Darkling Thrush

	Add as friend
	Introduce yourself
	Invite to group
	Send green star

"Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be."

Yulee, FL, USA
male
single
Wilderness Educator, Ranger, Schooner Bum
Speaks: English, Muskogee, Gaelic
Joined Feb 1, 2003

more about Darkling Thrush »

The Art of Living
If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. - E.B. White

Personal		Professional		Contact		Singles

Joined

Feb 1, 2003

1° Network

NAACP

Activist Aspirations

Enthusiastic

Here for

Meeting Friends, Dating, Job Search, Professional Connections

Group Host of

none yet

Groups

Bird Lovers., Breast Cancer Awareness, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund - Electing Pro-Wildlife Leaders, Ethnobotany, Green Party, Gulf Restoration Network, Healthy Cooking, Healthy Living Network, Jane Goodall Institute: Race for the Primates, Natures Blend, Oceana, Outdoor Education & Outward Bound, Pets in Need, Protect Yellowstone more »

Race for the Big Cats, Race for the Rainforest, Religions Of The World, The Environmental Education Center, Tobacco Free Kids, Traveling The Traditional Red Road, Union of Concerned Scientists

Hometown	Black Rock City, NV
Homepage	http://people.tribe.net/darklingthrush
Birthday	Oct 31
Languages	English, Muskogee, Gaelic
About Me	Life-Long Learner and Poet Naturalist, Peaceful Activist and Enthusiastic Instigator, Quietly Spiritual in a very organic sort of way. Wilderness Educator, Ranger, and Salty Sailor. Treehugger, Dharma Bum, Bicycle Commuter, and Green Party organizer. Working on a Masters in Environmental Studies at Evergreen State College, hoping to become an old college professor if and when I ever retire from wilderness work.
	Introduce yourself to Darkling
Lifestyle
Pets	Other
Activist Aspirations	Enthusiastic
Political Leaning	Very Liberal
Religions	Naturalist
Eating Habits	Almost Vegetarian
Wild Fact About Me	2003 was my year of skinnydip adventures - 13 pristine alpine lakes, 2 cool clear streams, and my first dip in Puget Sound. **2004 Update This year I added Pyramid Lake and Crater Lake to my skinnydip list. And so the adventures continue, communing with the Goddess, swimming in that happy union of Father Sky and Mother Earth... 2005** The Snokomish in January is brisk, but the water was too beautiful to resist (even with snow on the ground). I also led the crew of the Adventuress (after a late night beer-on-the-dock party) in diving naked off the bowsprit. A week later, I pranked another tall ship (the Zodiac) by swimming over, sneaking aboard, and diving off their bowsprit. Since then I have moved east, dipping in the Atlantic Ocean and Suwannee River. And the Hostel in the Forest, with spring fed lake and pool, is a new favorite place to commune with nature this way.
My Philosophy	Every atom in my body was part of other beautiful life-forms and formations before it came to me, and each will be part of other amazing lives when I am gone. So you see, we really are all connected, and we really are immortal. Our personalities live on through the lives we touch along the way, through the cumulative positive and negative ripples we stimulate in the pool of the collective consciousness (at all levels).
What Gives Me Hope	I leant upon a coppice gate When Frost was spectre-gray, And Winter's dregs made desolate The weakening eye of day. The tangled bine-stems scored the sky Like strings of broken lyres, And all mankind that haunted nigh Had sought their household fires. The land's sharp features seemed to be The Century's corpse outleant, His crypt the cloudy canopy, The wind his death-lament. The ancient pulse of germ and birth Was shrunken hard and dry, And every spirit upon earth Seemed fervorless as I. At once a voice arose among The bleak twigs overhead In a full-hearted evensong Of joy illimited; An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small In blast-beruffled plume, Had chosen thus to fling his soul Upon the growing gloom. So little cause for carolings Of such ecstatic sound Was written on terrestrial things Afar or nigh around, That I could think there trembled through His happy good-night air Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew And I was unaware. - Thomas Hardy (Dec. 31, 1900)
If I were Mayor, I'd make the world a better place by	Ban internal combustion engines and smash all the TVs, for a start. Factory farms and persistant toxics would also be high on the list. On a more positive note, I would work for food security by encouraging community and backyard gardens, and I would stimulate civic engagement by bringing in high school interns at all levels of government. As President I would turn my attention to foriegn policy and the big environmental issues. Cease all exporting of violence - bring the troops home, shut down the School of Assassins. Rejoin the community of nations addressing issues like global warming, habitat destruction, etc., and take a leadership role in addressing these issues that stretch beyond national borders.
What/who changed my life and why	Books: "Don Quixote" and "On the Road/Dharma Bums" - inspired me to start having my adventures in real life, rather than just reading about them in books. Person: Glenn Reynolds said to me, "You do a lot for this community". It totally changed my self-image. Events: Burning Man 2000, being surrounded by so many people LIVING their lives; working one summer as a wilderness ranger in the Cascades, being alone in nature for days at a time.
What Bugs Me	mosquitoes, flies, no-seeums
Passions	Outdoor Education, Wilderness Skinnydips
Inspirations	Pristine Alpine Lakes, Waterfalls, Cypress Swamp Gardens, Cool Clear Creeks
What Scares Me	Soylent Green, Bulldozers
Favorites
Role Models	Rachel Corrie, Gary Snyder, Paul Wellstone, Don Quixote, Treebeard
Quotation	"You can't escape the consequences of your own decision. On your decision depends the fate of the entire World. You must decide. You can't avoid it. Each of us is put here in this time and this place to personally decide the future of humankind. Did you think the Creator would create unnecessary people in a time of such terrible danger? Know that you yourself are essential to this World. Believe that! Understand both the blessing and the burden of that. You yourself are desperately needed to save the soul of this World. Did you think you were put here for something less?" - Chief Arvol Looking Horse 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe
Interests	Deep Ecology, Native American Flutes, Activism, Community Service, wilderness adventures, Burning Man, costumes, cooking, massage, reflexology
Books	My Name is Rachel Corrie, Search for the Lord God Bird, Smokey the Bear Sutra, My Ishmael, The Story of B, Ishmael, Teaching a Stone to Talk, The Age of Missing Information, The Sea Wolf, Huckleberry Finn, Ecotopia, Deep Ecology, Desert Solitaire, Dharma Bums, Don Quix
Music	world beat, tribal trance, political satire, live klezmer, melodious birdsongs I don't recognize bu
Movies	Brazil, extended version of The Two Towers (Ents, Soylent Green, Whale Rider, Jeremiah Johnson, The Same River Twice
TV Shows	turn...off...tv!
Favorite Foods	ethic dishes of all types - Mexican, Indian, Mideast. I love to cook, do lots of spicy beans-and-rice variatio, pastas, fruit pies, huge omelettes (free-range eggs!)
Favorite Places	Mobile-Tensaw delta, Black Rock City, OlyWa, Wenatchee National Forest, Pyramid Lake, Crater Lake, Appalachians, Zion, canyon country, Olympic Peninsula
Can't Live Without	Everytime I think of one, life gives me lessons in non-attachment
	Introduce yourself to Darkling

