© Skip Schiel 2005 |
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L thinks I am probably addicted to this machine. She is “disgusted” watching me sit for hours before the computer screen. She worries that I might suffer ill health from too large a dose of screen energy. I myself wonder if I’m not missing some essential aspects of life by pounding away on the keypad and staring at the screen. Am I succumbing to the fatal attraction of this most fire-like instrument? Would I be better walking this morning, reading, writing longhand, sleeping later, meditating? I am not sure. But I do not worry. Not about this little twist in my largely twisted life. Dr Harold Kristal was a handsome robust energetic generous loveable healer of a man, dying recently at the age of 80 of lymphatic cancer. “Healer, heal thyself.” He couldn’t or didn’t. He was L’s and D’s healer, known for his innovations in metabolic typing, the idea that two basic metabolic types exist and these can be known thru blood testing, and once known determine which foods and supplements are harmful, which healthful. The service or gathering—purely secular—honored him, told stories, jokes, with lots of tears and laughter. Before his nutritionist path, he’d been a dentist, realized or believed the mercury used in “silver” fillings leached into the body causing great harm. As some said, for the first half of his dental career he implanted mercury, for the second, he extracted it, by removing the fillings. At times, on the same person. He slowly shifted his attention from teeth to whole body by devoting one day per wk to whole health matters, and eventually dropped the dental practice for pure metabolic nutrition. His office continues. Many spoke to the importance of continuing his legacy. L deftly put a Buddhistic spin on this idea by outlining continuations and non-self, a message that resonated with many. The idea arose in me that Hal Kristal is a sort of Jesus Christ figure, possessing miraculous powers of healing, while being discredited by much of the conventional health and dental regimes. Leading me to wonder, what if early Christians had held s similar service for Christ—what would folks have said, what would have been their testament of devotion? The 4 of us sat together eating the sumptuous offerings, few of which seemed to accord with K’s teaching. And we mused about what might have been his source, from what did he derive his ideas? Especially those that seemed spiritual? Examining the photo collage with D, I noticed a peculiarly Jewish look to K and many of his family. D, I said tentatively, do you think K was Jewish? Might well have been, looks it. and the name Kristal could be Jewish. So we concluded that perhaps K was raised a Jew, secular or observant, absorbed the tradition and teachings, and built upon them for his practice and ideology. Following the gathering L and I explored Point Pinole, on the Bay Shore, a long point of some 2000 acres, now parkland, but formerly a dynamite manufacturing area. Eucalyptus had been planted to decrease blast effects, the remnants of a pier remained where the dynamite had been loaded onto ships, many trails departed from the main rd, we saw a few hikers way out on the pt and many fishers. Then numerous families at the base of the point in the play area. We noticed how diverse the community was, with many of color. This was an inspiring piece of land, contrary too much of the development in the region. With D deciding which night to have the slide show on, I put out notifications about the schedule so far (2 shows) with an offer to present more shows. SK, co-leader of the FOR delegation that brought me to the Holy Land, responded immediately with offers to set up a series of shows in Santa Cruz in later Sept, shortly before we return home. L and I are pondering this now, determining how we’d transport there, and whether this would cut too much into the retreat nature of our experience. I probably should have contacted Scott earlier (or maybe had) and given him more time. I’ve also written several Quaker communities in the bay area, offering shows. Since I intend to appeal to and work thru Quakers, I also should have been more diligent on this matter. But I try, belatedly. Today dawns once again clear and warm and dry. The days heat up with dry heat, and cool down but rarely frigidly. At times there are strong winds, mostly the air is still. While in New Orleans winds blow to some 150 miles per hr, one of the most disastrous hurricanes in that region ever. A possibility of inundating and ruining the city. We listen to Amy Goodman each morning at 9, our main source of news. The encampment at bush’s Crawford ranch ends tomorrow, as he leaves for DC, and the group tours or processes to DC. This has been a kairos moment, a turning point possibly in the reign of Bush and company. There is much opposition to his handling of the Iraq war, his approval rating falling precipitously. At the party yesterday thrown by the Nichel wine making empire to solicit neighborly support, I spoke with many (including one mother of a returning Iraq marine) who were disgruntled and angry about the war and the administration. This was surprising, given the generally conservative political stance of many Napians. The mother told us how difficult her son’s life is now upon return. So far, unable to find preferred work. Trained primarily for security jobs. Minimal health services from the vet’s administration. Few able to understand his experience. He is now skiing in Argentina, taking a break before launching a career outside the Marine Corps. —Journal August 30, 2005 A cool hazy morning, after 3 or 4 days of dry heat. While New Orleans swims in a polluted soup, bestially hot and humid, the city inundated by waters generated by the hurricane Katrina. L and I watched the aftermath of the storm last night on TV, our first live TV. This provided us an opportunity to compare coverage, NPR and Democracy Now [a Pacifica Foundation network radio broadcast]. On Democracy Now, Amy Goodman, the host, concentrated not only on the hour to hour events and the suffering, but on 2 factors virtually totally absent from the Jim Lehrer Hour: global warming and national unpreparadness for disaster. She had guests like Ross Gelspon speak about climate trends such as the lengthening and intensifying of storms, and how the superheated Gulf of Mexico fueled the ferocity of this storm, that July was the hottest on record (I believe he claimed, tho I’d check this). Others spoke of the direct connection between the Iraq war and the lack of good and decent emergency response. That nearly 1/3 of the national guard in that area were deployed to Iraq, along with much of their equipment. Lehrer interviewed the head of FEMA, Federal Emergency Response Agency, who did a good job defending the poor job his agency is doing. He claimed, e.g., that Bush and the National Guard commander have given him everything he needs. Although Lehrer asked hard questions he stopped short of asking about the connection between the war and the emergency response. The response seems uncoordinated, lacks information that is consistently delivered to victims. The FEMA head said, well consider the situation, no communication infrastructure. Electricity out, communication towers down, what can we do? —L at this moment walked by me on the porch as I sat typing, she had been roused from sleep (it is 6:30 am) by the sound of a chirping or chipping animal, probably squirrels. She walked slowly, stealthily, tracking it.— Another journalist might have taken this line of questioning a step further: In your planning for disaster in that region, knowing how storms hit and that New Orleans is 5 feet below sea level, with a huge lake backed up against it, thus prone to flooding, couldn’t you have anticipated power outage and cell phone tower wreckage and devised alternate communication systems, such as solar powered radio or battery operated devices that could be charged somewhere outside the region? The problem reminded me of the response to the towers tragedy, when fire fighters went into the falling towers and lost communication. Wouldn’t we assume that in planning for disaster in high-rise towers thought would be given to the communication system, how it would function or not function in certain situations and make other provisions? I’d call what we’re witnessing in the Gulf a massive failure of imagination. I realize judging from afar and after the fact is always simpler than attempting to forecast situations, but isn’t anticipation the mission of this entire “first responder” community? Where is Homeland Security when we need them at home? —Journal September 2, 2005 |