I'm in Moab right now. It's been pretty cold here, snow on the ground, but I'm indoors house-sitting at my friend Anne's, taking care of 11 chickens, a kitten, and a school of goldfish, until I go to another house-sit at my friend Maggie's tomorrow to take care of a couple cats.
I've been back to Fruita, Colorado a couple times, mainly to see my parents. I hadn't seen my parents since last Spring. I don't like to be away from them for so long, wanting to spend as much time as I can with them, as they're both 86 years old.
At Passage Charter School
While visiting them in early November, a teacher, Claudia, and her students from the Passage Charter School in Montrose, Colorado contacted me, saying they were reading The Man Who Quit Money for a class assignment, and asked if I wanted to talk with their class. So my dad took me there, and I have to say how honored I felt to to have him with me to also talk with her class and some other students and teachers there. A very fine bunch of folks. Some people and their sincerity make you feel very good, and that's how I felt being with the folks, both teachers and students, at Passage.
More Bicycling With a Good Friend
Back in Fruita, I also hung out with my friend, Cullen. He has a beautiful wife and two daughters, and they are movers and shakers in the Fruita community. I feel we are growing to have a very special friendship. It turns out he wanted to bicycle back to Moab with me - a 100-mile-journey. He had never long-distanced biked before, but he did the whole thing on a one-speed! And he was ahead of me most the time! Okay, I carried the food for us in the trusty bike trailer. But I also found loads of food in a campground dumpster on our way. We ate high on the hog. Our ride was spectacularly gorgeous, but I was, for some odd reason, feeling like quite an old man on that bike trip. It started pouring rain the last few miles of the trip. My friend Pete was gracious enough to offer Cullen and me his couches that night. Cullen's and my mutual friend, Ken, drove Cullen and his bike back to Fruita.
Hanukkah-Thanksgiving Treat
So, I was back in Moab, ready for a good rest, as my life had been pretty packed till then. But I wasn't getting off that easy. Within the hour after Cullen and Ken had left, I just barely sat down in the library when a journalist for a French magazine showed up. I knew he was coming sometime, but didn't realize he'd come that early. Yeah, the book has been translated into French, so they sent him out here. He actually flew in from Israel, his home. I forgot he was a journalist, he was such a good-natured, un-business-like dude who liked to hang out. A day or two later, the photographer, Stefan Ruiz, came, along with his partner, Carol - another lovely and down-to-earth couple. We all went up a canyon and camped at one of my "decoy" caves.
The day before Thanksgiving, the Israeli journalist said he wanted to go to Arches National Park and invited me to go with him. As we were driving up there, he asked me what my plans were for Thanksgiving the next day. I told him I planned to go to the Moab community Thanksgiving dinner - a very fun event. I said I usually spend Thanksgiving with my parents, but it didn't look like it would happen this year.
"Well, let's go to Fruita, then!" he said with a big smile. He made a u-turn away from Arches Park and we instead headed to Fruita. So I surprised my parents again. He had coffee with us, and my parents, being Judeo-philes, were elated talking with a real live Israeli. And we talked about Hanukkah, the first day of which happened to fall on Thanksgiving day this year. He then headed back to Moab. The next day I had Thanksgiving dinner with my parents, my brother, Ron, his wife, Aggie, and her brother, Bob, and my other sister-in-law, Elaine, and we pulled out two sets of 9 candles and lit them in the front and back windows for Hanukkah.
That weekend Hadrien decided to send Stefan, the photographer, out to my parents', too. So he came with Carol, and he got shots of them. He took some pictures with some of the last Polaroid film on earth, too, and gave us a couple of them. The film was so old it was a little washed out, so I photo-shopped this one a bit:
I was thinking I'd share some philosophizing brewing in my head, but I somehow lost inspiration to share it right now. But I am inspired to share this little thing, a short "lesson" I just wrote on Facebook (yeah, I'm plugged into even Facebook):
Lost Ancient Arts 101.
