Adventure 304: Filer, ID/Stoneybrook Farm/Post D

Frac, nestled happily at the Stoney Brook RV Park

I doubt this is what Loey meant when she said she sometimes throws a "pig fit", but the basement of the church has been largely transformed into a store front. There are goods artfully displayed in every nook and cranny. Judy and I spent the day in "our" room, the kitchen and garden space, displaying every item as attractively as we could muster. Others did the same, and although much work has been done, much remains. Volunteers working is one thing, but the stories behind the goods is quite another. In our country, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton rail against each like two Beta fish in a stinky tank. Some times they even talk about issues like trade. Donald wants to make "GREAT DEALS" and Clinton wants to 'LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD".  All the people from third world countries want is a chance to play. And they would be amazing (to quote one candidate) if they had a chance to broaden what they already do. One group from Cambodia, the Rajana Association, which is mostly women in a country still reeling some fifty years later from the Vietnam War, repurpose bombs and mines into jewelry that is re-stamped with messages of hope. They traverse the countryside near their homes looking for still unexploded ordinance. When they find a mine or a bomb, they explode it safely, and then pound the evil out of the brass until it shines like a rising sun. Another women's group in the Gojan Province of Ethiopia do much the same thing, but they make necklaces from bullet casings. And perhaps the most hopeful statement of peace, again driven by women, is a group of Israeli and Palestinian women working together to produce items such as Olive Oil in an effort to generate a peaceful, cooperative working arrangement. There are many other such stories of human initiative, grace, humility and trust tucked away in the souls of the items on these shelves. It feels good to play even a small part in helping Ten Thousand Villages promote commerce for peoples around the globe. It's sad that our country, still mighty in many ways, is succumbing to the scourge of plenty. We're like the modern day Rome, ready to fall on our own vanity, greed, lust, and the whole gamut of deadly sins. But we haven't lost our way completely. I'm living proof that the American dream is possible, and everywhere I go I meet "best humans", people who do the right thing because it's the right thing. I have faith that the "best humans" will prevail. In the meantime, my prayer is for others to be granted an opportunity to avail themselves of their own satisfying dreams. The America I know has long been a beacon of light for people, and I can't help but notice that people still want to move here. Another prayer ( I have a long list) is for our leaders to live up to the weighty challenge of being role models, but in this "pig fit" of an election, there is room for doubt. One candidate seems gratuitously out for himself, and doesn't even bother with half truth. He simply lies when his mouth moves. The other seems so duplicitous it's almost as if all that baggage she carries is designed to pander to special interest. I pray they have America's interest in mind, and not just a fire sale to the highest bidder. Finally, I know this, despite the stinky "pig fit" we're embroiled in, I've spent my day around nothing but  "best humans" and they help me realize that life is good, especially today.



Sindyanna of Galilee, Olive Oil made in a partnership of peace by Palestinian and Israeli women. 

 Guiding Star Jewelry, made by Cambodians, who are changing their war torn country one reclaimed bomb at a time.

 One of the displays Judy and I put together in "our" room.

 Another angle. We feel like proud grand parents.

And a third angle. There can never be enough pictures of the grand children.