Fallen rebels - dandelions dug under by "gardeners"

Remember the dandelion overkill? I posted about that only three days ago... On Friday morning I saw, that gardeners had made an effort to "cultivate" that spot by uprooting these floral rebels and digging the remainder of any rebellious behaviour under... right in the place where I took the photo, where those dozens of merrily yellow blossoms were gathered in plushy and soft green grass (a delight for my bare feet!), they had gotten rid of them.

The famous quote by Tacitus about the behaviour of empires comes to mind: "...where they make a desert, they call it peace". The same is true about gardeners "cultivating" places, instead of allowing Mother Nature to have Her way.

Even though, it is not quite the same as witnessing the damage done to Luna, and Julia Butterfly Hill seeing and examining it, I can relate very much to her initial reaction to it:

Of course, I never had that strong a link to those dandelions as Julia has to Luna, after they shared each other's lives for more than two years... but the source of both damages is the same: human beings did that. If it were a natural thing happening, I would accept it as part of the often-quoted circle of life, the ever-turning wheel of change in our Great Mother's life.



Read about what happened to Luna in November 2000:
Redwood Luna chain-sawed (report)

Julia's own poem, describing how she felt, after witnessing the wound in Luna's side:
Luna's Cut (previously untitled) by Julia Butterfly Hill

Julia, atop Luna:

But since those dandelions were killed off to serve the purpose of "tidying up" and "cultivating" a place (my definitions of both differ a lot from the gardener's sterile point of view!), I allowed myself some time to stand in that spot, and send a portion of my love and healing energy down into the ground, trying my best to soothe a little of Mother Nature's pain, since Her skin had been raked open, soil upturned...

Even though, this freshly turned soil feels wonderful beneath bare soles, moist as well as warm, it is a wound inflicted on Mother Earth, nevertheless.

The only happiness and little triumph I felt, was seeing that Mother Nature won't back down... She will prevail, since there are survivors, sometimes even in unlikely places:

(I just love the slight irony of that waste-bin being green...)

And wherever I meet dandelions when walking barefoot around town, or through grass, I greet them as comrades in Nature's rebellion against man-made order...

There are people, who plant flowers and herbs in empty spaces, to help Mother Nature reclaim them. Such thinngs may be considered small in comparison to sitting in a tree for over two years to fight clear-cutting and making a point, but still, even small steps help to make a change.

And about being able to make a change, you might want to visit this place:
What's your tree?

"What's your tree?" doesn't mean you have to live in a giant redwood to make a change or get your point across... but I feel the same energy to make things known and stand up for things as Julia does... must be that Aquarius thing we both share...

Barefooting, clouds & sun, dandelion overkill...

Here's a little collection of pictures and impressions from the work day mornings and afternoons... such as clouds lit by a sunrise on Monday, the seemingly same sunrise on Tuesday, some really impressive clouds on Tuesday around noon, some puddlefooting on Tuesday after work, getting my toes a little wet and muddy...

...and the dandelion overkill, where my bare feet meet the largest clump of dandelions so far...

Sigmund Freud might have chuckled at the quite manly shape of this cloud...

Happy Earth Day!

Friday 'footing - Freitagsfüße

Well, it was Friday, end of the week, as far as office days are concerned, and just like the beginning of the week, this day greeted me with a glorious sunrise as well as nice cool morning feelings underfoot...

Nun, es war Freitag, Ende der Arbeitswoche und genau wie zu Beginn der Arbeitswoche, begrüßte mich ein wundervoller Sonnenaufgang und auch das schöne Gefühl eines kühlen Morgens unter nackten Sohlen...

The rising sun peeping through the green, while I was waiting at my relay bus stop, to get to the office...

Die aufgehende Sonne blinzelt durch das Grün, während ich an meiner Umstiegshaltestelle auf den Bus warte, der mich zur Arbeit bringt...

Sunrise, on the barefoot way from my destination bus stop to the office...

Sonnenaufgang, auf dem barfüßigen Weg von meiner Zielhaltestelle zum Büro...

Clover and grass underfoot... nicely cool and moist from morning dew - touching Mother Earth and gathering Her good energy and positive powers before entering the more mechanistic and artificial realm of office work...

Klee und Gras unter nackten Füßen... angenehm kühl und feucht von morgendlichen Tau - der direkte Kontakt mit Mutter Erde, bei dem ich Ihre gute Energie und positive Kraft in mich aufnehme, bevor ich ins eher mechanistische und künstliche Reich der Büroarbeit eintrete...

Of course, I just had to leave my trademark tracks on the way to the office...

Natürlich mußte ich wieder mal meine typischen Fußspuren auf dem Weg ins Büro hinterlassen...

~*Ganesha*~

Löwenzahn... unaufhaltsam - Dandelions... they're unstoppable

Und wieder mal: Löwenzahn - Blumen, die ihr Recht zurückfordern und die Straßen für Mutter Natur zurückerobern...

And again: dandelions, reclaiming the streets in the name of Mother Nature:

Aprilwetterwolken... - awesome April clouds...

