Journey to Green Consciousness-New Orleans

Journey To Green Consciousness

Early Years: New Orleans

As a young boy I woke early in the morning and couldn’t wait to go outside, wherever we lived.  My father was first in the Navy (World War II) and then worked in The Corporate World which involved re locations from San Francisco to Los Angeles and then New Orleans. He did public relations for Shell Oil Co. which kept him sort of distant.  His back rubs were stiff and pushy whereas my mother’s were soft and soothing.  I would wake up at first light and go outside to turn on my imagination.  I was a pilot and my trike was a jet, I was flying beside my buddies over exotic terrains (all while in my driveway on St. Charles St.  I was attracted to the great Mississippi River levies to play with the polliwogs in the wet areas of the Delta and spent all my waking hours outside.  At the age of 6 years I developed a passion for fishing.  My parents would drop me off at Lake Pontchartrain rocky shores where I would cast out my line and dream.  One time I caught an Eel and thought I had hooked a rock, then by fierce pulling and evasion managed to pull it in.  On a common day I would walk to the Park with Lagoons and fish with the line on a stick like Tom Sawyer catching perch.  The seven or ten fish caught during the day were kept on a string (line through their gills).  I don’t remember any interruptions in the seamless dream state of rivers, trees, grass and sky.  I recall lying on my back in the tall grass watching ivory cumulus clouds drift in the sky and feeling like it was a perfect reflection of my thoughts (drifting masses in a balloon of mind)

Louisiana is a flat state, there just are no mountains.  At night I would dream of Mill Valley and Mount Tamalpias,  I had passed many hours walking along the creeks of Blythe Canyon looking for craw fish, messing with the water scooters and other miraculous stuff that boys find in creeks.  I remember walking out the front door of our house and sweat would immediately run down my back as if there was a hose in my shirt the humidity was so extreme.  California became so compelling that my dad insisted on being transferred back at any cost in the world of the corporate status ladder.  I got that our surroundings, the place where we are is very important to the enjoyment of life, and even enjoyment is way understated—the essence of joy and mental health is who we are and where we are.