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later that week gnat and IS got an email..saying that they had a vacation planned for them in South Greem . . .they were to pack their backpacks and bicycle to the main pier in south greem and get there before three ...and there was a map of the route.and a gps address .and the name of the ship ...it was called the Isadora, , . . .so they got their backpacks ready and next morning early they ate breakfast and then went down and grabbed two bikes .. loaded their backpacks onto the bikes.. put their sphone gps into the holder and they were off..everything was calm that early in the morning...they had the road to themselves . .. city blocks went floating by . .then they left the tall buildings behind and it was just the road, the beach, and the sea ,,, it was tempting to swim in the water,,there were big waves , ,they watched for a while and then pressed on . . .after awhile they came to a slight hill overlooking South Greem..the town was built on flat land the east of south greem bordered the ocean,,and to the south was a round bay with a channel access to the sea......on the north side of the harbor was a town square and around the square were the village shops , , the town businesses were laid out in a grid , ,, the grid was populated close in ..less so further out . . .and after the grid were the houses . . densely packed and randomly arranged., , , ,all the roads were one lane. which gave it a country feel, ,.. they could see the piers in the harbor , ,,gnat tried to guess which pier they had to go to , , they were a little early , so they walked their bikes down into the town , , some of the streets were cobblestone ...all the houses were pink granite with a little garden in the small front yard . . the town was fun to explore . ..they went into a map store , , ,,a sign on the wall said "a picture is worth a thousand words,, and a map is worth a thousand pictures." that was their philosophy .. .they of course had geological maps, but also they had semantic maps,,logic maps.. science maps , ,all to down load to your sphone , he loaded an interesting map .into his sphone. it was titled ."map of all objects in the sky". .they went down to the piers , , ,

the gps led them to a particular pier ... . they parked the bikes and took their backpacks.. walking down the pier they read off the boat names until they got to the Isadora,,, it was a handsome ship, graceful lines maybe 60 feet long...they crossed the gangplank into the presence of the a tall man with a sailors cap

WII>>well hello. . . i'm captain WII and you are????
gnat>>I am gnat and this is IS .. . . we were told to be here at three ..and we're 3 minutes early by my watch.
WII>> its never to late to be early ... . your bunk is cabin #4 ..there you'll find 2 rain jackets....there yours to keep,,,,,.put them on..... get settled and we'll be underway in 30 minutes
they went below deck and passed the lounge/kitchen and down a corridor to #4 ..the cabin was small,.with a porthole,, a bed and a table.....they lay on the bed awhile .very romantic ..they heard a motor start and the boat started moving . then they heard a bell ring three times and a voice say "all hands on deck"..they put on their rainjackets...nice shade of green...

.. .so they made their way on deck.. the boat was making its way into the open bay . .and once clear of the pier they turned off the electric motor , , ,
WII>>"ok everyone..line up here , ,, good .. we are gonna practice our sails in the bay . . .deckhand one and two you are in charge of the jib.... ....deckhand 3 and 4, your in charge of the mainsail , . . .,deck hand 5 you have the helm. . .now DH 1 and 2 ,,pay attention .". and with that , ,he showed them how to raise lower and raise the jib, and also how to change the jib from port to starboard ..".now DH 3 and 4 ,,pay attention" and he showed them how to raise and lower the mainsail and how to shift the mainsail boom from starboard to port , , .."ok lets go .... raise the jib .. . "

gnat and deckhand 1 grabbed the jib sheet and wrapped around a wench and two of them pulled on the rope . ...until the jib was high as it would go ..they locked it . .

