Archive
Think Nationally, Act Locally
I had the great pleasure of speaking to the Boone County Missouri Muleskinners on Friday for their weekly meeting. It was over Zoom and it went pretty well. They put the video on their Youtube channel. It begins with my friend Alyce Turner introducing me and reminding me of my biggest political defeat when I chaired The Committee for Rollcart Choice to try and keep Columbia, Missouri from banning automated trash collection. She references restoring recycling because Columbia’s Materials handling center was recently destroyed by a tornado. I’m posting the video link if you care to see the presentation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQf30-2Mies
If you prefer to read, here are my prepared remarks.
After writing a book on winning elections, governance, and advocacy I first need to make clear that my approach to politics is fundamentally different. Almost all political discourse in the US is around state and national issues based around a right/left dichotomy. Worse, the political discourse is heavily focused on horserace considerations more than substantive policy discussions. Rhetoric and sound bites play well on social media and cable news and politicians today exist who only have a political strategy and no strategy at all for governance.
As a longtime grassroots activist with a focus on building community with an anarchist’s heart and an ecologist’s focus on the bioregion I had a fundamentally different approach to politics. When I ran for city council my focus was not on pursuing any ideological victories or building a political platform for future political advancement.
When I was thinking about running, I asked the “why” question. I decided as a candidate I would run on my values but if I won, I committed myself to a governance agenda that recognized my fiduciary responsibility to the city as an organization, as a placeholder for long term capacity to ensure resident services. I also committed myself to the care and well-being of the 1,400 or so employees. I also decided that the concrete (sometimes literally) facts on the ground were more important than more ephemeral things like my political career and my constituent’s feelings about how the city developed.
My focus on good government challenged me to respect city policies and internal capacity and to focus on regular improvements and long-term planning. I long argued that as much attention we place on state and federal issues it is local government that matters most. Local governments operate utilities; electric, water, sewer, solid waste; deliver public safety with police, fire, and the courts; we guide and facilitate economic development, pass local laws, make land use decisions and more. From what it takes in taxes, fees, and other revenue compared to what it delivers, local government is the best value in politics. Politics even takes its name from polis, which means city.
All these points are well and good but what do they mean in an age of rising authoritarianism? They mean everything. An authoritarian agenda needs all levels of government to control the people and fulfill its awful purpose. One of the real strengths of our country is our system of decentralized power and local control. From voting to education to policing to land use, the patchwork of local systems that make up most of our governance systems serve as a check and balance from any group asserting a national governance agenda.
An approach that I call localism tells us to defer on national ideological agendas. Instead, we should look to our own local conditions to inform our path of building long term progressive change and protecting freedom and democracy. In Leavenworth, Kansas stopping CoreCivic from reopening their troubled detention facility as an ICE deportation center presents as the obvious issue to rally around.
CoreCivic through their chronic cost cutting and casual disregard for their employees, their detainees, and the law make themselves an obvious target. We highlight their long and spectacular malfeasance rather than the large national issues around immigration. We bring everyone to the table who wants to stop the facility from reopening with no litmus test.
As we work on this specific issue we strengthen our alliances, our individual and collective capacity, and the belief in the community that they can make a difference. Having a deep knowledge of local processes, relationships with the local power structure, and the unique political pressure points for local actors which can help guide messaging and approach has been critical in the success of the campaign.
More importantly we are manualizing our approach. We are telling the story to inspire action across the nation. We are also making connections with other activists in other communities who are fighting the same struggle. The national zeitgeist expresses itself within local communities and is best combated and ameliorated within communities based on their own conditions.
If you liked what you read and are interested in learning more about the practical realities of activism consider ordering my book. We should have books in this week, and they should ship the week after. https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world?fbclid=IwY2xjawKQPpNleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFFRVdlMTdjQ0U5ZXFIeUhJAR4t9VcKwAmjbC0TRFkPMrp5PdLY9Boh372cUz-qdfq5rkuO7zFoWKmKtbDZLA_aem_O46YqlaAoNU-5hWACdnx4g
Podcast and Book Preorders
There has been so much going on my head is spinning. Achieving some big milestones is huge but it still leaves you to manage all the change and the innumerable details that need to get nailed down when you succeed.
