Written Monday, June 25, 2007
From Seattle, Washington, where it’s sunny and warm and summer.

LIKE NOW

By now, as promised before I left Crete, I’d hoped to post stories of my adventures in Hungary and Denmark. But I arrived in Seattle in a zombie zone - jumbo jet lag; a fuzzy mind from back-to-back encounters with the Czech, Greek, Turkish, Hungarian, and Danish languages; a desk piled high with accumulated urgent mail; a need to reconnect with family and friends; a major speaking engagement in Portland; and the imminent wedding of a son. Too much. Reason to fall into a trance, sit staring at a wall, mind seized up. The writing wouldn’t come. The recovery stage was to go out walking around a lot and wait until the juices got channeled into working flow again.
It’s like a batter learning to wait for a good pitch. The adventures in Hungary and Denmark were remarkably rich, but I’ll let the stories jell a little longer and begin with where I am today. In Seattle, in high summer, just returned from an early morning walk. Now.

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Multi-tasking is the style of the times - whether it’s a mark of intelligent capability or foolish over-confidence isn’t clear. You know what I mean - having as many screens open in your mind at once as possible - talking on a cell phone while driving a car and listening to music and dealing with children fighting in the back seat is a common example. Chaos.

But multi-tasking has positive dimensions. When I go out walking now, I multi-task. Get exercise, to be sure, but try to be useful and engaged. I was inspired by an older woman I often see on my walks. She carries a plastic bag with her and picks up trash as she marches along. When I told her I admired her altruism, she said it was her job. “It’s my world, you know."Right. Thanks lady. My world, too. So now, for the same reason, I carry a trash bag of my own.

Pleased and inspired by someone who stopped to compliment me on the flowers in my yard when I was out watering, I now carry with me on my walks small cards with envelopes. At the top of the card it says, “Community Inspection Service."A gold star is pasted under that. A short paragraph explains: “You have received a gold star because your yard is notable for the following reasons."There is space for me to write in comments and compliments.

So far the cards have gone to people who have turned their front yard into a vegetable garden. Or to those who have made a wild flower meadow out of their front yard. Or to those who have planted roses in the parking strip in front of their house. An extravagant planting of lavender that hangs over the sidewalk got a card and two stars - because a small sign beside the lavender said, “Help Yourself.”

You get the idea. I fill out the card when moved by shared beauty or generosity, and put the envelope in their mailbox or leave it by their door. Sometimes I add, “Happy Birthday!"- not because I know, but what harm?

If the people whose yards I admire were in their yards at the time, I would stop and thank them. But, since they’re usually not, why not make the extra effort? We’re always touched by the kindness of strangers. There is an equal benefit in being the stranger who is kind.

I don’t carry an I-pod or cell phone - because they would wall me off from my immediate experience, but I have a new toy. It’s a laser pointer - the kind used for power-point-presentations. As I walk along I use it to play with cats and crows, who are truly fascinated by the little moving red spot that suddenly appears in front of them. One crow followed me for three blocks just to get another look at the red spot.

Now I’m considering another card - one to put in the windshields of parked cars bearing bumper stickers I admire. Just this morning I wish I had done that with two vehicles.

On a Dodge pickup truck: “Ignorance Is A Choice. There Is A Cure.”

On an old Buick station wagon, with a wire dog carrier in the back:
“Bark less. Wag more.”

So now while I walk, I pick up trash, hand out gold stars, entertain cats and crows, notice what’s going on, and take notes of things to tell you. I don’t take much credit for this - other people set the example for me, but I pass the ideas along to you in turn. With this kind of affirmative multi-tasking I come home feeling pretty good. Like now.