SHAKING HANDS WITH 70

When I was in the first grade, my older sister was in the 7th and I remember one day in the school yard looking at her and her friends, thinking I would never be that old. Of course the wait for 16 and the privilege of driving seemed to take forever. And then there was signing for the draft, reaching 21 and finally adulthood. After awhile the years seemed to simply pass, children growing up, the first close friends dying, then parents, more and more “body parts” refusing commands, and when gathering with contemporaries the subject of age was always present. Growing up around men my father’s age, made me conscious early on regarding the the subject of growing older and I have made jokes about getting old for years. I guess in a way, the joke is now on me.

My mother once said of me that, “I was the oldest little boy she ever knew” and I never really understood or paid much attention to that until the last few years. It comes to me quite often now; after spending years in Asia, it is difficult not being impacted by Asian philosophy and the Asian has a way of dividing a man’s (or woman’s) life into 4 stages. The first is of course the child, then the student, followed by the bread winner, with the last being the contemplative stage where he begins to think of his death. In Western culture it is perhaps considered morbid to think of your death but not so in Eastern. “Death and taxes” is a common expression in the West but some don’t pay taxes at all, however death is the one and the only one thing we all hold in common.

My closest and dearest friend died this past November; Nick and I had traveled in more countries than I remember, and sailed 1000‘s of sea miles together, and talked about death many hours. Over the last year, he knew his time was short but he was never afraid and never gave in, fighting death to the last. He told me once, “it has been very interesting”, and “dying is easy, it is the living that is hard;” the last time I saw him a few days before he died, he was as peaceful as I had ever known him. We never said “goodbye” over the years, just “I’ll catch up with you”, and as I held his hand those were the last words we spoke. In the Hindu religion a person is cremated and the ashes spread and then re-birth occurs within 40 days. Nick spread his wife’s ashes in Bali, and his will be spread there also.

For me, my mother’s words were an acknowledgment of and “old spirit”, one that has been recycled many times. How does one know this? I guess it is like any other belief system, you simply take it on faith, for without faith all belief systems collapse. When you stand on the deck of a boat and feel the wind on your face,you don’t have to question what it is you feel, for you know it is the wind. Over the years, I have met people that in the first few seconds I had a complete feeling of “knowing”, and sometimes the relationship was only minutes but is remembered for the rest of your life. In the movie Patton, when he told his driver to stop in Africa and then described an ancient battle with the Carthaginian’s, was that just a movie scene or was that depicting Gen. Patton’s beliefs? For me, I don’t really care, as the last time I heard, there are no first hand reports of what happens after death. We each chose, and if we are educated and civil, we allow for everyones choices. For me, I do not need the security of a belief system to make it easier to face death, as I long ago faced my death and will dodge it as long as possible, knowing in the end it will win. But until that time, I shake hands with 70, look forward to the adventures to come, time with family and friends, and let the small stuff go. When I was born at the beginning of WWII there was no TV, no home a/c, no cars with automatic transmissions, much less computers, cell phones and much much more. I’ve seen a lot, and yes there are some people older than myself but the number grows smaller. I remember someone saying once, “the past is a canceled check, and the future is only a promise to pay, for it is only today that is legal and tender”. So, as my friend says, “breath in, breath out”, live in this moment for that is all we have.

A open letter to the U.S. Congress

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE U. S. CONGRESS:

Gentlemen and I use that term with some reservation, on behalf of the majority of the American people I am requesting your immediate attention to the serious matters facing this country and the quagmire you have been instrumental in getting us into. You were elected to carry out the country’s business and you have failed miserably in your sworn duties. We, the American people are tired of the petty partisan politics, be you Democrat, Republican, or Independent, and hereby demand that you immediately cease and desist. You were elected by the people and therefore are servants of the same, the people that paid in blood and pay still that allows you to serve. You have dishonored us all with your constant attacks on anything that threatens your own ambitions and have allowed yourselves to become tools of the few at the expense of the majority. We have the longest war in our country’s history, an economy on the brink of collapse, debt that will haunt our grandchildren, and yet you went on summer break without acting on unemployment extension. This country belongs to us, the American people and we have allowed you and a small minority to take control as if it were a kingdom and you are the knights serving a king. You are all found guilty, Republican, Democrat, and Independent alike, of gross negligence and we demand your immediate cessation. We will no longer tolerate our daily lives being driven by a small minority on the left or the right, nor the media that mirrors these two extremes.

