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Reflection Walk #46, Yr 2 from Clovis North High School 10/22/16

October 23, 2016November 27, 2016 By fmw
Reflection Walk #46, Yr 2 from Clovis North High School at Willow and International.  Saturday morning, October 22, 2016  at 8 a.m. mindfulness walkers met in the school parking lot.  Walkers saw Clovis Unified campuses of Clovis North High School, Granite Ridge Intermediate, Copper Hills Elementary, Riverview Elementary, and the new Clovis State Center Community College. Walkers commented on how many different and unexpected things we were exposed to, and the noticeable absence of loud barking.
1) At the back of Clovis Community College, walkers met five men who refer to themselves as an informal club of Willow International Flying Club.  These guys are remote control airplane enthusiasts and clearly have a lot of fun.
2) At Clovis Community College, walkers met the team from Tremendum, a local movie production company unloading equipment for a day of filming.
3) At Clovis Community College, walkers met an organizer from Central CA Asian Pacific Women who is hosting a Hmong community event at the college today.
4) Walkers walked the gated perimeter of the new and elaborate Fresno water treatment plant.
5) Todd Beamer Park.  Walkers watched a pick up basketball game, a dog-park birthday party, and young boys inside the still-locked skate park.  There were personal belongs at the bottom of one of the ramps, and the boys told us that earlier they had seen bedding and belongings, but someone came back and took them but left the trash.
6)  Walkers listened to beautiful choirs practicing inside classrooms on Clovis North high school campus.
Walkers noticed many people out jogging, walking, walking dogs on leashes, cycling in groups, rollerblading, and pushing strollers. The Todd Beamer Park and school campuses were busy with activity.  While the neighborhoods were still quiet, walkers noticed a few garage doors up and people loading cars.  Walkers noticed hawks floating with wings spread black against the blue sky.
Walkers talked about the positive feelings of unfenced and open school grounds.  Everything was clean and well-kept –very pleasing to the eye.  Things were peacefully quiet, and the houses and cars were beautiful and new.  Most houses were similar in structure and color – less variation than in other Fresno neighborhoods.  Walkers noticed the sounds of fast traffic on International, Willow, and Behymer.

Walkers greeting a yard work crew in a neighborhood with truck and trailer full of equipment.  The ‘family’ crew included a boy who was pleasantly working alongside his parents.  Walkers met Norm who was stepping out of the large motorhome parked in front of his house.  Norm told us they just returned from a trip.

Walkers talked about what they did not notice on this walk as compared to other Fresno walks:  no smells of breakfast food, no Spanish music, no roosters crowing, no people waiting at bus stops, no church buildings (except at a distance across Willow),  no people living outside (except evidence at the skate park), no abandoned shopping carts, no alleys, no dismantled cars, no graffiti, no overflowing trash, no front yard fences, no barbed wire, no front yard dogs, no barking dogs or loose dogs.  Regular mindfulness walkers were amazed that we never heard loud barking with only one instance of a dog barking in the distance.

Walkers saw no homeless people or abandoned belongings, except when the boys at the skate park told us someone had been sleeping inside the skate park before they arrived.  Walker wondered aloud “How are homeless people kept out of this area?”  Walkers talked about Fresno attracting homeless people because Fresno offers services, and Fresno does not have extreme weather conditions.A walker commented about branches that had fallen onto city property and asked questions for consideration.  Who’s responsibility is it to clean this up?  Or who feels responsible?  How does a community encourage people to expand their sense of responsibility beyond themselves, so we all feel responsible and take ownership for public spaces?

Walker expressed an understanding people who have worked hard to get a nice house and nice car who want to protect by keeping out anyone who would threatened it.  A walker discussed how people might isolate and want to protect what they’ve worked hard for and how these perspectives shape how we vote and how we make decisions and interact.
Ending idea: Whether we would choose it or not, or whether we like it or not, all of our lives and futures are tied together.
Facebook photo album:  https://www.facebook.com/fresnomindfulnesswalks/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1841133902840022
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Fresno Mindfulness Walks are weekly opportunities for people to walk together for a 4 mile route through a different Fresno neighborhood each week. Walkers practice active mindfulness by attending to the sights, sounds, smells, feelings.  Walkers do not talk to each other on walks, but we do greet people we meet along the way.  The walk location and exact start time are posted just a few days in advance. All walks are free, require no RSVP, and anyone is welcome to join one walk or many. To learn about upcoming walks, you can sign up for a weekly email in the yellow bar at the top of this website and/or LIKE and follow the FMW Facebook page.

 

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Weekly walks are about 4 miles and take about an hour and a half. Walks are at a medium pace, often on uneven ground, and sometimes take longer than expected because walkers see themselves as curious travelers lingering to observe or going around a different way.

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