Stephanie and Arias on the Fringe Outdoor Stage.

Posted on by Thor

Stephanie and Arias performed on the outdoor stage at this year’s Fringe Festival. They harmonize beautifully.  I imagine they are a young couple very much in love. Their original music resonated with me. Love in my life however has become confusing with no solid bedrock. My past haunts me and forgiveness is something I will never be granted. The music was sweet and sincere but my heart was in a different place. I chased imagined ideals and ignore the reality of what is in front of me. Perhaps sketching is a distraction to keep me from facing who I am or what I have become.

One friend forced me to face mistakes I have made. Were morals lost along the way? I am rootless, a tumbleweed. I realize now that grief must be faced alone. Grief can and probably should last for years. Perhaps turning to my sketching will help me find my roots again. I always claimed that writing these posts would help me put down roots in Orlando. I need to put down roots of devotion. I have no solid floor. Some tiles shift and fly up with no mortar. Others cling tightly refusing to let go. There is no sure footing. I lost trust in love, and then I thought I found joy and affection again by opening up to a friend. There was a level of intimacy in some of these conversations that I had never experienced before. I then discovered that this friend had no trust in me. Trust needs to be earned. This stung worse than the even larger losses I am going though right now. I am transparent and easily judged. Perhaps I need to turn to meditation. I have no clear, open, sane, relaxed point of view about how to live a fulfilling life. I have no home. Isn’t sketching a form of meditation? It makes me fully present, and it drowns out the noise. This one simple action of doing one sketch a day is the one strength I fall back on. I need to find other sources of strength. I realize that I am lost… How did all this come from listening to this couple sing. They seem so happy. They seem to be living on love alone. Ideals get dashed. Time is short.

On the tent wall behind the performers, Carl Knickerbocker, a local artist was projecting a short film memorializing the life of artist, Morgan Steele. I met Morgan at an Eco Action lake cleanup this past February. He was curious about my art and we talked for some time. He remained on shore with me as volunteers in canoes explored Lake Virginia cleaning up it’s shores of garbage. I sketched him as he leaned up against a cross in the shade of a live oak. Shortly after that day, he lost control his car, which careened into some cement construction barricades as as he returned home from Stardust Video and Coffee. Some claimed that my sketch of Morgan prophesied his early death. Life is short and love fleeting. Art crumbles.

Eco – Action Cleanup cares for Orlando’s lakes while being hindered by city red tape.

Posted on by Thor

I went to Eco – Action Cleanup number 845 at Lake Concord. Jef Shelby organizes this intrepid group of volunteers who use canoes to help clean up the garbage from Orlando’s lakes. The Mission of ECO-Action, Inc., is to protect and preserve the
natural environment by encouraging, creating, and supporting ecological
education, responsible consumption, development of alternative energy
sources, and public participation in addressing environmental issues.

The GPS brought me to Central Christian Church. Across the street there was a lake, but I didn’t see any volunteers. Thinking I was in the wrong place, I drove up and down the street and then I drove behind the church. This is where I found the truck with a trailer full of canoes. People were already in canoes and on shore placing trash in yellow bags. By keeping the lake clean, wildlife is being protected. Fishing line in particular can strangle a bird who becomes entangled. Birds and turtles can also eat the fishing lines, which is a health hazard. On some cleanups birds have been found and turned over to the Birds of Prey Center for medical care. There is no shortage of garbage, bottles, beer cans, plastic cups, fishing line, grocery bags, cigarette butts, and even condoms. Despite the endless effort it seems that garbage is dumped faster than it ca be removed. These volunteers are true eco-warriors.

Rather than support these environmentalists, the city decided to impose restrictions and permitting. It seems politicians need to know exactly what lake is being cleaned and when. Jet ski’s and power boats are fine, but having volunteers out cleaning the lakes in canoes was considered a bit too anarchistic for city officials.  Now Jef has to apply for permits and wait up to four months for approval. The added bureaucracy is causing the Good Samaritan effort to be too much trouble. Jef hopes someone else will take on the effort because he doesn’t have the time for all the paper work.

Morgan Steele had volunteered to stay behind and watch the remaining canoes. He stopped over to see what I was working on. It turns out he is an artist himself. He loved that I was documenting the cleanup effort with sketches. He searched in the reeds next to me and pulled out a hypodermic needle. “Can you believe someone would shoot up behind a church.” he asked. He then walked over to a shady spot under a huge live oak, sat down, and leaned back against a large cross. Jef wrote me a Facebook message a few weeks after the cleanup.  “Since Morgan Steele’s passing, I’ve thought about some of the Jungian signs that prophesied his death – and I think of that last painting you did of Eco-Action’s clean-up at Lake Concord where he was taking a rest under the cross.” On April 23rd, Morgan lost control of his car while driving back from Stardust Video and Coffee. His car slammed in some concrete constructions on Bumby. A memorial will be held for him around Memorial Day. The Herculean task of cleaning Orlando’s lakes lives on. More Eco Warriors are always needed to stem the tide of a wasteful consumer society.

A whistle sounded and the canoes returned. Each canoe was filled wit yellow bags full of trash. The bags were stacked in a pile and everyone lined up for a group photo. Probably 30 full bags of garbage had been removed from the lake. More remained. The most unique finds, were a laptop computer, and a three foot white sign that said, “Church Parking Ahead.” If anyone had followed that sign, their cars would be found on the bottom of the lake. If you ever want to make a difference while canoeing on a central Florida lake, be sure to look up Eco -Action Cleanup.