Gentilly Girl

June 14, 2010

Burn The Wetlands?

Filed under: Coastal Restoration — Morwen Madrigal @ 2:43 pm

It’s a sick thought, but maybe a way to regenerate our oil-soaked wetlands.

First the BP spill must be quelled, Second, the birds must head back North as is their wont. Third, we need to get through the hurricane season.

Then we burn the oil-affected wetlands and start building up the land and seed the plants for the coming year. It will cost mucho bucks, but Hell, BP has said they would cover the bills.

We will also need to save as much sealife that we can right now. This will be the rebuilding of a major ecosystem. It won’t be an easy task… it will take 3 or 4 years to come to fruition.

Here on the Coast we will have to suffer through that time, but if all works right, the environment will be similar to what we had before BP fucked us over. (here in NOLA we KNOW what being fucked-over is about)

And our country must ban deep-sea drilling until the industry can prove that they can deal with mis-haps.

We OWE it to our fellow creatures that are dying because of our mistake. They didn’t create this murder, Humans did. It is our Culture’s mea culpa…

This can be set right if we get our minds straight about what must be done.

June 10, 2010

BP Can Fuck Off and Die

Filed under: New Orleans — Morwen Madrigal @ 6:10 pm

I understand the importance of BP to the UK. Much of their pension payments come from what used to be the Anglo-Iranian oil company. Our Nation overthrew a government to insure that the Brits could hold onto their treasure, hence BP.

My ancestry is not British. I am a Celt on one side and the frakking Frisians, Anglo-Saxons and the Normans wiped out most of my tribes. This is why I don’t care if the UK takes a major hit when us Americans (we kicked your asses twice) take over your money machine BP.

I don’t care at all.

The little multinational named BRITISH Petroleum has played fast and loose with the rules when it came to oil drilling.

Our home, our way of Life, our dreams and the gift we wished to give to our children is being destroyed. We are being sterilized for the common good. Our World is being destroyed for money gains.

America is also to blame. “Who cares about those swamp dwellers?”. “Can’t they learn to live in a suburb like we do?”. “Why don’t they eat Veelveta and Spam like us?”. “Why do they hold processions at the drop of a hat?”.

The answer is that we are not Americans. We were bought by the U.S., and for the two centuries since then we have been mis-used.

Take our Port’s usage, drill our Coast to fuel your SUVs and your wasteful lifestyle and carve up our wetlands, our storm protections, in order to take Timmy to ballet practice and Susan to her soccer games.

America has abused the folks on the Coast to engage in their suburban “fantasies”. WE bear the brunt of those excesses. Our World is being destroyed for Amerika.

I don’t give a fuck if you are upset by my words. You should really see what is going in my soul right now. I have hatred for the grossly obese mooks driving their SUVs every where since no car can hold them. I hate shareholders that demand that every cent that can be milked come into their coffers.

I hate those who demand and aren’t willing to do for themselves.

And I despise those who believe we must be sacrificed in order to keep their lifestyles intact.

Our Carbon footprint is in the top 1% of those seeking to live a Greener life. Where do you stand?

Are you the solution or the cause of the problem?

These are things to ponder, because what happens to us Coasties is another dog & pony show that will visit YOU.

Then you will be pissed, and no one will be able to come to your aid.

An old axiom: “As ye sow, so shall thee reap”. Amerika, it’s time.

June 6, 2010

I Love My Swamps

Filed under: Wetlands — Morwen Madrigal @ 1:11 pm

This is a land where you can walk and sink up to your ankles in muck (yes, even in your backyard). There are bugs aplenty and the skeeters will swarm you to suck your blood away. There are coral snakes that wait for you to walk under their branch and then bite you. Moccasins will chase you in the waterways. Gators will try to knock your little boat over in order to have a snack.

Just another day in the swamps.

It’s been decades since I lived through those experiences. I don’t dare take those I love and respect into those places again. I grew up in these magical realms, they didn’t. (you don’t let your hands drag in the water from a canoe in the bayou… might wind up losing them)

The plethora of Life is so extensive. Move some vegetation and there is yet another world. Everything is alive, just like in the NW forests. You feel the pulse. You also begin to realize that you are not the ne plus ultra… you are just a part of the Whole, and a small part at that.

I’ve been half-way around the World twice. I’ve wandered through jungles and run into many strange critters (the Monitor lizard freaked me out). Swam in many different waters and played with the dolphins, but the the grey whale surfacing next to me to breathe was a shock. The Teton Wilderness during a blizzard taught me to respect the Bull Moose and his mate’s territory as we were trying to set up an emergency camp to survive the storm (still feel the effects of frostbite to this day).

Have also faced down bears and wolves. (not a great cat though, and that’s okay by me)

Though I love so many places, I still love my swamps. Don’t visit anymore, but I know they are there… Life unbridled unlike the measured form of existence that is my lot.

