2008 ROW Lecture Tour - New York

After leaving Chicago, my next port of call was New York, and as my first venue there was at Westhampton, Long Island, it was necessary for me to catch the train which departed from Penn Station, in Manhattan. On my arrival at the station I was surprised to find there a busker, Sean Grissom, whom I had previously met some two years earlier in Grand Central Station. We had quite a happy re-union and he again shared with me some of his CD's for me to play on my radio programmes upon my return to OZ.
Unfortunately, even with the flash, there was in-sufficient light to enable me to get a clear image. At least, though, you are able to perceive some idea of the image he portrays, with his celtic acoustic cello. And I must admit that his presence certainly is very pleasant and up-lifting in a place which otherwise is not aesthetically pleasant, a huge cavernous area filled with hustling and bustling people.

This is the very pleasant home in which I stayed whilst in Westhampton. My host were most gracious, and I most certainly could not have had better accommodation in a five star hotel. It was a delight to be sure, and I indeed felt most priviledged to be given this opportunity to share in their home and lives.
By this time, and in this area, which must have been much warmer than Chicago, the trees were blossoming, with many of them already in full leaf.

This was such a grand display in an otherwise rather sombre view, that I felt I could not fail to photograph it for sharing with you. It again, was one of the few sunny days which I experienced, meaning that I certainly made good use of my wet-weather gear.


After leaving Westhampton, I visited with my good friends Rhio and Leigh, who live in Manhattan NY, and have a small farm at Port Jervois, New Jersey. You may read about them and their very wonderful and important activities by going to their website at:

www.rawfoodinfo.com

I must have been having a "slack attack" at this stage of my journeying, as I entirely forgot to take any photos to share with you of this time. Allow me to share with you with words the great time that I spent with these two lovely,vibrant people. Rhio has written a most informative, and helpful book for any-one wishing to follow the Hygienic lifestyle and raw food eating. It is entitled, "Hooked on Raw", and I am sure any-one would benefit from reading it, along with the scrumptious raw food recipes she has provided for our consumption.

Leigh, on the other hand, is most interested in radio, and as you well know, another of my loves, and has developed an internet radio station, Tribeca Radio, which can be accessed anywhere in the world, just as long as you have internet connection. And as you will observe, when you visit their website, I am one of the guest speakers on there. So as you can well imagine,we have much in common, and especially for endless discussion.

After spending one night in Manhattan, we traveled down to the farm at Port Jervois, a most delightful place, to be sure, where I had the joy of being able to share with them our areas of common interest, as well as be of some small assistance as they planted new trees and a vegetable patch. I look forward to their travelling to OZ and participating in some of our wonders.

Farm Update

I received an e-mail today in which the sender enquired as to what was happening on the farm these days. I then realised that many of the things that I see as of no interest, or mundane, others find informative and assists them in keeping in touch with the farm, in general, and myself in particular.

Since my return from my 2008 ROW Lecture Tour, my time has been fully occupied with dealing with the backlog of mail etc., which accumulates to an almost alarming degree over the two months that I am away.The kitchen table is almost swamped by the surface mail, and the e-mails although not being of anywhere near the same volume, certainly are many more than normal. Then we have the phone messages. Fortunately the grass has been well attended to by my good friend Randy - yet at the same time, the garden does require attention, for there are the new seasons vegetables to be planted as quickly as possible, to ensure we take advantage of the cooler weather months, and before it again becomes too hot for them. And to cap it all, there are the clients arriving and requiring attention. So life is not dull.

