NFTNIF Volume 3, episode 6 (Ukiah, CA).

Ukiah, CA.

We struck camp, piled it all into the truck and headed to Ukiah for the night. We ate wings, everyone took two showers, and we are piling up our laundry before heading out to wash and dry.

I was too busy until dark to take pictures, and today is overcast, still threatening rain. I will get some pix I promise.

I wrote to the manufacturer of our tent asking if there is a winterization kit. We have plans to upgrade our campsite when we return. Our gracious host is letting us use a small spare tent to store our belongings so we need not fight them for space while we sleep. The current plan is to return to our lovely spot, put down pallets and fill the spaces, then tarp, then tent, then amenities inside, more pallets for the gear tent. I am now looking for a larger tarp or shade structure or something to cover the whole "complex". Mind you the second tent is about the size of the sleeping bag Dustin got for me, but it's enough.

We also plan to dig a trench, pile the dirt on our side, and divert running water away from our platform.

Today with a reliable connection I have applied to local FB groups as another way of making our introduction to our new community. Security is supremely important so some kind of trust is necessary to do business.

Everyone is holding up well, adjusting nicely and making friends. We are still looking around for a cheap trailer; it makes everything so much easier and answers many of our needs for security, maybe an indoor bathroom (this is a family rated report so I will NOT share the state of temporary sanitary facilities, but let's say they are primitive at best) and shower, insects and scavengers, not to mention the increasing cold.

As we settle in and make connections, far from the madding crowd, we read and hear with dismay about the violence and hatred boiling over, again, in the great outside world.

Racism, while so pervasive in our culture, is really an odd man out historically, a poor system.

Pirates had a complete meritocracy - color and gender blind. The only qualification for leadership was success, and the only bar to joining was acceptance of a meritocratic system.
Native Americans, clannish to the Nth degree, nevertheless accepted newcomers as their own blood and tribe with due ceremony.

The USA claims to be a melting pot, the inscription on the Statue of Liberty promises an open welcome to all, no exceptions.

But it's a lie. We are not color-blind, we are a misogynistic, racist, intolerant culture; xenophobic, unapologetically discriminatory, violent and out of control.

The flip side is a real evolution of a culture embracing diversity; offering opportunity based on merit and nothing else; offering respect and dignity to everyone irrespective of their abilities.

We are in the process of deciding what we truly are as a society. If you care, get out there and work for the result you want. If you sit idly by, then swallow whatever happens and don't complain.

Personally I think the pendulum has swung so far to the right it has no choice but to reverse. It doesn't happen in the abstract though: vote!!!

Time to get back to the days clean-up.

From the Men of Earth Mission to all the world, be well.