This article shows Easter Island as a microcosm for our own Civilization.

The fate of Easter Island has wider implications too. Like Easter Island the earth has only limited resources to support human society and all its demands. Like the islanders, the human population of the earth has no practical means of escape. How has the environment of the world shaped human history and how have people shaped and altered the world in which they live? Have other societies fallen into the same trap as the islanders? For the last two million years humans have succeeded in obtaining more food and extracting more resources on which to sustain increasing numbers of people and increasingly complex and technologically advanced societies. But have they been any more successful than the islanders in finding a way of life that does not fatally deplete the resources that are available to them and irreversibly damage their life support system?

This was posted to the Teaching Drum mailing list today, in response to someone mentioning that they were shipping off to Iraq.

I can empathize with your core desire to go fight in Iraq, since I'm a veteran myself (served my time as an intelligence specialist & paratrooper for the U.S. Army light infantry and special forces from 1988-1996, discharging as a Sergeant E-5). Since that time, I've traveled the world and studied. I've seen how things are in other countries (compared to here in the USA) and learned a great deal about international relations (especially U.S. foreign policy) and American history (especially the U.S. Indian wars). I know what it's like to feel the call of the guardian/warrior deep in one's heart -- this basic desire to serve your people is a good one, and should be respected. I've been following that calling in one form or another all my life, and I can see you are attempting to honor that same calling. No matter what happens in Iraq, you have my personal respect, and I trust you will act as honorably as you can given the situation you are likely to find yourself in there. I'm not going to bullshit you with sugar-coated words however, because I know (from personal experience) that when a man is making the decision to go and participate in killing his fellow man, that is a time for speaking the truth. I want to be straight with you, because I think you deserve that much. I think all soldiers deserve that much. The situation in Iraq is not one where you will be given the opportunity to fight for my freedom (or anyone else's). In Iraq, you will be required to kill people you do not know -- people you have no real understanding of, or personal grievance against. People you cannot listen to or speak with, because you do not understand their language. You will be killing these people in their homes and on their home soil, not ours. Can you point to a single person you know of who has been killed here in America by an Iraqi? In Iraq you will be killing people who can list for you the names of their own family members who have died in their own homeland at the hands of Americans. Do you know what that will mean for you? And yet, you will be required to kill and/or participate in killing these people. You will be forced to do this (even if your heart cries out against what you are doing, and most likely at some point, it will) because you will be taking orders from other men (ultimately politicians) with their own (political) agendas. If eventually your heart grows sick of what you are doing and you refuse taking these orders, you will be punished, then jailed and sent home in disgrace. No matter how the war goes for you, when you return to the U.S.A, what you have experienced in Iraq will put you at risk for a wide range of physical health problems (gulf war syndrome stuff, likely caused by exposure to depleted uranium munitions used by the U.S. military), mental illnesses (caused by post-traumatic stress) and you will be more likely to become an alcoholic, drug addict and/or domestic abuser (i.e. one who abuses his wife & kids) or to become homeless. V.A. mental health and addictions counseling services are being overwhelmed as we speak by returning vets whose spirits are sick & suffering from that war. If you go, you go for your own reasons -- and these reasons have nothing to do with my freedom. I will not take part in helping to justify what you are about to do. The freedom that I care about is my freedom to walk the Old Ways -- to heed the call of my heart and walk the simple & gentile path of my ancestors close to Mother Earth. That freedom is found here, and the "fight" for it is here. If you want to be a part of that, the struggle begins with you -- this is the real path of the guardian/warrior -- and it is here, not over in Iraq. I know what the U.S. government is fighting for over there, and it's pretty simple really. There are no lofty ideals or complex conspiracies -- it's about oil wealth. This war has nothing to do with freedom, and everything to do with the fact that oil (which makes some people rich & powerful beyond their most insane fantasies) is about to start running out on a worldwide scale. If you go, my prayers go with you. At the same time, I'm not going to feed you any crap about what you are getting yourself into. Also, when you get back, if you need some time to heal your spirit and explore who you truly are in close contact with the natural world, then my circle & I here at the Teaching Drum will be honored to serve you in that process. --Glenn P.S. If you get a chance, take a look at some of the following: "On Killing : The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society" by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman "War is a Racket : The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General" by Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler Iraq Veterans Against the War: http://www.ivaw.net/ Veterans Against the Iraq War: http://www.vaiw.org/vet/index.php

I’ve signed up for a 3-Day Survival Walk-about in mid June. It should be interesting – I’ve never done anything like it before.

If you have ever wanted to relate to the earth without the conveniences of our modern world, this is the experience for you. The 3-Day Survival Walk-about is designed to allow people to touch nature in a pure and unmediated manner, to experience the freedom of walking across a landscape and trusting in the earth to provide for all of our needs. Participants will walk into the wilderness with only a knife and water purifiers, and we'll learn and apply survival skills as the need for them arises. Involving shelter building, harvesting edible plants, navigation techniques and fire-making, this wander gives you the opportunity to experience nature in an ancient and meaningful way.

The trip deviated from the plan, but was still a success, thanks to me keeping my expectations open. It’s hard not to enjoy oneself in the natural world.

Originally, I’d planned to park somewhere in the Redwoods and hike up to a “primitive campsite” with my pack. The first deviation came when I discovered that I’d be charged $15 p/ night just to park – the same as what was charged to camp in a normal camp site. On top of that, there was self-registration available for normal camping, but not for the primitive camp (it was off-season, so the visitor’s center was closed). So, I decided to camp at the normal site.

I’d also agreed to give Wade, my friend at the University of Oregon, a ride back to Seattle and, since we’d be driving up the coast, his roommate, Jordon, a ride to Astoria, which meant I’d have to be back in Eugene on Thursday.

