karmicdragonfly | Entries tagged with people

Met a guy on the trail Friday...spent some time talking, walking, looking at snakes (really -- lots of snakes out at the river). I would say that he had a quiet soul...and I was digging the quiet depth of him. Blue eyes that I had a hard time not staring deeply into!

I really like meeting new people. I left things by saying if we ever see each other again on the trails, we'll spend some time hanging out.

Speaking of the aforementioned...

Lots of snakes on the river trail today! This a Northern Watersnake I think.

I remember when the Prisma app was free. Now subscription of course, so I signed up for 3 day free trial. Pretty much same as it was years ago, and I don't think it's worth subscribing too. But the filters applied to photos can be cool and interesting...and then I lose interest.

It has been a busy weekend. Friend over for wine Friday evening; friend had a party Saturday night; today my board games group was at my house.

Still thinking about a long distance encounter...

I found a small item on Etsy that I liked, so I bought it. I didn't pay much attention to where it was being shipped from -- I skimmed and saw 'Poland', and I thought that was interesting.

Only later did I realize it was Poltava, UKRAINE. It took a fair amount of time to get from there to Kyiv, and finally to the US.

The seller was so very sweet...This was her message after I left a nice review --

And this was a note in the package delivered --

In general, I tend to chat with people that I run into. Maybe it's weird for an introvert, but I really enjoy that initial conversation with strangers!

There was the guy on the petroglyph trail at Chaco...we walked and talked together for a part of the trail. He was from Colorado....his wife died a couple years ago. He said she told him to not sit around the house after she was gone, and he is following her advice! He was on the way to Austin to meet up with his brother to see some music, drink some beer and hang out! Which sounds fantastic to me!

Then there was the guy at the bar at the airport...an applied mathematician on his way back home. He had missed the shuttle to his city, so he was having a bite to eat and a beer, waiting for the next time when the shuttle would leave.

Then there was the couple at House on Fire in Mule Canyon...she was a retired school Superintendent...and he was 6 months from retiring. They were from Albuquerque I think, traveling around with a camper to enjoy their time! The other folks at the site were from Tucson...and I think Santa Fe?

And even if I don't chat with them long, I usually establish some sort of rapport...the park ranger at Chaco....the guy in the bathroom at Chaco when he found out that there was no hot water...the woman sitting next to me in the plane...the ranger at White Sands whom I made laugh, etc.

Basically, I know how to start a conversation, if the other person is open to it!

I wrote a post venting about the demagogue currently in the office of the president of the US...and I decided to not post most of it because this situation didn't just come about by accident.

The existing order in the US has been rotting for a while...

As our education and cultural mores have eroded (do students even get the opportunity to read classical literature any more?)
As we valued education less.
As we let our electronic devices curate our news and make decisions for us.
As we let the power-hungry manipulators of the world divide us with targeted ads.
As we stay cloistered in our houses, watching entertainment instead of enjoying each other's company.
As we let pay structures in our corporations get so out of whack that a do-nothing CEO makes 100 times the person making the widget.
As our institutions have failed us. The largest media sources are little more than entertainment outlets now. Our religions seems to value war and suffering more than peace, education and kindness.
As we sat fat and happy consuming, consuming, consuming, consuming....

I don't have a good solution. I'm not particularly a Luddite, but I have less interest in 'social media' now, having deleted my Facebook account a year and 1/2 ago. I do still read Twitter, but I try to judge the source of what I'm reading more now.

I suspect the only solution will be to strengthen our social contacts with others (in real life, not virtually!)...and to turn off the electronic devices (à la Timothy Leary's 'Turn on, Tune in, Drop out')...and to live more simply.

I also think that the only way the human race will survive is to get off the planet and establish colonies elsewhere. We are too self destructive, and there are too many of his here now to survive here.

I was reading an article about how the Amish use some technologies, but not others, and that they make the decision based on how each technology will impact their families long term. I think it's a really good idea to judge a technology before using it, as to whether it makes your life better or not. And like food and drink, sometimes you consume too much and have to go on a diet -- I think we should diet from our electronics.

I was invited by a couple friends to attend a TEDxRVA talk tonight about the experiences of people who are refugees who are able to re-settle in the area. it was a good session -- it certainly made me think about how 'much' I have!

This was a YouTube that was presented to kick off the session --

Watch on YouTube

I did a couple more edits of photos from the fire spinners the other night. I like taking photos of the audience...and as I was looking at them, I decided that the common thread was that they were all human...

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Karmic-Dragonfly

Queer, (mostly) vegetarian, (mostly) Buddhist who lives with a very old Mulberry

Entries tagged with people

Blue eyes to get lost in

Long Distance Kindness - Connected World

Chatting with Strangers While Traveling

Badly educated begets bad behavior

Refugees

Humans

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May 2025

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