WII>>"great now set the jib to the port side "..which they did

WII>>"raise the mainsail" .....IS got in position and helped pull the saill up . ..the boat heeled abit . . .. the wind was quite brisk . . .and the boat picked up steam .. .
my word it was going fast . . the water in the harbor was protected and so had very little wave action .

they practiced sailing for an hour and then it was on with the show .. .now they were making way towards the ocean and to get there they had to go thru a boulder lined channel . it was about 100 feet wide and 250 feet long and the waves in the channel were much larger for some reason , , , the wind was at their backs and so was favorable for them not to have to tack the boat in the channel , a straight shot.., ,

WII>>"everybody ,,, prepare for some turbulance...everybody in the cockpit...now... .." everybody sat down in the cockpit ... and held onto something

they entered the channel .... the boat was traveling in the same direction and faster than the waves. the bow crawled up the first wave balanced on top and then headed down the other side . . .picking up a little speed as they headed down ..the wave,,,this is called surfing..and it was fun . . .after 2 or three waves the fear factor lessened and they started enjoying .the ride . . ..

after awhile they cleared the channel and headed into the ocean where the waves were a little less threatening ,,WII scanned the horizon , , , and called for them to loosen the jib ...a bit and he let out the boom sheet and he adjusted the heading so that they followed the wind , , this was very relaxing .........the whole world slowed down ,, ,time slowed down , , ,

gnat made his way to the bow and sat down next to two people a man and a woman and said hello , , ,
angie>>hi I am angie and this is bert .. . . .
gnat>>nice to meet you ,,I am gnat . .. how are you all holding up so far???
angie>>this is my first sailboat excursion so I'm kinda nervous , ,
bert>> I've sailed before but nothing near this big , , ,and with our very own captain , and our own cabin , ,wow
gnat>>its a great adventure and its great that we dont have to burn any fossil fuel to move around,, its got a little motor but its electric , , ,are you here together on vacation??
angie>>yes we are . .. .we live in greem at 23 and juniper . . .
gnat>> I live at 1305 chantilly lane..but we haven't lived there for very long.......what do you like about greem??
bert>>i love the parks and the fact that the animals are not afraid of us .. . . especially the wombats and the kukaburrows , , , ,
angia>> i love the live music . . . the buskers and also the clubs , , ,alot of open mikes so there's always something great happening, , ,and the food . . .its great , ,, ,alot of variety ,, , ,i hate to wreck the mood but did you here what the scotus did on Earth??, , ,,
gnat>>you mean the most corrupt scotus in American history?? why ,they just destroyed Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . giving the president the power of a king and the USA is his kingdom . . .Biden was given that power and was safe with it...he was honest and would always do the right thing , ,, we will lose the rule of law , , , we will lose everything thats good.....

WII>>"prepare to come about ",, ,, ,, ,,the crew took up their positions ,,, and waited ready,
" Come about"... the boat swung into the wind and settled on the other side the boom swung into the new position . . the ship was nicely making way . . . .

they finally came to an island , with a very small harbor ,,they pulled up to the dock and lowered the sails.. .. .once the ship was secure, everybody went on shore and into a small restaurant , ,, it wasn't crowded and they sat a round table , , ,a waiter came over and took their order . . ..

WII>>anybody here ever been on a sailboat?
bert>> is used to own one ,, , ,it was a 15 footer called an albacore , , ,we took it to Deep Creek Maryland one summer .. .. the last day there the wind was brisk ,,we had the lake to ourselves , , , ,, i was at the helm and my friend micky and my sister lise were basically weighrs to limit the heeling of the boat ,, ,, i would tack and tell them to change sides to the windward , , ,,over and over ,, ,, till one time I just let them stay to leeward .. . .i thought they should know what to do .. . .anyway the boat was heeling but not too bad .. . .then I looked ahead watching the wind patterns on the water when I saw what looked like a big burst of wind . .coming at us. . sure enough it hit like a ton of bricks and the boat went over..my first capsize , ,, , i instinctively knew what to do ...you must try to keep the boat from turning turtle,,,which means the hull rotates 180 degrees . . .so that the mast is pointing straight down in the water..and the centerboard is pointing at the sky...so micky and I swam around the boat and headed for the centerboard ,,, ,, sure enough just as we got there,,, the centerboard started pointing to the sky ,,i grabbed it and it stopped ..then mickey grabbed it and we were able to right the boat , , , ,thank god we were in sight of a yacht club.... it was surounded by dozens of sailboats anchored close together . . .they were having a party on the roof deck , , ,and it was loud ...they saw us capsize and sent out a motor boat to tow us in , thankyou Gaia Gaia, ,once at the pier we spent a good hour bailng the boat out using a gallon milk jug . . . .and once more under way.. i was manouvreing through the anchored boats when lise and mickey shouted " look out ".... . I looked ahead and saw i was 10 feet way from ramming a sailboat ,, , ,I pushed the tiller hard away from me and barely avoided a collision...bert took a cool breathe in ...then out.......... "thankyou tao tao thank you gaia gaia"

