New Year's hike...
Worldwide web of friendship
by Peter Rashkin
I hope the new year has started on a good note for all of you. I know it did for me, as 13 of us got together for a hike up Echo Mountain and a little party in the ruins of the White City.
I put a bit of energy into organizing this event. I had begun to fantasize about Linda Lack leading us in a happening of sorts in the ruins of the old dance hall. I thought it would be magical. I reached out to people I thought might appreciate this, and shamelessly badgered and cajoled a number of likely candidates. I was delighted at the group of friends who gathered that morning.
It wasn't the crystal clear warm day I hoped for (that day was wasted on Christmas!), but at least it didn't rain, and the sun came out. It wasn't bad. We found a picnic bench among the ruins and we spread out our feast, and it was a feast, because everyone brought something to add, and we sat and ate and drank and talked. The little ones blew on the instruments. Michael played his recorder a bit.
At one point the conversation turned to theater, and I said hey! Aren't we going to do some theater of our own? "I think we already did it!" Linda said. She brought out a proposal she had put together, "Ritual Art and Celebration for 1st Day of the Year 2002." There were copies for everyone. We all agreed…we had done it!
I READ THE PAPER almost every day, and listen to Pacifica and NPR. It is impossible for me to not be distressed. America's knee-jerk rain of bombs response to Sept. 11, a new war on terrorism by the folks that brought us the war on drugs and always seem to need a war on something, does not seem likely to lead to a more secure world, let alone a more just and peaceful one. And look how quick Israel, India and Colombia have been to put on their own John Wayne faces: There's only one way to deal with terrorism: go in with guns blazing, Don't worry about collateral damage. Don't try to see and understand just grievances. Don't seek compromise; demand capitulation.
Not to mention California oak blight, poisoning of agricultural land by modern mono-cultural factory farming, destruction of the world's last wild habitats as lumber and minerals are exploited as never before, depletion of the world's fisheries.
What I'm getting at is, it's hard to be optimistic about the state of the world when you think of it. Things just seem to keep getting worse, and they seem likely to deteriorate even further, and even beyond our capacity to recover and survive. And yet, on Echo Mountain with my friends, I am optimistic.
First of all, they are such wonderful men and women, and children, too. It is a pleasure to be around them, to hear them laugh, to get their ideas about whatever comes up, and to try mine out on them. To have conversations. To share food, and the experience of climbing a mountain overlooking the city, even if it's not the clearest day.
It may seem unrealistic to take any hope from such a simple, personal pleasure as the companionship of friends, but maybe - just maybe - we are part of a worldwide web of friends, gaining in strength with every woven strand.
LATER, MICHAEL suggested that we should try to do something similar every month, and I think it's a great idea. I propose the first Sunday of the month. To follow through on this, let me suggest the following very tentative
Feb 3 - I want to go to a reading at a bookstore on N. Vermont at 4 pm. How about a Griffith Park walk in midday? The Observatory to Mt. Hollywood is always a good one. We could meet at the Observatory at about 11 am or noon.
Mar 3 - Colby Canyon to the concrete spaceship. Dan Lundy turned me on to this one. It's great.
Apr 7 - Sturtevant Falls
May 5 - Bridge to nowhere
Jun 2 - To be determined
Jul 7 - To be determined
Aug 4 - To be determined
Sep 1 - To be determined
Oct 6 - To be determined
Nov 3 - To be determined
Dec 1 - To be determined
If anyone is interested in this, please let me hear from you. Let's make it happen.
Peter
