Time to pay Attention everybody - the World is changing. Fast. Looking at this Globe that my parents bought me back when I was a kid in the 1960's, I found it interesting to look at it from a different perspective just by happenstance. Took 67 years to see it this way, peering from the top down. We seldom if ever see it pictured that way. And this isn't going to be a political statement my friends. It's quite the contrary. Read On.

My friend, the amazing humanitarian and brilliant author Barry Lopez was a visionary who saw the changes and looked from the top down many years ago when he spent meaningful time there culminating in his offering of one of my favorite books of all time "Arctic Dreams." He saw the Arctic changing so he parked his butt up there and lived the tough life of it's inhabitants. Highly recommend!

He learned a lot and you will too if you read his beautiful prose. I was fortunate to chat with him on occasion in Bend Oregon as he lived his final years on the celebrated, gorgeous and nearby McKenzie National Scenic River. One of a few regrets - I never made it to his home that he invited me to. He encouraged me to Always keep writing no matter how painful it is at times, and I finally popped out my book launched February 2025. And I'm writing This too! RIP my man!

Back to the North Pole, further investigation of this top-down global perspective was the eye popper of the incredible landmass controlled by the Soviet Union, which in that time encompassed 17% of the Earth's total landmass at its peak. Of course times changed shrinking that country to its current size as their policies led to what might be deemed a historic collapse and failed experiment.

In my world backpacking misadventures in the early 80s, my travel mate and I snuck into the USSR posing as Danish citizens on a group tour. It was the height of the Cold War, and the Soviet space was off limits to Americans. Due to our boondoggle, we nearly found ourselves in the Gulag as a serious possibility that would’ve had us spend the rest of our lives in Siberia. A story of brazen Young, innocence and stupidity which is a must read in my accounting for it (yes Super Crazy) in "None of the Answers."

As a seeker in this life and a moderate apolitically, I posted last year on social media a call asking for sanity from the extreme viewpoints I encountered there.

WHOA!

That was a mistake, as I got blasted from every direction for not "picking sides" and had to take the post down to not have to read the sickening retorts from both extremes. Sure is a way to generate traffic, but not the kind I relish. As a proponent of focusing on what we have in common rather than what divides I've found it to be The Way. With half my friends leaning left and half leaning right (whatever that means?!) I saw friendships of 40 years dissolve as folks asked me to intercede. No thanks guys, meet in the middle or agree to disagree and Let It Go. A very very few of us are able to maintain in the middle, but that’s my preference. We can talk about all the stuff that’s going one topic at a time with civility and agree or disagree and move on. Please.

I’m a fan of thinking outside the box and thinking for myself like my friend Timothy Leary professed (RIP). Like going by sense of smell like the pinball wizard, feeling connection to the universe and The Higher power rather than "facts", "and trying to wade through that misconstrued and fancy new term called "fake news".

Follow your Heart and Trust your gut and let’s stay cool and keep rocking along.

And yeah- no worries, I dont have my head in the sand and know there is injustice out there and I've suffered some of it. So do what you must. Calm wins the day.

And as the esteemed Maya Angelou said

"If you dont like something change it. If you cant change it, change your attitude"

Peace and love and just keep doing your best!

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