RunningBarb

Mr. K and RunningBarb have been on the road for two weeks now. We drove to Fernley, Nevada, to participate in a Sierra Club service trip. Driving here took a week. The United States sure is big! Fernley is pretty small, with a population of nearly 23,000 residents, it is the seventh most populous city in Nevada. The space here is wide open. A high desert, it experiences around five inches of rainfall per year. Readers of this fascinating blog know that we have been traveling quite a lot during the last few years, with trips to Alaska, the Dakotas and, and the Grand Canyon and Southwest, and who knows where else. We have appreciated so much these beautiful places and benefitted from the work others have done to keep them that way. So we decided to step up and make a contribution of our own.

Our service trip focused on support for the Paiute Native American tribe situated around Pyramid Lake. 

Our service activity consisted mostly of pulling stuff out of the ground. We yanked out tons of pepperweed, an invasive plant. It is a pernicious creature, with tap roots extending up to ten feet deep into the soil. Removing it seemed like an overwhelming task. For as many as we took out, there were far more of its brethren lined up behind it, happy and healthy and ready to spread. Naturally, to make a significant impact on the environment, you have to pull the plants out by their roots. This involves hunching over a specimen, grabbing it as close to the soil as possible, and pulling hard, using your body weight as leverage. Sometimes body weight wasn’t enough, and the thing just wouldn’t budge. It became pretty clear which of us was the tougher one. No matter, with 12 of us pulling and wrestling these bad boys, we cleared a lot. On the second day of extraction the time went a little faster, since it was in a patch next to the water, and the soil was a little softer. By the end of the Day Two we had filled three pick-up truck beds with the nasty stuff. We felt satisfied and rewarded for our work.

Our third day of labor involved repairing a haba, a traditional shelter to block the strong rays of the sun, and pulling (even more!) weeds in the medicine garden next to the Paiute Tribe museum.

Man, if I put that much effort into my yard it would be a Better Homes & Gardens showpiece.

When we weren’t working we were super busy soaking in the goings on in the area. We watched some Paiute traditional dancers who put on a show just for us, stopped by the Marble Bluff Fish Passage and Research Facility, visited the Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Center (where you can adopt a horse if that is your kind of thing), got up close and personal with Pyramid Lake, hiked a trail on Nature Conservancy property, listened to a lecture and attended a craft fair at the Pyramid Lake Museum, and I don’t know what all. The week’s time seemed to go by slow and fast at the same time. We barely knew what day it was. 

Another benefit of the trip was getting to know the other participants, who came from all over the United States and brought their own skills, interests, and experiences to share. It was gratifying to spend a week with them and the volunteer leaders, who planned and carried out the trip all for no pay. Got that? The volunteer leaders planned and carried out the trip all for no pay. Unbelievable.

We are looking forward to our next Sierra Club adventure.   

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RunningBarb woke up this morning after a long, blissful sleep and felt as though I was in a state of nirvana. Well-rested, refreshed, and drenched in a deep calm. As though nothing was wrong with the world. Or anything else.

During much of my life I ignored sleep, thinking of it as a waste of time. I had Important Things To Do. I was Very Busy. I didn’t have time to spend just lying there. However during my big medical adventures I truly valued sleep to help me heal. I still do.

According to a 2024 post from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, getting enough sleep can help you:

• Get sick less often.
• Stay at a healthy weight.
• Reduce stress and improve your mood.
• Improve your heart health and metabolism.
• Lower your risk of chronic conditions like:
  • Type 2 diabetes.
  • Heart disease.
  • High blood pressure.
  • Stroke.
• Lessen the risk of motor vehicle crashes and related injury or death.
• Improve your attention and memory to better perform daily activities.

Sleeping also gives your brain a bath, cleaning out metabolic waste and “junk” proteins. (I don’t know what they are either, but for sure I don’t want junk in my brain.) 

