Talk About Stuff

19 kids for a Junior Ranger program today. That was by far the highlight of my day; everyone was there about ten minutes early, and so while we waited until 3, I learned everyone's name. Ranger Joel rolled up on his bike just in time to watch me name everyone for him, and so that became somewhat the talk of the afternoon...which was cool. I know all of the parents appreciated it; I just knew I wanted to know everyone's name! We played some games and talked about some of the neat things in the park. I had tons of fun, and I think the kids did too.

Most of them were from one big group (of 120) camping at the park, and so everyone was busy at dinnertime, and unfortunately, there wasn't an audience for the evening save Joel and wife, Mona. Instead, I had talked through my program with the rangers and then had a really good and productive conversation. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed (if you couldn't tell by the two-sentence blogs), but I think it'll look up soon. I guess that's as much as I'll say here.

Tomorrow we are having a staff party in my front yard...that I found out about today :0). Which means tomorrow morning I will be cleaning and mowing and chopping the 3 tomatoes that cost me 7 dollars.

Gas ranges from 4.09 to 4.39 (I think Happy Hollow needs to 'get hip' to the competition...) What is it like around the country?

I had some really interesting discussions today- about our human impact. Mona said that National Geographic had an article about the footprint of burials, which I got excited about because of J&B's friend. I am still deciding if these conversations are productive beyond pure intellectual fulfillment. I always feel both full and empty afterwards, for on one hand I am excited that people are talking about stuff, and on the other- it's so scary and daunting it would be easy to sink into a depression and give up. When *my* energy is shot it is a telling tale...REDUCE people! Hmmm...I meant to use people as a form of address, but perhaps to use it as a noun...

There are several things I will still kick and scream about and I hope one of them is giving up. We can't ignore this stuff. Put whatever you are passionate about into the "this stuff" category. Whatever you are passionate about. Talk. talk about it. listen. listen to everyone else's "this stuff." It is entirely unproductive to utter "don't they know?" 'cause I'm pretty sure they don't. Maybe we've never been around someone with your perspective. Yes, we are padded with ignorance in our cushy lives, but I have a feeling that if we challenge each other, we will meet the challenge. TALK ABOUT STUFF.

I will not dumb it down. I may articulate it in a clear and understandable way. But I will not dumb it down because I still want to believe the average person is not dumb. we may be ignorant. but that we can fix. Talk about stuff.

and if I ever refuse to listen to your "stuff," remind me of July 26th's uneloquent rant, 2008.

We have such power of communication: human power and technological power. Please talk about stuff.