Friends of Darkling

Lisa D.

Mirna S.

Linda B.

Runningfox M.

Liz S.

View all: 40 friends

Darkling's Sharebook

	In the Valley of the Rainforest Giants (Nov 2) Found Olympic Hot Springs by moonlight last night. Today I toured the "Valley of the Rainforest Giants" - largest trees in the world ou... more »
	Changes (Sep 5) It's been a while since I was here, keeping up my blog. Almost a year since I posted anything substantive about my experiences, a... more »
	Slickrock 2008 (May 24) Current mood: adventurous John Olsen teaching primitive... more »
More shares »

Darkling's Photos

1190 photos, 39 albums »

My Video

Loading video...

My Butterfly Rewards

I’ve earned 79 Butterfly Credits

learn more about Butterfly Rewards »

Kudos

Sade G. (72)

Testimonial on Jun 23, 2006

THANK YOU FOR FRIENDSHIP

Write Testimonial | View all 1 »

Comment Board

Viewing 20 of 20: view all | add a comment »

Oct 31, 2008 1:27 PM
Heather W. (96)
Oct 24, 2008 3:02 PM
Rebecca W. (1188)	Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time. ~Jean Paul Richter~ May your birthday take flight and bring you much laughter, and fill your memories with mirth from now to hereafter! ~Becca~
Oct 31, 2007 7:56 AM
Diva M. (52)
Oct 30, 2007 7:59 AM
Sade G. (72)	HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Oct 29, 2007 9:38 PM
liz s. (50)	happy birthday x x
Oct 26, 2007 10:30 PM
liz s. (50)	have a great weekend x x
Oct 25, 2007 11:03 PM
Rebecca W. (1188)	Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen, Voices whisper in the trees, "Tonight is Halloween".~Dexter Kozen
Oct 25, 2007 11:02 PM
Rebecca W. (1188)	DARKLING THRUSH, May all your wishes and dreams come true!! And as you celebrate the day of your birth, may peace and beauty fill the Earth!!! Warm blessings and joy... Becca
Jul 16, 2007 5:20 PM
Diva M. (52)
May 30, 2007 9:56 AM
liz s. (50)	good morning x x
May 9, 2007 6:17 PM
Linda B. (2413)	Your inner beauty is a blessing in my life. Thank you for being a friend with a lovely soul and a caring heart.
Mar 23, 2007 8:28 PM
Linda B. (2413)	The best things we could put into our bodies are love and trust.
Oct 30, 2006 4:03 PM
Sade G. (72)	MAY YOUR BIRTHDAY BE MERRY AND BRIGHT
Oct 25, 2006 2:32 PM
Linda B. (2413)	On the day you were born it was a very special day The world was blessed in a most unusual way May the magic that brought you to Earth Shine all around you on the day of your birth. by Linda Berroth-Linderman
Oct 24, 2006 2:18 PM
Rebecca W. (1188)	HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARKLING THRUSH, May your special day sparkle and shine, like moonbeams and stars. May your special day be filled with warmth; love straight from the heart. May your special day be filled with all special things, forever more! Have a terrific birthday my friend!!! Becca
Oct 15, 2006 3:57 AM
Linda B. (2413)	Alone in the dark so sad and blue? Remember you have friends that care for you.
Oct 14, 2006 2:05 PM
Rebecca W. (1188)	Have a frightfully wonderful HALLOWEEN!!! And a terrific weekend my friend!!! Becca
Oct 5, 2006 6:23 AM
Rebecca W. (1188)	"There is no end to the adventure we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." ---Nehru Have a wonderful adventureous life my friend! Becca
Sep 15, 2006 2:51 AM
Rebecca W. (1188)	Friendship comes from the heart and soul and helps us endure all of life's struggles. It gives us hope when we are down, it gives us dreams and inspiration and a glimpse of the universe. It reminds us that no thing is ever impossible with the gift of love and friendship! Thank you for being my friend and a shining star... Becca
Aug 18, 2006 4:12 PM
Linda B. (2413)	Having a wonderful friend like you, is magical!