two titles come with the most responsibilities... I deeply want to be a good father and I guess it would help to please the mama so the whole family can be happy ( =without worries and free??)....would we be happy without worries and free??? My better half is taking a bike ride to escape from me...
it's a full moon and she is in one of her manic moods ....king and queen tides are happening as the stormy weather and varying degrees of cyclones hit the Coast of Oz....the waves knock up to the fence of our backyard of dune vegetation...
it's a full moon and she is in one of her manic moods ....king and queen tides are happening as the stormy weather and varying degrees of cyclones hit the Coast of Oz....the waves knock up to the fence of our backyard of dune vegetation...
(I guess....I'm no shrink 
and I have never trusted the profession or philosophy of diagnosing and making judgements that someone is mildly or seriously fucked up)
my angel b is very angry about not including her on the checking account while I was on the phone with the New Mexico bank wondering why my account was put on inactive status...
and I have never trusted the profession or philosophy of diagnosing and making judgements that someone is mildly or seriously fucked up)my angel b is very angry about not including her on the checking account while I was on the phone with the New Mexico bank wondering why my account was put on inactive status...
but maybe it's a good thing before somebody uses my account ....
I'm sorry honey, I love you
but....financial trust and love most often appear to be separate entities... I fear losing financial control of this little nest egg that I've saved and waite
d for all my life
d for all my lifealong with the financial safety and coziness...
we are in store for some very wild times with little trust in banks or any kind of investment...
except that
the safest place to save is land...
the safest place to save is land...
except what will happen if a tidal wave takes away all of the beach??
or a tornado blows away my house in the Okie Zone?? 
che sera sera...the future's not ours to see...
happiness is living in the now...
to err and sin is human
to forgive is divine (?) (if there is a God or a place for angels and good people??)
money is the root of all evil
and it appears to be the main reason for many relationships souring over time...yep I'm a tight ass and so were my parents...
but thanks to them and my tight ass ways....
but thanks to them and my tight ass ways....
we can now live comfortably on the beach for a few more months
unless the Oz governments taxes away any cash that I have left...
my greedy banking brother of course took most of the cash bailing out on this little haven on the beach...oh well
we would have been comfortable for many years if we both kept it..
Ron is already extremely wealthy as are most bank CEOS at the extreme expense and detriment to their fellow brothers and human beings!
we both could have profited from this investment in land over the long term....bummer....
so many times I feel like a beach bummer....so why worry, be happy??
we both could have profited from this investment in land over the long term....bummer....
so many times I feel like a beach bummer....so why worry, be happy??
let's enjoy the benefit of the infamous herb ...while most of the past leaders of our country have denied enjoying it...
while here in Oz, the leader of the "liberal" opposition party, Malcolm Turnbull, admits to have actually inhaled the herb in carefree days of you...Liberal is conservative in Oz as most things are the opposite here down Unda!
Ie... cyclones, toilets and driving are all in the opposite direction from at least from the American perspective... 
I chatted with Daniel just now...
He's obsessed with the surf ...it's a very healthy obsession with many of the folks here including myself
I chatted with Daniel just now...
He's obsessed with the surf ...it's a very healthy obsession with many of the folks here including myself
The sea has a way of drawing your attention everyday...
it's a daily source of entertainment
Everyday there is a daily stream of folks staring from our favorite Ocean St. lookout perch ...
I grew up for a few years in these two blocks between the Parthenon and 135 Hedges avenue...
We all religiously observe how Neptune, our God of the Sea,
We all religiously observe how Neptune, our God of the Sea,
is behaving
he has evolved into a Zen Master of travelling on the waves with boards and flippers
he has evolved into a Zen Master of travelling on the waves with boards and flippers
he and Steve are both resident masters of the beach
learning the science and nuances of the sea..
Daniel grew up on the surf learning to swim and surf with the
Nippers, the young surf club class that is free to the public
Daniel grew up on the surf learning to swim and surf with the
Nippers, the young surf club class that is free to the public
coastal residents donate their time to their local surf life saving club....
each weekend there are classes on our beach with hundreds of young nippers learning how to swim , surf and rescue as early as age 5! That would be our dream for Colin Murray Garvald!
each weekend there are classes on our beach with hundreds of young nippers learning how to swim , surf and rescue as early as age 5! That would be our dream for Colin Murray Garvald!
That is the perfect backyard playground for children!
Is it the money??
Is it the money??
with many women it appears to always to be the bottom line of a relationship
for humans , it makes or breaks us...
this currency 0f coins and bills that we use as a tool of civilization to control us 
just the way religion is civilizations way to control the thinking of mankind
just the way religion is civilizations way to control the thinking of mankindwhy can't folks realize that the best things in life are free??...folks teach our children how to be lifeguards for free...
wouldn't it be nice if we just donated our time and
quit being so greedy??