Before I get into that some of the eggs have hatched in the House Finch nest in the wreath on our front door.
All of the projects I have been working on seem to be coming together at the same time. At the New American Community we have been leading the local opposition to keep CoreCivic from reopening their troubled detention facility as an ICE detention center.
Through our work on the issue we came to know William Rogers a former corrections officer who has become a leader in exposing their understaffing and unsafe conditions for staff and residents. Mr. Rogers was kind enough to share his story on our first podcast episode.
https://newamericancommunity.podbean.com/
On the literary front Bread and Roses Press has The Practical Guide to Building a Better World at the print house. Presales are open and we should have books in June!
https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world
Thank you for support and follow along here or at Https://www.miketrapp store or Https://www.newamerican.community for the latest updates on the book, podcast, and organizing events and materials.
Democrats and Direct Action
I cut my teeth in political organizing around direct action with a long term focus on building a community of resistance. I found it far more energizing than electoral politics, more immediate, and far more fun.
Speaking truth to power and engaging in active non violence shaped who I was. I also engaged in influence campaigns that worked within the system. As a young field organizer in Utah I helped gin up significant opposition to an inadequate wilderness prevention Bill generating thousands of postcards and turning out hundreds of students at a critical public meeting.
That shifted the Utah delegation and the bill was defeated. The next year a bill was passed that includes an additional 1.2 acres of mostly Red Rock desert permanently protected as wilderness. I thought about that 1.2 million acres a lot and how we freed the weed by petition gathering, voter registration, organizing a GOtV and passing the California Compassionate Use Act.
My support of electoral politics further strengthened as a three term City Council Member in Columbia, Missouri I saw a laundry list of progressive accomplishments and good government wins all through campaigning for votes. As I completed The Practical Guide to Building a Better World, I formed a Political Action Committee to support my national level local organizing.
After the inauguration we all witnessed the unconstitutional and illegal invasion of government systems and employee relations by unaccountable billionaire Elon Musk and his high tech goons. A spontaneous movement on Reddit called 50501 for national protests at state capitals.
I was intrigued but unavailable. I hope as also a little shocked by the general reception by Democrats and other activists not wanting to take part because they didn’t know who was organizing it. Folks who shared information were encouraged not to participate because of a lack of permits and no identified organizers and folks speculates it was a setup.
So most of the folks I know stayed home. But not all. I heard reports from Michigan where the crowd was robust and inspiring and I saw news reports on many other protests.
In spite of being 50 states, 50 protests, 1 day a President’s Day protest was called by the same network. In Leavenworth the local Democrats put out a call and on a frigid day 40 or so concerned citizens came out with signs and flags and it was beautiful.
When I got home I enjoyed seeing protest photos from across the country. We think protests need leadership and organization, and both can be helpful to win concrete victories but they are not necessary. During the Vietnam protest era the largest protests happened after the national leadership splintered and went silent. The protests kept growing.
We live in an era of increased suspicion and less and less trust. The more that we can rebuild our ability to organize together on a common cause the more effective we are going to be. The New American Community is embracing and promoting decentralized grassroots movements and we encourage others to do likewise.
We have to be wise. There are agents of chaos and misinformation that drive divisive activities. There are risks to trusting strangers. There are also risks from not trusting others we do not know. The risks of being isolated and powerless and having our cherished institutions destroyed without an effective public outcry.
We need to be wise and structure for safety. Do your homework, withhold judgement, make sure if you go to an action you have an exit plan and support. But please don’t stay at home out of fear. The next big action is the February 28th economic blackout.
I don’t know who is planning it. I know it makes sense. I know I want to do it. I know it’s safe. Now more than ever we need a mass mobilization to protect our democracy and our way of life. When the call to action is just and proper and good I am acting, whether I know who made the call or not.
#FreeKevinBromwell part 2
I have been working to win the freedom of Kevin Bromwell for over six years. Kevin is 65 years old and has served over 35 years for a crime he may not have committed.
I was recently contacted by a falsely convicted by Josh Kezer who served 16 years for a crime he did not commit. Since being freed through the efforts of citizen activism he has spent his time volunteering with the attorney who freed him and a law professor who leads a class in freeing the innocent.
