Within Reach Movie

Within Reach is on a 12,000 mile bicycle tour around the US to visit sustainable communities.  Many of these include small family farms, groups living together raising food, and often raising Thanksgiving turkeys.  However, this Thanksgiving we (Mandy and Ryan) find ourselves in the middle of the New Mexican desert, cycling toward Truth or Consequences NM, with no farms, turkeys or even many stores in sight.

So, since I have typically purchased or worktraded for a Providence Farms turkey (www.providencefarms.org) for the past few years, this year will be different.  Thus, I wondered how to obtain a free-range organic turkey, let alone cook it while camping and only carrying a small camp stove.  So I considered tofurkey as a great substitute.  However, the problem again arose - how to keep tofu fresh while on a bike tour? (Ideas are welcome!).   Therefore we've arrived at the idea to fast for thanksgiving this year.  Not only is this in line with our activism against the inhumane raising of turkeys in this country and the over-planted-pesticide-ridden soy fields, but also a chance to spend some quality time REACHING WITHIN through meditation, prayers of gratitude, and deep reflecting, which I have found works very well during a fast.

So, good luck and many thanks to all the amazing farmers raising turkeys (been there, done that...and it's a LOT of work), and thanks to all the coops and farm stores promoting and selling these works of art; but count us out for Thanksgiving feast this year.

Happy No-Turkey Day!

[Read this and other blogs at http://www.withinreachmovie.com]

Today we received this email with the subject line
“STORE CLOSINGS” (read my response below):

----- Original Message -----

Watch those store money cards and gift cards.. and credit slips!  Stores that informed the Security Exchange of closing plans between October 2008 and January 2009.

•Circuit City stores... most recent (? how many)

•Ann Taylor- 117 stores nationwide are to be shuttered

•Lane Bryant,, Fashion Bug, and Catherine's to close 150 stores

•Eddie Bauer to close stores 27 stores and more after January

•Cache will close all stores

•Talbots closing down all stores

•J. Jill closing all stores

•GAP closing 85 stores

•Footlocker closing 140 stores more to close after January

•Wickes Furniture closing down

•Levitz closing down remaining stores

•Bombay closing remaining stores

•Zales closing down 82 stores and 105 after January.

•Whitehall closing all stores

•Piercing Pagoda closing all stores

•Disney closing 98 stores and will close more after January.

•Home Depot closing 15 stores 1 in NJ (New Brunswick)

•Macys to close 9 stores after January

•Linens and Things closing all stores

•Movie Galley Closing all stores

•Pacific Sunware closing stores

•Pep Boys Closing 33 stores

•Sprint/ Nextel closing 133 stores

•JC Penney closing a number of stores after January

•Ethan Allen closing down 12 stores.

•Wilson Leather closing down all stores

•Sharper Image closing down all stores

•K B Toys closing 356 stores

•Loews to close down some stores

My response was...

“Whoa.  Now, I must say that while this news invokes some initial feelings of 'oh-my-goodness-what-will-all-those-people-do-for-work' within me, it is quickly followed up by a feeling of gratitude that these stores - which are often stocked with goods made by child laborers in third world countries, use up so much oil to ship to the many stores, thereby contributing to global warming, and generally are things we have no real need for anyway (although we do own a Sprint cell phone, so um...could I live without that?!?  I think so!) - are finally closing.  These people will find better ways to use their time and skills, maybe by teaching children, growing food, fixing old things up, eco-retrofitting existing buildings and homes, installing solar panels, repairing bicycles, converting cars to be electric or biodiesel, caring for the sick, helping elderly people have a high quality of life, help birth babies, write and share their wisdom, write books, make educational videos, plan celebrations, grow in their spiritual paths, help with local governance, prepare and cook food, the list could go on and on with things that we actually need in this world!

Okay, off my soap box now :-)   Just wanted to express my gratitude that the paradigm is shifting and we will soon be less dependent on big box and chain stores!”