I speak for the majority because the majority lives in the middle of the political landscape. Republican or Democrat, we know we have a border problem, an energy problem, a huge and growing deficit, people losing homes, jobs, and wars that we grown weary with. We realize there are some hard decisions to be made and that there will be disagreement on how we meet these challenges, but we will no longer accept partisan politics that see you representing a small majority of greedy individuals at our expense. I remind you all, this is the people’s country that our great-great-great grandfather’s paid and died for and we inherited it, not for your personal fiefdoms but for all the people. Our forefathers stated:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” You have failed miserably in your duty and it will no longer be tolerated. If you are unable or unwilling to immediately go to work in a bipartisan manner, then you need to resign you position immediately for you are no longer fit to represent the people that you have sworn to represent. We do not have a Republican or Democrat problem we have a problem with YOU and we are no longer interested in hearing how it is the “other guys” fault. It is your fault, the United States Congress. Why do you think that you have the lowest approval rating in congressional history? Senator Graham just yesterday admitted his party, along with Democrats were at fault and must find a bipartisan way of dealing with the country’s business. I applaud Senator Graham and call on other Republicans and Democrats to step up as he has done.

If you agree with me, then copy and paste and send to your representative. If enough of us demand what rightfully belongs to us we may, just possibly save our inheritance.

Gulf oil spill----how big is the disaster?

The Gulf is dead; there is no real problem; and every position between those two extremes are being touted by “experts” of all size and shape. There are hucksters, quick buck artist, and people with all political agenda’s. There are some making more money on a daily basis than they usually make in a week, and others that are not receiving a dime. Every politician from Washington to the mouth of the Mississippi River is trying to gain political capital, along with every “cause” under the sun. Unfortunately, the truth is really unobtainable because there is no event in our history to meter this disaster.

CNN had a clip showing Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of the famous Jacques. Ms Cousteau was speaking to the dead dolphin (porpoise to us old timers) and she seemed to indicate the species is endangered. I was not familiar with Cousteau so I googled her and was surprised to see she held a BS degree in Political Science and not a graduate degree in Marine Science. Now certainly that in itself does not disqualify her as someone who has had a lot of experience in the marine world, but it does give me pause for a 34 year old young woman speaking to the impact of this disaster. Let me make it very clear, I am no expert on anything. Let me repeat, I am NO EXPERT. I have sailed, run yachts from Texas to Key West to Mexico and fished the Gulf from the early 50’s. During the Sky Lab experiments, National Marine Fisheries asked a few of us early off-shore fisherman to cooperate in some experiments and when I asked “why us” they said we know you are not scientists but you have observer experience that we do not have. Once again, I am no expert on anything but like Ms. Cousteau I can have my opinion. As most know, dolphin are mammals, air breathers, maybe more intelligent than a chimp and they may just get the word and leave the area. Why not? We have always seen dead dolphin and the story has not yet been told. Let us hope for the best.

No one can possibly know how bad this thing will be and part of the stress that is being felt, is because we simply just don’t know and our worse fears take hold. The media has not helped and they are being aided, in some occasions by people with agendas. BP has been an easy target and the President close on the heels of BP. I have to believe that the Deepwater Horizon was being operated by some of the best people in the world of off- shore drilling, competent, hardworking, people just like you and me and maybe one company man that cared about nothing but the bottom line. Greed is at the bottom of all the bad decisions but to boycott the local BP station is wrong. A small business man has been hurt for something he had no control over. Maybe it is time to ask “US”, some questions like why is it that we emit more greenhouse gas than China, a country with 4 times the population. We were in China this past winter and were surprised to see all the solar and wind generation. The U.S. consumes more energy than the EU combined and the U.S. and Canada represent over 30% of total consumption with only 5% of the population. Pogo said years ago, “We done met the enemy and dey is us”. For those that have concern over mother earth let me say some 65 million years ago a meteor hit in the southern Gulf and life as we define it, all but ended. Only some one cell organisms in the ocean remained and the whole process we call “life” began again. This was the 4th time in geological history that something of cataclysmic proportions happened and it will happen again. . Not to worry, mother earth will figure it out but it may be with the absence of Homo sapiens In the meantime let us all keep positive
and as Boone Pickens said,” The best time to plant a tree was 20yeaars ago; the second best time is now”. Let us all start today and plant some trees.