This beach bum lifestyle has certain limits and budgets....
quit being so greedy??
This beach bum lifestyle has certain limits and budgets....
Just to have this place in paradise is costing so much in taxes, rates and fees...I suppose to 
be without worries and stress would make a person much happier..Now I am doing my best to be an Aussie beach bum...without any worries..especially financial ...
be without worries and stress would make a person much happier..Now I am doing my best to be an Aussie beach bum...without any worries..especially financial ...we both now have bikes which cause very little carbon imprint...if only my other half could be happy without having to buy into the yank philosophy of spend now and paying later... I suppose that I might sound very selfish...and thoughtless?? I believe that I am being very thoughtful of our future
and how our child will have the choice to inherit this lifestyle!!
"Our relationship with our father will often affect our relationships with the other men who will come into our lives. You may have learned to behave and think in certain ways because those were the ways that your father acted and thought. Certain talents that you possess may have been passed down to you by your father.
There also may be personal issues that you inherited by virtue of who your father is. Understanding how your relationship with your father has influenced you can help you better understand yourself and the life that you have created. In a time when mothers, the sacred feminine, and female energy are being honored, it is important not to forget the importance of fathers. Father energy and mother energy are the two complementary energies necessary to bring a healthy human being to fruition in the world. Many of the ideas surrounding fathers are changing in the wake of more modern parenting styles and the more egalitarian roles that are evolving between the sexes. More men are embodying the mother energy these days, and a woman can provide father energy for her children. Either way, we can all benefit from thinking about our fathers and how they have influenced who we’ve become and the ways that we walk through this world. Let us remember to honor our fathers."
from the Daily OM
Monday, March 09, 2009
ya know....sometimes, it would be cool to really believe that there is an afterlife...
I have had so many relationships and lived in so
many places...I love falling in love
I gues
s I see some of the gung ho Christians dancing in almost mesmerizing trance...
s I see some of the gung ho Christians dancing in almost mesmerizing trance...
I guess depending on the herb you smoked or who you were with....you could get into a woodstock type of com
munal thought....
munal thought....you are with a bunch of other believers really getting into with the dancing and speaking of tongues.... you then vote because you believe the future president will believe the same way...
....You all wanna believe there has got to be a better place.!!.....
you see a new day!!...and you wonder if you could do something wonderful that would make you think life is fulfilling...
I suppose one of the major reasons some folks go into depression is that they might be missing out on the party...they have been seeing black, white and grey...
I suppose one of the major reasons some folks go into depression is that they might be missing out on the party...they have been seeing black, white and grey...
or they are missing sunshine and color in their lives!
you fall in love and everything is like a summer morning in paradise!
you fall in love and everything is like a summer morning in paradise!
I have had so many relationships and lived in so
many places...I love falling in loveI have seen enough dawns to sometimes wake up bitter...
I sure hope that I make the best of this place and this marriage...I love seeing the bright sun come in again after overcoming a long few days of sub tropical storms!!
I know my vulnerabilities and weaknesses as past women have found out...
so when will I ever get the day right.??..
I have seen so many dawns ...hoping that the next day would be better...Maybe I could strive one day to have the perfect day, the way Bill Murray did in "Ground Hog Day"....to perhpas know that I am evolving into the loving ,understanding father that I would have loved to have had!
....Would I like a day of great achievement so that Mom and Dad would be jumping up and down from up above the way they were watching me win the 200 yard freestyle swimming race in the swimming championships of Rochester New York!
( I sent the essays about Ground Hog Day to Dad in Australia...He loved it when I wrote him these long essays while he paid for my classes to become a teacher...I didnt seem a long time ago...almost like I could get on the phone and ask him about my latest essay...Perhaps he was reading them from his favorite chair of our Parthenon flat..It was a warmer feeling of our family being together only a year or 2 after M
om passed away)
om passed away)
Saturday, March 07, 2009
I guess it's all about your perspective...your view...
Maybe this is the way you rationalize your thoughts...
You might view things as black and white and then see different shades of gray
then you might be a
ble to see color
ble to see coloror
suddenly a branch from a neighbor's tree breaksand your view of the coast gets a little better!
you can see little bit of Burleigh 1o kms down the beach just through the opening of the trees..
I think we sometimes don't see the forest for the trees... our views can be blinded
Maybe we don't open our minds up to all the alternatives...
I realized very soon what I was missing out by not living here...
I felt myself getting into the rat race...
instead of really finding happiness... 