I turned over Kevin’s voluminous files to be scanned and digitized and reviewed to see if there is a case for Kevin’s claims of innocence. The team is reviewing five other cases besides Kevin and will litigate one or two.
Even if Kevin is chosen it will be a long road to dike an appeal and see it through the court process. As a senior, a Geriatric Offender Release Bill would be the quickest path for Kevin’s release. Ex-Offenders over the age of 60 have less than a 1% recidivism rate, they are expensive to house and pose little risk to the community.
SB-438 would only apply to offenders who have served over 30 years. At the end of the post I’ll have suggestions on who to reach out to move SB-438 forward as well as Kevin’s contact information should you write him a letter. Before that I’ll review the facts of Kevin’s claims.
On May 16th, 1988 a terrible crime occurred. A woman was murdered, and her apartment set ablaze during a burglary. Later that night Kevin Bromwell was arrested on an unrelated charge. Kevin had been heavily drinking in the company of numerous witnesses. Three participants in the crime were arrested and they identified Kevin as the murderer, two of them testifying in his trial. All received minimal sentences and served less than five years.
Kevin has maintained his innocence for the 32 years he has served after being convicted and sentenced for 30 years to be served consecutively for Second-Degree Murder, First-Degree Burglary and First-Degree Arson. Kevin Bromwell (#181047) who is now 60 will not be eligible for parole for another 62 years.
Kevin’s attorney refused to call exculpatory witnesses and conceded his presence at the crime scene against Kevin’s expressed wishes. She did not challenge the serious issues with evidence tampering and police brutality. Kevin lost his appeal regarding ineffective assistance of trial counsel when his attorney at the time presented no evidence. Kevin has been filing habeas corpus petitions pro se which have all been dismissed without prejudice.
There are six key facts that demonstrate there is not reasonable confidence in Kevin Bromwell’s conviction:
- A new witness proves Kevin Bromwell is innocent. The enclosed affidavit of Lewis Watkins, who as a boy witnessed the crime, swears that Kevin was not there. This affidavit is new evidence.
- Kevin’s clothing was taken by police back to the crime scene. When initially arrested, no blood of any consequence was noted on his clothing except a small amount on his right shoe from a fight earlier in the day. Subsequently the clothing was taken back to the crime scene by the police and then later when trial counsel examined the clothing it was covered in blood.
- Kevin had no stolen items on his person when arrested. As substantiated by police reports, there were no stolen items on Kevin’s person on the first police report when he was arrested. However, subsequent police reports mention stolen items that were on his person when arrested. The items mysteriously appear as part of the State’s case.
- Kevin was in no shape to commit the crime. Kevin had received an SSI check that day and had no need to commit burglary. As many witnesses will testify, Kevin was so intoxicated that night that he was staggering drunk and could barely walk much less commit a crime.
- The victim’s door was not kicked in as testified by witnesses against Kevin. Two of the individuals involved in the crime knew the victim and Kevin did not. The Fire Marshall’s report stated the door was in the unlocked position and not kicked in.
- Kevin had an alibi which trial counsel refused to use. Trial counsel’s strategy was to admit guilt and go for a conviction on a lesser charge then first-degree murder. Kevin wanted to maintain his innocence and go for a not guilty verdict at his trial. Trial counsel refused to do so.
If you live in Missouri you can find out who your Representative is at this link: https://house.mo.gov/FrontPageMobile.aspx Write them and ask them to sponsor SB-438 to save tax payer dollars by releasing those over 65 who have served at least 30 years. You can also write your Senator: https://www.senate.mo.gov/LegisLookup/Default
Folks anywhere can reach out to the Senate Majority Leader and request SB-238 be given a hearing: https://www.senate.mo.gov/Senators/Member/18
To write Kevin:
Kevin Bromwell #181047
3D-266
South Central Correctional Center
255 West Highway 32Licking, MO 65542
Resolutions ABCs
Hello readers. As 2024 comes to a close it seems like a good time to talk about New Year’s Resolutions. I have been a student of the change process for nearly 40 years and when I decided to write the The Practical Guide to Building a Better World I started the outline on January 1. The timeframe worked out and I liked the symbolism.