The Gulf Oil spill and what it means

There has never been a human related disaster to equal the Deep Water Horizon and not a lot of natural ones of the magnitude of the Gulf spill, so to say what the short tern or long term environmental impact will be is speculation. As usual, there are those that say the Gulf will die and others saying it will make no difference. The truth in the end will be between these two opposites. Only time will tell the full story. One thing however, that is certain is that if our visitors stop coming the economic impact will create a disaster perhaps greater than the spill itself. The Alabama Beaches from Dauphin Is., Gulf Shores, and Orange Beach represent one of the largest sources of tax revenues for the state and if that is lost there will be no revenue to repair the damage caused by the spill. It will also cause the loss of thousands of jobs that will further destroy Alabama’s weak economy. There are some figures being circulated that show over 10% of the country’s GDP come from the Gulf States and an interruption of that will directly affect those living in Portland, Mane or Portland, Oregon.

I have spoken to many people over the last few weeks from as far away as New Mexico and Michigan, to those from surrounding states and almost all tell me the beaches do not look nearly as bad as they had been led to believe. It boils down to----the media is killing us by showing nothing but negative pictures, at times reporting from one beach but showing pictures from another state. We do not need to be told that we have oil on our beaches but that changes from day to day, depending on where you go to the beach and how the wind is blowing. You hear “toxic oil” over and over and I wonder how many people associate toxic with radio active material, cyanide, or rat poison. The fact is crude oil is made up of over 90% carbon and hydrogen; anyone that has ever changed oil in the engine room of a boat has been covered with oil. Certainly with oil in the water a swimming advisory will be issued and probably best to keep out of the water, but getting oil on you should be no reason for panic. Another thing I hear over and over is, “My kids would rather play in the pool” or “I don’t like to swim in the Gulf because of Jaws” and besides the beach (which is fine to walk and sunbathe on) is only a part of the many things to do here.

There was a big announcement yesterday that Buffett and the Zack Brown Band will be doing a free concert July 1 and that next week some very big name entertainers will be announced coming to the beach. So, if you really want to help us please just come and spend a day, a night, a week or a month and enjoy this great area and be part of the solution. One post on Facebook I read was from someone that said they had lived here for 25 years and how bad this disaster was and the Gulf was dead. To that person let me simply say, I have been on this beach for over 60 years and in the 40’s there was oil washing up from sunken Liberty ships, along with German U boats. We have survived hurricanes, red tides, bad economies and we will survive this.

Thoughts from Bali

After almost 20 years of spending many months in Bali, I find myself contemplating the changes, as well as those from growing almost 20 years older. When I first came here in the early 90’s, which by the way was 15 years after some of my friends, there was little phone service, areas that had no electricity and highly undependable service for those areas that did have it. Cell phones, computers and such were unheard of, and although there were motor bikes and old cars, many people walked, rode a horse, or used a bicycle. Although you can still get to remote parts of the island where life is much simpler, in that some small villages still exist without electricity, the Bali I first saw is gone. That is not to say the spiritual, artistic, and culture is not still in tact, because it is but it is sort of like the Gulf Coast in the 60’s and today. The beach is still there and white, the Gulf is still blue and the fish, although much fewer are still there. But the landscape of tall buildings, shopping centers, subdivisions, and thousands upon thousands of tourists have certainly had their effect. Go back 20 years anywhere, and compared to 2009 you will see the work of change.