This is why I am so concerned about the BP spill. I don’t want that part of me to die off, to be killed by the hubris of Humanity. We are only a small part of Life.

This World is not ours to rape and pillage. We as Humans must learn to see the “Other” as having a right to BE, to exist, even if it vexes Human desires. It’s their World too.

I’m doing my best to walk softly on the great blue spaceship that everything inhabits. My life has no value without the presence of the “Others”.

Human culture must change. After all, we are just another species of animals sharing the space.

May 20, 2010

BP is killing my World

Filed under: New Orleans — Morwen Madrigal @ 1:54 pm

I have been using Facebook for the last many months.  This BP (yes you bastards I named you) oil spill  is the Fourth Battle for New Orleans.

We here in the swamps are being destroyed by your habits. We have been bled dry for “what you want”. Our wetlands, our protection from storms, were destroyed for your enjoyment.

Now our shores are starting to become coated with oil. Our World is Is being trashed for oil hungry mooks.

When will the day come when folks  understand that we are not sacrificial lambs for your B/S lifestyles?

May 11, 2010

I Miss My Boat

Filed under: Coastal Restoration, Gulf Coast, Oil & Gas — Morwen Madrigal @ 2:25 pm

Decades ago I owned a boat. No one knew that because it was one of my secret places to just be. (I had other activities that was about me, but I never told a soul about them either). My boat was of wood, and she was 16 foot long.  I hid Her in the swamps. She was my safe place.

Some days I would get down to Her and cast off into the Gulf.  I’d anchor and just have my lunch, read my books and be rocked to sleep by her gentle movements with the waves. The birds landing on Her made Life very interesting. One day I had 3 pelicans sitting on the side… They liked my French bread and left before they swamped me. And I fell asleep with the rocking of the boat.

I’d fish and then let them go. I just wanted to be a part of the ecosystem.  I needed to feel as a part of the Whole that folks down here lived with. Me and my boat rocking on the waves.

I can’t do that anymore. I wish to have a 16 foot schooner to sail again, but how can I sail the lake and the Gulf knowing what BP did? Will I be able to smell the waters?  Can I sleep rocking on oil-infested waters?

Can I rest knowing what has happened? Will the birds come to my little boat and see me as an ally or the enemy?

We have known since the 70’s of the dangers that our current culture presented.  Many of us warned about the possibilities. We have told you what must be done.

You didn’t listen, and I can’t sleep in my little boat anymore.

I’m Crying Tears of Oil

Filed under: Coastal Restoration, Corporate Capitilism, Environment, Gulf Coast, Oil & Gas, Wetlands — Morwen Madrigal @ 12:33 pm

I’m watching the projections of the BP oil spill’s reach and I’m seeing visages of times along the Coast. I see my extended families standing on their 40 ft boats happy with their harvest of the Gulf’s bounty. I see me and my Grand Dad catching crabs from the pier. I feel the nets as I pull them in from the boat. I feel the weight of the oyster tongs.

I feel the rod jerking as I hooked another King Mackeral. I feel the slickness of mud between my toes as I harvested mudbugs. I smell the air and remember.

I remember the night fishing when we held gigs and torches wading through the waters. You had to see the seabed and decide if it was a soft-shell crab or a flounder. I see my Grand Dad’s face as I handed him a bag of soft-shells. I was also afraid of sea snakes.

I’m afraid that I will not see those moments again in my lifetime.

My little World, our World, has been sacrificed for the oil greed of Amerika. 20,000 miles of canals dug through our wetlands and a no questions asked drilling policy. We stand naked before the storms that will come, and our greatest gift to the Nation is being poisoned. And it was all for oil.

I have had a minimal carbon footprint for decades. I have preached for many years about the ways of this culture. I have done my best and now the oil that many of you so depend upon is technically at my door.

My World is dying.

May 9, 2010

My View of Spirit

Filed under: Aside — Morwen Madrigal @ 7:43 pm

(I have written extensively over the last many years. Sadly the Federal Flood and it’s ramifications caused me to lose all of those sites and all of the material stored there. I have been half of myself since then… it’s like writing a novel and losing it before you can type the final chapter. )

I have been asked many times about what I believe in. What makes me tick. How can I just walk into the middle of a crowd and let down my hair and speak of things most people would never reveal to others. Why do I feel that doing certain things are important, even if it could result in tons of pain. (and has done so)

It’s about what I “see”.