Saturday Left home in the morning. I took i-5 down to Eugene, arriving early in the evening. After meeting up with Wade and some of his friends at the University of Oregon, we went to explore Hendricks Park. Dinner at the Laughing Planet Cafe and dessert at Sweet Life. I spent the night on a spare bed in the dorms.

Sunday Left Eugene early in the morning. I took OR-126 out to the coast, where I got on 101 and headed south. I entertained myself throughout the drive by stopping at lots of parks and scenic pull-offs. (I don’t know why Bellingham is so renowned for biker gangs – southern Oregon certainly has more.) I ended up reaching the California border as the sun was going down and decided to spend the night in a hotel in Crescent City, CA.

Monday Left Crescent City in the morning and drove about 20 miles south to Prairie Creek State Park. After discovering that I’d be spending my time in the Redwoods in a normal campsite, I decided to check out the site at the beach to see if I liked it better. The drive there started out simple enough – another 5 minutes on 101. Then I reached the turn-off to the site and discovered a rather large puddle in my way – deep enough that the water level was about halfway up my tires. Shortly after that, the pavement ended and the road turned into a dirt trail completely covered with pot-holes. It wasn’t very fun to try to navigate, but I made it through. After finally reaching the beach, the road deteriorated even more (I didn’t think it was possible). On top of the pot-holes doubling in size, there was a huge cliff to my right, which worried the Geologist inside of me. A few more minutes on that road and I reached the campsite, but decided that with the road, the cliff, and the wind, I preferred the camp site at the visitor’s center. So I turned right around, navigated the horrible road, drove through the puddle, and went back to the first site. After paying and setting up camp, I wandered around the smaller trails near the camp for a little bit before the sun started going down. After that, I ate dinner with the Elk (who are so “dangerous” that they’ll come right into your campsite to graze without paying you any mind), read a little in my book, and went to bed with the Sun. Not a bad Equinox.

Tuesday Woke up with the sun. After having breakfast with the Quail, I threw some snacks and toilet paper in my camelbak and headed off for a day of exploration. I walked all around the park, exploring misty Forest. At one point I was stalked by what looked to be a Mountain Lion, but I never saw any bears – perhaps they were still hibernating. I returned to the camp as the sun was going down, and had dinner. It was extremely painful to walk around camp that night, but I didn’t end up with any blisters. Went to bed with the Sun.

Wednesday Woke up with the sun. Since I had to be back in Eugene on Thursday, I decided I’d make half of the journey today. After wandering around the shorter trails that I’d explored Monday, I packed up the camp and got back on 101. I reached the site that I intended to stay at in the afternoon (a little south of Reedsport, OR). It didn’t seem worth it to me to set up my tent for just one night, so I decided that I’d sleep in the car that night. After paying the camp site fee, I ventured off to explore the sand dunes. Since I had no map of the area, all the dunes looked rather similar, and the wind was beginning to erase my tracks, I decided to cut that adventure short, but not without having a little fun. After arriving back at the camp, I snacked a bit and read my book. At one point, some lady came driving up to the site (I assume she must have been the camp host, a concept which I was only introduced to when I arrived at Prairie Creek). She rolled down her window and asked if I needed help. I said no. (I only ever realize this after the fact, but, for some reason, people always ask me if I need help when they’re confused. I don’t know why they can’t just say what they mean – they’re obviously the ones that need help. I always take the question literally and reply no.) After that she asked if I knew that I was in a campsite – that seemed rather insulting, but, since this was my first contact with civilization in a few days, I assumed that in her eyes I might somehow seem strange and just needed to adjust back to their ways. After a little more dancing around the subject, I realized what she wanted to know if I had paid or not. Why she couldn’t just have asked that in the first place, I don’t know. I pointed to the receipt that was pinned to the post at the entrance to the site, literally right in front of her. She drove off, and I went back to reading. As the sun went down, I got into my car and went to sleep, but woke up often and wasn’t very comfortable – sleeping in the car apparently isn’t for me.

Thursday Woke up with the sun and drove back to Eugene. Wade had a final at 3pm, so we decided to leave Friday morning. We wandered around campus a bit, only to come back to the dorm and find that I’d gotten a $20 ticket for parking in a permitted lot without a permit. I paid that, then drove over to his friend’s house to avoid getting another ticket. After a couple hours hanging out there, two of the people wanted to go to a show in Portland, but I was blocking them in. So I went out to move my car, and discovered that I’d locked the keys in the ignition – something I’ve never done before. (I think my car was getting back at me for sleeping in it.) The locksmith was quick and only cost $35, so it wasn’t too bad. We hung out in the dorms that night, but I was still on Forest time, so I had to go to bed soon after the sun went down. Spent the night on a couch at one of Wade’s friend’s house.

Friday Woke up a bit after the sun. I drove back to the dorms to get Wade and Jordon up. After they packed, we drove out to the coast and got back on 101 – this time going North to Astoria, OR. We made good time, stopping only at the Tillamook Cheese Factory because Jordon said it was a law that if you drove through Tillamook, you had to stop (and I wanted ice cream). A few miles south of Astoria, we pulled off at a turn around and jumped the barrier. Jordon led us through the bush, out to a cliff he knew about with a view. We arrived in Astoria just as the sun went down. Jordon’s parents took us out to dinner, and then we hung out at a friend’s house.

Saturday We explored Astoria a bit more, then Wade and I got back on the road again. We headed north on 101 for a while, headed East to Olympia, then got back on i-5 and went home, arriving at about 7pm.

Photos here.

Photos and video from the trip are in the gallery. Few of them turned out decently – it was the first time using my new camera.

I just took my first shower all week.