On to Albuquerque

All of us signed up to walk across the country to raise awareness and promote action on climate change. None of us knew what would come along with the package.  We all knew we'd have to make specific sacrifices, such as giving up the comforts of our familiar homes, friends, routines and decent coffee, but few if any of us would have anticipated the full package of sacrifice, obligation and chaos that comes with the deal.  I, being of rather impatient and perfectionist bent, haven't adapted to this ever moving dust bowl community as well as others.  My posts have been largely about my discontent and the problems I and the community have encountered.  However, looking at some of my fellow marchers' blogs, one can get a very different picture.  Please visit my good friend Steve Martin's blog, at: http://7millionsteps.com  Steve generally tends to look at the brighter side.

You can find a list of other marchers' blogs at: http://wagn.climatemarch.org/Our_media

For the moment I am at the Route 66 Casino Hotel, about 20 miles west of Albuquerque.  We were to camp in a vacant graveled field on the other side of Interstate 40 last night, but when we arrived the wind was blowing a consistent 30+ MPH with gusts up to 75 MPH.  We all crossed over the overpass and sought shelter in the Dairy Queen or some part of the casino complex.  I met up with friends at the bar, and after a short conference decided to get a room.  Our program coordinator made a deal with the hotel to give us a banquet room, where we could put on the scheduled program (an introduction to the Beehive Design Collective) and the marchers could sleep on the floor, a real treat given the wind and blowing dust outside.  I'll depart soon to intercept the marchers about 6 miles east of here with the break truck.

There is also a strong wind blowing within the marcher community.  There is a group of marchers who are stirred by our dwindling bank balance (which at the current $28,000 will barely get us to the Colorado border) and what they perceive as social inequity within the community. These folks have drafted a proclamation which I hope you can view at: https://docs.google.com/a/cornell.edu/document/d/1ZEkga4yu4FKmJC4bnnRrcWpgVkbRYm2xEOL4VjJ01Cs/
There is a link to the proclamation on our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/ClimateMarch and a growing body of comments about it.  Of course, a few members of the community are freaking out much more about the proclamation than the financial or social crises.  Our director has been hoping the whole discontent would blow over if he just walks 2 or 3 miles ahead of the main body of marchers and walks away whenever anybody suggests that there is a problem.  "Trust me" he says, "Everything will be OK."

Today the march will arrive in the western extreme of Albuquerque, and camp in a dingy vacant lot.  However, there will be some sort of house party fund raiser this evening, a rally tomorrow, and we have been welcomed and acknowledged by several organizations there.  Friday, Saturday an Sunday nights we will be hosted by a school with an environmentally focused curriculum.  Also, we'll be able to do laundry.

New Mexico has been very welcoming to us, and we have been generously hosted and provided for by all the Native American tribes whose land we have crossed.  The Indians of New Mexico have welcomed us very generously in comparison to the cowboys of Arizona.

Emptying the EcoCommodes in the forest at Ancient Way, El Moro, NM