I laid out my schedule for the year and got it to the publisher a month early. My success this past year was built in many failed resolutions in the past. The resolution articles I have seen this year have been based on SMART goal planning, mostly recommending being realistic and measurable.
This sound advice is easily found and self explanatory so I am taking a different tack. Most folks fail at resolutions because behavior change is hard. We are driven by historical inertia, habit, and static social structures that ensure that today looks a lot like yesterday and tomorrow won’t be much different.
As a student of the change process I recommend developing a plan that involves, small steps, data tracking, and rewards for progress. I also believe the most meaningful change is through developing moral character. Most moral choices are between the easy thing and the right thing.
Being a good person is a great life aspiration but an inadequate goal because it lacks specificity. It would be better to work on what a good person would do or say. I was called out for taking a sharp time with a young person when I was just frustrated in general.
As I look to address this an old school behaviorism technique immediately came to mind – ABC Sheets. Antecedent, Behavior, and Consequence tracking are a great way to generate data to fuel a behavior change agenda.
First, just tracking negative behavior reduces its occurrence. Knowing you are going to be accountable brings instant improvement.
Antecedents are the factors that come before the target behavior. Knowing the circumstances can help point to patterns and consequently levers where work can be applied to make change.
For me some reflections identified the fact that we were moving houses, we had just returned from holiday travel, and there was a lot of work to be done to be ready. This underlying situational stress definitely played a role as did some personal dynamics that I’m not going into in this format.
More concretely I was also shouting from another room which means I started out yelling. I also realized I was nursing some resentment. The fact I was also bustling around, thinking about tasks, and drinking coffee which are possible factors that could be significant if I tracked the behavior over time.
Reflecting on the specifics of the behavior I would like at my sharp tone and unkind words out of proportion for what I was yelling about. More details can help understand the behavior and ways to shape it into more helpful and friendly communication.
The Consequence is what comes after. Understanding negative consequences can help us remember not to do certain things. We can also identify hidden rewards from the behavior. If I take a sharp tone and people do what I yell about I get rewarded. It’s hard to stop negative behaviors we use to get what we want.
In this case the consequence was I got checked, I apologized and noted my behavior. I tried, not with total success, to be mindful of my tone through the stressful move. I also was able to give a little advance warning of where I was at emotionally, which some found helpful.
Understanding the costs of our behavior or how it is rewarded by getting our needs met can be helpful to identify ways to change those reward systems to better live out our values and be the best version of ourselves.
The biggest issue with behavior change is folks think they can make a big choice and lots of things will be different. Really our life is made up of many many choices we make everyday. Real change is making more and more of those choices that improve our lives and those we share a life with.
Epic Road Trip 2 #4 (Big Bend)
I drove into Big Bend on US 385 after a couple of errands. I pretty much drove through with only a stop to stretch my legs. Persimmon Gap visitor center is well worth skipping as you can’t do anything until you get to Juniper Junction, I think it’s called. Primitive camping was booked until Wednesday but I was able to get a site at the Rio Grande campground. I had to change sites every night but I got 3 days.
I then drove down so I wouldn’t have to cook dinner in the dark but took a delightful detour to the Hot Springs historic district. In addition to the Hot springs there are some buildings from back in the day and at least a couple of pictographs. The hot springs is right on the Rio Grande and it is the old foundation of the hot springs. The soak was great and it was well worth cooking in the dark.
At the hot springs I heard about petroglyphs being on the chimney trail and got some reluctant confirmation from the Rangers as they don’t advertise them. It was 2.4 miles to the chimney with a nice petroglyph rock face, a mortero stone or two and some other incidental carvings. They expect they are 6-8,000 years old.
I checked out the driving stuff at the end of the park and ended my day at the Hot springs. I also cooked a more elaborate dinner to mix it up. I got up early the next day and after coffee and internet I hiked the Window Trail. It was a 2.5 mile climb down to a slot canyon with a steep drop off and a panoramic view of the area. It was slippery and my knee was shaky from the big climb down. There was a father daughter at the window and I took their picture. There was a couple waiting so after all the work I just skipped working my way down the slick rock for the big view. I kind of regretted that later.
