Hey folks, I got a private message from hecate this morning

I'll just copy/paste it below the fold, his words speak better than mine.

Hi JtC. I’m fine. I have been the whole time. Just hard to get the word out. An Englishman in Marin read in the Times last week that I had no cellphone and bought me an iPhone and sent it to a local newspaper gal and she drove it up. That’s the kind of blessedness I’ve been in, the whole way. The kindness of strangers is real. I’m so supplied up here it’s embarrassing. Wednesday eight PG&E guys worked in the dark to make the line to my house just so and then when I flipped the mains and the house lit they all cheered. It was like Christmas. Gas will take longer. AT&T maybe weeks, and I won’t be writing until that comes back because the keys on this phone are impossible for me. Slow as cutting stone. I’m locked out of my gmail account. Because google is evil. : ) Am using xxxxxx.com. This phone is xxx xxx xxxx. My area is still closed and not sure when it will open. Nobody can get by the National Guard Dobermans but workers and some media. I’m one of very few residents who stayed and can’t leave or they won’t let me back in. And I wouldn’t miss this for anything. Because despite what the fake news may say, Paradise is alive. A utility worker after 17 straight days was flown home to North Carolina on a break. But it didn’t feel right. So after six hours he said goodbye to his wife and kids and got on a plane and flew back. “I’m supposed to be here,” he told me. They’re all like that. The day after they lit my house the crew chief came by and gave me his sack lunch. They do that all the time. It was raining, and he was wistful, because that meant “I can’t light anybody up today.” So he was driving around, mapping out in his mind his next moves, envisioning what will be. Paradise is alive in the hearts and minds of all these people, and they are working to bring that into the Real. I’ve read some of what is on the site and you’ve all been very kind. Everyone everywhere has been kind. Because people are basically good. I know that for sure now. And kindness is all. Feel free to share all of some of this on the site. Love you all. Kevin.

What great news!

Thank you all.

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earthling1's picture

Thanks for passing that along, JtC.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

To good people. Praise lawdy.

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And glad for him that he doesn't live in Puerto Rico or Flint Michigan, but somewhere he can get the love and human kindness given a priviledged white area.
I mean that sincerely for Hecate but lets be honest, that caring he is being shown is a whole level better than being shown to poc.

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hecate's picture

@Battle of Blair Mountain
is pretty white, for sure. Though the guy who just came to the door with the Boil Water Notice isn’t. From PID. The day of the fire two of those people up at the reservoir turned the taps on full to run all the water down the hill hoping it could be used to save the town. Certainly helped me, when I was being a hose man. This guy was a hose man too, at his own home, until the water gave out. The fire took his place. He shrugs it off. “It’s just stuff,” he said. That’s the common refrain.

As for the money, people here were financially on par with those in Flint.

Though there’s no money here now. I haven’t seen money since the fire.

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mimi's picture

@hecate
hi hecate so glad you made it. The sentence above is one my son tells me when he is angry with me over 'family greed' issues.

'I have seen more kindness from complete strangers than I saw with people one generally calls his loved ones'. So, I believe him, because I believe you. Smile

JtC gave us an address to send money to you via paypal. The money I sent was paid back to my account, so something didn't work.

Let us know if we can have a 'redo' operation and when. And when you are back in full I wonder if you will write one day an essay explaining the role of money in our lives. I can't figure out if it 'makes the world go around' of if it 'prevents the world from going around and sends it to bust instead'. I am pretty sure you have the answer to all of that. Smile

I look forward to 'see' you back here one day.
Good luck.

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@mimi
there was never a plan set up to send money to hecate via PayPal. There was, not too long ago, a link for PayPal payments to OPOL's friend who was a victim of the hurricane in Florida. I think that's what you may be mistakenly referencing.

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mimi's picture

@JtC
in a minute. May be it rings a bell with you.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@hecate

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

lotlizard's picture

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WaterLily's picture

reading that. Thanks for sharing, JtC. And if you're lurking, hecate, thanks for so eloquently expressing the power (and Reality) of kindness.

Looking forward to having you back once you're fully connected.

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thank you for sharing all of this! Bless you.

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Lily O Lady's picture

the Paradise identity is strong. Peace.

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Happy to hear it.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

FINE News! Good to hear!

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

Deja's picture

Very glad to hear from him and the stories of humanity in the face of destruction.

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janis b's picture

I’m so happy to hear that you are well cared for and fortified by the kindness of others.

“So he was driving around, mapping out in his mind his next moves, envisioning what will be. Paradise is alive in the hearts and minds of all these people, and they are working to bring that into the Real.”

That is a very wistful and touching image. I wish you all the best in making it real.

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CS in AZ's picture

Such a relief and a joy to hear this news and see hecate post again!

Yay for smart phones. And electricity. And humans doing good and helping each other. My heart sings.

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moneysmith's picture

and the community is coming back. Thanks for the update, JtC. Keep us posted, please, Hecate.

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Hell is empty and all the devils are here. William Shakespeare

Raggedy Ann's picture

hecate is doing well. Brought tears to my eyes to hear he's okay, what's going on there, and the herculean efforts to get his electricity back on. Wonderful people are around us.

Thanks, JtC! Pleasantry

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

thanatokephaloides's picture

I am grateful and joyful to know you are OK, hecate.

Please do let us know, from time to time, how you are doing.

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

gulfgal98's picture

After we first learned that you, hecate, were okay from the fire, we breathed a huge sigh of relief. Since then, we all have been worried as to how you would be able to live amidst all the devastation, lacking food, power and water.

Hecate, your message to us was one of pure hope for mankind. As always, your eloquence shines. I cannot stop the tears from flowing and they are tears of joy. When times look so dark, human kindness gives us hope for tomorrow. You are right and we all need to be reminded that people are truly good.

Thank you for this beautiful message, my friend. Stay safe and warm. We can hardly wait to have you back with us here. Nancy

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

shaharazade's picture

you lived Hecate. Now I know. Paradise is an appropriate name for a place you call home. You letter to JC is a moving testimony to the human spirit that is good despite all the insane jerking around people are subjected to. Glad to hear that your safe, and that the community of Paradise is pulling together. I've been a stranger here for long enough. Hope when your settled in you come here and write some. I miss your mind and spirit along with your irresistible humor and loving kindness, spiced up. Thank you. See you around the ink well and good luck reclaiming Paradise. Bless you and all of us everyone.

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Bisbonian's picture

the recovery. So glad you are safe, Hecate, and even more glad you are sharing the experience with us. A hose man...I am inspired. This place will probably need one, some day. I'm going to put in a big tank, up the hill.

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

hecate's picture

@Bisbonian
the years I would see from time to time on the television some raging fire approaching someone’s house, and the person standing there with a garden hose. And I would think: “What is wrong with you? That’s a big freaking fire. And all you have is a hose. What are you doing?” Now I know. You do what you can. If a hose is what you have, that’s what you use.

Still. It probably really is a “don’t try this at home” sort of thing.

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@hecate
I knew damn well, the whole time, from the very beginning, that you would not leave your house and pet friends and sure as hell, you did just exactly what I knew you'd do.

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hecate's picture

@JtC
not the only person to tell me this. I guess others know me maybe better than I know myself.

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mhagle's picture

@hecate

A day later than the essay. I am so glad you are OK!!

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Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Anja Geitz's picture

And sharing the kind of tenderness Hecate describes, just gave me a lump in my throat.

Thank you so much for sharing this JtC!

Hugs to All. Smile

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

lotlizard's picture

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