In the Beginning there was the One. It’s faceted like a jewel and the Light which comes from each facet has a different “frequency”. We are drawn, much like as moths to the flame, to the Light that resonates within us. (Atheists are included in this… I count on them to be a counter when I go too far)

I’m drawn to be a witch, a priestess of the oldest spiritual leanings of Humankind. I work within the realm of Earth, Water, Air and Fire. I can walk the Worlds and I must live by what I “See”. Much of my life is about magic: the changing of Reality in accordance with Will. The rest of that life is being thankful for each and every day and the people I run into.  I walk the Path and every step is a new experience. (not that all experiences are pleasurable)

I don’t ascribe to the rules of religions… I see them as money machines. The only currency that means anything to me is devotion and trust. What do you believe about “living”. How do you represent yourself day-to-day and how much you help another. This is that “something to believe in” that many folk seek.

It can, and will, consume you. One can become a hermit, but being holy on a mountain is not as effective as walking down the streets and interacting with others. (my girls back in S.F. convinced me of that years ago: I must remain in the Real World) It is not always easy. I cannot change a person’s mind. Situations can be altered, but the mindset is theirs.

All I can do is “BE”.

And maybe, just maybe, I can change hearts, mind and souls.

There are certain aspects of my workings: I can be Bride (the Mother), or I can become Arianrhod (the Changer) and also the Nataraja (the Dancer on the Abyss).  Mostly I am just Morwen who walks the days and just deals with the poop of Life.

And when it’s time for me to go, “And when I die, when I’m dead and gone… there will one more child to carry on”). Big or small, I will have made a change. I will pass to the Summer Country happily and the Goddess will tell me I did good. I will rest and get ready for the next trip on the Wheel.

Yes, I will be back.

May 8, 2010

Why I Can Never Be a Denizen of That Place Called Wingnuttia

Filed under: New Orleans — Morwen Madrigal @ 6:27 am

I was just rereading  a post I did almost a month ago that went viral on the Right-wing Blogs. I was called a hateful person by these worthless pieces of flesh.

The only hateful things in the piece were about how I, and a blind man, were treated by grossly obese Repugs when it came to trying to walk pass them. In fact, I was very mellow considering past posts. (and I was angry about  boys spraying an area with bullets. but I think that was okay)

No, the problem lies with the mindset of those who live in Wingnuttia: They don’t give a shit about anything but themselves. The “other” upsets them… so what fuckmooks, I don’t like your kind either. I find you to be self-absorbed, unmindful of the facts and very much un-evolved. The World is growing, evolving and all you wish to do is stop this beneficial growth.

Sorry Bubbas, your world is coming to it’s logical end. The rest of us do not need (as if we really needed your cave-man/crayon mentality) anymore. You are dinosaurs (hey! Your religious mook leaders say that you rode dinos in the Past… yep, you belong in the series the Flintstones.) Sorry babies… real life is not the Flintstones.

Real life is the norm and it requires real people to live in it. Real people that can understand the travails and the pain associated with change. (and Darlin’s, there is a massive amount of change going down) Your kind, the self-registered Conservatives who desire that Life “stands still” can’t deal with that. Ain’t gonna happen children… Life goes on. Life is a dynamic that cannot be stopped.

You wingnuts want to push down women (maybe because you are not up to the task of ensuring survival), you attack those who have found a way to have  happiness that violates your Patriarchal views. You fight to hurt that which does not fit your Worldview, and yet does not harm you. You deny the right of the “Other” to exist.

You are the pestilence that must be removed from the Human equation.  I see Shiva Nataraga dancing on the edge of the Abyss with one foot upon the neck of Ignorance.  Shiva that seeks to remove hatred so that the World can change for the better. My goal in Life is to emulate that vision and create a better World.

I fight to insure that ignorance is pushed into the Abyss.

‘Tis a lofty goal, and maybe unattainable, but at least I am facing forward and wishing for a better scenario. You Wingnut fucks just wish to hide in the Past and refuse to move forward.

So take my words and twist them to make me the “enemy”. I revel in that. And at the end of all Time I will be feted and you will find the pit of Hell where you belong.

Have a good day Wingnuts, there aren’t many left for your kind.

May 1, 2010

Good Bye Mayor Na’Goon.

Filed under: New Orleans — Morwen Madrigal @ 10:36 pm

C. Ray Nagin’s “Good Riddance” Celebration!!!.

Where- Starlight By The Park 834 N Rampart St. at Dumaine.   561-8939

What- Pot Luck dinner and cheer

Time- May 3rd at 4 PM

Let’s celebrate the leaving of the buffoon ex-Mayor Na’Goon from City Hall and welcome Mitch Landrieu as our new Mayor. (Things just got to get better here now)

April 12, 2010

More of the Hate

Filed under: Federal Flood, New Orleans, Racism — Morwen Madrigal @ 5:57 am

More about the vigilantes who ran roughshod over folk after the Federal Flood in Algiers.

I have no words for what I’m feeling right now. No way to quiet the screaming of my soul over shit like this.

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