WII>>on earth I was a captain and owned an .inboard engine yacht , ,rigged for fishing in the gulf stream . . . i'd take people fishing for $185 an hour , , ,that covered insurance and gas with a tidy bit left over , , ,but from the get go I let them know it was strictly catch and release .. .take only photographs and memories , , , one day I had 3 blokes fishing....one was bringing his hook up to check the bait ,, when all of a sudden not ten feet away he hooked into a small hammerhead ,,before we could bring in the other lines ,the fish immediately started swimming in circles unerneath the boat , ,, snagging all the lines to the point where we had to cut all the lines . . . .that , my friends.....was my last fishing excursion.....i packed it in then and there,,

they had a nice meal and tea . . .and then split up ...gnat and IS walked along the sandy shore,, playing tag with the waves ,,,,, there were seals on the beach,,, they were unafraid , , there were also gulls on nests ,, ,,if you came too close to the nest,, the gull would get off the nest,and pretend to be injured,,trying to lure you away from the nest,,, , , ,they went into the sand dunes and lay down where they could see the ocean , ,, ,they caressed.., ,the sun went down the stars came out there was a moon, but it was blue , , ,and very near the horizon ,if you watched it for awhile you could see it rise , ,, from the restaurant came the sound of live music..a guitar and voice , , ,they went back to the restaurant and chilled for awhile....then it was back to the boat and cabin #4 ,it was romantic...they spooned a little then they talked . .

gnat>>the water on Earth is getting measureably warmer , , , have you noticed , , ,and why is that ,, ,, its because the oceans are absorbing the excess heat faster than the land..making the land heat up slower....which is great but only for so long . . . the climate is heating up .. ..the north pole's ice covering is shrinking while antarctic is calving icebergs oh well ..

sleep came fast .

they woke to a bell that rang 7 times , , , they got dressed and went down the corridor to the main cabin , , ,, and then up on deck .. . every one sat around the table... there was just enough food for them,,,nothing left over. . . .and the coffe was just right . . .

WII>> I hope everyone slept well last night . . .isnt it amazing that a ship this big can operate in the ocean and not need an ICE .. .. .. internal combustion engine , , ,we can sail around the world without a single drop of gasoline , ,,some of the largest ICE's are built for ships . .. container ships , cruise ships , oil tankers , , ,the engine can be several stories tall and consume vast quantities of oil....some of the ICE's cant be turned off . . in their mind... the only other alternative to gas is nuclear fission ,, , ,
and we know how impractical that has become . . . nothing is 100% safe ,, , even if a condom is 99% safe you are still taking a chance , , ,even if nukes are 99% safe, you still wind up with a a Fukushima , , which contaminated and obliterated 8% of the Japanese territory . . at first the japanese government did the right thing and shut down their nuclear power plants, , ,all 54 of them ,but only for a little while , ,and then they addressed the leaking of . the radioactive water ,into the pacific . . . .300 tons a day....enough to fill an olympic pool in 8 days...... this was diverted into large tanks . . .which filled up quickly...so many tanks had to be built that eventually they decided to allow the radioactive runoff to once again flow into the sea , , ,the effect this will have on the ocean is not publisized . . .but it cant be good . .its an oozing wound . . . .

gnat>> no to nukes ,, , no to coal , , ,no to gasoline . . .yes to solar, , ,yes to wind , , , yes to geothemal....yes to fuel cells ,,, ,yes to the next revolutionary breakthru, which may be an engine that runs on water with no emisions, yes to rechargeable batteries .,yes to a liberal president , liberal congress, liberal supreme court and an honest liberal press , , , honesty everywhere , , , can I hear an amen .. . brothers and sisers

all>>an enthusiastic "AMEN"