And, of course, there is dreaming. Sleep experts believe that dreaming may:

• Affect morning mood.
• Assist with emotional processing.
• Help you practice emotional response to stressful events.
• Support memory consolidation, helping your brain take memories and organize how they might be used in the future. 

And there is also evidence that napping is a good idea. Works for me!

While all of that sounds very healthy and dry, there is even more to it. According to an American Psychological Association article:

Dreaming is the source of power for shamans, for it is during dreaming that a person may transcend the limitations of what we call “normal” waking states, fly to distant places, render the normally invisible forces behind events visible, and achieve information that may be personally and socially practical.

That sounds pretty cool.

I know not everyone has full control over their sleep schedule. Babies wake up, flights leave early, there are not enough hours in the day to do everything you need to do. However, we would be wise to heed the words of Homer in The Odyssey:

“There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep.”

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Isn’t Indian food some of the best in the world? The colors: reds, oranges, greens; the variety: dosas, paneers, samosas; the mixture of spices – cinnamon, cardamom, cumin – and, of course, the chile pepper. 

I recently read on NPR about one of the sources of this divine seasoning. In India, almost all chile farmers are women. A labor-intensive job done in scorching heat, growing chiles is mostly a task for members of what used to be called the “gentler” sex. 

According to the article, the work has to be done by women because men “prefer to take on the agricultural jobs that involve finances, such as supervising and selling.” The women also believe that the men just don’t have enough stamina to do the work. The farmers sow the seeds from October to November, then harvest the crop from January to May. They hunch over the low plants for hours each day, their fingers plucking madly, filling a bucket each minute. In the evenings they separate the top quality specimens from those of lesser value. They dry the crop, listening in bed at night for rain, which would destroy the dehydration process. They also grow foods like eggplant, tomatoes, and onions among the chiles, and tend to goats, selling them for meat and peddling their milk and manure. It is a job that seems to give new meaning to the phrase “full-time.” Why do they do it? “[F]or women, chile is a godsend. If we labor hard enough in the fields for those few months, that extra income is enough to keep our homes running for the rest of the year.”

In other words, their business provides them with sufficient income to give them some control over their lives. These women are seriously entrepreneurial and independent.

I eat chiles all the time, the hotter the better. I usually don’t think much about where they come from. Now that I have read about it, I am fascinated to know about one of the sources. The next time I eat a plate of chana masala I will imagine these strong and capable women in their colorful saris coaxing growth out of the land, planning their next crop, and sharing their bounty with the world. 

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You know the term “six degrees of separation?” It refers to the idea that everyone is connected by no more than six people. Maybe my neighbor’s aunt’s dog sitter’s brother’s wife is the personal trainer of the guy whose cubicle is next to mine at work. That sort of thing. 

I am a bike ride leader and secretary for an organization called Washington Women Outdoors (WWO). WWO is a great organization that has been around since 1977, sponsoring cool activities like hiking, camping, paddle boarding, caving, backpacking, and more. If it’s outside, they do it. I participated in my first WWO activity in 1985, rock climbing. That was rock climbing before rock climbing was cool. Since then I have done rock climbing (again and again!), hiking, caving, kayaking, archery, and a lot more. I have met fun and interesting women, many of whom have become friends. I cherish these connections, which have enriched my life.

Not too long ago some of our leaders were going through some files from way back and stumbled upon – well, not stumbled, these women are quite agile – came upon records from the founding of the organization. Turns out the signer of WWO’s articles of incorporation and its first treasurer was Alice Rivlin! Sure, you know who she is – the founding director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) from 1975 to 1983! (Later she was head of the Office of Management and Budget and Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve.) Imagine: while rolling up her sleeves to file the necessary paperwork for incorporation, set up a board of directors, recruit new members, set up a bookkeeping system, balance the budget, and all the other myriad responsibilities involved in launching a start-up, she still found the time to create the CBO! She developed job descriptions, hired new staff, designed a structural hierarchy, and pretty much determined how the office was going to fulfill its Congressional mission. All while raising three children.  

