--- Freedom galleries ---

In the South, many schools, libraries, shopping malls, city halls, museums, and other public buildings had a wall where they displayed patriotic documents - the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, etc. Selma is known for it's connection with civil rights so important statements of political equality were often included such as Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech and the Emancipation Proclamation. I'm sure other areas had their own versions. We called them "Freedom Galleries".

I don't think I've seen one since I moved to Denver and I'm wondering if it was just a phase that the South was going through. I'm puzzled that, when I do a web search for "freedom gallery", I can't find any general information. I do see articles about specific exhibitions.

Do you have freedom galleries in your area? Do they all contain the same documents or are there specific differences from place to place? Do the differences seem to point to differences in locale?

--- Door to door ---

Coyote and I have been doing volunteer work for a person who is running for governor in Colorado. We like him because he seems to be serious about improving life for the citizen instead of packing wealthy peoples' pockets with more money.

We're knocking on doors. It provides another learning experience. Most folks in this area are not at home on Saturdays (the time that we are out knocking on doors) but the people we catch at home have consistently been friendly and interesting.

And it's not just the people we meet at their homes. We talked a while to an elderly lady at the Baha'i Center. The people we do see are mostly on the streets with friends or their dogs.

The most disturbing thing is the number of homeless people in a neighborhood where so many houses are unoccupied. The irony is painful.

We encounter homeless folks selling the Denver Voice, a paper published specifically to provide an income for homeless people (https://www.denvervoice.org). These people will talk to you if you're interested and I've never been asked for a donation. I donate anyway. They're good sources for what's going on in the area.

Our beat is the area called "Cap Hill'. It's near the Capital and is an old/new part of town, providing an interesting mix of residential architecture. Modern apartments have grown up among mill village houses and larger residences that have been converted into duplexes, triplexes....

The people in that area also seem to like gardening. This time of year it's a riot of color.

This time of year is also hot. There are some big differences between this kind of work and hiking. On the trail, I stop often to take pictures, make measurements, take notes, or just rest and hydrate. You can't just sit down in someones yard. So, my part in this campaign is coming to an end. The primary is coming up, anyway.

It's interesting that Colorado is opening the primary to independents. An individual can only vote for one party, but they don't have to commit to that party. I wonder how that will affect the practice of voting for the "wrong person" in a primary to sabotage the party, a common practice in the Southeast.

--- Some developments ---

Religion and politics

It's like shopping - if you see it and want it, you'd better get it then, because there's a good chance it won't be there the next time. Of course, that's not really the way it is but it happens often enough, and would be expected to by pure chance, and is irritating enough that it just makes a lot more noise.

I was looking forward to checking out the Fellowship of Anglo-Saxon Heathenry and now it seems to have disappeared and that seemed to be the only accessible Norse based religion in the Denver area. I'm pretty sure that there are other individual adherents of Asatru, but I've been acquainted with those before - the organized group was provocative - I wanted to know.

I've known three Asatru (everyone I've known associated with Asatru called individual adherents "Asatru", but I don't know if that is formally correct or not) and found them to be personable, if a little gruff. They don't proselytize but are not particularly secretive about their religion. There are many good webpages about the religion so, if you're interested, the information is easily available.

On other fronts, I'm volunteering for a door-to-door canvas for a state political campaign, so I should have some adventures to post on that between now and July.

I've also started exploring the rails around Denver. Transportation is social. It's how we establish face-to-face contact and, in Denver, the rails are at least spatially central. The light rail system connects all parts of the Denver Metro area with a web that ties together bus lines, streets, waterways... For instance, the north-south line from Mineral into downtown Denver parallels both Santa Fe/CanAm highway, the South Platte River, and the Platte River Trail, three of the main arteries for traffic, water distribution, and foot/bicycle traffic in Denver.

My modus operandi is to start at Mineral Station, the southernmost point on the light rail and hike from one station to the next, one link at a time, and then take each rail line clockwise, exploring what goes on around each link.

Mineral Station has been my way station to Waterton Canyon. Today, I walked from there north, instead of south. Now, I've walked all of the Platte River Trail from Mineral Trail to Bear Creek Trail. I'll detail that trip in the next blog.

So, do you know any Asatru or are you an adherent - and what can you tell me?

Have you ever done anything that required you to knock on doors? Did you enjoy it or hate it, and what did you learn about human nature?

Are you going to be active in the upcoming political goings-on? I've heard that our last presidential election saw the smallest turnout of voters in the history of the United States, and a lot of people I know were quite unsatisfied with the results. Do you know how your political machine works? There are many windows into the guts of the machine - you might want to take a peek.

Do you have a light rail or bus system near you? To quote Dr. Suess, "Oh the places you'll go!"

--- Between LaLa Land and extreme conservatism ---

there is reality.

Again, Aristotle had it right. Moderation is the best policy.

I believe that the powers that be here in Colorado have been concerned to create a city where people can live and thrive. There is plenty of crime and violence, yes. Perhaps that comes from the tradition of the wild west alive and well. But there are life enrichments for just about everyone.

The Bad Things are pretty much city dwellers misbehaving (as they will), but on the trail and on the trains, and in the city, I see a lot of honestly happy people sharing their lives with people they quite obviously love.

One day during my years of pharmacy training, a professor brought a huge book (had to be over three inches thick) and he slammed it on the desk. He explained, "This book contains everything known to us about marijuana. The only ill effect we know is that it's illegal."

But marijuana is legal in Denver. The medical benefits are broad - from pain control to relief from insomnia. It is not just for cancer patients. The products are fine tuned to help a great spectrum of ailments.

People who think that weed is going to destroy society is ignoring everything but their own imagination.

It sounds like a sharp jump here but, if you think about it you can see the segue.

Conservatives and liberals both irritate me - the more extreme, the more irritating they are.

Conservatives are the bullies of the system. Their position is that this is their country and people that don't think like them will be brought to heal. ("We're gonna take this country BACK!" For who? For them? For they people that share their world views? I think that pretty well encapsulates the situation.)

Liberals are the parents of the world. They know what's best and if you are going to live under their roof (in their country) you will abide by their rules.

It's well known that politicians use fear as a tool - fear of some imaginary "others". Hate crimes are now illegal, except when used by politicians.

There's a song in South Pacific in which an American soldier teaches a native girl (sarcastically?) that she has to learn to hate the "other". "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught," is the name of the song if you want to look it up.

Between LaLa Land and extreme conservatism is a utopia. People still die - people die. But they can live happy, enriched lives.

I used to be confused about the stanza of America the Beautiful that said, "Alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears."

Have we ever had gleaming cities undimmed by human tears. America was built on the fuel of human tears.

Then I found out that Katherine Lee Bates was dreaming. She had recently been to the World's Colombian Exposition in Chicago. There she saw the alabaster buildings and she dreamed of Utopian America.

The problem is that there will be no cities undimmed by human tears until people can live happy, enriched lives; and people will not live happy, enriched lives if the politicians of the moment won't let them.