WII and gnat went below and WII laid his sphone on the table ,, "URI" .,,"bring up a map of the coast off of south Greem to 75 miles" .. the table top showed the ocean off the coast of South Greem . . .there were dozens of islands of many different sizes , , ,he pointed out pelican island which is where they were currently anchored , , ,.it was a big island,, the map showed the casa and the pier which was in a harbor . ., , ,,

Gnat>> whats gonna be our course for the next leg of our journey??
WII>> well we're just gonna turn aroumd and head back to south greem .. .. .heading of 278degrees and if we have to tack alot we have GPS to tell us our position , , ,shouldn't take more than a few hours , , , ok all hands to your stations....

and with that they took their positions .. .. .the wind was brisk today , , , ,the electric motor kicked in and the cast the ropes off the pier and headed out . . . .
WII>>"put the jib on the portside and then raise it " ,, ,, ,, first they brought the jib port side and then raised it ,, ,it was really whipping in the wind but calmed down once it was set...."ok bring the boom portside and then raise the mainsail ,, "

there was a sudden surge in the boat .. .she leaned over some and picked up speed . ..quite a sensation .. ... .they settled in for the ride ..

angie>>I dont understand how people can vote for him . . .you know .... he who will not be named ..
bert>>its ok to talk politics in greem because everyone is on the same page..everyone here is bluer than blue . ..people of Greem are good at discerning of the truth . .they cant be lied to ,, ,, .intelligent .....and informed .... and as far as entertainment goes.... .they are sophisticated ...they dont go for violence or stupidity.....for example wrestling on tv . . .brutish violent..... base....appealing to a dumb demographic . . .uneducated . . . .votes red everytime . . . .why he even did a video of himself taking down another wrestler .. ..from the ring to the ground . . .it almost looked real . . .they ate it up . . .he who shant be named is an entertainer , , ,thats all , , , he makes the news .. ..never boring . . . never dull ...stupid yes but never dull . . .smart people can hear one lie from a source and discredit that source from then on , , ,he lies every chance he gets .. .. and the deplorables buy into it . . .over and over again .. . .they dont value truth . . . .they value power . . the sweet taste of vicarious power . . . .they like sports ,, they identify with right wing reds like they would a football team ..they root for their team even if its not logical , , ,logic has nothing to do with it .........they root for the home team whenever . . .may be only intelligent people should be allowed to vote .. .maybe even the presidential candidates should take an IQ test . . .that would have solved our problem . . . .nip it in the bud . . . .its been said..."the only people voting for trump are the Rich, the Rubes, and the Racists

they made it back to the channel .. .the wind was blowing astern . . which meant that they had a clear shot ..they wouldn't have to tack to run the channel...the waves were big and the ship rocked a bit when they climbed a wave ... .so much so that the boom dipped into the water...temporarily .. . . it gave them quite a fright ... .. for a few seconds . . .and they pulled the main sheet in just a little . . .

they made it back into the bay and the waves calmed down a bit.. .. .

WII>>prepare to jibe

IS and angie manned the boom sheet and waited..and bert and gnat pulled the jib sheet a little tighter and waited.

WII>> "jibe" and he pushed the tiller to the other side /// //

the boom moved violently to the other side and they waited for the last second of the tack to move the jib to the other side and pull in a little line ..

as they got close to the pier.,, they lowered the sails and kicked on the electric motor...which made it easier to dock...soon they made it back to the pier and secured the ship . .

. .they grabbed their gear and said all their goodbyes and
WII>> thanks for doing your jobs so well , , you truly did an outstanding job .. .it was a pleasure to serve with you and I hope this voyage will be a cache of pleasant memories .. ..you did good ..
and with that they crossed the gangplank . . . back on dry land

bert and angie met with IS and gnat . . . it started to rain a little . . . their rain jackets felt cozy . . . .they walked across the square and went into a protest shop..called the redwood allaince....gnat looked at the books in the bookshelf...they were all about nuclear pollution . . . .

