(Why don’t we ban … plastics? … use of fossil and nuclear energy? … use of most synthetic “pest”icides? … assault weapons? … uncontrolled, very dumb growth covering necessary life-giving watersheds, wildlife habitat, sustainable ranch and farmland and doing all sorts of polluting? … nuclear weapons? … War?)
Don’t teach Darwinism!
(But our understanding in soil science and other aspects of ecological science was facilitated by Darwinsm??? And I think knowlege of soil, and soil biology, is important!?!)
We’ll have no indoctrination in schools!!!
(No ROTC? No military recruiters coming into schools? No new or old soldiers coming into schools and telling their glorious stories of Ameeericun nationalism? That’s good I think. … However, we definitely need a rewiring of demos and all people toward a “Positively Ethical Applied Community Ecology/PEACEmaking ethos.)
Do not say anything bad about the United States of America!
Hmmmmm
(Ignorance is bliss. Well, perhaps for a spoiled, powerful brat like Donald John Trump? But for the long- (or even short-) term of ecological community, and quality life for all including have-nots and other species???)
Services by Hurley Funeral Home, Devine, Texas (already arranged)& perhaps something in Seguin if the family desires.
A simple coffin (I have already built my simple pine box according to necessary specs.) and no embalming … finally placed in the cemetery beside Betsy’s plot at St. Joseph’s cemetery, Comal, TX near Grandpa Paul & Grandma Kneuper.
Would like for Darryl Birkenfeld, Nazareth, TX to “do the services” in Devine and Comal (& Seguin?).
Marvel Maddox to read “Mining the Mother Lode” by Andy Wilkinson (This wonderful poem is in our book, Games We Play. More than 200,000 years of living truthfully and 5,000 of searching for the truth … and herein paulpeaceparables.com .
Quote on our tombstone:
“To live, we must daily break the body and shed the blood of Creation. When we do this knowingly, lovingly, skillfully, reverently, it is a sacrament. When we do it ignorantly, greedily, clumsily, destructively, it is a desecration. In such desecration we condemn ourselves to spiritual and moral loneliness, and others to want.” Wendell Berry
Music to be played while viewing photos during meals, etc. in Devine (and Seguin?). (Especially that music which is in italics and bold below!) :
It hurts me deeply and saddens me greatly to see the terrible, senseless carnage and lack of a decent humanity in the world … and especially now! … in this moment … in Gaza! ( https://geneva-academy.ch/galleries/today-s-armed-conflicts https://www.the-express.com/news/us-news/100145/us-most-dangerous-neighborhoods-fbi-data https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/22/us/school-shootings-fast-facts-dg/index.html ) … to at least some extent because of the stupidity!, complacency, smugness, greed, misguided states of self-righteousness, … and stupidity! … across the U.S. … from the bottom to the top. ( https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/ https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/05/25/what-do-americans-know-about-international-affairs/ https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/11/opinion/trump-cnn-town-hall.html )
On the other hand, there are many upbeat moments in my luck-filled* life. (*I hate the word “blessed.”) In a wonderful phone call yesterday dear Dr. Darryl Birkenfeld & I discussed some of the on-going and sustainably-persistent, creative things Ogallala Commons is doing in order to significantly protect the natural resource base! (OC does make significant efforts toward, and does realize accomplishments toward, socio-ecological justice … and I will forever thank Darryl for connecting me to amazing indigenous leaders across the Plains from the Taos Pueblo and other New Mexican Puelbos/pueblo to Kansas State University to Pine Ridge Reservation in SW South Dakota, etc. https://ogallalacommons.org/programs-2/stewarding-natural-resources/ ). Ambitious plans for some wonderful visitors coming from the Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil to see and be with us here in Seguin, Texas are coming together! Some progressives here in Clean Seguin have invited me to some of their activist meetings as well as celebrations. Last eve Betsy and I lovingly enjoyed together some well-made, very entertaining, and educational programs on PBS/KRLN-San Antonio. And today it will be Homecoming at the football game against Carrizo Springs tonight in Devine, Texas with old friend and co-green-bean-picker and -watermelon-tosser from the 1950s, Robert Cruz (Brother Lawrence & I worked for his Dad, Tony/Antonio during elementary & junior high school years in the summers.) … Then Saturday (after tennis with some great buddies) & Sunday I look forward to grandkid-soccer games and the celebration of grandson Owen Zane Schaefer’s eleventh birthday in New Braunfels, Texas!!!
Despite all of this sort of goobledygood above, this post is supposed to be a selection of songs for playing and singing at a memorable gathering of “Bad Guitar Pickers & Singers” on Sunday evening October 22.
I first selected a medley of songs with which I am familiar by Little Jimmy Dickens( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiBYhHlJmIo ), Hank Williams ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDRzixp1Fvw ), Don Williams ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqjDvEC1uVw ), and Michael Salgado ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv1-TZsLb0A ). Neverthess, after watching the revengeful and senseless killing of young and old civilians in the Gaza by Israel yesterday (Many/maybe most of whom who were killed did not even support Hamas & its actions.) … and many other associated thoughts dealing with hopes for peace (Positively Ethical Applied Community Ecology/Peacemaking), I ended up selecting these:
Took my first breath, where the muddy Brazos, spills into the gulf of Mexico Where the skyline’s colored by chemical plants, t’put bread on the table of the working man Where the working man does his best to provide, safety and shelter for kids and a wife Givin’ a little of his soul every day, making over time to keep the wolves away
Well I was barely thirteen when the company man, tried to dig my daddy’s grave It happened on a French owned tanker ship, spilling poison into Galveston Bay Where the liquid fire filled his lungs and his eyes, silenced any mortal cries Cold and the grip of death stinging pain, he fought like hell to keep the wolves away
For the next few years dad was sick as a dog, but he made a recovery just to spite the odds Settlement came and we moved out of town, where the sky isn’t heavy with refinery clouds Yeah he’s still alive he’s doing good he’s in his fifties But the moneys running out, and he’s pinching for pennies So I’m goin’ for broke with every song I play, ’cause now it’s my turn to keep the wolves away
Songwriter: Kevin O’Neil Galloway
Well, I’m gonna tell you fascists You may be surprised The people in this world Are getting organized You’re bound to lose You fascists bound to lose
Race hatred cannot stop us This one thing we know Your poll tax and Jim Crow And greed has got to go You’re bound to lose You fascists bound to lose.
All of you fascists bound to lose: I said, all of you fascists bound to lose: Yes sir, all of you fascists bound to lose: You’re bound to lose! You fascists: Bound to lose!
People of every color Marching side to side Marching across these fields Where a million fascists dies You’re bound to lose You fascists bound to lose!
Well, I’m going into this battle And take my union gun We’ll end this world of slavery Before this battles won You’re bound to lose You fascists bound to lose!
Songwriters: Billy Bragg / Woody Guthrie
There’s so many things going on in the world Babies dying Mothers crying How much oil is one human life worth And what ever happened to peace on earth
We believe everything that they tell us They’re gonna’ kill us So we gotta’ kill them first But I remember a commandment Thou shall not kill How much is that soldier’s life worth And whatever happened to peace on earth
(Bridge) And the bewildered herd is still believing Everything we’ve been told from our birth Hell they won’t lie to me Not on my own damn TV But how much is a liars word worth And whatever happened to peace on earth
So I guess it’s just Do unto others before they do it to you Let’s just kill em’ all and let God sort em’ out Is this what God wants us to do
(Repeat Bridge) And the bewildered herd is still believing Everything we’ve been told from our birth Hell they won’t lie to me Not on my own damn TV But how much is a liars word worth And whatever happened to peace on earth
Now you probably won’t hear this on your radio Probably not on your local TV But if there’s a time, and if you’re ever so inclined You can always hear it from me How much is one picker’s word worth And whatever happened to peace on earth
But don’t confuse caring for weakness You can’t put that label on me The truth is my weapon of mass protection And I believe truth sets you free
(Bridge) And the bewildered herd is still believing Everything we’ve been told from our birth Hell they won’t lie to me Not on my own damn TV But how much is a liars word worth And whatever happened to peace on earth
Songwriter: Willie Nelson
[Estrofe 1] Por vezes dás contigo desanimado Por vezes dás contigo a desconfiar Por vezes dás contigo sobressaltado Por vezes dás contigo a desesperar
[Pré-Refrão] De noite ou de dia, a luta é alegria E o povo avança é na rua a gritar
[Estrofe 2] De pouco vale o cinto sempre apertado De pouco vale andar a lamuriar De pouco vale um ar sempre carregado De pouco vale a raiva para te ajudar
[Pré-Refrão] De noite ou de dia, a luta é alegria E o povo avança é na rua a gritar
[Refrão] E traz o pão e traz o queijo e traz o vinho E vem o velho e vem o novo e o menino E traz o pão e traz o queijo e traz o vinho E vem o velho e vem o novo e o menino Vem celebrar esta situação e vamos cantar contra a reação Vem celebrar esta situação e vamos cantar contra a reação
E traz o pão e traz o queijo e traz o vinho E vem o velho e vem o novo e o menino E traz o pão e traz o queijo e traz o vinho E vem o velho e vem o novo e o menino
[Estrofe 3] Não falta quem te avise “vai com cuidado” Não falta quem te queira mandar calar Não falta quem te deixe ressabiado Não falta quem te venda o próprio ar
[Pré-Refrão] De noite ou de dia, a luta é alegria E o povo avança é na rua a gritar
[Refrão] E traz o pão e traz o queijo e traz o vinho E vem o velho e vem o novo e o menino E traz o pão e traz o queijo e traz o vinho E vem o velho e vem o novo e o menino Vem celebrar esta situação e vamos cantar contra a reação Vem celebrar esta situação e vamos cantar contra a reação Vem celebrar esta situação e vamos cantar contra a reação Vem celebrar esta situação e vamos cantar contra a reação
E traz o pão e traz o queijo e traz o vinho E vem o velho e vem o novo e o menino E traz o pão e traz o queijo e traz o vinho E vem o velho e vem o novo e o menino
E traz o pão e traz o queijo e traz o vinho
[Outro] A luta continua quando o povo sai à rua!