Our vegetable garden is now thriving. As you can observe, our garden consits of raised beds which are in sections of old water and molasses tanks, which have been filled with soil, and are adjacent to the kitchen for easy access. The other purposes for gardening this way is to overcome the problem with bandicoots, who dig up the plants searching for worms, and wallabies, kangaroos, and such like who would eat them if they were ground level beds, without protective fencing. It also ensures that the plants do not become water-logged in the wet season. Both the celery and the parsley you see here is in its second year. As can be seen, the beds are heavily mulched to conserve moisture. And for those who are unfamiliar with our method of gardening, we do not dig(invert) the soil. We clear of any other plants that are in the way and that we do not want, some of which may be regarded as "weeds", whereas we think of them as a plant out of place. We then mulch, and in the mulch make rows into which we place our compost. And it is in the compost that we plant our seeds, or seedlings.

When transplanting our seedlings, we dip them in a mild seaweed solution which we find enables us to have an almost 100% success rate.

There are many other things which are required to be done, from time to time, on the farm. Keeping it free from accumulated rubbish, and getting rid of equipment which was effected by the fire which devastated the farm six or so years ago, is still an on-going chore. At the time of the fire we had a fuel tank which was almost empty. When the fire reached it, it blew up. It was most fortunate in that no-body was near it at the time, so it did not cause any great harm, except of course, to give us a great fright when it exploded with a loud bang. Today we had the opportunity of disposing of it.

In this photo you can see what remains of the tank being loaded onto the trailer prior to its dispatch to the scrap metal merchants.
To load it upon the trailer we used an old logging method where a chain was passed around the tank and it was winched into position, by the winch on the front of the Landcruiser.

2008 ROW Lecture Tour - Chicago

From Ireland, prior to flying to Chicago, due to my flying with Star Alliance, their partner airline, does not have a direct flight from Dublin, which necessitated my flying to London, changing airlines, and then on to Chicago. Although the partner airlines, as in Star Alliance, and One World, are very convenient for adding Frequent Flyer points, and a few other minor perks, they can considerably add to the time necessitated to fly from one airport to another. In many instances it requires a whole day, to fly via the hub of the member airlines, whereas a direct flight would be a matter of an hour or so.

The hostel into which I was booked, was close to the shores of Lake Michigan, and almost next door to Loma Linda University. It sounded ideal.The reality was a little different. The location was exactly as I have mentioned, and very beautiful it was too. Tree lined streets, quiet location, and one block from Lake Michigan, with the University next door.



The hostel itself though was a different matter,built, it would appear, as student accommodation in the 1940's, I would say, it did not give the impression that it had been refurbished since that time. It was cheap - yes, and it was far from being nice. The best I could say about it was it's locality. For the first time in my travels, I opted to move out and find other accommodation. I am most thankful that I did, for I do feel that my view of Chicago would have been greatly effected had I continued to stay in the hostel. My overall impression was that it was a very clean, friendly and pleasant, place to be and visit in spite of its rather poor reputation as one of the hubs of gangsterism of the prohibition era.

As the photos indicate, the days here were more sunny than otherwise, in spite of which it was still extremely cold, for they were still coming out of winter, with many of the trees as yet to bud. Fortunately though, it did not rain.

The streets were ablaze with early blooming flowers, a delight to see, lifting the sombreness of the concrete jungle, and giving it a much more human touch.

Most of the garden plots and the pots outside of the business houses appear to be maintained by the various businesses which they fronted. And this appeared to be an excellent arrangement for both the businesses and the civic authorities, the responsibility of their maintenance and up-keep not then falling upon the local authorities and adding to the tax burden.

The fountains were another delight to see, for there is something about them, and water in particular, which is most up-lifting to the spirit. I must say that they are sadly missed in my home town of Cairns.



The foreshore of Lake Michigan was being beautified with a magnificent promenade, parks and gardens, fountains, amusement park, and statues, prominent of which, was this one of Abraham Lincoln the sixteenth President of the United States.

Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln warned the South in his Inaugural Address: "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The government will not assail you.... You have no oath registered in Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it."

Lincoln thought secession illegal, and was willing to use force to defend Federal law and the Union. When Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter and forced its surrender, he called on the states for 75,000 volunteers. Four more slave states joined the Confederacy but four remained within the Union. The Civil War had begun.

