Thursday, December 06, 2007

Tampa

Arrived in Tampa last night and got picked up at the airport by a beautiful woman named Linda D. Howard who took me to St. Petersburg for a Landmark Forum Seminar being led by my friend Dennis. Dennis is a friend from my Burningman camp, and I am staying with him in Sarasota for a couple/few days before pushing off to Miama. Linda is one of the particpants in the seminar, and Dennis had asked her to pick me up as he was prepping to lead the seminar. Linda has a 16 year old son who just started attending a very expensive military boarding school. She explained that she had a coversation with him about poor grades and gave him 6 months to improve or be shipped off to boarding school. She told him that it was her responsibility to do everything in her power to make sure that he is a contribution in the world. Linda is a testament to the fierce protective love that a mother has for her child. It was great to see Dennis and he introduced me as Peace Mechanic which is my playa name. A playa name is a sort of nick name that captures the essence of a persons identity. The name Peace Mechanic came to me after seeing an art instalation at Burning Man in 2006 called Eyes Wide Open: March of Lost Hope, which was itself inspired by the Quakers American Friends Service Committee, original Eyes Wide Open exhibit that displays the boots of American soldiers killed in combat along with a memorial for Iraqis that have also lost their lives. Tampa is already proving to be quite an adventure in itself, more later.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Donald John
Sorry I missed your phone call. Tampa was one of the places I was stationed during WWII. Do you have any interest in useing the Yahama when you return? Will you be calling home before flight time?
Will miss the B Day and Xmas for and from you. Do you need funds?
Dad

Anonymous said...

Hi DJ;


The tree is up, candles at the ready for Stephen's birthday so all we are missing is you.

Glad to hear that your trip is goiong so well and that your time in New Orleans was so memorable. I so wish you had a camera to capture it all, but your words did a great job.

Stay well and enjoy your Miami adventure.

Love,

Mom