Lesson 1: How to apologize:
"I hurt you and I was wrong." Period.
"I didn't intend... bla bla bla" and "I'm sorry you feel hurt" are ego parading itself as love.
The hows and whys of my harmful actions are my problem and nobody else's. Nobody else's.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions" is another myth created by ego parading itself as love.
If my intentions were healthy, they would have produced healthy results.
I've been back to Fruita, Colorado a couple times, mainly to see my parents. I hadn't seen my parents since last Spring. I don't like to be away from them for so long, wanting to spend as much time as I can with them, as they're both 86 years old.
At Passage Charter School
While visiting them in early November, a teacher, Claudia, and her students from the Passage Charter School in Montrose, Colorado contacted me, saying they were reading The Man Who Quit Money for a class assignment, and asked if I wanted to talk with their class. So my dad took me there, and I have to say how honored I felt to to have him with me to also talk with her class and some other students and teachers there. A very fine bunch of folks. Some people and their sincerity make you feel very good, and that's how I felt being with the folks, both teachers and students, at Passage.
.jpg) |
| My Dad (Richard), Claudia Bishop, Me Passage Charter School, Montrose, Colorado |
 |
| Ana Valles, Maria Delacruz, Me, Claudia Bishop, and Isabel Ramirez at Passage Charter School, Montrose, Colorado |
More Bicycling With a Good Friend
Back in Fruita, I also hung out with my friend, Cullen. He has a beautiful wife and two daughters, and they are movers and shakers in the Fruita community. I feel we are growing to have a very special friendship. It turns out he wanted to bicycle back to Moab with me - a 100-mile-journey. He had never long-distanced biked before, but he did the whole thing on a one-speed! And he was ahead of me most the time! Okay, I carried the food for us in the trusty bike trailer. But I also found loads of food in a campground dumpster on our way. We ate high on the hog. Our ride was spectacularly gorgeous, but I was, for some odd reason, feeling like quite an old man on that bike trip. It started pouring rain the last few miles of the trip. My friend Pete was gracious enough to offer Cullen and me his couches that night. Cullen's and my mutual friend, Ken, drove Cullen and his bike back to Fruita.
 |
| Me, Cullen, and my Dad (Richard) at my parents' house in Fruita, Colorado, preparing to cycle to Moab |
Hanukkah-Thanksgiving Treat
So, I was back in Moab, ready for a good rest, as my life had been pretty packed till then. But I wasn't getting off that easy. Within the hour after Cullen and Ken had left, I just barely sat down in the library when a journalist for a French magazine showed up. I knew he was coming sometime, but didn't realize he'd come that early. Yeah, the book has been translated into French, so they sent him out here. He actually flew in from Israel, his home. I forgot he was a journalist, he was such a good-natured, un-business-like dude who liked to hang out. A day or two later, the photographer, Stefan Ruiz, came, along with his partner, Carol - another lovely and down-to-earth couple. We all went up a canyon and camped at one of my "decoy" caves.
The day before Thanksgiving, the Israeli journalist said he wanted to go to Arches National Park and invited me to go with him. As we were driving up there, he asked me what my plans were for Thanksgiving the next day. I told him I planned to go to the Moab community Thanksgiving dinner - a very fun event. I said I usually spend Thanksgiving with my parents, but it didn't look like it would happen this year.
"Well, let's go to Fruita, then!" he said with a big smile. He made a u-turn away from Arches Park and we instead headed to Fruita. So I surprised my parents again. He had coffee with us, and my parents, being Judeo-philes, were elated talking with a real live Israeli. And we talked about Hanukkah, the first day of which happened to fall on Thanksgiving day this year. He then headed back to Moab. The next day I had Thanksgiving dinner with my parents, my brother, Ron, his wife, Aggie, and her brother, Bob, and my other sister-in-law, Elaine, and we pulled out two sets of 9 candles and lit them in the front and back windows for Hanukkah.