Meg>>you can borrow a book if you want............
gnat >>"thanks" ... . . .gnat had a philosophy to in general to try to never say no especially when offered a gift ,,"nuclear is not really my bag, i am more a "if a tree falls in the forest" .....kinda guy"
Meg>>if truth be told so am I.,,,trees in general,, redwoods in particular , , , in Babel they are cutting down redwoods to make picnic tables, ,many of them .. ..tables where you can eat outdoors to enjoy nature , , how sick is that... some redwoods have been around for over 2000 years...they are our ancestors...and they are a beauty to behold . . one thing we do is occupy the trees . live in the crown. . if the tree is occupied they cant cut her down....
gnat>>i just came from a tree sitting , , i stayed there a few days ,,,,with butterfly and luna .. . . .it was a wonderful experience.
Meg>>i know them .. . .butterfly and luna have been together over a year . .. she's a real hero...and she truly deserves to be thanked for her service..... she even wrote a book about her experiences..called "the legacy of luna...weve got it here somewhere , ,, she shuffled around .. ..looking here and there . ..finally she came up with it ,,"you want to borrow it or buy it?. ...
gnat took the book and looked it over and decided to buy it .. not knowing when he'd be able to return it...

paul was sitting at a desk working on his lartop..he found a place to stop and turned around
Paul>>welcome welcome to the Redwood Alliance ,, everyone is welcomed here . . .except for big tree fellers ..unrepentent murderers...and right-wing polititians...also wilfullly ignorant people,     people who don't care for the Earth, people who cant tell the truth from lies,,,and people who dont care for democracy . . I guess that would include about 900% of all republicans....dont ask me what that means . . .here we believe that when something is wrong we need to be vocal about it . . .we need to get together and push back....go outside,,,be seen , , ,protest nonviolently ..
one possibilty is to restrict the voting to people who are intellegent ...dumbies make ill informed decisions . . . .emotional decisions . . .stupid decisions ,, wasnt that how greek culture started .. we have a website....getbacktogreem.com.....its like a bulletin board ,,listing all the different areas of concern in the world..like nuclear power..nuclear weapons ,.. .felling old growth trees,...global warming..various concerns with the military budget ..sprawl . . habitat loss especially the amazon rain forest.....pollution . . . the ozone hole , , ,which by the way ,, ,, we protested against it and the world took action banning the stuff thats responsible and today the ozone hole as a whole.....is healing fast ..no small feat . . .

Gnat>>"wow thats alot going on , ,,"........he glanced at the wall .... there was a cork board full of bumber stickers , ,, one said "nuke makes me puke".....another said "be the change you want to see in the world"......"Love your mother ..her name is GAIA GAIA"..."We should give vice-president Kamala Harris a promotion." .. .. etc.
there was one sticker that stood out ..it said...... "be the hundredth monkey " ....... with a picture of a goofy chimpanzee smiling at you..."what is that sticker about.... "
Paul>>oh. funny you should mention that . . .there's a storey about a troop of 100 monkees who lived on a small island ..one of many small islands with monkey colonies. . . .on this particular island there were a group of scientists studying the monkees.........well ...on this particular island there was no alpha male , ,,just an alpha female . . . .named cloe...they had no vocal chords so they couldn't speak to each other but they couild communicate telepathically ..any way they would gather a particular type of food ..a sweet potato,,which was abundent but had a problem . . . the sweet potato was covered with dirt and that made it not so good to eat , , ,well one day as the sientists watched ..cleo took the potato and dipped it into a stream.. and all the dirt washed away making it taste great . . .soon all the troop started washing their potatos..once all the 100 members of the troop did it,the scientist found that the behavior started spreading to other islands..soon ..all the monkees on all the other islands started washing their potatos. . . .the moral of the tale is that if enough people start doing something or believing in something new it will spead across the land . . . so thats what we want to do...to find something or things new and powerful... . . .a game changer that can help heal the planet , , , ,, ,some new reality ..dormant.... overlooked by mankind . . .
gnat>>so is there somethings new that you have in mind...literaly in your mind??????
Paul>>yes there is ...lets see if you can figure it out . . . . take a guess.......
bert>>maybe its vegetarianism.. people will live longer...save the planet.....
Paul>>your on the right path .. yes it will help the earth,,,but not save it ...we need something that will definitely save the planet..
any more guesses?? \
Angie>>how about global heating?
Paul>>that would be great to do,,,but its not a new idea, is it..its a well known fact and ..it wont compell anyone to do anything about it, will it... dont give up???
I'll give you 60 seconds of silence to think it over........... close your eyes .no peeking . . .. .think what new realities can we bring to bear

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Paul>> times up . . .what did it feel like to close your eyes for 60 seconds?????did you see anything????
gnat>>what do you mean??
Paul>>never mind , , ,,what did you come up with???