The climb up was good, easier than down and I got my cardio and 30,000 steps and almost 50 flights of stairs. I earned my hot tub soak.
Postscript: Just wrapping up my stay at Value Lodge in Alpine Texas. Planning on a little thrifting and sending out some holiday cards, maybe from a local park, maybe from the library (assuming there is one). Then I’m headed towards Marfa and plan on camping at a roadside park close to there. No pics because I’m posting from my laptop so I can cross post to Facebook.
2nd Postscript: This post didn’t upload so I added some pics. I’m currently in Fort Davis Texas waiting for my check for lunch. I’m going to go to the Chihuahuan Desert Research Center and then camp at a roadside park on the way to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Thanks for reading and appreciate the comments on my last post. Keep them coming.
Ambling Around Down East
I keep hoping to get regular about writing posts but being on vacation I may just do it. It’s day three of vacation and I am starting to settle in. Being relaxed and away from work and getting lots of exercise, eating fresh seafood and seeing really cool stuff is good for my state of mind.
My ex-neighbor Rich picked us up at 4:30 bless his heart and we had smooth flights. We changed planes at JFK and that is a long terminal. When we arrived in Bangor and took our rental car to our Motel in Trenton. It’s really cute, they have a pen with a couple sheep and goats. There is a nice view of a bay and a little mountain across the airport we abut.
We slept in so arrived with the crowds and had traffic jams and had to skip many things because there was no parking. We did get the lay of the land and saw cool stuff at Otter Bay and some other area with granite rocks going down to the bay. It was sunny and t-shirt weather. I slipped and fell on some slick spots but no harm was done.
If I haven’t mentioned it I blew out my knee in March and was on crutches for awhile. I’ve been focusing on being more active and building my capacity back up for about 2 1/2 months. The first 2 months it was just walking though I got up to a lot of 7 mile days.
I moved my big plant from my apartment back to my house in Columbia and just getting it down a flight of stairs kicked my ass and made me realize how puny I’d gotten in Leavenworth just walking.
I’ve been working on it moving steel bunk beds a couple of days for work, loading my van with books and furniture and helping Rich move has gotten me in a pattern of a full body workout. I got some of that on our first full day at the park where I was doing some climbing around on the rocks.
There were some nice overlooks and places to walk around on the rocks. I slipped and fell more than once navigating on the wet rocks. I’ve worn the tread off some key spots on my Chacos I learned. We also added a second loop after dinner and after a traffic jam that kind of made it not worth it even though it’s a pretty cool site we checked out a lighthouse.
The next day we headed back to Acadia, more informed and a bit earlier and we did the loop again stopping at different sites. We walked some on a carriage trail and took a bit of a side hike on a cool trail. We’ve been limited on what we can do as one of us can’t walk far or tackle tough terrain.
The fog was in so not much on the scenic outlook. It did thin the crowds.
Day three we had planned a whale watching trip. Took us awhile to figure out parking and find a spot with the traffic. We were paying and discussing what we were going to do when we learned to check and see if it were cancelled, which it was.
We went to the Abbe Museum instead. It had a all collection of artifacts but some really nice stuff and contemporary and neat contemporary exhibits that have some cool stuff.
We grabbed breakfast at the This Way Cafe and it was excellent. The Ploughman’s Plate was popular with a boiled egg, pickles, mustard, maple link sausage, candied walnuts, and some chunks of cheese all local. I wanted that too but I had a good feeling about the hash which was billed as homemade. Sure enough it was the ground kind and not fried meat and potato chunks that most places bill as hash.
Good time to mention the food. We tried to go to Helen’s the first night but the crowd scared us off so we got cold cuts and such at the store near our house. The. Next night we went there early. I had the halibut which was ok but a bit underpriced. I had a bite of Flow’s lobster roll and some of John’s clam strips. All pretty yummy.
Last night we went to a lobster barbecue place and I had a lobster tail but got some pulled pork French fries to share. Wish I would have gotten the barbecue. I probably won’t get a lobster roll.
Tropical Storm Phillipe gave us a rain day today and tomorrow. This morning we went to Cordelia Stanford’s house and grounds which are now a bird sanctuary and nature center. She’d had a nervous breakdown and started photographing birds to recover and became an ornithologist.
