Archive for October, 2009

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Moab Tuesday

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Arches National Park

Arches National Park

So, today I meandered around the town a bit. Every bit as cool as I remembered, and then some.

Book situation: At least 2 very good bookstores (one with an espresso stand) and an excellent library. Lots of great galleries. I only hit a couple, but was very impressed. I bought 2 books right away, by 2 of the authors who’ll be giving workshops: Deborah Madison & Ann Vileisis. Trying to decide which one to go to (I can only choose one.) Total aside… just found out my San Miguel landlord, Agustin Gaytan, who’s a chef/consultant has just signed a book deal!

Food situation: LOTS of good healthy food, as well as the Mexican & steak-centric cuisine you’d expect in the West. Tomorrow I’m planning to check out Hogi/Yogi as well as the Taste of Om juice bar.

Then I decided I’d better get out to Arches & start soaking up that red rock mojo. I can’t explain what the red rock does to me… Maybe it’s being an earth-energy Virgo, maybe I was an Anasazi in a past life… maybe I just LOVE it. (more…)

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Moab, UT!

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
View from my motel

View from my motel

OK, faithful readers, here I am in Moab, UT!

I’m here for a writing conference, all about food & food issues, the Moab Confluence.  Due to scheduling changes, I’ve got a couple days before & after the conference to bum around in this beautiful area. I was trying to figure out when I’d been here before, and it must have been 12 or 13 yrs ago. Way too long, anyway, because I fell in love with the red rock then, and vowed to come back.

Moab was a great little town back then, full of mountain bikers and river runners, and it looks like it’s only gotten better. Today my plan is to explore the town & head out to Arches National Park, which is just outside town. I passed some gorgeous scenery on my way in last night, but with the sun going down & my being completely jet-lagged & dehydrated, I basically said “Wow!” and kept driving.

Saw signs on the way into town for a Pinon nut stand… need to check that out, for sure!

Now it’s off to explore!

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Transition Towns?

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

I just ran into this article about Transition Towns today. If it strikes a chord with you, too, there are links to more info @ the bottom. You can bet I’ll be perusing this material.

Hopkins seems to be laying out concrete steps to transition into a new economy, especially at the local level. One of the things I’ve been pondering is how some towns- (PT, Ashland, Ojai, Berkeley Springs, Moab) to name just a few- seem to have gotten with the program, and have made changes that turn them into what I call “Artsy Little Towns” and others are stuck in old patterns reminiscent of the 70′s & 80′s development/greed/hierarchical attitudes. (Did I say Strasburg? No, I did not.)

And how on earth does a town jump the tracks from one to the other? Because it needs to be an inclusive process, and inevitably some people will feel that their interests are left out.

Hopkins’s 10 steps seem to make sense. I haven’t read far enough to see if he’s using some of Jim Rough’s Dynamic Facilitation techniques for decision-making, but that would seem to be a good fit. I really like #7- The Great Re-Skilling.

At any rate, that’s what I’m thinking about on a cold & rainy autumn day in the valley, as I clean up and get ready for the next adventure. (Moab on Monday!)

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And now… for something completely different

Monday, October 12th, 2009

I know… October is really getting away from me. I’ll try to catch up soon, but for now, have a good laugh, thanks to friend CH who passed this along:
Red Sparrows

Posted in Misc | 1 Comment »

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