Where Wolf? by Anita Bretha Freshair

It's too toxic a world
For the birds and the squirrels
For the bees and the weeds
For the boys and the girls

In your day, there's no way
To know what your exposed to
But it's quite safe to say-
Many things you're not s'posed to

So anyone, any place
Can be chemically injured
Causing chemical sensitivites
That cannot be cured

This was the fate of Karen Canary
As a chick, she got sick
The toxic world
Makes her weary

There's more to her story,
Much more but here's some:
She never thought
"Someday my prince will come"

Independendent, yes
But also a cynic
...treatment after doctor
after hospital after clinic...

She was a canary
Not a free flying dove
She was trying to live
Not looking for love

But there's something funny
When you're doing that living
There are days when it's sunny
There is love to be giving

A wolf has keen senses
He's loyal and strong
He's fearless, protective
His bonds are lifelong

So when Canary met Wolf
He was a Goddess-send
She had someone to care for
And on whom to depend

He keeps up his guard
It's no easy task
He sniffs out trouble
While she wears a mask

"Where Wolf?" she'd ponder
"Will we find some fresh air?"

"In a wheeled home you can wander
We'll find some, somewhere"

So they built a small home
with fenders of chrome
All their meals are on wheels
And they found room to roam

A place that's safehaven
For the weeds and the bees
Safe for birds and for wolves
For frogs, flowers and trees

People of the River of the Blowing Grasses

The rate at which we built the first part of our little house was just not sustainable.  We've slowed down because of weather, my health, frequent bonfires on the property where we are building, and other  obstacles.  It's a challenge to figure it all out, and do it ourselves, but we know we'll be glad we did.  We are gaining momentum, much better prepared to move forward.  I often feel frustrated and am trying to be more grateful, remembering that things happen when the time is right.

There have also been projects in our otherwise neglected regular life.  DK, is an artist and aspiring music producer.  He had the unique opportunity to record ancient songs of the Nisqually Canoe Family.  It was the first recording they'd ever done and was an indescribable experience for me.  DK may work with them on more projects, including a cd that will be a learning tool, so that the songs may live in many, for years to come.  This is truly an honor and will be fit into our schedule.

Allen Frazer is responsible for making this happen.  He has always been open to answering my many queries.  He explained to me that these songs are gifts, worth far more than money.  He said they are not just sung for people, but for the rivers, the animals.


In loving memory, a fitting quote from a brave and peaceful warrior who died 7 years ago today:
They are us. We are them.  - Rachel Corrie

Side-Stepping

This whole thing has been quite the learning experience.  We're doing something we've never done and we're not going by the book.

After sealing up our tiny home in housewrap, and tightening it up in a tarp, we found soft green moss growing on our medex.  I think this was partly because a lot of dust from cutting the medex was left on surfaces, partly because the tarp was too tight in this wet weather, and partly because it it taking longer than we thought.

So, we pulled off the housewrap and found a recipe to use to kill any possible spores and prevent future mold growth of any kind.  It's a mixture of vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, water and boric acid.  We are in the midst of treating all surfaces, inside and out.

We've also  started fresh with a new tarp, tented out with plenty of airflow.

Time to spring forward...

DU weapons cause depleted health: IVAW speaks out ( main article previously published in Works In Progress)

Today, BBC reported 2-3 babies are born daily in Fallujah with birth defects.

Yesterday they reported the US is having a hard time figuring out what to do with their nuclear waste.

More nuclear power means more nuclear waste means more DU weapons means more babies with horrific birth defects, and people with illness. 

I was exposed to DU.  

I want justice.

In the 1991 invasion of Iraq, the US went in with weapons made from radioactive material called depleted uranium (DU). Internationally recognized scientists say DU, or so-called “depleted” uranium, has caused, and continues to cause a wide range of health problems in areas where these weapons are manufactured, tested and used in warfare.

Two years ago, five members of Iraq Veterans Against the War–Olympia Chapter took truth on tour. They spoke about their own boots on the ground experiences and circumstances surrounding the current occupation of Iraq. The subject of radioactive weaponry, still in use, was a major talking point.

Thom Cassidy was in Iraq from 2003–05. He told audiences of concerned citizens, “In the first Gulf War the level of radiation was 300 times what is considered normal. In this invasion we used even more DU bullets. The effects are horrible.” Indeed, US strategic command admits to using over 2000 tons of DU in this invasion. The effects in Iraq since the first invasion continue to worsen. There are five times more leukemia sufferers, a tenfold increase in cancer, and a 600 percent increase in children born with devastating defects, if alive at all. Compounded by sanctions, DU weaponry has truly caused millions of deaths.

Joe Hatcher, who was in Iraq from Feb. 2004 until Mar. 2005 with the 4th Cavalry Brigade, talked about the invasion of Basra, a city with a population of 2.5 million. “I got a call from Bravo team, who was on the other side of town” Hatcher explained. “They said ‘Stop firing, the DU bullets are coming through at us!’”

When DU explodes, it disperses into microscopic dust that can be breathed in. It can remain airborne or settle on soil and equipment. It contaminates the entire environment, food and water supply.

Hatcher describes further exposure to DU: “Before I went home on my last tour of duty, I was assigned to clean the trucks that we had used. As they were, they wouldn’t pass environmental standards to come into Germany, because of the radiation they were around. I tell this to folks here in America, and often times they’ll freak out, but back there it was just normal, just another assignment.”

According to the Royal Society (Britain’s pre eminent science organization), DU’s behavior in the body is identical to uranium. It has been known for decades that uranium targets DNA. Through private testing, five soldiers have found they suffered extensive genetic damage.

While US officials maintain inhaling small amounts is not dangerous, Dr. Rosalle Bertell, foremost in the field of radiation, says the opposite is true. Sparse distribution heightens the probability of free radicals reaching and reacting to the cell wall. The resulting health effects include respiratory damage, urinary tract damage, reproductive problems, brain lesions, depleted immune systems and cancers of the organs and skin. Many of these ailments begin with symptoms like extreme fatigue, brain dysfunction, a cough, or pain. Soldiers are often misdiagnosed or scantily compensated for what officials call undiagnosed illness.

The US spent $52 million on DU weapons in one month. Officials say it’s used in weapons for its penetrability and because it’s cheap. IVAW has joined scientists and activists across the globe in raising awareness of the true human cost of DU weapon use.