WWO grew out of this kind of energy. And today, we still have a lot of accomplished and amazing women running the show. But the even better thing about the organization is that no matter what your ability level there is a place for you. We have trips for all levels, including newbie beginners. Our core values are empowerment, knowledge, and camaraderie. Our vision is: Through WWO activities, all women in the Washington, DC region will have opportunities to experience and appreciate the outdoors within our supportive community.

We describe our activities and let you know what to expect ahead of time so you can choose the events that are right for you. Our rides and hikes have a leader in the front and a sweep in the back, meaning that if even if you are the slowest person in the group someone will stay back and keep you company. And we take the camaraderie part seriously: we want you to feel included.

So check out the website and consider signing up for something. You never know whom you will meet!

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In a previous blog RunningBarb described the Brennan Center for Justice and the information and education it provides. Today I am sharing intel about the National Constitution Center. It bills itself as “the first and only museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution.”

It is housed in Philadelphia, which we all know is where the Constitution was written. (Remember fourth grade?) There are galleries dedicated to America’s founding, the First Amendment, the signers of the Constitution, and related topics. But you don’t have to go to Philly to learn stuff. The Center provides a daily blog on Constitutional issues, including summaries of Supreme Court cases, podcasts, which include interviews with interesting movers and shakers, online town hall meetings, and much more. It covers historical events and legal principles and also offers ideas on how to improve our democracy and system of government. 

Viewing the materials of the National Constitution Center is a great way to study the founding document of the United States, learn how it has been interpreted historically, and see how it is applied today. It gives context and a lens through which to view current events. And these days, don’t we need all the help we can get? 

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Let’s talk about news. In the old days you would wait for your newspaper to be delivered on your front lawn and read it every morning. You might listen to the news on the radio or watch it on TV. There was a short list of places to find out what was happening, and the ones that were there seemed pretty reliable.

Today, looking for news information can be head-spinning. Many traditional media outlets have closed or drastically revised how they operate, newer ones with a clear agenda and partisan bent have sprouted up, podcasters disseminating conspiracy theories with no accountability have proliferated, and random dispatches by anonymous posters pop up on social media. How to wade through the morass?

While RunningBarb doesn’t have all the answers, one place I do like to go to hear thoughtful, reasoned analysis is the Brennan Center for Justice. Based at the New York University School of Law and nonpartisan, it provides information on a wide range of timely topics, including voting and elections, money in politics, the courts, criminal justice, government power, the U.S. Constitution, and more. It has a team of legal experts who clearly explain issues, problems, and possible solutions in the pursuit of better government and strengthening democracy. They publish “explainers” to help the public better understand the matters that we are reading and learning about. For example, this week the Supreme Court heard arguments on birthright citizenship. What is birthright citizenship, and how has it been interpreted by the courts over the years? The Brennan Center clarifies this for us. 

It also hosts webinars on a wide range of topics, sends out newsletters, and publishes tons of material on its website to help us make sense of what is going on. In addition, it highlights state actions, many of which don’t make it to the national news. All of this is done in a way that focusses on solutions.

I think being in touch with the Brennan Center is a great way to educate myself in a way that is manageable. While there is a lot of bad news going around, learning from the experts at the Brennan Center allows me to take a step back, makes me feel (somewhat) hopeful, and inspires me to do my part to protect our democracy. 

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RunningBarb is the second of four children. My brother Phil is the oldest. As I was growing up I often thought my real name was “Phil’s sister.” Phil was always involved in sports, adventures, and entrepreneurship. When he was twelve he ran a paper route. (History lesson here: Back in the day boys used to deliver the daily newspaper from their bikes.) By the time he was 18 he had started a landscaping business, which he managed until he retired. Now he lives in Wyoming and maintains hiking trails in national forests. Obviously not a slouch.