We saw some raptors, a nice looking red tail hawk and a black vulture stood out. The timid looking great horned owl was a sight as well. We took a stroll in the woods and a boardwalk and saw a lot of mossy woods and fungi.
The house was closed so we couldn’t see her photos.
Epic Road Trip #14 (Across Colorado continued)
I forgot to mention before I had van trouble in coal seam pass I had a really cool alpine hike to start the day. I was hiking to an alpine lake but I wore my tennis shoes and the first snow I had to cross they didn’t fare well. I did make it to a beautiful alpine meadow above the treeline and saw an elk and the tiniest chipmunks I’ve ever seen. I turned back when I got to some serious snow realizing I wasn’t going to be able to swim anyway.
I ultimately made it into Silverton and had some ok barbecue and picked up a six pack of Colorado beer. There was great dispersed camping right outside of town next to a rushing river with beautiful views. There really wasn’t a site left but there was a gravel area where the boundary marker was set and it was flat and worked out fine.
I drove towards Ouray along the million dollar highway which was about as windy of a mountain road as you’ll find. There was a high waterfall and some amazing scenic views. I stopped at all the lookouts and large areas are despoiled from historic mining. In Ouray they have a park with a waterfall that was pretty impressive. I meditated in the spray, had lunch and watched the people.
Coming out of the mountains I stopped at a historical marker where a fort had been that was used to Dispossess the Utes when ranchers found them inconvenient. I struck up a conversation with another epic road tripper and noted about every third history sign documented genocide. Zach had been on the road for a year and we exchanged numbers but it never worked out to hang out.
I drove into Gunnison Black Canyon National Park and did all the overlooks and short trails on the south rim. It’s like the Grand Canyon only smaller but black rock and more sheer. It was pretty cool and I saw a 650 year old pinyon pine. I met another epic road tripper and read her “To You” out of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass which has been my daily devotional while she cooked dinner. She shared her dinner and we had a great talk, she’s been on the road for a month and seemed pleased to have a break in the solitude.
I got to the BLM site well after dark seeing the obligatory mule deer for a twilight drive. I managed to find a space after getting myself into a bad place and having a long back up in the dark. I’m getting cavalier about navigating sketchy road and this was a nice wakeup call. I found a spot but it wasn’t flat and it was tough getting out in the morning. I still considered myself lucky.
It’s hot at Gunnison so I hiked the 3 longer trails between six and nine. When I came off the trail it was packed and all the tourists made me feel weird. I had breakfast and made plans while I had internet at the highpoint in the park.
I texted my buddy with the hotel and drove through the hot in a, for me, marathon drive to Steamboat Springs. A shower, a whirlpool, AC and a king sized bed dismissed the notion of heading home. The heat broke in Steamboat so I lingered until checkout and enjoyed breakfast and second breakfast at the free breakfast bar as well as another jacuzzi session.
I went to see another waterfall and did the 2.5 mile hike to the upper falls. It was incredibly beautiful and everyone was really friendly. I carried a GPS for some University of Wyoming researchers. Then I drove to some dispersed camping. Even that was crowded and touristy. I did get flagged down by a big pick up who wanted to marvel that I had a minivan up there. I found a widespot/sort of pull off with a trail to a campsite that I made my home. Lots of traffic for a sketchy Forest service road.
This morning I got up early as I always do and did a historical tour of downtown. I also caught the farmers market and got some gluten free chocolate chip cookies and a cup of good coffee. I checked out the hot springs. Steamboat had a geyser but the railroad ruined it. I took a swim in the river and checked out the hot springs from there.
Then the crush of bourgeoisie tourists started to bug me. I had met a City Council person and she was smug on their lack of homeless people and the whole place was getting to me so I drove up through the mountains East on 40 to Sulphur Springs. I’m camped where Beaver Creek meets the Colorado and it’s pretty nice. It rained some and it’s chilly which is sweet in a giant heatwave. I’m going to take 40 East to 115 North, I think and check out Wyoming. The cookie guy says it’s nice up there.
I’ll post this and add pictures when I get some internet. Tata for now faithful reader.
