May 17

Through My Eyes

Saturday May 17

( Again on the Chang Tang plateau!)

" One boy with a well-worn sweater and a warm laugh showed me a large goat herd where women were tying up the animals head to head for milking. The harsh light made all the women's faces black, featureless silhouettes. I moved closer to the line of tethered goats and could feel the coolness of the approaching night on my back. At this time of year, late summer, there are two daily milkings: one in the morning, then one later in the day. Many families keep their goats together , and milking is a communal time for women to chat and for children to play. The young boy in the worn sweater kicked the rear ends of the goats to keep them in line as the women, crouching with their buckets, shouted at each other, their voices carrying through the chill mountain air.

The landscape of these nomads is a barren place. In this nothingness and this treeless expanse of harsh unrelenting light there exists a heightened purity, a profound clarity. Here on this Himalayan plateau lives a fragile ecosystem shared by mountain flowers, desert animals, and nomadic herdspeople.

A 1993 report entitled "Nuclear Tibet" released by the International Campaign for Tibet, documented a local Tibetan doctor, Dr. Tashi Dolma, who had treated over a five-year period seven nomad children all of whom had subsequently died of cancer after grazing their animals adjacent to a Chinese nuclear base. The use of these delicate grazing lands on the Tibetan plateau as sites for dumping nuclear waste and for building nuclear missile stations illustrates China's disregard for the core Buddhist belief in an interdependency with nature. it also shows China's unabated cruelty by consciously jeopardizing the safety of Tibet's nomadic communities.

The inner light of Tibet's monasteries is as soft as the outer light of its landscape is hard. Within the Buddhist temples and shrines darkness is solely illuminated by butter lamps. Inside, thin mountain air is replaced by the thick, heavy smell of burning yak butter. It takes a few moments for sun-strained eyes to see in this dimly lit waxen world of glinting brass, juniper incense, and burning butter."

I promise to add more tomorrow...

*( please click here to read of the day with me )

Through my eyes

( I haven't worked on the spinning yet! I'm going to order the spindle tomorrow.)

* ( I got the longer spray wand for the sprayer that allowed me to reach higher into trees so things went a lot easier. It was a bit wobbly so I clamped it to a cross country ski pole to steady it. Things went well although I broke part of the sprayer and had to do a quick fix. I tried a new spray too; it was bacteria dissolved in water of the species Bacillus subtilis which competes with the fungi which cause tree leaf diseases. At least I hope it does because it costs over 20 dollars a pound! That was about all I did today and it took a long time because I'm still learning how things work. Except that I put a message on the voicemail for the cellphone. I've decided to use the mailbox since reception has been so lousy around here lately. It's kind of neat because as I talk a bird was singing on either side of the message. It's almost perfect except that I goofed and indicated that "you've reached 845 532-5368 " instead of 532-5367 which is the number. Oops! I'm not going to change it though because the bird singing is really cool!

It's a shame the news in the world is once again bad. Still human beings are being cruel to each other every day in some place on this planet so I guess today isn't that much different from any other in history. It was a beautiful day though and I even saw a hummingbird among the cherry blossoms! They are really amazing to watch. I took a picture of the hummingbird resting which I'll bring to us soon. I'm hoping to get more done on the banner tomorrow as there was no time today. We can read some more from Sarangerel's book tomorrow. I wanted to bring it to us on Thursday but I ended up getting in from the Grove very late. I hope your day went well and that you accomplished whatever you wanted to.

And, so

to my one dream bright

I bid goodnight and we'll both continue two as one on to tomorrow!)


	Through My Eyes Saturday May 17 ( Again on the Chang Tang plateau!) " One boy with a well-worn sweater and a warm laugh showed me a large goat herd where women were tying up the animals head to head for milking. The harsh light made all the women's faces black, featureless silhouettes. I moved closer to the line of tethered goats and could feel the coolness of the approaching night on my back. At this time of year, late summer, there are two daily milkings: one in the morning, then one later in the day. Many families keep their goats together , and milking is a communal time for women to chat and for children to play. The young boy in the worn sweater kicked the rear ends of the goats to keep them in line as the women, crouching with their buckets, shouted at each other, their voices carrying through the chill mountain air. The landscape of these nomads is a barren place. In this nothingness and this treeless expanse of harsh unrelenting light there exists a heightened purity, a profound clarity. Here on this Himalayan plateau lives a fragile ecosystem shared by mountain flowers, desert animals, and nomadic herdspeople. A 1993 report entitled "Nuclear Tibet" released by the International Campaign for Tibet, documented a local Tibetan doctor, Dr. Tashi Dolma, who had treated over a five-year period seven nomad children all of whom had subsequently died of cancer after grazing their animals adjacent to a Chinese nuclear base. The use of these delicate grazing lands on the Tibetan plateau as sites for dumping nuclear waste and for building nuclear missile stations illustrates China's disregard for the core Buddhist belief in an interdependency with nature. it also shows China's unabated cruelty by consciously jeopardizing the safety of Tibet's nomadic communities. The inner light of Tibet's monasteries is as soft as the outer light of its landscape is hard. Within the Buddhist temples and shrines darkness is solely illuminated by butter lamps. Inside, thin mountain air is replaced by the thick, heavy smell of burning yak butter. It takes a few moments for sun-strained eyes to see in this dimly lit waxen world of glinting brass, juniper incense, and burning butter." I promise to add more tomorrow... ( please click here to read of the day with me ) Through my eyes ( I haven't worked on the spinning yet! I'm going to order the spindle tomorrow.)* * ( I got the longer spray wand for the sprayer that allowed me to reach higher into trees so things went a lot easier. It was a bit wobbly so I clamped it to a cross country ski pole to steady it. Things went well although I broke part of the sprayer and had to do a quick fix. I tried a new spray too; it was bacteria dissolved in water of the species Bacillus subtilis which competes with the fungi which cause tree leaf diseases. At least I hope it does because it costs over 20 dollars a pound! That was about all I did today and it took a long time because I'm still learning how things work. Except that I put a message on the voicemail for the cellphone. I've decided to use the mailbox since reception has been so lousy around here lately. It's kind of neat because as I talk a bird was singing on either side of the message. It's almost perfect except that I goofed and indicated that "you've reached 845 532-5368 " instead of 532-5367 which is the number. Oops! I'm not going to change it though because the bird singing is really cool! It's a shame the news in the world is once again bad. Still human beings are being cruel to each other every day in some place on this planet so I guess today isn't that much different from any other in history. It was a beautiful day though and I even saw a hummingbird among the cherry blossoms! They are really amazing to watch. I took a picture of the hummingbird resting which I'll bring to us soon. I'm hoping to get more done on the banner tomorrow as there was no time today. We can read some more from Sarangerel's book tomorrow. I wanted to bring it to us on Thursday but I ended up getting in from the Grove very late. I hope your day went well and that you accomplished whatever you wanted to. And, so to my one dream bright I bid goodnight and we'll both continue two as one on to tomorrow!)