recurrent dreams

Sometimes things come back.
Some ideas won't go away.
Arab Spring was followed by Occupy Autumn.
Now Idle No More has taken wintry Canada by storm
And a lot of other places too.

I wonder if this will be the one? There are and have been other major movements for justice and reform around the world. Somehow the idea of a fair society just won't go away. Perhaps none of them will succeed, it must be admitted we human beings have a terrible record when it comes to treating each other decently, but what's good about people gathering for a cause larger than their own self interest (or just because they happened to be passing by and joined in at a whim) is to see that those of us who thought they had little in common find a common cause. Even if the experience only lasts a little while, protest against greed and injustice goes well with singing, drumming, dancing, and laughing in the company of strangers. Moments of shared joy and mutual understanding have the potential to tear up our individual prejudices and change the way we experience reality ever after.



“The Destiny of Man is to unite, not to divide. If you keep on dividing you end up as a collection of monkeys throwing nuts at each other out of separate trees.”
― T. H. White
♡
ps: The picture is one of several dozen painted more than twenty years ago, all given away. This one came back by way of two dear friends - one of whom won't be back this way again. Life is precious.

making waves

Painting waves in watercolor has always been a bit tricky for me but I decided to try again a few days ago. Since it's impossible for me to just paint nothing in particular I added a couple of characters who obviously have some sort of entertaining game going on between them. It's not perfect but it's kind of neat and I hope you like it.

The very good news I read today has been far more difficult to obtain than my forays into painting a pretend sea. It seems that after 23 years of Japanese fishing fleets heading of to the international waters of Antarctica to 'research' whales (more than 10,000 of them have been killed), the fleet is going home, hopefully forever.

For many years the Sea Shepherd group has been chasing and harassing the factory whale ships of Japan and it's definite that a lot of the kudos belong to them. It also must be noted that a lot of international pressure has been directed at the country's whaling industry. Chile has banned the practice in its waters and their navy closely monitors Japanese ships in its territory. Whale meat sales have plummeted in Japan largely because of international disapproval.

It's wonderful that the barbaric slaughter of these gentle and intelligent beings may be ending. Perhaps the next step will be to stop the US navy from using the Sonar that deafens the animals.


Hurray for all the wave makers that do it the hard way like: Ray McGovern, ordinary Egyptians, and your average Wiscontonian :-)

There may be troubled waters ahead but you have to admit there's enjoyment and great benefit to be found in surfing these waves.

☂