Woke up to another low tire. I put on the donut and would have stayed put, it being a Sunday, but I noted my campsite required a Colorado fishing license so I drove into Granby. I’m going to try the National Forest near Gavel Mountain and come back to Granby for tire repair in the morning. Happy Father’s Day to the Dad types out there.
Epic Road Trip #9: to the BLM
I lingered for several days in the Sacramento Mountains/Almagordo area. The lunar eclipse was incredible and the BLM land was a nice spot to view it. There is a state park right by it and I checked out some ruins of an early settler and a pretty impressive native plant garden the next morning.
I didn’t want to pay the $5.00 day use fee so I skipped the hike and drove back into the mountains. I hiked a nice overlook trail and then back to the dispersed camping I’d been staying at but a nicer site. Did a lot of hikes over the next few days with Bridal Veil Falls being the best.
I spent Thursday night at a Motel 6 in Alamogordo. My first hotel at 6 weeks in. It was $43 bucks out the door and my long anticipated WiFi was a bust but what do you expect for $35. I didn’t even complain.
I needed wifi for a zoom presentation Friday morning and I found a coffee shop and it worked out fine, a bit better then that actually. A young Latinx couple introduced themselves afterwards as I had been talking about racism in my presentation and they were new to the area and looking to make activist connections. We were both sorry I wasn’t local.
I realized I’d been loud and when I apologized to the other dude on the patio we also struck up a conversation. In an answer to his question I told him I was on my last day of doing the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. He and his wife do Ignatian retreats and he was in transition himself and we had a great conversation on spiritual practice and the change process.
He encouraged me to be transparent about what I’m doing when I mentioned the blog morphing into a travelogue of late with some of my Spiritual posts being used against me politically. It was a sweet capstone to 31 days of prayer, meditation and reflection.
After some barbecue I was going to hike Bridal Veil Falls and met Ray there. Another fellow in transition and we hung out and hiked together and I payed my free expert consult forward on helping Ray with his plans to homestead the family plot. After not really talking to anyone for weeks it was amazing to get into 2 deep spiritual conversations in one day.
I checked out a new part of the forest and hiked some more later. Met a civil engineer reading Travels with Charlie which got us talking about our various epic Road trips. He mentioned some sites in the Gila National Forest I plan to check out when I head down that way.
I hiked again this morning on the Ridge Top trail which had a section recently logged. I haven’t seen any clear-cuts on the trip and some thinning didn’t seem out of line. Saw my first coyote of the trip stalking through the woods.
I went into Cloudcroft for an art show and alleged farmers market but it was only pecans. I did get a pair of New Balance for a dollar as my hiking shoes are falling apart. I also got an excellent bowl of pasole.
I was going to keep hanging out as their were more trails in the rails to trails system I wanted to hike. I’ve done a lot of those but never one in the mountains. The sidecut trail was pretty cool but I got turned around and was tired of being lost in the same spot so I left the area.
I drove north to a BLM area Fort Stanton National Recreation Area. There is a trail to some petroglyphs I am going to hike tomorrow. It’s not that long of a trail but I’m going to walk the 2 1/2 miles of jeep road to get there and I’ve already done 11+ miles of hiking today. A storm is threatening but so far only wind and a few sprinkles. They need the rain bad here.
It’s a nice area with some elevation so it’s not too hot. I might check out Fort Stanton tomorrow as well. See what it costs and has to offer. Thanks for hanging with me faithful reader and I’ll post again when I’ve done some more stuff.
Epic Road Trip #8: Oklahoma to New Mexico
The fishing lake I camped by was nice and quiet and I set out back on the road early. I made for the Chocktaw National Recreation Area which turned out to be a sweet stop. There was some great hiking and I replenished my supply of spring water I’d drank from Hot Springs.
There were some nice trails with good interpretive signs and lots of CCC masonry. Don’t know if I’ve ever felt compelled to take a photo of a shitter before, but I have now.
I also got a swim in which keeps the road funk in check. I spent a rough night in a Walmart parking lot. I was considering visiting a friend who was relocating to Norman and I thought there was more prairie to hike. The little splash of it I’d hiked in was really lovely after the poorly managed Ozarks and Ouachitas.