That weekend Hadrien decided to send Stefan, the photographer, out to my parents', too. So he came with Carol, and he got shots of them. He took some pictures with some of the last Polaroid film on earth, too, and gave us a couple of them. The film was so old it was a little washed out, so I photo-shopped this one a bit:
 |
| Me, my Mom (Laurel), and my Dad (Richard) Fruita, Colorado Their 65th Wedding anniversary is coming up in May |
I was thinking I'd share some philosophizing brewing in my head, but I somehow lost inspiration to share it right now. But I am inspired to share this little thing, a short "lesson" I just wrote on Facebook (yeah, I'm plugged into even Facebook):
Lost Ancient Arts 101.
Lesson 1: How to apologize:
"I hurt you and I was wrong." Period.
"I didn't intend... bla bla bla" and "I'm sorry you feel hurt" are ego parading itself as love.
The hows and whys of my harmful actions are my problem and nobody else's. Nobody else's.
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions" is another myth created by ego parading itself as love.
If my intentions were healthy, they would have produced healthy results.
what a lovely surprise to wake up to this morning - thanks for the post Suelo - your parents look so sweet and adoreable - I just want to hug them and sit down to coffee with them and talk talk talk talk talk !
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for putting that "lost ancient arts" section. Too often I use the "it was not my intent" bullshit. You are right, it is just another masqarade of the ego!
ReplyDeleteFrom the comments section in your last post, people/you were saying to love as Jesus loves and there is no way to be righteous until we can do that. So I have been mulling over this for about a week. Today I swallowed my pride and I picked up the phone and spoke to someone who I was on bad terms with and I did it solely for the reason that I thought if I took that step, it would make me a better person. Thank you Suelo. Godspeed. Semper fi, SFT
ReplyDeleteIt´s always an enjoyment to read you Daniel. So good to know that the book is being translated into other languages. Hopefully it will soon become an international reference book for all of us trying to live out of the system. Keep up the good work and do share with us your philosophizing brewing whenver you feel ready. Regards from Helsinki.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to hear more from people who read this blog that are attempting (at least in some way) to live outside the system. Even if it's baby steps. I need inspiration. My first step is to continue live in my apartment on as little as possible while I pay off $17,000 in credit card debt using the snowball system. I wish I had a support group I could attend, but there's none around here where I live. But a journey of 1000 miles begins with one step. I am always inspired by Daniel "anything" and also find the most of the comments on this blog inspiring.
ReplyDeletehi there - I am taking steps also, beginning with getting rid of my debt. If nothing rocks the boat, I'll be debt free in 3.5 years. In the meantime, I'm learning homesteading skills. This summer's goal is to grow all my own food. I understand you anxiousness. SFT
DeleteWell,I'm currently unemployed ,i guess that is a bit outside the system.Job of 8 years ended in July,and i've worked about a month since then.Just recently filed for unemployment.i just didn't want all the bull associated with the money.Anyway,drew down an account at the credit union.So i actually hope to get a job in the coming year.,and rebuild my financial cushion.Being off is liberating,have always liked it.used to work construction,6 months work,6 months off about,really cool to have freedom.Try to get a loan to pay off the credit card,at least then it won't be compounding or at the high interest rate.That way you buy your freeedom back sooner.i never liked debt,maybe why i never bought a house.anyhow,my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThanks - I'm considering the consolidation loan.- one monthly payment instead of three.
DeleteDaniel,
ReplyDeleteJust finished Mark's book about you last night, given to me by your cousin S. in Sebastopol. Highly thought provoking. Have to cogitate about it. Thanks for doing what you do. You inspire others through you behavior and lifestyle. While they may not follow, they will be better off by having examined their own lives. That my friend is a might gift.
Hey Daniel - what are you up to this week? Still house sitting? We miss you : ( Scatter out some crumbs for us ! : )
ReplyDeleteheeey Suelo, will you be in Moab January 2nd to the 4th ???
ReplyDeleteisn’t that great to be moneyless?
ReplyDelete