Regina, Saskatchewan I love it here…big open prairie sky meets wide expanse of earth. And over it all, the air is chilled, so cold that I actually succumbed to the spit test. I spat on the sidewalk and immediately poked at my saliva with my boot. It had instantly turned to ice powder. The thermometer in my ride’s car said -41. By this afternoon it had warmed up to -28, which is the current temperature. If the warming trend continues, it’s supposed to be a balmy -14 by tomorrow afternoon. That is a 27 degree difference: the difference between a …
I’m sitting in the Vancouver airport killing time before a flight out to Edmonton. I spent last night at home, which was a surprising novelty. I have been on Whidbey Island most of last week delivering another workshop on The Art of Hosting Conversations that matter – more on that soon. Yesterday I was due to fly from Seattle to Calgary and then on to Regina where I am spending three days doing work to support the Urban Aboriginal Strategy there. Two of those days (today and tomorrow) were to be a two day hosting workshop and …
One of my favourite lines of poetry ever written is contained in this surreal poem from Frederico Garcia Lorca. I remember reading the final stanza for the first time maybe ten years ago and it shook me. Intermission Those eyes of mine from 1910 saw no dead man buried, no ashen fairs of mourners at dawn, no heart quivering in its corner like a sea horse. Those eyes of mine from 1910 saw only the pale wall where the girls tinkled, the snout of the bull, the poisonous mushroom, and the incomprehensible moon that illuminated dried lemon rinds under …
Just when I get home, off I go again. This time, I’m travelling to Whidbey Island for the Art of Hosting and then on to Regina, Saskatchewan for work with the Urban Aboriginal Strategy there, a combination of training and hosting a one day Open Space meeting. So the light blogging continues until I can find some time and connections to speak about. In the meantime, enjoy the recent additions to my flickr account of some photos of Maui, a trip to the Quinault Nation, and life here on my home island.
Happy new year! I’m back from our annual two week winter retreat and have been working with the Quinault Indian Nation this week in Washington State alongside my friend Sono Hashisaki. We’re working on a process to bring more integration to the work of the Tribal government by creating interative planning processes that involve community members, government program managers and political leaders. It’s a fascinating piece of work, and a very interesting community. Over the break, and partly as a result of this work, I’ve been thinking a little bit about some of Adam Kahane’s current work in which he …