Turned out the prairie “trail” was just gravel road surrounded by dense shrubbery and Norman didn’t seem worth frittering 3 days over so I put some miles on. I drove up to the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge and there I found my prairie. Best prairie I’ve ever seen. So many wildflowers.
There was also a really scenic prairie dog town, some wilderness rock scrambling and awesome hiking. I visited the Holy City which is a WPA project of some stone buildings and arches and stuff where they do a sunrise Easter service. Quirky in the extreme. I also saw some elk.
I got some wifi at a Subway and found a site to camp (freecampsite.net is awesome by the way). It was a drive but I pulled into a municipal park on a lake just over the border in the Texas Panhandle. I relaxed woke in the morning to let it warm up enough to swim and made my way west.
I stopped to hike and “swim” again at Copper Breaks State Park. I hiked a short trail and went to the knee deep swimming area. They have a beautiful little lake but it’s reserved for the boats. Not worth the 18 miles and 3 bucks I invested in that side trek.
I boogied on down to Silverton where they had a little free RV campground at their municipal park. It was a charming little dying town I explored the next morning. Had dinner at a cute little diner and breakfast the next morning. The locals were bitching about illegals and I thought they could use some immigrants to fill their vacant storefronts and bring a little vitality before they become one of those ubiquitous historical markers about where a town used to be.
I backed track to Caprock State Park and took an arduous hike. I missed the fern cave I was looking for and took another wrong turn adding another 2.6 miles to a tough hike. You don’t expect a 600′ vertical climb and decent in the Panhandle but they’re serious about their erosion in Texas. Still not doing a damn thing about it as far as I can tell
I did get to finally see bison after missing them at Chocktaw and the Wyandottes. A local rancher saved them from extinction in the hopes of making desert tough beef crossbreeds. It’s the source stock for the Yellowstone herds amongst others
I learned this at a little museum Comanchero Canton Historical Museum. Has a nice collection of arrowheads and whatnot. The curator was nice but warned me about the crazy democrat governor closing down the entire state of New Mexico so it’s probably not worth visiting.
I was going to crash at Silverton a second night but the travel bug got me and I pushed on to another free municipal campground at Mule Shoe Texas. Got in late enough had to have Subway again.
I stuck around for church, my third time on the trip. Nice, nice folks even mentioned the sin of racism in Sunday School. Better then the harsh criticism of the new religion of Critical Race Theory I’d been hearing on the local airwaves. Had my first Chinese buffet in a year and a half and I was on the road again.
I pushed on to the Sacramento Mountains Lincoln National Forest. I missed my turnoff and I was glad I did. After turning around I saw some creature shamble across the road. I would have sworn it was a sloth if I had to say what it was. I looked it up the next day when I got some internet and it was a white faced coati. Pretty cool. Also saw some mule deer.
Found a cool site nonetheless even arriving after dark. The moon was so bright I took a little hike. The next morning I realized I was camping with a cow carcass. Our National Forest and it’s multiple uses. I hiked some closed forest service roads and cooked some lunch on the zip stove. No more campfires I’m in droughtland now.
I drove to the other side of the forest where the recreation areas are and met some nice campers and cooked some dinner. (I fried an onion and some canned chicken in margarine, which has held up for better then a month, with some white sage I found. Added water, chicken bouillon and powdered goats milk and instant mashed potatoes when it boiled. Pretty good).
Headed out early and did all the hikes at White Sands National Park. That 5 mile dune hike kicked my ass. Had dinner at Denny’s (yay WiFi) and had a mocha and browsed used books at a dying mall in Almagordo. I’m camped at a dispersed BLM campground now so I can watch the Lunar Eclipse. It cools off nicely so I think I don’t have to hide out in the mountains all the time.
Tomorrow it’s back into the Sacramento’s I think to hike the trail I saw coming out this morning and to nap in the cool mountain air. Not enough signal to upload pictures. if it doesn’t upload this post I’ll add some. Otherwise consider following me on the Book of Faces to see pics. Mike Trapp in Columbia Missouri. Goodnight faithful reader, I hope the super blood moon shines on you in peace and prosperity
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