Ok I was tired from all the traveling, lack of sleep and the drive up to Palo’s girlfriend’s father’s mountain farm in the Pyrenees mountain in the south of France but, when Sylvain who drove 7 hours the last two and a half hours in the dark translated the name of the river we heard in the back round as the “River of Iron”. I thought, let me correct him “you mean this is just the name”. But he said, “Yes Iron”! So I went to bed that night thinking that I like the image, humm not water but… peaces of Iron falling down the mountainside. Yes I do like Salvador Dali; and this image helped ground my stomach from the 100 or so near hair point turns and the Spider bites I received on a 5-hour bicycle ride I took beside a canal out side of Toulouse a few days earlier. I slept well for the second time since I left the USA. The next morning I opened the curtains and window of this very old stone 5-bed room house with a kitchen table that could seat 20 people made of one 2 inch thick slice of a very old tree… and I saw butterflies, blue sky and took a deep breath of nature! We had a small breakfast consisting of a small cup of strong Spanish coffee, some home made peach nectar- bread & butter and talked about the last time we were altogether, what a contrast! The first show of last season at the New Victory Theater in NYC, an original performance called “Plan B, big set, lots of heavy moving parts. The two Frenchmen, definitely pros start to teach us what is needed to put two trucks worth of sets and sound up and running in 4 days, typical theater pace. We created a big wall that moved up and down, out and in and had lots of trap doors and we found out later, steps. Looked complicated! I installed a speakers system used in Films {5.1 surround sound} around the 100-foot high theater house section {where the audience sits} which was later tuned, each speaker was delayed slightly so every speaker in this large theater will play at the precise time as the speakers on stage. Well Sylvain was Technical coordinator {One of the two Frenchmen} and Palo was one of the performers”. The show was very modern and seamlessly incorporating technology, original ambient music and acrobatics. It visually reminded me of a Rene Magritte painting. Ok I told you I could relate to surrealism. So now here we are in the mountains on a farm and Palo is a papa and a farmer at 25. What a change form his 12 years of stage and circus acrobatics! Born into a family tradition, the young maestro started at 13 years old, professionally! With the reasonability of a farm of a famous retired street performer, Palo and his girl friend and son live a healthy but hard rewarding live in this retreat that is still used for festivals and has a big barn with stage lighting and mats. They use to live in the main house but Palo built their house out of one of the old foundations. Oh, grapes grow on the front of his house, “Help your self” with a smile. That morning after eating I was told that desert was on the mountain. We went up a thin path along the canal that comes from the mountaintops and is used as the farm’s water source for trees and vegetables. On the way there, were black berries growing naturally everywhere and a wildflower paradise. There were some leaks at the main canal wall. Just a PBC pipe, cemented on either side of this canal wall, we need to use some cement and rocks and strengthen the wall and floor. Well this was just what the doctor ordered. I was down in the mud and loving it in no time and it was cool and muddy. This wall is the first part of the natural filtration system that runs though mass conduit and a base filter and air pressure release valves at the bottom of the mountain. No Machines! The water for drinking comes from a natural underwater stream, which has a modern pump and gives the two houses full running water. All of this information, translated in great detail by Sylvain, though Palo who had improved his English as well, we all were learning as we talked. By this time Sylvain who invited me to the south of France and I have talked for days about politics, studied the similarities in langue and talked about our self’s, our own lessons and of course music. I learned a lot form all the people I met in Toulouse. That is where I met people from the hart land of France. No drought Europeans love to eat and relax, and most of the big meals with out the kids were eaten about 10 pm. Sipping great wine is very serious in France, Italy and Spain. Men and woman treat each other with respect. Most of the people I met in Toulouse knew so much about music that even my strong American music history knowledge was tested to the limits. Record companies create categories and Americans just except, it does make it easers to find what you want, but really music is a big melting pot that browses from the vast knowledge of human kind. In a music store in Paris, the music from the US was in the import category. Most French do not believe what there government tells them, The commercials were short on TV because the French will not take long sponsor breaks, I herd mention a few times…The Riot of 1968. