<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">This walk is in Pt. Reyes, so it is probably one you know well.<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">We woke up at 4:30 this morning to the sound of thunder and the flash of lightning; it is still happening - possibly the biggest electrical storm the north bay has ever experienced. We have gotten a tiny bit of rain but are very concerned about the lightning sparking wildfires, the last thing we need in the time of pandemic.<br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Aug 16, 2020, at 6:52 AM, Larry Robinson <<a href="mailto:Lrobpoet@sonic.net" class="">Lrobpoet@sonic.net</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">2020 Walk to Salt Water</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><i class="">When they go low, we go high. </i>Michele Obama</div><div style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><i class="">How low can you go? </i>Chubby Checker</div><div style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; min-height: 12px;" class=""><i class=""></i><br class=""></div><div style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><b class="">I.</b></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">A spring-loaded clip </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">unchains the first gate. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Our path heads for </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">a grey volcanic outcrop,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">reminder that this bay </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">marks the fault line </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">at our country’s edge.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">What relief to leave behind </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the morning paper stories </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">of this small “p†president. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Of how he’s sending troops.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">More troops to guard against </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">assemblies of his citizens</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">petitioning their government. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">No, this afternoon we navigate</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the gopher-riddled pasture ground </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">among pot-bellied angus, huge </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">quadrupeds that prance away </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">from us on tiny hooves.</div><div style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><b class="">II.</b></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">We come to the second gate </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">encrusted on both sides </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">by poison oak a well-oiled</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">green the red is overtaking.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">My hand threads around </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the post, unhooks the snap</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and the gate swings wide. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Buttercups are humming</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">gold, color of truth.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Unwittingly the mind snags </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">on the contrast with this </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">very small “p†president;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">he who made the Limbo </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">the Official White House </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Dance by simply standing </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">there in place and speaking;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">he who fabricates alternate facts</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">repronounced by the invertebrate </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and/or blind loyalists he dupes</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">with nanoscopic honesty;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">he who does- or can-</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">not read and yet rewrote the book </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">on lies told while in office.</div><div style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><b class="">III.</b></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">The third gate clip missing </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">its spring wants fiddling with.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">We take note of and sidestep </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">bobcat or mountain lion scat </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and hew to the trail’s contour </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">along the landscape slope. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">A light wind carries my attention</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">across the field to purple asters, </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">yes, color of kings and queens. </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">What grand irony how this </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">smallest of all possible “p’s†</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">president tells the world over</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and over that he’s the greatest </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">creature in the sea of life</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">when he is but blubber.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Nevertheless, this year again </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">he’s poisoning the well,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">ranting how his opposition </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">schemes to cheat him out</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">of his imagined reelection.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Thus he delegitimizes ballots </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">that could well be delivered </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">by the US Postal Service </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">which he works to unravel</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and thereby steal the vote.</div><div style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><b class="">IV.</b></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">The early fog is lifting </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">off the ridge―sky blue </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">infinity comes into focus.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">We look upon salt water</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">although I refuse to weep.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Today’s gift of clarity moves me </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">to ask, with all humility,</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">O Lord, if one there be: </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Grant that this imposter fin-al-ly </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">be made to go stand someplace else, </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">anyplace besides the office he holds </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">down with bogus bone-spurred feet;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Grant that every single eligible </div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">person registers to vote;</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and when the time does come</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Grant that they do.</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Bill Greenwood</div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;" class=""> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div><br class=""><div class="">
<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: rgb(16, 24, 32); font-family: Joanna, Georgia, serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 243);" class=""><div style="font-size: 15px;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(16, 24, 32); font-family: Joanna, Georgia, serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 243);" class=""><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br class=""></span></div><i style="font-size: 12px;" class="">We are talking only to ourselves. We are not talking to the rivers, we are not listening to the wind and stars. We have broken the great conversation. By breaking that conversation we have shattered the universe. All the disasters that are happening now are a consequence of that spiritual “autism.â€</i></span><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(16, 24, 32); font-family: Joanna, Georgia, serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 243); font-size: 12px;" class=""><i class=""><br class=""></i></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><span style="color: rgb(16, 24, 32); font-family: Joanna, Georgia, serif; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 243); font-size: 12px;" class=""><i class="">- Thomas Berry</i></span></div>
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