The son of a Kentucky frontiersman, Lincoln had to struggle for a living and for learning. Five months before receiving his party's nomination for President, he sketched his life:

	President Bush Biography Vice President Cheney Biography Laura Bush Biography Lynne Cheney Biography

"I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks.... My father ... removed from Kentucky to ... Indiana, in my eighth year.... It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up.... Of course when I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher ... but that was all."

Lincoln made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge while working on a farm, splitting rails for fences, and keeping store at New Salem, Illinois. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature, and rode the circuit of courts for many years. His law partner said of him, "His ambition was a little engine that knew no rest."

He married Mary Todd, and they had four boys, only one of whom lived to maturity. In 1858 Lincoln ran against Stephen A. Douglas for Senator. He lost the election, but in debating with Douglas he gained a national reputation that won him the Republican nomination for President in 1860.

As President, he built the Republican Party into a strong national organization. Further, he rallied most of the northern Democrats to the Union cause. On January 1, 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy.

Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Lincoln won re-election in 1864, as Union military triumphs heralded an end to the war. In his planning for peace, the President was flexible and generous, encouraging Southerners to lay down their arms and join speedily in reunion.

The spirit that guided him was clearly that of his Second Inaugural Address, now inscribed on one wall of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds.... "

On Good Friday, April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford's Theatre in Washington by John Wilkes Booth, an actor, who somehow thought he was helping the South. The opposite was the result, for with Lincoln's death, the possibility of peace with magnanimity died.

These battery powered bicycles - I am not sure if this is the correct name for them, as I was never able to find out, were used for guided tours around the foreshore gardens, fountains, statues etc., something I must admit to not having seen before. Quite unique and seemingly very effective.

2008 ROW Lecture Tour - Ireland

If you ever go across the sea to Ireland, are, of course the opening words of a very popular song, particularly made so by the singer/crooner/film star, Bing Crosby. The Emerald Isle, as it often referred to, has no need, I feel sure, of introduction to the readers of this blog, with many, having some connection in their ancestral background, to this part of the world. And in spite of it not being a huge country with economic clout, or presence in world affairs, it has, through its history of the potato famine, Irish nationalism, along with massive immigration to both the US and Australia, as well as the production of such world famed people as the playwrite, George Bernard Shaw, become a household word, at least in the Western countries.

From the IOM I flew into Dublin, and then from there took the train to Cork. And yes this is the very centre of County Cork which is so well known. From Dublin, I was to phone my friend Brian to advise him whether I was coming by train or bus. I chose the train, as for one, it was considerably faster, a little more than half the time in fact, and much more pleasant than the bus. Also, I arrived in time to do so, which was not certain before then.

I was unable to make contact with Brian, on his home phone, presumably because he had already left home to spend the day in Cork, a fact which turned out to be true, nor on the mobile number which he had supplied to me in an e-mail. On arrival in Cork, I spent a good hour or so trying once again to phone without success. Little did I realise at the time, that the mobile number i had been given was completely wrong, and it was not until some few hours later, travelling around in a taxi searching for his house - and not finding it, that it crossed my mind that this might well be the case, and by this time it was getting quite late in the day. I then set about phoning his sister, who fortunately lived not too far away, and was able to find out his correct number, and subsequently made contact.

After having made contact, Brian advised me to go into the township of Clonakilty where he would meet me in due course. It was just as well that he did so, and did not offer to direct the taxi driver to his home, as I am sure he would never have found it, it being at the end of an extremely narrow,pot hole filled laneway, of some considerable length, devoid of directional signs.




Brian is an avid organic gardener, growing as much of his own vegetables and fruit as he possibly can. Of course, during the winter months it is too cold for most things, the lack of sunlight and warmth, as well as the almost continual rain, mitigates against the activity of growth, with the trees becoming dormant etc. By the time I arrivedthere was just enough warmth for some of the seedlings to become established, although it was still very borderline. The day that this photo was taken was the only day that the sun shone dring my time there.

