The world is stunned by the death of Steve Jobs. Throughout all of his technological innovation, even he could not stop death. In my other life as a web designer, I wrote about my own Apple Story. Take a look if you like.

But one of the most compelling pictures, which I found on The Daily’s site, has just struck me, and this is how I want to remember Steve Jobs.

The caption for this photo by Diana Walker reads, “This was a very typical time. I was single. All you needed was a cup of tea, a light, and your stereo, you know, and that’s what I had.”

Why is this photo speaking to me so loudly right now?
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If you are part of the Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA), and/or any of its offshoots and related branches, you’re probably aware that “The Reform” started in a small college in Minnesota in the 60′s. Back in 1963, students at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota started the Reformed Druid movement as a protest against forced attendance at religious services by the college. What started as a simple protest grew many legs, and now there are thousands of Reformed Druids, Groves, Proto-groves, and related organizations.

The moral here – be careful when organizing a simple protest!

I traveled to Carleton College last week to do a solitary mini-pilgrimage to a few of the Druid sites where it all began. You can see photos on my Flickr site from my visit here. Incidentally, if you’ve followed my blog, you know that I used to live in Northfield, Minnesota for a time before I began this journey into Druidry.

There is a more formal Full Pilgrimage that was published in The Druid Inquirer recently. While I only did a portion of the pilgrimage, it’s worth the read as it gives some good background into the places I visited!

Many thanks goes out to all of the Carleton Druids for starting quite a movement!

This is the first of a series of posts about the Great Blue Heron. More to come soon!

On May 22, a tornado ripped through Minneapolis’ North Side, devastating many parts of probably the most economically challenged part of the city. Downed trees and powerlines, roofs ripped off buildings, and homes and small businesses with a range of damage – up to the flattening of some. For three days, a curfew was in place to clear the debris, and city buses (a lifeline for many residents of the North Side) could not get through. The North Side is still recovering over a month later.

Another story of hardship relating to this storm was that of the devastation of a long held rookery of Great Blue Heron nests on an island in Mississippi River Park. 200 nests were destroyed, and 180 Herons lost their lives, many of them heron chicks. Wildlife workers reported that this was a devastating loss to the heron community. Sharon Stiteler’s “Bird Chick Blog” has a very thorough post with photos about the damage. As she says, “It is just beyond words.”

At the same time.. there is now hope!

About two dozen Great Blue Herons have renested on an island downstream on the Mississippi River, near the Xcel Energy plant. These nests are visible from Marshall Terrace Park in Minneapolis (take a trail then a walkway of steps down to the River to see them – bring binoculars if you like).

Some Herons have made some interesting “artificial nests” – a testament to their steadfast attempts at recovery.

While many Herons appear to be incubating, Great Blue Heron chicks reach maturity after three months. Many are hoping for a mild fall so that these new fledgelings will be able to join their elders in migrating southward for Winter.

Today I ventured to Marshall Terrace Park to see the new nests. I did catch glimpses of a Heron flying above the trees, but they move fast! Next time I hope to snap a photo, as I will be back. If you look closely, you can see a Great Blue Heron nesting at the top treeline near the left in the closeup photo below (click the photo for a larger image or download the full image here – 1 MB JPG).

I believe there is so much we can learn about resilience, loss, devastation, and the rebuilding of life from the experience of the Heron in Minneapolis. I will be sharing more soon, as the Great Blue Heron will be my focus in a number of ways in the next coming weeks with NorthernDruid.  Stay tuned.

I thought I would end my series of posts on living car-free with a more positive note. I’ve found a lot of joy and happiness along the way! There are so many other paths that a person can take to experience life, and my walking out of car culture helped me to see and feel a richness that I couldn’t have experienced in an automobile.

As an introduction of sorts, here is a video by the Swapathgami Network in Udaipur, India. Many thanks to Manish Jain and Shikshantar for producing wonderful films like this! While this video addresses more of the system of Education, I believe it applies to our very thought processes and lives. We can close the book on what everyone expects us to do or be, and truly live!

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I thought I’d post a video of my adventure to and from Big Lake, MN on the Northstar Commuter Rail Line. MetroTransit will be offering FREE rides on Northstar, November 16 and 17, 2010. Don’t make my mistake and go a day early!

Special shout outs to Premium Draft for the song, They Don’t Understand (my cousin plays bass guitar in the band!). Also, watch KSTP channel 5 on Nov. 16 at 10pm! I may be in a segment then about ridership on the Northstar Line (I’ll post links if so!).

Today while walking my dog through the park near where we live, I saw one lonely rose, still holding on to its life while all of her friends had withered. It reminded me of the cycle of life and how we are all just precious works of art, present only for a glimpse in time.

Here’s a wonderful song to illustrate, and hopefully warm all of your reflective and renewing hearts this Autumn.

A little peek into some of the youtube videos and blogs that I sometimes view with this post. I’ve been a follower of The Truther Girls for a little while now, and this video speaks volumes right now to what I’m going through as well right now, and the things I’m talking to folks about too.

Ask yourself – What has my fear really done for me lately? Enjoy this video!

This video just made my day. Mukhtar is a bus driver in Copenhagen, and his passengers helped him to celebrate his birthday!

This past weekend was the graduation of my cousins, Katlin and Shelby. They are the daughters of my mother’s two brothers, and even though I’m 23 years older than they are, I still feel young!

Both ladies are quite involved and very smart! I wish them the very best as they go on to college next year!

Enjoy the photos in Flickr!

I visited Coldwater Spring this week in Minneapolis. Coldwater Spring is the last natural spring in the city of Minneapolis, and was the site of much controversy during the building of the new Highway 55 which passes nearby. In the late 1990s, Camp Coldwater and the area near Coldwater Spring was the site of the largest urban occupation of land in recorded history in the United States. Through the many efforts of neighbors, the native community, and environmental activists, Coldwater Spring was preserved, and the original plans for the highway were revised to avoid the spring.

Though it was saved, the area has been under the control of the Bureau of Mines until recently. Now, the National Parks Service is both maintaining, improving, and preserving the site. Over the next few years they will be tearing down the old abandoned buildings and making way for a natural grassland prairie in the 43 acres around the spring. However, controversies still exist about public opinion of who should have control of Camp Coldwater.

Enjoy the photos on Flickr.

For more information:
Friends of Coldwater Spring
Preserve Camp Coldwater