How To Save The World (The Mighty Quinn)

(Another segment of the book "How To Save The World".....being written as I live it.)

Traveling with Tire Man has a lot of interesting detours. This morning, I headed out on my morning walk and ended up taking a ride with a man I just met to see a back yard just a few blocks from my own. Little did I know that our hero had other plans for me. Wasn’t even supposed to see Tire Man today. He was to do some of the more skilled aspects of a project for the Ogden Nature Center and I was granted a day of rest. Keeping up with Tire Man is a story unto itself.

In a light drizzle and on a few extra hours sleep, I la-la-la into a morning walk. One of those thinking walks germane to the writer that listens to the Muses. The Muses tend to speak better when my mouth is shut. Go figure. The past few days were remembered. Today was embraced. Tomorrow was just far enough away to kiss without intrusion. All was right with the world.

Was surprised to see Tire Man in his yard. Suspected he would already be at the work site. It was almost Ten O’clock and that was mid day for our interpreted King of Tubular Creations. He was holding court in front of his house with his head inside the driver’s side window of a pristine old Chevy pickup. Greeted him and waved to his visitor at the wheel of the pick-up.

“Good morning. Don’t let me interrupt your talk. Just out for my walk. You enjoy your conversation.”

The walk waited. Tire Man introduced me to his visitor. Quinn. We chatted and kibitzed. Soon, Quinn shared his story. At least, his retaining wall story.

Years earlier, ten to be exact, Mother Nature took Quinn’s back yard and moved it into his neighbor’s back yard. All was not right with the world. Tire Man arrived and showed how to turn a tire inside out and build a retaining wall.

Quinn listened and learned. Quinn also did. Back then and this morning. Quinn had me hop in his truck and took me to his back yard. My morning exploration took a new turn.

A summer project. One man. Tons of dirt. Lots of tires. Quinn turned his back yard into a multi-tiered garden. He salvaged a really cool old shed his son built when he was fifteen, relocated his errant dirt by the bucketful, planted grapes and more, and built a back yard worthy of a walking tour. All by himself. Paid for with his labor and willingness to do. He entered the world of using old tires to make things new. He didn’t do it to recycle. He recycled though. He did it because it was less expensive, longer lasting, and something he could do by himself. He had to do it.

He didn’t brag. He just stated the facts and let his back yard brag for him. I walked in the garden of his labor this morning and learned more about people who just do the things that have to be done. By themselves. Using the advice and example of others. Just doing things that need to be done when nature delivers what could have been a set back. Just a project now a decade older. Just like the man that did it. Did I mention the man that did it is in his seventies now? Maybe that is why I just met him this morning and already think of him as the Mighty Quinn.

(If you are a doer, do. Get to Tirecrafting.com, get Tire's Man book and DVD, and see how easy it is to clean up the world beginning in your own back yard.)

Beltane 17

The bounty assembles as sure as the season heads for summer. Look at who gathers to you for they are of the change. Shamans. Sorceresses. Angels. Children. Those and many, many more. See them not just for what they are but what they can and will be. The pace is fast but does not exceed possibilities nor capabilities. Find not ways to slow down. Find ways to speed up. Those answers are at hand as well.

Long ago, this was the way. The changes and beauty were many. Leisure was sweeter. Bonds firmer. Community was safe and proud. It will be that way again. Look. Look all around and see. Resources delivered. Answers provided. Abundance placed within your grasp. Some of the resources will not be of the Source but all will serve the Source. Some of the answers will be difficult to accept but the answers will still be correct. The abundance will for the now as well as for the later but you must ensure the safety of kindred with it.

It is the beginning of the true bounty. The bounty of self. The bounty of kindred. More comes forth more as well as the promise of even more. Prepare for the celebration and the change. It is the bounty for you and will be even sweeter as will the next for the cycle of change and acceptance link to that cycle.

Learn it. Use it. Celebrate it. When you celebrate, remember to focus on those who witness your joy and your power. The ceremony is more about what they see than what you need to see. Some are special and see more. Some see it without the symbols and songs. Some see while alone. Others need links. Others need very different things. Plan not for your own ceremony but for the ceremony the Community needs.

Beltane 16

Spirituality is an accelerator. Tap into it and the answers flow as sure as water to the sea. Help is all around you. You are not, never have been, nor never will be alone. The multitudes wait to comfort and help. From one man in the rice paddy to thousands overhead, all are there and you are they and they are you. Fear not the questions many dread to even ask. The answer of what is after this is a great answer and having the answer makes us stronger. You have answers at hand and avoid questions since it will not only mean answers but also change and work.

There is much in the form of escape. Pleasant sojourns of nothingness. Fluff. Idleness. Words that do not enlighten but entertain. Images that amuse but do not challenge. There is need for that and that like it for it can mean rest and respite. Use them as such. Not as anything else.

Review your time and your day. Just as you review the time and day of the beast. The beast looks at the plowed land and path accomplished and smiles when permitted rest. That same contentment should be the contentment of all for you achieve and rest in the Collective.

Much has happened and much more will. Ask and it shall be answered. Seek and you shall find. Abundance is here and bursting. Use it to be what you were destined to be. This is your time.