Aprilwetter überrascht manchmal mit plötzlichen und heftigen Regenschauern, manchmal mit Frost am Morgen, dann aber auch mit Sonnenschein und Wärme. Und es lohnt sich, mal in den Himmel zu schauen, was da an Wolken vorbeizieht... Manche Wolken sehen aus, wie ein Sahnehäubchen auf einem leckeren Dessert, andere wie große Wattehaufen, und wieder andere auch ein wenig bedrohlich... aber in jedem Fall immer besonders und eindrucksvoll...

April weather has many surprises in stock, such as sudden and strong rain showers, sometimes frost in the morning, then again with sunshine and warmth. And it's worth it, to look up in the sky, what kinds of clouds are passing by... some look like the cream topping on a nice dessert, others like a giant heap of cotton balls and yet others are a little menacing, too... but they're always special and impressive...

Barfüßern der letzten Tage - Recent barefooting

Lange Zeit gabs keine aktuellen Bilder vom Barfüßern, oder? Zeit, das zu ändern!

Long time no see, as far as pictures of my barefooting are concerned, right? Time to change that...

Beginnen wir am Montag, mit einem herrlichen Sonnenaufgang, der den Start in die neue Arbeitswoche mit Schönheit versüßte - und dem schönen Gefühl weichen Klees und Grases unter nackten Sohlen...

Starting with last Monday, and a glorious sunrise, making the start of the working week look really gorgeous - and the wonderful sensation of soft clover and grass underfoot:

Am Dienstagmorgen wurden meine nackten Zehen frostgeküßt... das Grau-Weiße auf dem Gras ist Rauhreif...

Tuesday morning, my bare toes were kissed by frost... the greyish-white coating on the grass is actually rime:

Und, natürlich, Löwenzahn und Barfüße (am Donnerstag):

And, of course, dandelions and bare feet (on Thursday):

A little barefoot hippie fashion show

Since a fellow barefooter asked about it on a German-speaking web-forum, I took several pictures of me, "modelling" the baggy Thai Fisherman tie-dye pants I bought in March...

I just ordered two pairs of baggy, patchwork hippie pants from the same dealer, known as Princess of Asia, offering hippie and tie-dye fashion... I also ordered my orange-and-red sarong from them, which I already presented in older posts, such as my Good Friday barefooting pictures.

Wiggling bare toes in anticpation,

~*Ganesha*~

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"Life is chaos, chaos is life! Control is an illusion!" - Trance Gemini

Wahlwerbung... - Canvassing...

Am 13. Mai stehen in unserem Bundesland vorzeitig Landtagswahlen an... und da hängen sie wieder, die großen und kleinen Plakate (bei letzteren waren die Piraten übrigens die ersten, die ich an Laternenmasten entdeckte... fast schon subversiv hatte sie am schnellsten plakatiert). Und da sind auch wieder die Plakate, die ärgerlich sind... eine Partei (wenn man die so nennen will) hat wieder Laternenmasten in mindestens vier Meter Höhe behängt - entweder, um Vandalismus vorzubeugen, da die Plakate geradezu danach schreien, heruntergerissen zu werden, oder, um anzuzeigen, wie hoch die Anhänger dieser Partei ihre Gegner wohl gerne an die Laternen hängen würden...

Ich meine Pro NRW, die rechtspopulistischen als Biedermänner verkleideten Brandstifter, die mal wieder "Minarettverbote auch bei uns" oder "Intensivtäter wegsperren" oder ähnliches fordern. Sicher, im Zuge der verfassungsmäßig garantierten Redefreiheit und freier Meinungsäußerung mögen die noch auf legalem Niveau operieren, aber irgendwie wünsche ich mir doch, daß die niemals genug Stimmen auf sich vereinen, um im parlamentarischen Umfeld etwas zu sagen bekommen. Sonst können wir wirklich unser Bundesland dort versenken, wo es der Meinung eines Sprayers nach schon reingehört (Übrigens: beide Fotos entstanden an der gleichen Stelle, an der Bushaltestelle "Schleuse Raffelberg" in Mülheim, wo ich morgens immer den Bus Richtung Büro barfüßig besteige).

On May 13, there are state parliament elections scheduled here (prematurely, after the liberal party has blocked the state budget and thereby triggered elections becoming necessary... fun fact: according to current polls, they won't be able to collect enough votes to be in the next state parliament in North-Rhine Westphalia). Canvassing has begun, and small and large posters are now hanging everywhere... and the first party to place their posters on lamp posts was the Pirate Party... almost subversively, they were the first to place their messages. But there are also less than pleasant parties putting up their posters, such as the right-wing "Pro NRW" with their slogans on forbidding building mosques with minarets or demanding stricter penal laws to imprison criminals (aimed at immigrants or second and third-generation children of immigrants living in Germany). They are hanging their posters so high on lamp posts to prevent vandalism, since anti-fascists are very likely to tear down the posters of this party of "The Fire Raisers". They might also want to sow, how high they want to hang their opponents, should they ever get to power.

I just wish, that this party (although acting within constitutional rights of free speech and freedom of opinion) will never collect enough votes to have a voice in state parliament, or our state would go where the trash bin on the second photo suggests it should go. Both pictures were taken in the same place, by the way, at the bus stop, where I board the bus, barefoot, every work day morning to get to the office...