“Una serenata por la madrugada” (or bad guitar picking & singing in the evening)
It is Sunday and as a christian (maybe pacifist franciscan), perhaps I should be attending Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church here in Seguin. I attend because it is my tradition instilled in me by Mom St. Louise (Kneuper) Martin and I feel solidarity and sense of ecological community there at mostly Mexican-American, Our Lady of Guadalupe. Therefore, I attend Mass not because of, what even the religions often call, a mysterious god … a Mystery. I am not a Believer and as a very well-informed ignoramus and agnostic*/ignostic, my best stab at what god is involves a reality of dynamically sustainable, fantastically complex, energetic-connections, but not a god which is unknowable mystery which many religions indoctrinate. For me, god is nature, dynamic homeostatic symbioses (including humans), … or ecological community.
For ca. twenty years, Kids On the Land was a part of that solidarity I can feel at Our Lady of Guadalupe-Seguin … a sense of place … a sense of ecological community. It was an important part of my “spirituality.”
And you, Peggy (the key founder of Kids On the Land), are a wonderful person, a truly amazing educator (the best I’ve ever seen!) and organizer. Texas Hill Country-raised, Southwest Texas State Teachers College-graduate, and Cotulla, Texas-educator Lyndon Baines Johnson emphasized that the truly important livelihoods are being “a teacher, preacher, and politician.” You are a great teacher, a good preacher, and an effective politician. I am grateful for your allowing me to know you, Mum, your family and Mum’s family, and your friends & colleagues; I dearly love all of the youth to whom y’all introduced me; I thank y’all for the opportunity to work with some fantastic people! Moreover, you did introduce me to much other Land, Commons, and Nature in my expansive home of Texas and helped me to learn and grow in various exciting and invigorating ways. (And I MUST especially thank you for John Hackley’s banana puddings, Frank Parigi’s delicious feasts, Big Boy’s Barbeque, and a few raw crayfish and many fried grasshoppers!)
Charles Robert Darwin was also an amazing person and educator … and the best naturalist ever! His Darwinism, the theory** of the evolution of species by natural selection***, was one of the major breakthroughs in science … ever. Darwinism helps tremenously to explain the dynamicconcept of species, how we got the beautiful diversity of life (including insects, honey bees, lady beetles, macroinvertebrates & vertebrates, mesofauna, marine life, native & non-native plants, grasses, wildflowers, … ), behaviors (e.g. dispersal, aggregation, pollination), and adaptations (e.g. photosynthesis, long roots, parts of a plant, pheromones and various mouthparts, eyes, & means of locomotion, exoskeletons, types of metamorphosis, color patterns of life forms, workers/drones/queens [all physical- and physiological-sexual variations, persuasions, and behaviors including transgenders], … ) … and it helps us to make sense of our current biological taxonomy. We DO de facto tell others, young and old kids, about Darwinism while facilitating learning through Kids On the Land. And we shouldn’t shamefully/fearfully attempt to hide the process and history of Darwinism because of corrupt ignorance, cultism, and prejudices! (I personally will teach, preach, and politic a “positiviely ethical applied community ecology”/PEACE, based on scientific Darwinism and factual history until I pass!)
In much of the world today, including much of my beloved Texas, we live in a “nazi germany light … getting heavier.” This situation isn’t new, and it is one in which, in this chaotically-numbing world, you can sort of get used to it … especially when you have a comfortable, excessively-consumptive, spoiled Haves’ life such as I do … with friends & family to the far left and the far right.