Beltane 15

Pace is a collective thing. The group moves as quickly or as slowly as the slowest member. That is the joy as well as the dilemma of groups. Know the slowest and work to increase the speed thereof. That increases the speed overall. Some may be left behind but that should only be after efforts to assist and accelerate.

Once the slowest is now faster, the entire group is faster as well. Then there will be a new slowest one. It shall always be the case. If the overall pace is good, it matters not but should still be monitored. If the overall pace is wrong, it is essential. The improvement of the slowest then directly improves the pace of the entire group.

If you are the slowest, open to aid. If you know the slowest, reach to them to help. Find ways to ease their burden. Strive to increase their understanding. Do all you can to push them forward. It is for the good of all.

Caisson Point

A laurel wreath, a hardy handshake, and a twenty-one gun salute.

Folded flag, broken hearts, shattered families, futures lost.

Widows wonder, orphans cry, as even more are sent to die.

Honor the fallen, the wounded, and maimed.

Question why with each thought of their name.

Parades end up in picnics. Soldiers end up in graves.

War is a killing thing. Mute the hip-hip hooray.

How To Save The World (Playing it forward)

(Another segment of the book "How To Save The World"....being written as I live it.)

If I hadn’t known what to look for, I would not have seen it. Life is like that. We can miss things until we learn the story behind them. So I headed out to Willard, Utah to check out a retaining wall. Wanted to see first hand the project that fueled a friendship that continues to spread the word about nature and the importance of gardening.

For me, Willard, Utah is between here and there. Until today, it was one of those places I drove through on the way to someplace else. When life had me head to Logan for a day trip or some less that favorable appointments…Willard was on the way. Back in my running days, the trip to Brigham to run in the Peach Day Race had me drive through Willard. Nice town. Amazing views. Mountains to the East. Lake to the West. Choice of scenery to be sure. Just did not have a reason to stop. Until today.

Today I had a specific destination . Willard Bay Gardens. To see a retaining wall. Not quite Zanadu or Oz but still an adventure. After all, this was no ordinary retaining wall. This wall was built long ago. The first of many that followed. This wall was built out of, you guessed it, tires.

The story of this particular retaining wall could be a fairy tale if told correctly. It had people in need, a hero, magic, and a fairy tale ending. This story was better than a fairy tale though because this one didn’t have any ugly in it. This story was real and its magic still spreads. A special kind of magic. The magic of sharing.

Sharing that began years ago. So long ago, the people involved are not sure when it actually happened. It happened. It really did. Back when the folks at the Willard Bay Gardens needed some help holding back a mountain.

Willard Bay Gardens had a little problem. The mountain that was their home kept slipping to the nearby lake. They needed a retaining wall to keep the sandy base of the mountain from pushing the Nursery from “on the mountain” to “into the lake”. It was one of those needs that exceeded resources available. Lucky for them, help arrived in the form of Tire Man.

He knew exactly what to do. Tire Man went to work and built a retaining wall out of used tires. They all pitched in and used the resources they had….time, muscles, dirt, and lots of used tires. What they lacked in cash, they made up for in manual labor. Soon, salvaged rubber products embraced the mountainside. What was a slippery slope became a permanent friendship.

A friendship of nature lovers. One that specialized in plants and flowers and another that made magic with former firestones. The folks at the Gardens were happy to let Tire Man build a display that showed his work right on the very ground that his work made more stable. The years progressed and the partnership blossomed, literally.

Tire Man maintained his display and the Willard Bay Gardens crew sang the praises of his swings, planters, and, of course, retaining walls. It was a linkage more about enriching than getting rich. It enriched on many levels…as it did the other day when the Nursery folks heard about the new garden at the Ogden Nature Center. They immediately offered plants and trees to jump start the project.

No strings. No ads. No banners. Just people doing the right thing to foster the opportunity for others to learn about gardening by example. They knew Tire Man and also knew the folks at the Ogden Nature Center. They understood the project was for the right reasons…to help folks become self sufficient and more. It would profit generations to come. They also understood it was good for business. The business of taking care of the environment.

Years ago, Tire Man made a retaining wall. Today, I went to see the wall and better appreciate the mountain of good that it put into motion. The folks at the Willard Bay Gardens played it forward. That is the fruit of sharing that nourishes hope long after we give our best.

(If you are a doer, get to tirecrafting.com, get Tire Man's book and DVD, and do. We have a world to save. Now wold be a good time to start.)

Beltane 14

Trust can move mountains. Mountains of doubt. Mountains of pain. Mountains of denial. See in trust and you see the answers. The proof of all. The balance of everything.

Trials will come for that is part of the journey. Trust will fortify you through the trials and beyond. Trust will let you see beyond loss to the joy of the new balance. Trust will let you see what is there within sight when you see it not due to shades of doubt. Trust will connect you to the right ones. The true ones. The important ones. Trust is your blanket of comfort in cold times.

Trust is the warmth of the sun at all times. Wrap yourself in it. Gird yourself in it. Be awash in it. Let it flood you and all around you.