One night a few years ago, as he and his wife, Cherie, were enjoying the evening, they heard a huge crash outside. Then the lights went out. Right away he knew that a car had hit the light pole in front of the house. (This is how he thinks. He knows how to identify when something breaks, and even better, how to fix it.) He looked out the window and saw a smashed car crunched at a 45 degree angle up against the pole. He observed little flames under the car, like a low setting for your stove if you were warming up dinner.

Immediately he grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran out. He jumped over his front fence to get to the car. (Sports, right?) By then – it couldn’t have been any more than 15 seconds – the entire car was engulfed in fire. A teenager had crawled out of the passenger’s side window and was now pacing the area outside the heat. “I killed my friend!” he sobbed. Apparently he had been engaging in some daredevil brinksmanship with another driver, and this was the result. 

Phil looked into the car and didn’t see anyone. Then he heard screaming. He heard pounding. It was the sound of the other guy kicking the floor and trying to escape. By then Phil had emptied the fire extinguisher and was calling to the boy, whose name was Levi, to move closer to him. Phil started to grab him and spotted what looked like a black rope around his neck. He moved it away, thinking, “What the heck . . .” Then he realized it was the melted seat belt. He pulled Levi out of the strap and continued tugging, calling “Come on, come on, come on!” The driver came over to help and together they dragged Levi’s 200 plus pound frame out to safety. It was not pretty. Levi had sustained severe burns all over his body and eventually spent more than a year in the hospital.

A few minutes later the emergency medical technicians arrived. 

For this act of courage the Medford, New Jersey Police Department awarded Phil its Civilian Service Award. 

Though he didn’t feel it at the time, he sustained burns on his hand while moving the charred seat belt. 

Phil says that when he saw the car ablaze he never thought “I can’t do that.” It was more like “I’d better do that, because I am not sure who else will.” He did not hesitate.

Phil lost his son in an accident in 2014. In 2022 he saved the life of another parent’s child. 

His actions that night represent love in action.

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Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done . . . 

-Bryan Stevenson

Do you know about Bryan Stevenson, the lawyer, educator, and humanitarian? Over his 40 year career he has worked to reform the legal system of punishment in the United States, overturn the death penalty for more than 130 people, expand access to legal and pro bono defense, establish a National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and much more. 

Bryan Stevenson was born in a small town in Delaware in 1959. His father was a lab technician and his mother an equal opportunity officer. He grew up in a home where education was emphasized. He went to church and sang in the choir. The church promoted a philosophy of uplifting people even when they had “fallen down.” This influenced him and his later work.

He grew up in a segregated environment and watched as his mother openly protested these conditions. Bryan was a top student in high school and college, eventually earning a law degree and a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard. During law school he worked for an organization that represents death row inmates. That was the experience that set the trajectory for the rest of his life.

After law school he worked for the Southern Center for Human Rights, then founded the Equal Justice Initiative. In one of his first cases he was able to exonerate and have released from jail Walter McMillian, who had been sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. Since then, Bryan has scored a number of victories on behalf of people unjustly impacted by the criminal system, including those who are poor, uneducated, part of a minority group, young, or a combination of all four. His work is described in his 2014 book Just Mercy, which was also made into a movie. Reading this book helps you see how being “tough on crime” harms vulnerable people and unjustly punishes the innocent. If you want insight into how our system of crime and punishment really works, read this book. Warning here, it’s a hard read.

His list of successes and achievements is seemingly endless. He takes on the most tragic and difficult cases and provides relief for the people impacted. He educates the world about the damage wrought by the significant inequality in our country and the world. He teaches us about mercy and redemption. He does so with grace and humility.

The work of Bryan Stevenson represents love in action.

Looking around in the world it is easy to see a lot of hate, oppression, vindictiveness, and you can add to the list, I’m sure. Seems like it takes an act of courage to show love. Here are some examples we can look to.