Now I finally I feel like I am on my way to happiness...
Now I finally I feel like I am on my way to happiness...
but it's a roller coaster along the way!
but I have to learn how to live in the now and change my perspective on life just to open up the branches that are blocking my way...
It is a total mindset that we as a family need to get into...
the last few days have been so much better... I feel more of a purpose as a father...I have seen how I can get things done ...I see with the right nutrition, the right vitamins and herbs and the right amount of sleep my wife can be so much of a nicer , more effective and happier mother!
Angel is so pleasant and happy, especially after she eats a nice meal that I fixed for her :)
"You are unique. There is no one else like you in the entire universe. In honor of your unique self, it is good to acknowledge and embrace the special qualities that make you the person that you are. One way to do this is to not compare yourself with other people. ...
It is sometimes almost easier to look outside of ourselves and feel like we are deficient in comparison to other people rather than taking responsibility for our own progress in relation to the fulfillment of our life purpose. It actually takes more courage to be self-referential and look at ourselves to see whether we are measuring up to our standards or meeting our full potential. Each of us has very special gifts, and we are here for very 
specific reasons. We each have a life purpose to fulfill and with this come the lessons that we must learn and the circumstances that we must go through in order to evolve as spiritual beings. To compare our lives to other people’s lives when we have no idea of what they are here to learn or fulfill doesn’t benefit anyone – especially you. Instead, if we can accept ourselves, appreciate the special talents and qualities that we alone possess, and realize that each of us is going through certain kinds of experiences for a reason, we are less likely focus so much on what other people have or are doing. Realizing and valuing our uniqueness enables us to bring out the best in ourselves so we can get on with living rather than preoccupying ourselves with meaningless comparisons. Try to not compare yourself to others, and you will see how much you have and how special you are."
specific reasons. We each have a life purpose to fulfill and with this come the lessons that we must learn and the circumstances that we must go through in order to evolve as spiritual beings. To compare our lives to other people’s lives when we have no idea of what they are here to learn or fulfill doesn’t benefit anyone – especially you. Instead, if we can accept ourselves, appreciate the special talents and qualities that we alone possess, and realize that each of us is going through certain kinds of experiences for a reason, we are less likely focus so much on what other people have or are doing. Realizing and valuing our uniqueness enables us to bring out the best in ourselves so we can get on with living rather than preoccupying ourselves with meaningless comparisons. Try to not compare yourself to others, and you will see how much you have and how special you are."FROM THE DAILY OM"
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Ang and I sure enjoyed "Pineapple Express"...she gets a kick out of seeing me laugh so hard....and then to connect elsewhere only added to a beautiful evening...I was telling her how I might have 5 good years of being in really fantastic shape...
we have to learn how to enjoy 
everyday as if it is our last...my honey was worried if there were any life insurance policies with double indemnity if I get eaten by a shark....it's cool swimming in the surf at dusk but then there's more risk of these large predators hanging around going for the bait fish...
I keep my eyes open so I can punch
the nose of him if I see him first...
I can still see well underwater in the approaching darkness
the nose of him if I see him first...I can still see well underwater in the approaching darkness
then surf to the safety of shore to check out these palaces built sometimes on 3 or 4 block of the beach...one of these palaces looks like a doll house with all glass windows exposed to the publics' envious view from the beach...with some of these palaces they've gradually taken over the dune vegetation to make it as if the public beach has become the domain of this "castle"...
at night they have a huge lighthouse powerful beam on their beach
it's almost as if the beam tells everyone about their palace and the beach is theirs...
they've put a large trampoline for the children
of course, it's right in the middle of what is supposed to be dune vegetation
I guess, according to council, the wealthy owners can have landscapers extend their lawns into the public dune vegetation as they plant species indigenous to the area and which hold the sand better!
ok...what is happiness...I guess becoming Aussie will be my ultimate goal....
Imagine someone wanting to be American as much as I want to be Aussie...just look at that blue ocean beckoning for you put on your speedos and dive straight into the clean blue water...It feels like home...the place I frolicked in as a young child of the 60's..
I'm having my usual epiphenous herbs .... enjoying a few complimentary leaves from our gracious hosts from the gorgeous hinterland...
while I feel the finity of life more and more...I need to share as much as I can each day ...and also write a journal...
as we discover how to enjoy the next 2 decades of parenthood while still having lives for ourselves to enjoy..
little moments that we will cherish as we age together...
have some Cappucinos at the beach cafe near our favorite surf club...
watching each new moment of Colin Murray Garvald's life fold vicariously before us...
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
It's cool, when folks have obstacles and they overcome them...we both have been through a lot...
