Full Body Burden

Posted: Friday, June 8, 2012
Updated:

Front of Dust Jacket

Yesterday (Thursday, 8Jun12) Jim Bradbury came to our home for an hour of LADDOF talk. He brought two books with him:
1. Full Body Burden: Growing up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats by Kristen Iversen, just published.
2. Achieving Nuclear Ambitions: Scientists, Politicians, and  Proliferation by Jacques E. C. Hymans

Jim thought, and I agreed, that Iversen's book would be a good reference for my upcoming Sunstone Symposium presentation, Los Alamos Deep Democracy?

Back of Dust Jacket

Inner Dust Jacket Flaps

Jim also brought with him his letter of resignation, which I persuaded him to delay until at least after my presentation in Salt Lake City in late July.

Jim Bradbury's letter

Dream workshop with Victoria

Event: Tuesday, 8 May 2012
Updated: 

I HAD THE CRAZIEST DREAM LAST NIGHT!
Twelve Creative Explorations into The Genius of The Night Mind
by Victoria Rabinowe

Amazing!

In a preliminary-to-workshop conversation with dream worker/artist/educator/teacher/author, etc. Victoria Rabinowe in her Santa Fe studio on Tuesday, May 8, 2012, we discovered that our paths first crossed on June 1993 at the annual conference of the Association for the Study of Dreams (ASD) in Santa Fe. That was Victoria's first introduction to the world of dream work and Jungian psychology. At that 1993 conference I had been invited by the incoming president to sing "Beautiful Dreamer" to open the meeting. Victoria remembered the song.

The theme of Victoria's May 8 workshop was "My Mother/Myself".

To be continued....
...

Gregory Schaaf's counsel re Story Tree project

Event: Sunday, January 29, 2012

Of the Gregory and Angie Yan Schaaf Collection

Birgitta and I visited Gregory and Angie Schaaf at their living museum home to discuss the status of the "Story Tree of Los Alamos" project. This was Birgitta's first visit to the Schaaf home and she was overwhelmed by the comprehensive collections: pottery, tapestries, jewelry, masks, totems, paintings, sculptures, etc.

I came to seek Gregory's counsel on how to approach pueblo artists in commissioning them for prototype pots with images for our story tree. After reviewing with him our latest thoughts, he suggested a more practical way to consider the enterprise. For openers, the story tree has morphed into to story trees. This opens the approach to include the cottonwoods of the pueblo in addition to the originally envisioned chestnut tree from Russia or Ukraine. I thought especially of the great ancient cottonwood at the intersection of the plazas.

Gregory stretched my imagination to show how to keep true to the symbolism of the project while considering practicalities we'd not yet thought of. Our next board meeting will have several new options to discuss.

Buffalo Deer Dance on San Ildefonso Feast Day

Event: 23 January 2012;
Updated: 16 June 12

The most important feast day of the year is in honor of San Ildefonso, patron saint of the pueblo, when the Buffalo Deer Dance is performed.

Male Figures in Costume 

Julian Martinez  

1932

Female Figure in Costume 

Jose Encarnacion Peña

1932

Male and Female Figures from 

Jose Encarnacion Peña

1932

Deer Dancer

Richard Martinez  (Opa Mu Nu)

1932

After the Dances, which featured all the costumes above and many more, we dined at Mamma Isabelle Gonzales's home with family and her tribal sheriff son, Myron Gonzales, at the head of the table. On top of the cabinet on the dining room south wall, I spied the many inserts of their wooden Russian nesting doll ("matryoshka"). It was a gift from Sister City Sarov guests. Then I asked to sing for my supper my favorite Russian folk song about a birch tree. Myron thought it was worth an "American Idol" appearance. "Too old", I said, to which an old woman seated on my left declared. "Not so! Indians never grow too old!"

Salt Lake City trip objectives

Event: December 26-31, 2011.

Traveled to Salt Lake City for LADDOF, Inc. with several objectives in mind:

1. Deliver solicited personal materials to the U of Utah Special Collections repository.
     [Ongoing activity begun in March 2004]

2. Meet with John K. Carmack, Executive Director of LDS Church Perpetual Education Fund
     

3. Meet with Jack Tueller, Col (Ret) USAF,  WWII Veteran, fighter pilot and Trumpet Player
       

4. Meet with Oscar McConkie, Jr.,  Recently retired general counsel for LDS Church

5. Hang out with youngest son, John.

In general: lay groundwork for eventual LADDOF patrons and repairing reputation of second family.

The Mormon-Church Factor in Los Alamos

Posted: 8 Dec 11; Updated: 12 Dec 11

Peaceful Religion

Typical Sunday at Los Alamos LDS Ward (full parking lot)

I am working on a short (5-10 minute) presentation as a draft open letter to the Los Alamos community called "The Mormon-Church Factor in Los Alamos" as a subject for an upcoming forum sponsored by the Los Alamos Deep Democracy Open Forum, Inc. This is a subset to a broader "first hot topic" regarding an apparent "disconnect" between the Los Alamos County Council and county citizens.

Meeting Myron (Strong Willow) Gonzales

Posted: Monday, 28 Nov 11; Updated:

Eugene and Myron in Los Alamos on 11/28/11

It is hard to imagine a more meaningful conversation!

At long last  I met with Myron Gonzales to discuss LADDOF's "Story Tree" project. Last August 18, San Ildefonso Gov. Perry Martinez assigned Gonzales in his role as the tribal council's representative for cultural affairs to evaluate the project. Frustrations, PC problems and unexpected obstacles delayed our meeting until Monday, November 28. But it was as if our meeting had been arranged by influences far beyond our control to give us ultimately an unhurried opportunity to meet and hear each other in a "deep democracy" setting. The meeting lasted almost three hours.