Return, renew, sustain, share

Friday ( two days ago when posted here) I had two outings (getting groceries doesn't count anymore.) I had lunch with one of my dear friends, and it was great to catch up in person, though we frequently converse in text for short contacts.

Then there was a free chili supper and a movie about environmental justice being given at the church (Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Swannanoa Valley.) I got there at 5, and saw mainly people I didn't know. But then as I ate my chili and cornbread (sweet but good) I saw some old friends from when when I'd been a member there. Note, I quit the congregation last year because it no longer felt like my spiritual home, and felt more like a business. 

Incidentally I mentioned that I'd been working to learn the bells and whistles of the new printer to someone who is currently shopping for one. So I told her of my fortunate purchase of the Epson (have talked about it before). They are going to check it out.

So we had a relaxing supper, then bunches of people were milling around before the movie was to start. They were having trouble getting the movie to run. I did step forward and say I'd run movies before, and had written the instructions down which had once been on the A-V setup. No longer. So I tried one re-booting of the projector, but it still wasn't receiving the message from the computer which had the movie to play. A half hour of others doing their best still left us sitting and chatting.

Finally the committee members who put the event together just started talking about what the movie had represented. They also mentioned in a recent survey of the congregation (I think I was still there when that was taken) where the Social Action Committee had received in rank order that climate change was the most important topic that we wanted to address.

So there was then a kind of discussion between the more outspoken audience members. Why I contributed I'll never know, but I did mention the efforts others in the audience had made to remove single use plastics from our community. We still haven't had many businesses cease their plastic bag use, though the little group who headed it up is still busy. (They were scheduled to meet with the biggest grocer in town the day after the disaster struck, which of course didn't happen.) 

Another group of volunteers is pulling plastic bags out of the trees along various flooded places. Plastics floated up and caught in all those tree branches...and will be there for years unless someone pulls them out.

I ended up asking when the next meeting of the committee might be, and plan to return to this avenue of the church's efforts. There had been 40 people at the chili supper and "movie" on Friday, and I know at least three more friends who were interested in climate change efforts who didn't come. I also said I thought we Black Mountain residents had learned early on how communication between the hurricane survivors was an important thing when all our electronics didn't work, which resulted in poster signs outside the information center and churches at first, and now how I could tell people where free hot dinners are still being served - our word of mouth chain of communication. 

Later that night, I saw on Facebook a post of a woman, Tracie Adams, who is gathering information of different groups in the area needing volunteers. Yes this is the time the job is still not done, but the force of people's caring has gone elsewhere and there aren't as many outside people coming here to be compassionate.

I also volunteered to be a networking hub for the committee - just to share this kind of information between each other. I mentioned after the meeting that I still had the list which Bette had created to show companies who aren't using plastic even in packaging their products. That group had been Climate Conversations. I had resigned from that group due to health - but now my coughing seems much better, so I could go to meetings (wearing a mask of course). 

What was the movie, you might ask? It's available on Amazon and YouTube. "For Tomorrow the Documentary," narrated by Daisy Ridley. Four innovators are depicted in their efforts for a more sustainable future. I'm definitely going to watch it! link is https://fortomorrow.org/documentary or...

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 Written on Wednesday (because I put several posts with photos up in advance) - sunny and not as warm as Tuesday was when it was in the 70s F. It's almost 50 F now. I'm going to trapse over the driveway to the laundry room in a few minutes to get several loads going.

Last week I finally went over to see the damage from Sept 27 hurricane disaster at my old house on Beech St. It had a tree come down on the roof, in the back, so there's not really much to see. But it is un-inhabitable at this point. It looks much better than many of the buildings around town though, especially in Swannanoa.

I had some good times in that little cottage. Sorry to see it's been damaged, because I know the owner (if she still is the owner) has put lots of good efforts into it.

The bedroom is in the back, which is where the tree made the most damage.

At our Veterans Park, the foot bridge was washed over on its side, and here you see it's underside where it landed after the flood waters of the Swannanoa river. Our local news showed this recently on TV, with an interview of Black Mountain's Town Manager. Some government entity restored one of the baseball fields so kids will be able to play again in the spring.

A lot of seniors are going to the Town Meeting next Monday (tomorrow in real time) to encourage the town to put some efforts into repairing the Senior Center. I am a bit miffed that a ball field was repaired first, but of course it might have been a much easier fix.

These are the difficult things to remove...near Marion NC on Hwy 80. It's still the same in Swannanoa where I drive on my way to Asheville.

Right now there are Army Corps of Engineers working to clear the debris in the waterways...sent by President Trump as indicated by a newscast on TV last night. They're not doing debris on the banks however, so that vehicle won't be part of their efforts.

I now am saying a prayer to myself whenever I see debris or damage from the hurricane here in North Carolina. "May the earth heal."

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More immediate news in my life is that our dear maintenance man, Barry, just quit on Friday. Apparently he went to the doctor, came in the office and quit. He was due for back surgery, other residents told me. It's possible the doctor told him that continuing his job wasn't healthy. Quite possible.

He was dear to a lot of us, going well beyond just caring for the property buildings and interiors. The landscape crew takes care of the grounds. But Barry also devised a way to keep the bears out of our trash containers (most of the time.) And he brought his own grill over to barbecue with the residents for a picnic at least once. I will really miss him. 

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And another sad note was just reading Suzanne's blog (Granny Sue's News and Reviews) telling of the death of John of By Stargoose and Hanglands blog, who was her cousin. His blogs which included wonderful walks around fields and woods in England were always beautifully illustrated with his photos and documented with detailed descriptions. It was always a pleasure to read them.

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Today's quote:

Today's art:

By Josephine Wall