One is the Walk for Peace undertaken by 19 Buddhist monks, from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington, DC. The journey took 108 days and covered 2300 miles. Thousands came out to greet them in person en route, including 10,000 admirers in Richmond. Their online presence reached 2.9 million followers on Facebook and 1.9 million on Instagram. They met with many officials from state and local governments. They received pins, badges, and other mementos from law enforcement officers.

According to its leader, Bhikkhu Pannakara, “We walk not to bring any attention to us, but we just hope that we raise awareness of peace to all the people who will meet along the road.” 

He also explained “Love and kindness does not need power, money, or a title. It is simply the choice to stop before hurting, to sharpen before speaking. If each person takes just one second to ask, ‘Will this hurt anyone?’ the world would already be kinder.” 

A second is the ResistDance, a performance by the First Amendment Troop. This dance honors the lives of Renée Macklin Good and Alex Pretti, two American citizens shot to death by our government’s paramilitary ICE agents. This group of artists devoted hours of creativity and practice to develop precise and expressive steps and movements that tell the stories. They literally put their whole selves into it.  

A third is the knitting of the “Melt the ICE” hat being done by thousands of crafty folks around the world. The pattern for this hat is based on the hat worn by Norwegians during the World War II to protest the Nazi government. The Nazis felt so threatened by the wearing of this hat that they banned it. These knitters work their hands to stand for what is right. Proceeds from the sales of the pattern – more than $250,000 and counting – go to immigrant mutual aid groups in Minnesota.

We may feel small and unable to stop the flow of hate. But maybe we can seek out sparks of love, and even create some of our own.

What are some acts of love that you have seen lately?

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Remember last spring when the current president wrote a bunch of executive orders punishing law firms he didn’t like? Some of them sued, and won. The United States Department of Justice was set to appeal those decisions, then on Monday, March 2, dropped its appeal. Hooray for the Constitution! On Tuesday I wrote the blog below, for posting on Thursday.

Then – on Tuesday, the administration changed its mind, filing a motion to drop the motion to drop the appeal. Got it? So they are going to press on with an appeal. Lucky for them, they have unlimited resources in the form of the tax dollars you and I pay out of our hard-earned income. Unlucky for the law firms and us, this is a continuing, expensive battle to protect our Constitutional rights. Where, just where, is our country headed. 

Tuesday, March 2 Blog

Last spring – which feels like around 350 years ago now –  the president of the United States issued a series of executive orders aimed at punishing some of the nation’s largest law firms. He chose firms who took positions he did not agree with or who represented clients he did not like. He accused them of overturning elections, following illegal policies related to hiring and employment, and undermining justice, among many other complaints.  

As he often does, he offered to strike a deal with these firms. If they capitulated to his demands and provided millions of dollars of free legal representation to his administration, he would lift the executive order. Think about it: The president will use the power of one of the most well-funded Justice Departments on the planet to go after you on arbitrary grounds on a whim, but will leave you alone if you pay a bribe. 

While some firms abandoned their ethical responsibilities and caved, others stood up to protect the Constitutional rights of themselves and others. As I wrote in a previous blog, my favorite law suit of all those being filed against the administration (now up to 670) was the one brought by the American Bar Association on this very issue. The ABA claimed the executive order was issued for retaliatory purposes and violates the Constitution. Several law firms sued as well. 

The firms won their cases at the district level, and the administration was set to appeal. However it decided to drop its appeal four days before its appeals court brief was due. Seems like the Justice Department was not so sure it would win at this level. Therefore, the decisions invalidating the executive orders stand. 

It’s kind of maddening when someone or something has to spend a year and boatloads of money to defend against an action that is so blatantly unconstitutional. 

All the same, I hope the success of these law firms serves as an example to other powerful entities who are considering forsaking their principles for short term gain. While the win is good news for the rule of law, it is also a reminder that none of us should take our rights for granted. We must be diligent in protecting them, electing leaders who respect the Constitution, and being sure to participate in the democratic process.