I know, just one more thing to fill your day.
But it’s funny how people will respond with this sort of thing.

Anyway – I feel jittery with excitement when I think of you getting geared up to go for it again. Wow!

Laurey in Asheville
(and I mean it – I’d love a hat.)

And shhh about the baseball hat. Now everybody is going to want sweat stains!

As you suggested, I’m having Carina send me the “Row Hard – No Excuses” hat and am thrilled to bits, regardless of the sweat stains it may have! Seems the “NO EXCUSES” part just spoke loudly to me — I SHALL be doing the walk (had been toying w/ postponing it as I’m not feeling fully fit to go the distance; but it’s 6 months away, and I can do a LOT in 6 months … if I have the will and take it just “one stroke at a time”!)

Bye for now … Naomi

This is exactly what we need to remember. I think we do still know it on some level – but we have forgotten the complete interconnectedness of humans and Earth. We kill it, we kill ourselves.

There is nothing more important to know than this.

“The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? The land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water how can you buy them?

“Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people.

“We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man, all belong to the same family.

“The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell our land, you must remember that it is sacred. Each ghostly reflection in the clear waters of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father.

“The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. So you must give to the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.

“If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. So if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.

“Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.

“This we know the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

“One thing we know our God is also your God. The earth is precious to him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.

“Your destiny is a mystery to us. What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered? The wild horses tamed? What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills is blotted by talking wires? Where will the thicket be? Gone! Where will the eagle be? Gone! And what is it to say goodbye to the swift pony and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival.

“When the last Red Man has vanished with his wilderness, and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, will these shores and forests still be here? Will there be any of the spirits of my people left?

“We love this earth as a newborn loves its mother’s heartbeat. So, if we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. Care for it as we have cared for it. Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you receive it. Preserve the land for all children and love it, as God loves us all.

“As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land. This earth is precious to us. It is also precious to you. One thing we know there is only one God. No man, be he Red Man or White Man, can be apart. We are brothers after all.”

We who can’t be at Seattle will be with you in spirit, knowing that you will wow the audience (and maybe conjure up a substantial sponsorship or two).

John

Walt@noaa

Thanks for your empathy re: my missing out on the auction for your BB2B hat, and yes, I’d love to $scoop one of your ocean caps instead (providing you have a slightly larger-than-average head OR it’s adjustable!) tee, hee. I love that your caps from the boat “have many ocean miles on them” . . . even better to have on my head as I schlepp across northern England — since your ocean row was a WAY lot tougher than your BB2B walk, it’ll inspire me onward (hopefully!). Just don’t send me the L.L. Bean one I gave you (w/ the little light in the center). If you can (but only if it suits you and you’d like!), I’d love for you to wear THAT one on your final leg to AussieLand. No pressure, tho.

I’ll email you soon … about the hat and also about taking you up on the offer to connect w/ your sis for a few pointers/pitfalls regarding her experiences while walking the C2C.

Happy travels, Roz! Thanks again for the generous offer to share one of your historic caps avec moi! You’re a sweetie, for sure.

Naomi

PS: Just re-read your post, and I think I’d like one of the unused B2B hats as well. It would be wise to have an orange hat just in case I hit some heavy fog or something! I’ll email you soon.

Another option is that I have several caps that I had with me on the boat. They are not orange, but they have many ocean miles on them. Might one of those work for you? Let me know!

(and btw, luckily for now my travel expenses are not too great – travel from SFO to Colorado was paid for by the symposium in lieu of a speaker fee. No progress on sponsorship moneys so far – various irons in various fires, but no $$$ as yet. But I’m keeping the faith – and working the network – so hopefully it will come good soon!)

[SHAMELESS PLEA TO HIGHEST BIDDER: Don't suppose you could be induced to pass the torch of Roz's B2B walker's hat onto this walker, could you? Well, I said it was shameless!]

On another note, Roz — your schedule sounds intense but wonderful. I do hope you are finding benefactors along the way, as your travel, etc., expenses must be quite intense. (You know if I hit the lottery, I’d be one of ‘em, but on this legal assistant’s salary, a benefactor I cannot yet be.) But it appears as if the Life of the Universe is providing for you so far!

I’m now officially BACK to daily reading of your blog. I don’t want to miss a thing from here on out — until you glide into Australia.

Safe travels — and as I like to say, “Angels under the wings” …

xx Naomi in NY