Nyoman Warta has driven me around this island for over 15 years, helped me understand the culture, especially doing business, and from a young 20 year old without a care in the world he is now a mid-40’s family man with 3 children. The Balinese, for the most part live in family compounds, and when I first met Nyoman he had no home phone and maybe lived with 12 family members. Now there are over 30 people, he has 2 cell phones and a home phone and of course the televisions, DVD’s that go along with 2009. As a young boy he tells me no one had any money to speak of, but the river was full of fish, crabs, and shrimp, and the garden produced 365 days a year. He said people were continuously smiling and when a big ceremony was up-coming, they were celebrating a month ahead. Now pollution has destroyed the marine life, food is purchased, and people work right up to the day of the ceremony and there is never enough money. “Lot stress now Gin” is the way he puts it. Another victim of Western culture. When I first came here, I lived on $20 a day. Five dollars for the room, $3 or so to eat and the rest for whatever. It is true we had no hot water, electricity on and off, no beef, no bacon, and lots of rice, chicken, and fish. Clancy and I still live in a simple bungalow with no a/c but we do have 3 fans, a small refrigerator, cell phone, and a dozen restaurants with wireless. I had a wonderful pasta dish last night with calamari, shrimp, and fish in a cream sauce that was excellent. A fresh salad with a great citrus dressing, and a after dinner late that would shame Starbucks for roughly $12 but over half the $20 that use to pay for everything.
In America I am constantly challenged with things that just “cost too much”; anything from $60,000 cars, to million dollar homes, to $6000 to send a child to a private school. Looking through a recent yachting magazine I was amazed to see the page after page of “mega yachts”, vessels that would cost perhaps a 100 million. It use to be that large yachts were 50, 60, and even 70 feet long, now you simply add another 100 feet and a helicopter or two. I don’t know anyone that could own such a thing, but I do wonder how often they smile, for I do know some people that seem to have little time but to chase more money and protect what they have and have very little time for anything else. As Wolfe said, “you can’t go home again”, and that is true for me, as well as Nyoman but there is a distinct feeling of loss for a more simple time. As one of my Balinese friends said to me recently after just returning from the U.S., “it is impossible to return to what it was like when I was a child after I have been out in the world and seen what is there”. I remember our first television and the whole family sitting there in amazement, looking at this snowy black and white screen. Most homes had no a/c and most families had at most one car. Would I want to return to that? Surly not, but I readily admit life was far more simple---- a ball and bat, Saturday movies for .15, outside until called for supper, and playing games that now are forgotten. I guess if you never played a game with a 2” piece of old water hose and a broom stick, or hid beneath a pier and attempted to swim underwater without the kid standing on the pier jumping on you; or gone to a double feature with a cartoon and serial, then you don’t understand the nostalgia. I am constantly amazed how many 14 and 15 year olds, going up the age ladder to the 40’s, are constantly sending and receiving text messages. I have read where some kids stay awake until early morning texting and wonder if their lives would not be better with a stick and piece of hose. But we will never know that because, “you can’t go home again”.

And old family friend use to quote, “the best of the past is the best of the present”. Good music, good food, good wine, romance, a new baby, were all present before there was America. I remember my son in his early teens arguing this philosophy, stating how you could now fly across the Atlantic in several hours, only to be told, “yes my boy but 15 days on a luxury liner is so much better”. Perhaps these are simply the musing of a man growing older but as I look around in America and Bali as well, I see people racing to get to some unknown destination. Most in the pursuit of money and material objects and I cannot help but wonder, “do they ever get there”? I remember the remark of a very successful physician when asked, “how much is enough”, and his response, “never enough”. Once it was thought that to be a millionaire was truly a financial pinnacle but only a few years ago my son said, “Dad a million is not a lot of money”. If you think I am going to offer some deeply insightful road map to a more peaceful place, I am reminded of the words of His Holiness the Dalai Lama that he offered his audience recently that I had the pleasure of sitting in the audience. As he sat on the stage, feet tucked beneath him he said, “some of you came today because you are curious, and that is fine. Some of you came however thinking you will receive some great knowledge and you will be disappointed”. So I have no road map to offer, perhaps we and the world are where we are supposed to be and karma dictates the world that we now have. His Holiness teaches, “Love, Compassion, Forgiveness, and Self Discipline”. Perhaps in that is the road map.

