I am CuTRis

As a volunteer park ranger I used to do a lot of hiking off-trail in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. I would come back dirty, full of wood ticks, cut up, and feeling pretty great. Some people wondered why I like to do that. So I made this video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWul44j7X9w

To those couple of white people who feel the need to send those, "Hey white people, " messages--you know, where you badmouth others to try to separate yourself to make yourself feel better, please stop. People are just people. Most are good, a few are bad. Color is irrelevant. A lot of us don't want to hear your backward racism. Some of us live in racially and culturally diverse families, and we are far less hung up on race than you and your ignorant rants. It is not going to help our children when you continue preaching your version of how bad everyone is except you. Kids aren't born racist. They learn it from what they hear. So please stop now.

First Helicopter Flight on Mars Walter Mondale died at age 93

While wearing a T-shirt with a bear picture on it, an American Indian man told me he was "Bear Clan." I said, "me too." When he questioned this, I said, "When I was 23, I camped in SE Alaska where Brown Bears were abundant and dominant. I saw 9 with no moat or fence between us. My late friend John and I endured a lot that week--until the float plane returned for us. My life was forever changed by the experience." The man had listened quietly until I finished, and then he replied, "yes, you are Bear Clan." By that, he meant I understood the Bear's Spirit.

 

 

Steak, Salmon, Shrimp, Corn, Potato & Sweet Potato

Throughout my life I've noticed how bad things can often become good; and how important it is to force yourself to stay positive even when you can't see the light at the end of a long dark tunnel. Being laid off due to COVID-19 was a bad thing. But even when it looked hopeless because of the lack of jobs or the hundreds of applicants per (good) job, I kept trying. Even today, three weeks into my new job, I still get several contacts per day from recruiters wanting me to work for half the salary that I'm accustomed to. Some people told me I would need to compromise and take less. I was prepared to do that if necessary, but I had already decided that if that were to happen, the job would be something I had never done and wasn't already an experienced professional in. Then, just as all of those applications (there were literally a couple thousand) I sent out over the 10+ months that I was out of work began to turn into a steady stream of interviews, a contact from a prev...