I have found this out more than ever..sleep and nutrition are in the top 5 list for a relationship to last...
when a couple is sleep deprived and hungry= anger and back seat driving
= driving on the wrong side of the road...
fortunately just outside Nimbin, I was going around the curve in the beautiful hill
this nice English lady was driving slow!
otherwise, we might not be telling you the story...from then on my other half kept insisting on driving until the next morning when
Ang started driving on the right hand side coming out of our sleep deprived night at a nice motel 10 kms outside of Nimbin!
after a tough experience it's best to keep a healthy positive mindset on what we learned!
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
a picture is a thousand words x 10 with ADD 
Do you watch one movie and focus only on your movie of life or do you see several movies going on at once in your brain...
Living with another person with this disability(talent?) to encumber their brain only helps me realize my own condition combined with drastic mood swings.....How does one cope with this anchor on his/her brain and then feel overwhelmed with so many tasks that a multitasker could have finished long long long ago...
If I was more of a go getter, I would have moved heaven onto earth to live permanently in this gorgeous paradise of 36 straight kilometers of beautifully yellow sandy beaches!
Monday, March 02, 2009
When I was swimming this evening in the surf with my blue tinted goggles ,
I saw this mango seed floating in the surf...
I grabbed it thinking immediately of what the mangrove seed represents in my mind...
I saw this mango seed floating in the surf...
I grabbed it thinking immediately of what the mangrove seed represents in my mind...
perhaps landing after the long ocean limbo on some island paradise
so I threw it towards the beach ...
thinking "if it lands on the beach...it's gotta be a sign" (the hopeless romantic taking hold of me after another challenging day of matrimony)
eventually, the surf took the fruit to it's metaphoric spot on the beach in front of my ole Mermaid Beach home from well over 4 decades ago...it was only a fibro beach shack compared to miniature ostentatious baroque palace with it's own personal hot tub took it's place
eventually, the surf took the fruit to it's metaphoric spot on the beach in front of my ole Mermaid Beach home from well over 4 decades ago...it was only a fibro beach shack compared to miniature ostentatious baroque palace with it's own personal hot tub took it's place
where we frolicked in the autumn mist skipping to school
no worries in the world mate!
...I had to pick this mangrove seed up from the receding tides' delivery!
just maybe it was a sign for me not to give up on my dreams
(in my hopeless romantic spiritually hopeful agnostic self)
.....this surf and all the new surf mates we are making friends with...
...all with different connections...
this little utopia can be so inviting and simple...
if you don't let the negatives vibes of jealousy and envy from those that hate or despise your freedom from that 4 letter word "work!"
why feel guilty about having to own a car and make a huge carbon impring everyday???
why not keep a simple lifestyle of us just being full time parents/beach/surflifesaving bums???
all the obstacles in life seem small compared to the waves this floating seed encountered after it was dropped by the parent plant from perhaps some distant island into the waiting ocean....
this limbo between lives....from some mangrove colony thousands of miles away...
about to sprout it's seed on another continent perhaps...
could it be a metaphor for my life...or the accent of the herb....
Robert the Bruce used the metaphor of the spider continuing to build spider webs after the spider's home was continually shattered...while he was hiding out from the English in the time of the Scottish William Wallace....she gave him the courage to never give up and he rallied the Scots to run the English out of his land! I think of the mango seed waiting for it's spot on the beach
I have our spot for our family to flourish...
Colin Murray will join the nippers and walk to school...He can have the luxury of walking back to our home with his feet being cooled by the waves the way they did when Ron and I walked back home from Broadbeach State School!
Lately our family has been challenged and we met them...
it's amazing when we faced our fears and made those phone calls to the Acute team just for Ang to hear the diagnosis...Post Natal Trauma..and she was now voluntary so they wouldn't take her back there...When she was in the ward, she was labeled involuntary ..
I was proud of standing behind her today and getting her out of the cuckoo's nest two weeks ago...
I rode my bike to the Oasis shopping center and bought her some Maca to help with her hormones, some herbal pills to help her relax and get the good rejuvenating sleep she needs, and some spirulina which has many trace elements from the sea...folks with emotional imbalance are lacking the essential elements...I will make sure she has seafood which gives her all trace elements needed by humans yet they are very lacking in the modern diet!
I also bought some brewers yeast to give both of the essential B vitamins that are good for stress!
we will live on the beach...I wondered when I would encounter that mango seed!
I remember how prophetic this little bit of poetry was written 4 and a half years ago!
" Will you find your Oz??In search of what ??....comfort, satisfaction, lost loves to be regained??...
how would it have been if you had been the father to a lost love's children??
