Where's Dan Now?

MOUNTAINS WE MUST CLIMB

Let it be known this day people. That the Hobo has come to Michigan, that desperate state of the wolverine and great lakes. All the way from my humble home in the mountains, onward through those tall prairie grasses and rolling hills of many a mid-western state. Out across this big and very wide nation did i roam. Rolling onward in the mighty fire breathing beast that little van is. My habitat on wheels. My rolling home away from home. We have passed from the high cold places together and down to many low ones too. You see people, there is a bright light that shines in the east, past all those shining and splendid metropolises like Denver and Chicago. There in that mitten of America, a light that shines hard onto the surrounding land. A small voice in the vehicle laden darkness. But a voice nonetheless. And yay though it resides there in that very heartbeat of the now defunct auto land dream, yes, that sad, trembling and tired state that brought us such historical conveyances as the 56' Chevy and the long and proud Cadillac, this new beam of enlightenment will be one that endures in a healthy and sustainable manner for as long as humans reside here on earth, my friends. This tiny beacon of hope fears not the mighty SUV nor the ever popular mini van, nay for it's light shines on an ever more noble purpose indeed. One not in collusion with those nasty oil men to the south, nor with the whining ad women in the east. No, for in it's very existence lies a greater salvation for every man, woman and child of our nation. That being the godly law of nature that states, "One must learn that to move from one place to another, one needs to exert thyself.To pedal as it were, and to therefore receive great blessings from far above for your righteous endeavor." Now of course no man can say that the pedaling person is any more saintly in his cause than your commuting neighbor. Or is he? Let us investigate. First, the airs which surround both types of transport. Let us close the garage door of the auto commuter and press hard on the pedal. Meanwhile next door let us do the same with the biker and let him pedal away. Now tell me people, who's atmosphere is cleaner in those garages and in turn out on our endless roads? How long could you stay in that autos garage with the gas full on? Second, just think of the billions of dollars that go into the making of and the upkeep of all our nations highways. And many of them are now falling apart and becoming as rough as an old goat trail. So surely by now you must know of this harbinger of the future of which i speak? That small yet sustainable group of ingenius souls that appeared, star-like in the middle of the riotous car culture of central Michigan? Think hard people. I have mentioned them before. Thanks to these folks, no longer do you need to pedal an old time bicycle and have the neighbors laugh at your dated ways. No! Now you can be the coolest person on your block. The most envied. The most respected member of your community who has decided to take this Global Warming High Gas Prices problem by the throat and wrestle it to the ground for good. You have decided to ride a WIZ WHEELZ TRIKE to and from work and anywhere else your fancy takes you. You have come to the mountain and found it's summit! Or have you? Guess you better go to their web site and see for yourself the chariots of freedom they are offering our gasoline guzzling nation. Do i hear an AMEN? HOBO WWW.WIZWHEELZ.COM

ONLY ONE TINY TORNADO SEEN SO FAR

This one BIG country. Three days, five states. My report so far.... 1.There is still snow and crazy cold weather in Idaho. 2.Utah still has a big lake and things look as dry as a popcorn fart. 3. In Wyoming the roughnecks are erecting mega oil drilling rigs. Smarter folks are sprouting big white wind farms to capture natures windy diatribes. 4. Colorado looks like a realtor's wet dream. On every hill, new condos. In every valley, the latest in mega national business fortresses. And the roads, still rougher than a corn cob rolling down a cobblestone street. 5. Kansas, ah yes Kansas, that flat area just east of the Rockies that gives birth to swirling masses of wind that can, like on May 4th, 2007, come with such a force that an entire town, like Greensburg, can be leveled in as little as a minute and a half. Residents fled. Those that didn't died. Except for a few heartly souls. One who lit a cigar and layed back in his old cast iron tub as the roof and a car landed square on top of him in his little private nicotine dream. He survived. His son told me the whole story. And one guy, one trucker was sucked clean out of his semi and thrown half a mile across town. That was the grizzly story. There's others, and many more. Like the junk dealer guy down the road who thinks Greeensburg is geetting way too much money to rebuild. That they bulldozed perfectly good buildings rather that rebuild with old wood. That 3/4 of the nations universities should be shut down because, "You take a young feller see, and you stick him in there with only one professor and he comes out knowing only what that one professer knowed, and that probably aint much, why he's not worth the dynamite ta blow him up...." Whew. Such a BIG country, and filled with so many legends, interesting folks and bumpy roads to wander down. I may never get back home. HOBO
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IS THE WORLD GONNA END SOON OR WHAT?

The last month has been an absolute blur. I went down to Santa Barbara and got my trike. Now i am back home planting trees to pay for my carbon sinnings. And the news!! Can anyone even stand to listen to it any more? Seems like the world is falling apart at the seams. Scandal this, bankruptcy that, foreclosure here, soaring energy prices there. But maybe having the economy slow down is a good thing. We all seem to be trying to destroy the very world upon which we sit, munching our turkey sandwiches and filling the air with our foul smelling pollutants. Last night i crawled in my tiny hobbit hole, snapped on the mini electric heater (yes, it is still freezing here), and sat back to watch the video The 11TH Hour on my laptop. It is an amazing film about all the things that our human activities are doing to the planet. I also watched the special segments in the menu afterwards and got to see the authors and scientists go into more depth about what it is we could do to help the problems. Did you know that since Kennedy became president in the early 1960's that the population of the world has DOUBLED! Did you know that nature is truely the most remarkable life form on the planet and that we are literally a part of that amazingness? That scientists are slowly learning how to mimic nature so that we will make more intelligent decisions about how to live in this world? This is how it goes. Nature has been working on the problems of survival for 3.5 billion years. That's a very long time. And all life forms have worked out ways to live in harmony with the other living organisms. Like really good neighbors. If you're not such a good neighbor, chances are you become extinct in a short while. Then us rowdy human beans show up a very short time ago in earth's history. Do you know how long we have really been around? If the whole of earth's history (3.5 billion years) was the height of a skyscraper the size of the World Trade Towers, we humans would represent the LAYER OF PAINT on the very top!!!!! And yet, look at the crazy destruction we have waged in just 100 plus years since the Industrial Revolution! This film is great. It points out what we have done, then gives lots of solutions that are currently under way and also ideas for you and i to help out today. I am going to recommend that local teachers show it to their students and you should too. There's no way that we should be allowed to continue our rape of this planet we call home. Everything we do needs to be a closed system, cradle to cradle, and done only with the power of "current sunlight" not ancient sunlight (fossil fuels). What can you do today to radically change the way you are living? I want answers now!! What we are all doing will not leave an acceptable planet for any of the generations to come. What gives us the right to do this? Get your old bike out. Stop being so lazy. Hang your clothes on the line. Grow some food. Sign up for wind power. Get a clue. Make it right. HOBO