Nevertheless, I try hard not to tolerate the nationalistic, neoliberal, Christian (with a big “C”) nazism, … no matter how light. And I will forever attempt to avoid being censored while teaching good science (e.g. the theory of evolution) to everyone, young and old kids … and I will resist being banned from teaching the Truth. … Moreover, I plan to continue teaching factual history (e.g. Darwin’s studies of the Galapagos … AND the history of the past & ongoing disruptive power of the U.S.A. (its Wars and militarism and armaments, arms, & guns and imperialism) and its UNSUSTAINABLE ARTIFICIAL EXTRACTION from Nature and the natural resource base [top soil, quality air & water, biodiversity, photosynthesizers, and daily solar energy] and exploitation of the powerless of the world, as well as destructive use of fossil & nuclear energy & materials … AND its apocalyptic worship at the altar of growth).
Therefore, I have decided that it is time for me to leave a “Kids On the Land” … who can’t truly tolerate the real me**** Despite this partida, I SINCERELY appreciate all the wonderful positives you have done! And I do deeply love all of you kids-on-landers and always will love y’all, most especially, you and Mum. (I agree with my dear friend Rueben Flores that Kids On the Land should be legislatively institutionalized throughout Texas with adequate appropriations.)
On the other hand, I do hope you, your board, and all the movers and shakers of Kids On the Land will miraculously find a way to facilitate learning about ALL ecological principles and processes … and their connections … and the positive values of applied ecology, including profound & holistic socio-ecological justice. (These “curricula” / processes of positive ecological learning would include Darwin & Darwinism AND a bit of the history of past and relatively recent terrible sins of the U.S.A., a place never any greater than any other and oftentimes more ignorantly disgraceful.)
*******************
Well! … On this beautiful Sunday after some needed rain and a respite from the unprecedented hot weather & extreme environmental conditions human-induced climate change has brought us this year, I decided to first get this little letter out of the way. (It’s been on my mind since leaving Lambshead Ranch and the message was eager to get out as I lay in bed this Sunday morning.) Now I’ll take a long bicycle ride here in Clean Seguin, Guadalupe County, Texas, go for a short swim and tidy up inside this house and out, and attend a small gathering of neighborhood progressives (who are more conservative than most Conservatives [with a large “C”]) before sweet and more pragmatic (Southwest Texas State University-graduate) Betsy comes home from her visit and caretaking of her ninety-five year-old Mom who lives alone in Rio Medina, a couple of counties over.
Love, pablo
………………………
*I believe if most folk are honest with themselves, they will admit they are agnostic. They (We) really don’t know much!
**In science, a “theory” is almost a “Law” or “Principle.” https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/darwin/evolution-today/what-is-a-theory
***Alfred Wallace, another great naturalist, also “concurrently” developed the theory of evolution by natural selection about the same time as Darwin. Many others have expanded our concept of evolution with knowledge of mutation, genetic drift, gene flow, non-random mating, etc.
****There WERE other occasions when I considered leaving this wonderful educational organization, Kids On the Land, because I was cut off from saying anything detrimental, even though factual, about the U.S.A.
(Hopefully we will have an upgraded Portuguese version of Games We Play. More Than 200,000 Years of Living Truthfully and 5,000 of Searching for Truth out in 2024. And perhaps a Spanish version will follow???)
Spectacular sustaining prairie grass!! (Perhaps with plenty of frass!)
Wanderingly, wonderingly … wonderfully painted across the landscape
Into the horizon
(A few fantastically foxy clouds illustrated above.
A soothingly smoothly gliding bird in fly-by in the sky)
……
Serene and clean dream
(But lonely in this ol’ pickup truck)
……
Feels good!!! Feels like “home”
(Nevertheless, not perfect! … Some plowed. Some planted. Some quite developed and quite artificialized. … Not perfect)
……
I AM on top of the world!!!!!!
(And now Andy & Andy have joined me in this wonderful ecological community
And erased the loneliness through the magic of electro-magnetic waves)
pbm 7 S’s / VV->^^
*************************
*Partially scribbled that last morning of September, 2023 in the Panhandle of Texas … on a torn bit of cardboard lying on the torn seat next to me in our old non-airconditioned pickup, with the windows down and wind a blowing. … And then during the development of my crude poetry about the poetry of the Llano Estacado’s dynamic homeostatic symbioses, Andy and Andy, Andy Hedges and Andy Wilkinson, appear on the local radio and join me in my travels back to one of my other homes … in south central Texas.
(The second two photos are from the Great Plains, but not of the Llano Estacado!)