Robert the Bruce used the metaphor of the spider continuing to build spider webs after the spider's home was continually shattered...while he was hiding out from the English in the time of the Scottish William Wallace....she gave him the courage to never give up and he rallied the Scots to run the English out of his land! I think of the mango seed waiting for it's spot on the beach
I have our spot for our family to flourish...
Colin Murray will join the nippers and walk to school...He can have the luxury of walking back to our home with his feet being cooled by the waves the way they did when Ron and I walked back home from Broadbeach State School!
Lately our family has been challenged and we met them...
it's amazing when we faced our fears and made those phone calls to the Acute team just for Ang to hear the diagnosis...Post Natal Trauma..and she was now voluntary so they wouldn't take her back there...When she was in the ward, she was labeled involuntary ..
I was proud of standing behind her today and getting her out of the cuckoo's nest two weeks ago...
I rode my bike to the Oasis shopping center and bought her some Maca to help with her hormones, some herbal pills to help her relax and get the good rejuvenating sleep she needs, and some spirulina which has many trace elements from the sea...folks with emotional imbalance are lacking the essential elements...I will make sure she has seafood which gives her all trace elements needed by humans yet they are very lacking in the modern diet!
I also bought some brewers yeast to give both of the essential B vitamins that are good for stress!
we will live on the beach...I wondered when I would encounter that mango seed!
I remember how prophetic this little bit of poetry was written 4 and a half years ago!
" Will you find your Oz??In search of what ??....comfort, satisfaction, lost loves to be regained??...
how would it have been if you had been the father to a lost love's children??
....so many missed roads not taken
all these chances for you to take root as a lost mangrove seed waiting to come out of it's ocean limbo....
to sprout your roots and let the sands accumulate on your spot with other plants joining in on the sharing of the new accumulating sand of your mangrove island!
your island settlement in your favorite lattitude of the tropical waves...
the Mango fruit could gets lost in the winds of fate and destiny....
Maybe God or this Universal Energy created this ever evolving life cycle ...
all these chances for you to take root as a lost mangrove seed waiting to come out of it's ocean limbo....
to sprout your roots and let the sands accumulate on your spot with other plants joining in on the sharing of the new accumulating sand of your mangrove island!
your island settlement in your favorite lattitude of the tropical waves...
the Mango fruit could gets lost in the winds of fate and destiny....
Maybe God or this Universal Energy created this ever evolving life cycle ...
happiness, love, family....
you could have landed on another beach and your mangrove colony would have been different
what love materialized?....
what love materialized?....
and to have never known love....
because you werent there and never had been born or dropped into the ocean of life,,,
Like Jimmy Stewart what would have happeed if he never existed in Pottersville...
Like Jimmy Stewart what would have happeed if he never existed in Pottersville...
how would the colony be different??
time with someone somewhere affects the whole community and mushrooms out in many waves to the whole human race....
time with someone somewhere affects the whole community and mushrooms out in many waves to the whole human race....
what if you let your pursuit of happiness evolve the way u feel the spirits above want you to follow..
they want you to have a happy journey finding your colony of growing roots
so enjoy that jouney to happiness Garvald! you'll find your roots and the beginnings of your colony~
they want you to have a happy journey finding your colony of growing roots
so enjoy that jouney to happiness Garvald! you'll find your roots and the beginnings of your colony~
(ok...I edited the poem with its innumerable mistakes from a cannabized evening in 3004!)
HEY BABY! WASS YOUR MAJOR?
HEY BABY! WASS YOUR MAJOR?
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Ole man swim in the surf contest...I was tenth with a 9:15 handicap....Dale won with a 6 minute handicap...
He had a power play to gain the extra few minutes handicap!...(term I might explain lata)
"So, how could you change your focus when everything seems to be going wrong, or when life gets really hard, or when you are discouraged, disgruntled, dissatisfied, or just plain scared? Any ideas?What suggestions do you have that might be helpful to those of us who are challenged with keeping a positive attitude?"
Hmmm, How can I change focus??....I go for a swim and a race with the volunteer life club team... I focus on getting in the zone of the wave...
when Im in the surf, I'm not scared....maybe just a little of a very big wave crashing me down and tumbling me all the place....and ummm, sharks!! ...I prefer this feeling of being free in the water to the thoughts that dwell in my beach abode!
I am scared when my wife needs meds...but they fuck with her body and her mind...so she goes back to her self medication of cigarettes and any alcohol laying around...I get upset and catch
myself nagging her...
this only gets back into the teenage child still rebelling against her parents...
So what should we do??
I just enjoy a little herb and my wanders to lots of alternatives under it's influence...my own self medication...what a hippocritter!
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