A whole new adventure

Guy and I getting ready to ride with bicycle activists in Brasilia - Sept 25, 2011

More than two years later I'm ready to start writing again in this blog. I'm just checking in today and hope to post at least once a week from now on.

The new adventure takes place in Brazil, partly in the capital, Brasilia, and partly on a little farm in the nearby state of Goiás. I'll post the first chapter soon.

Another blog - check it out

10-step Carbon Addiction Program - check the blog and sign on to the program.

A blog for children

Currently I'm doing all my posting on my other blogs, including the one I started today, for children to follow my Walk For All the Grandchildren. The children's blog is at: www.climatechangechildren.blogspot.com

The other blog, referenced in the last post, is at: www.forallthegrandchildren.blogspot.com.

I would welcome you attention to these blogs.  

New blog

Check out my new blog: www.forallthegrandchildren.blogspot.com. It details my plans for a long walk to deal with my concerns about the threats of global warming. I will post some of my plans on this blog as well.

                                                                                            Photo: Guy Gray

Taking apart the fish

          Greta Browne, 10/31/08

Praise be to the deep blue sea

Where silver creatures dart in dappled sunlight then

Take the proffered bait

Fight fiercely the relentless tug of the brown man's line

The immigrant who used to fish on another sea

Knows how to bring in his catch

With gentle words, "Venga, venga, linda creatura

Pescado plateado - ahora es mio."

Thank you silvery beauty for your life

- as I cut slits in your striped flanks

anoint you with oil from aromatic olives

sprinkle you with salt and pepper

stuff rings of onion in your pink cavity

slip you into the hot oven - 500 degrees -

until you are crisp and golden

We feast for two days

Thank you for such bounty

Then pick the fleshy bones for

Fishcakes with yogurt and horseradish

Finally we boil all that's left

Thank you for such bounty

The head and tail and bones for

chowder with corn and peas,

carrots, yams and butternut,

onion and garlic

soy sauce and rice noodles

We ladle the colorful soup into our lovely bowls

And taste the rich broth and tiny fragments of

Flaky flesh and mysterious innards

Sweet and rich and deeply satisfying

All praise to the deep blue sea.

There can be no doubt that things in Washington are headed for a big change. Hopefully the Lehigh Valley will help bring about a new era for this country by replacing not only the president but also the congressman, Charlie Dent, who has helped create the culture of war, oil interests, and decreasing help for Main Street. We must elect Sam Bennett to represent us in Washington.

Sam will vote to bring universal health care to all Americans, better financial support for college students, and a more sane energy policy as the country moves away from dependence on oil. Labor Unions and Environmental Groups have endorsed her candidacy.

In 2004 and 2006 I ran as the Green Party candidate for the office of US Representative in the 15th District. Two of my major issues were PEACE / END WAR  and Sustainable Environmental practices. I have talked with Sam about my concerns and I trust her to represent me well in Washington. I urge you to give her your vote On November 4.

I posted this poem here by accident, but decided to let it stay. For readers who don't know, my mother is in hospice care in St. Petersburg, Florida. At the time I wrote this reflection we thought she was in the process of dying and I believed I wouldn't see her alive again. I said good-bye to her in mid-July, and when I came home to Bethlehem I found myself getting tearful. My reflection on the meaning of my tears resulted in this poem. I had intended to post it on www.pollybrowne.blogspot.com, which I eventually did. 

The meaning of my tears

Never again
       dear Mother …

Bereft,

I am
     Letting go of the thought of calling you
            the idea of visiting
             the urge to share a photo
             to sing for you

I am
    Remembering the hurts and slights
            the misunderstandings
            the differences that never reconciled
                    Letting those go

I am
   Conjuring up memories
              your sense of humor
                    black bean ice cream on April Fool’s Day

              your love of beauty
                     wild flowers in a meadow
             your common sense
             your passion for justice
              compassion
             patience and enjoyment of Daddy
             Chinese food
             wind in your hair
             sun on your face

I am
     Remembering too your bouts of asthma
                  your bursitis
                  your occasional afternoons in bed

   You by my bedside as I wept for the world
   you on the bus listening to my confessions
   you at the airport bidding me farewell

  You with my babies, laughing
  with my children, walking
  with my grandchildren, holding

  Me at your bedside singing
  offering you water
   holding your hand
  watching your face
  waiting for your smile

Never again
     dear Mother
  And always and forever
               Love.
                                (Greta)