The PowerPoint lecture I delivered in Clonakilty was well attended by a very enthusiastic audience, held, of all places, in a local hotel. Afterwards, I heard an interesting comment by one of the local gentlemen to his wife, who had attended the lecture, who said," I hope you do not expect me to give up my steaks and ale dear?" Need I comment further!!



The whole of Ireland is dotted with delightful villages and cities which still appear to be unaffected by urbanisation, retaining their charm of yester-year. This view is near Cork, the coastline of Ireland being a series of bays and inlets.

From Clonakilty, I went north to another small village, Carrigaline, where I spent a few days giving talks to the people there, before journeying across to the US.

2008 ROW Lecture Tour - IOM

After attending the ISRN Conference in Edinburgh, I briefly returned to York, overnighting with my friend Leslie, then caught the train to Manchester to fly to IOM. Here I encountered another small drama as the original quoted departure time had been early morning, and had been changed, prior to my departure from OZ to around midday. It appeared that it had since then been changed back to the original time, and I had not been advised. Fortunately for all concerned there was a later flight available and it was not fully booked. This was a most fortunate out-come, as they usually ask you to pay another fare, and they did not do so in this instance. All in all though, it meant arriving five hours later than originally expected, and I again was fortunate in being able to phone and advise my friend Jane before she had left home to pick me up.

This was not the end of the drama though, as they then proceeded to inform me that my luggage was overweight and I would need divest myself of a couple of Kilo's. Now this was a dilemma, as there really was nothing that I didn't require for my journey. So I asked them how much extra it would be to carry it as it was. It must have been the first time they had been posed such a question, as they looked at me strangely and said they didn't know. Eventually they let it go through, so all was well.

The weather on the IOM was mostly in the tradition of that which I had been experiencing on the rest of my travels as can be readily seen in this photo taken from my place of abode, and looking down towards the harbour in Ramsey.
Ramsey is a delightful small old world, town, remniscent of days gone by, with narrow winding streets, and little traffic. A delight to visit, in these days of hustle and bustle, and roaring traffic.


Fortunately not all of the days spent on the island, nor whilst I was traveling were devoid of sunlight, and the day that I chose to photograph Leni's Fair Trade Shop, in the main street of Ramsey, happened to be one of the very few. Fair Trade has become quite large in the UK, and Leni, with her enterpreneural spirit has enabled it to become well established on the IOM too. Recently with Jane's able assistance, and at her instigation, I would guess, they presented a very successful fashion parade, praised by all and sundry.

My visit there was, of necessity, for a few days only, visiting a client and friends, and then on to the emerald isle - Ireland.

2008 ROW Lecture Tour - Edinburgh

From Slovenia I then flew into Manchester, and travelled from there by train to York to spend a few days with my friend Leslie Harrison, prior to journeying by car with Annette and Alison, to Edinburgh, to attend the conference of the ISRN(Incorporated Society of Registered Naturopaths), which was held in the coach house at Kingston. Most of the attendees stayed at a very pleasant B & B which was within walking distance of the conference centre. Edinburgh continued the tradition of the rest of the venues I had so far visited, with freezing cold,wet weatherNothing new, so to speak.

The original Kingston clinic still stands, it and the grounds which it occupied have been sold and redeveloped, very pleasingly, in my estimation, into units. The coach house which is on the periphery of this development, is occupied by Leslie Thompsons widow May, which she kindly makes available every second year as a venue for the conference of the Society. In this, the Society is most fortunate, as it is a very homely and old world atmosphere, in a delightful setting. Thank you May.


May was also kind enough to cater for us and provided scrumptious vegetarian meals for all that attended, including not only the members, but also the visitors.






This is a photo of those who attended the conference and was taken outside the entrance to the coach house. As can well be seen, the majority of the members are now in the seniors age category.