Hope and change both good words

I think I’ll change the conversation, at least for me if not for anyone else. The fact that the President won the Nobel Prize is fact and now part of history. If one wishes to continue to debate this fact, then let them so do but it is a waste of energy and no one should waste energy. I will also continue to believe in change and hope. For if one could never change, then I would still perhaps be a racists. I was born in the Deep South in 1942 and “whites only” was the standard on drinking fountains, and also eating establishments, hotels, and of course schools. I never questioned this-----why should I, as we had Evergreen who was my grandmother’s----in those days we said “servants” and that is probably exactly what they were. At any rate, in my 30’s I met an Episcopal Priest that changed my world view forever. So yes, I believe people can change and then so can a world.

Hope is also a word I will continue to hold on to, as without hope we become a people of “no hope” and I chose not to be part of that group. Why would we shy away from a President that speaks of “hope and change”, when it could lead to peace? If a man can change, so can others and if others can, so can a nation and so can a world. Imagine if tomorrow every person in the world said, “Today is peace” then it would be. Impossible you say? Then take a dose of hope and change and call me in the morning. What kind of world do you wish to live in? Why not work toward higher ideals? Believing in a better world does not mean we must ignore the reality of today nor our history but we can change the world, just as the world was changed my Gandhi and Dr. King. Just as it was changed by Jesus and Lincoln.

Maybe John Lennon said what I am trying to say when he said, “If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliché that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that's his problem. Love and peace are eternal. That is the world I will work for and for those that say it’s too late, never be like that, naïve, I say, “that is your problem”.

I stand with the President

It never ceases to amaze me how unsophisticated the American public is when it comes to our political system. The average Joe seems to be unaware that we have three separate branches of government and the President runs only one of those. The President has been in office a little over 8 months, is fighting two wars, the worse economy since the Great Depression, trying to work with Republicans that are much more interested in seeing him fail than accomplishing anything for the country, and yet it seems we will have a health care bill, after 70 years of talking about it. Will it be the bill that some of us hoped for? One with a public option----the jury is still out but if there is not, the blame is with the Congress and not the President. If the President is sent a bill with a public option, he will sign it.

There are people that will not support the President regardless of what he does. Some of those are simply people that will not support a Democrat regardless, while others will not for fear of loss of their money and still others because of the color of his skin. I hear people deny the latter, feeling that political correctness dictates they deny their bias. I have more respect for the redneck that says, “I ain’t going to vote for no black man for my president” as opposed to the educated person that has some sham excuse because they fear political correctness. Stick your head in the sand if that makes you feel better but to deny the discrimination that we live with is absurd.

The first full day in office saw the President sign the order to close Guantanamo and yet we hear from Republicans that it is not safe to bring these dangerous people and incarcerate them in America. Do they really expect us to believe that we cannot find secure prisons for these people? We have murders, bombers, psychopaths, mafia dons, and serial killers and they want us to believe that the people that were scooped up in Bush’s rampage are too dangerous to even be in a prison? Give me a break. It has already been admitted that many were not guilty of anything and some were legitimate journalist.

When it comes to Afghanistan I expect to see more troops being sent but the strategy has changed. Instead of fighting a war that Alexander the Great could not win, nor the Brits or Russians, the focus will be to make the villages safe and protect the locals. I have not been to Afghanistan but I do have friends that have spent years there and it is like stepping back in time a thousand years. I have spent years in Indonesia, been in Laos, Cambodia, Burma, India, Nepal, Vietnam, Thailand, and some places I have forgotten and there is a similar mind set in all these countries. They are ancient cultures, numerous belief systems, put a lot of value on “face” and feel America is a bully and have no respect for their culture. If we are to gain anything in Afghanistan, it will be by “winning over” the local’s one village at a time. The Obama Administration knows this, as does Gen. McCrystal.

Since March, the Dow has improved over 40% and there is talk of the recession being over. The President has said over and over that un-employment will go over 10% but there is no doubt the economy has improved. I know it is old news, but when Bush came to office, we had a huge surplus and when he left we had the largest deficit in history. It took the Bush Administration 8 years to accomplish this and Obama has had only 8 months to start our recovery. The President has been challenged as to his place of birth, his religion, his experience, and has been depicted as a black medicine man, and one crazy news person has alluded to his death. Yet he still remains calm, still reaches out to Republicans, Iranians, North Korea, and is open to all with ideas of how we make a better world. I worked for the President, donated and stood with him. I still stand
with him today.