IS>>is it jesus coming to get us....and save us from ourselves??
Paul>>Christianity is a fatalistic religion ,, ,, the world will end . . . .for whatever reason . .a linear view . . .whereas tao tao , buddhism, and zen are all circular,, ,, . ... no, its going to have to be gamechanger...
bert>> how about geo-engineering?? putting dust particles into the air to cool the planet??
Paul>>#1 its risky,,,unintended consequences,,, #2 its a temporary fix , , , plus its man's hubris........
angie>>how about tao tao....a truly cosmic philosophy . . .one the earliest expression of the cosmos , , ,dealing always with the ultimate reality...as powerful now as it was then . . . a description of the cosmos that is profound , , ,it deals with living humbley and sustainably on earth
Paul>>thats all true .. .. very perceptive ,, ,,but its only half the answer , , , ,it needs a new underpining for Tao Tao philosophy . . .something to bring it into the 21 century .......

gnat>>how about reverting to the life style and beliefs of the native north american indians before the european invasion and suppression of the native inhabitants???the native americans societies/tribes were sustainable.....no waste products,,,,and they were very spiritual...gratitude for Mother Earth and Father sky/sun.....the animals and plants all had spirits and were considered equals .........
Paul>>bingo . . .. you got it . . . .
gnat>> wow.....really,,,,what do i win????
Paul>>here's an attaboy and a pat on the back,,, the american indians first wandered into North America about 20000 years ago.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.a virgin continent ......uninhabited by any man........the Indians treated the earth with respect and worship. . they spread out quickly .occupying every ecosystem .they modified the land but in a natural way . . . ..they were a spiritual people with thousand of different tribes all independently believing in the same things ,a miracle in and of itself, ,, ,that Earth Mother was real and generous . ..a power to be reconneded with . . . a reality ....molding the earth throughout its history ....making a place for life to emerge ..and then creating that life,,, a single cell . . . . .. . the first cell that reproduced and thrived and .. .endured. . flourished,,the greeks had a name for her and that name was GAIA .....mother Earth .. .if anybody can help save the Earth its Mother Earth . . .. ..it's . . .. GAIA GAIA ,, , ,

gnat>> didnt James Lovelock nail that .....the Gaia hypothesis
Pauk>>Lovelock did write about the gaia gaia theory ...but he was a scientist communicating with other scientists ,....he applied the scientific method to the exploration of Gaia gaia and came up with a robot.devoid of spirit , and therefore Gaia Gaia is unable to help us out of this dilema...that was his hypothesis..one of many . . . . Gaia Gaia having super-consciousness is not just a hypothesis..its a fact. and that does not sit well with the scientufic community . . .. ...it involves metaphysics..................a hypothesis thats not based on facts . . . . .it would be considered magic or if its done just one or two times its called a miracle . .a miracle is a temporary suspension of the rules of physics......

Paul>>what if Gaia has the power to alter the environment .at will . . .she has been doing it in the past ,, ,, she has been quite busy as a matter of fact . . ..what if she is one of the ultimate realitys . . . what if she did something to show her power . . .to proove her reality.. to prove her ability to help the human race.... to be an ally in our battle to save the planet....thats what greem is..my friends ..its a colony of artists , intelligent people ,with a thirst for knowledge of the truth and the freedom to pursue it .. .knowing the theory of Gaia gaia and being aware of her reality . . .knowing first hand .. .. believing with all their being that Gaia Gaia is real, a multy superconsciousness . . . like nothing the world has ever seen , , , an epiphany ... a manifestation of divine supernatural being . . .a pivotal moment in history ....right . . . .NOW...... .close your eyes , , , ,and look down . . . ..

gnat>>OMG

IS>>OMG

angie>>OMG

bert>>what?

Paul>> congratulations ,,, your the 100th monkee . . . . . . . . . . . .

new to greem 5

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