Letter to editor of Los Alamos Monitor

Posted: Saturday, 15 January 2011; Updated: Monday, 21 February 2011

It is ironic that Friday's front page headlines of the Monitor [of 14 Jan] carried two items of immense importance where the more important item received less attention.

In the more important headline, "Council drafts a new vision statement", reporter Kirsten Laskey listed the proposed vision statement along with ten new statement goals. Not addressed in either the vision statement or the County Council's ten goals was there any critical concern for the reasons behind the other headline item, "Weapons cache seized".

Laskey's article reminds me of a letter to the editor of December 26, 2010, where citizen John Diennes wrote about the council's "backwards" priorities, observing that it marginalizes local citizens in the process of making its decisions. It also reminded me of Geoff Rodgers' statement during the September 12, 2010 LAGRI (Los Alamos Government Review Initiative) forum for potential councilors, where he addressed this same question, stating that he was a citizen first and a councilor second. I think Geoff has become the solitary voice for the ordinary citizen and was recently elected by the majority of marginalized citizens who feel unheard these days.
At least that is why I voted for him.

Note: an amplified version of this letter was published by the Monitor on Tuesday, January 18.
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The Caveman of Atomic City

Posted: 28 December 2010: Updated: 16 January 2011

On Monday, 27 December, after having wondered where "The Caveman of Atomic City" was now living, I found the following hand-written note from him on the back of a solicitation flier in my mailbox. In it he thanked me for making a small pledge to Los Angeles film maker Paul Ratner's film called micromikefilm.com, which is a documentary of micromike's current life and ideas here in the Atomic City.  Ratner obviously had contacted Mike and to my astonishment, Mike's note revealed that he lived only two short blocks away from me! I wrote to him and we agreed to meet at my home the next day. 

The Caveman of Atomic City, film flier and note.

On Tuesday, 28 December 2010,  "The Caveman of Atomic City", who calls himself "micromike" came to my door at 11:00 and we spent over two hours at my place getting acquainted (see photo below) and another two hours at his place. Talk about strange and wonderful coincidences, we have met each other in a common interest! He would call it gravionic. I would call it spiritual. Our respective goals are similar, but not identical. Both of us recognize the international significance of Los Alamos and want to make a contribution to our community. We differ only in our approaches.

micromike and me

New Year's Day, 2011.

So much has happened since writing the above! One of the stories Mike told me about his experience living in his cave on government land and in the nearby forest was about a visit from a hummingbird who sat on a branch of a nearby tree to listen to Mike play his recorder. That wonderful story reminded me of my own experience of singing with eyes closed to a purring wild bobcat in my lap in a lodge in a forest on Mount Shasta, California many decades ago. But Mike's story became even more miraculous as he told of the same humming bird returning to that very same branch exactly a year later and sitting for 45 minutes as Mike once again played his recorder for the bird, this time offering his entire repertoire. "Have you ever heard of a hummingbird sitting for so long in one place?" he asked. Of course I hadn't. And I left my visit with the impression that that little bird would have sat on that branch even longer had Mike known anything more to play! :)

Sunday, January 16, 2011
It is hard to keep up with micromike's saga and Paul Ratner's rapidly developing documentary film about him and his ideas. Unfortunately, between New Year's Day and today a chill has come over my correspondence with Mike, which I hope will thaw soon. Mike was not happy that I did not read his book Gravionics right away and withdrew from further communication, posting a "Do Not Disturb" sign on his door. Actually, even though the book itself put me off at the very beginning, I am nevertheless reading it carefully at my own pace and with pencil in hand only because I learned to care for this strange, compelling man during the two four-hour conversations I had with him the week we first met. And I trust that initial experience.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Mike's front door with note

 Because Mike's story and ideas are a perfect example of what I would call "potential creative energy", it is welcome in our LADDOF project. And, as I reflect on my own life experiences and behavior, I wish someone would have engaged me long ago with as much challenge and attention to my writings and ideas as I am now giving Mike and his book. I will soon be publishing an Amazon.com review of it, which will illustrate my understanding of The Golden Rule.

Note: Do Not Disturb

To be continued...

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