One of the lecturers at the conference was Dr Vicki Clifford, who addressed the members on the subject of, "Is Talking a Cure?"




We were also fortunate in being able to be addressed by the science writer Colin Tudge on "Sustainable Farming". Colin regularly appears as a public speaker for the British Council,and is a Fellow of Linnean Society of London, and visiting Research Fellow at the Centre of Philosophy at the London School of Economics. He is the author of a number of books, amongst which are "Feeding People is Easy" and "The Secret Life of Trees".

Barbara Drysdale spoke on "Pregnancy in the 21st Century - the Experiences of a Nature Cure Mother". As well as Dr D Andrew Smith, with "Childbirth - the Perspective of an Anaesthetist".

The Conference Dinner was held at Annabel's Restaurant, where every-one spent a most enjoyable evening and at which yours truly delivered the Presidential Speech.

The consensus of those attending was to the effect that the conference was the best they had attended for a number of years. Much of the praise for this, and was due to the supreme efforts of David Tinsley, who filled in for Peter Fenton who was unfortunately unable to do so due to being incpacitated at the time. Well done David and thank you.

John
President

2008 ROW Lecture Tour - Slovenia and Croatia

During my annual visit to Slovenia, my friends, Don & Jana, had arranged for me to include a visit to Croatia and present a lecture to interested people there. This was another first for me, as well as being of great interest, in-so-far as Croatia is not yet a member of the European Union, and very much under-developed in the Western sense of the term. Yet it this old world atmosphere, with slower pace of life, less stress, and quite often more friendly people, that is its charm, and attractiveness.

This is a photo of an altar in one of the beautiful old churches which are to found dotted all over the country. It is most unfortunate that the light was so poor, and my flash was unable to fill the space sufficiently for you to see it in all its magnificence. I was impressed by the fact that it was so different from anything I have seen elsewhere.



This is the type of housing and countryside to be found in the area in which I was staying. It is very rugged country, with very steep mountainsides, mostly wooded still, and snow clad in winter. The houses cling to the mountain-sides, surrounded by postage sized fields, and there is a river flowing through the centre of the valley. Access from one valley to the next is by winding mountain roads with hairpin bends, and precipitous drops over the edge.



This view gives an idea of the garden plots which are cultivated by almost every householder in which they grow as much of their own food as possible. Fortunately the soil is deep,rich and fertile, having been maintained over the centuries by purely organic methods, the age old traditional method. And as far as I could ascertain, very little, if any, artificials continue to be used to this day.




Every inch of space is utilised in the towns and villages, there being so little flat available, it being mostly mountainside. This is a small bowling area tucked into a river bank behind the surrounding houses.





This is another view to give you a further impression of the ruggedness of terrain. In most instances, it would appear, that the sides of the mountains are shaly rock, to which the forest precariously cling to.




In Croatia we visited a community which has a guru, a young man, born in Croatia, and which owns a number of properties in different areas. It has a spiritual base with its philosophy being very eastern and very fundamentalist Christianity too. From what I could gather, they have a number of government contracts to supply services to the government, the exact nature of which I was unable to ascertain. This photo depicts an area in the main room of the house, remniscent of an alter.


This is another area of the main room which is a TV viewing area. It appeared as though there were about thirty people living in this house which was in the state of construction to provide living space for all. There did not seem to be any limit of finance, and state of the art equipment was to be seen everywhere, fittings, and construction materials used being of the highest quality.


Everything in the name of "Progress". The car is supreme, and people's lives and lifestyle are secondary and expendable. This is a photo of my friend standing in front of what used to be her home in the centre of her organic farm. As is usual in these instances, when the government decides to take over your property, the recompense can never repay you for the loss incurred. And as they had decided to build a highway through the centre of her property, such was the case. A very delightful, secluded area, on the bank of a river, totally destroyed by the incursion of a highway. A very sad ending to my visit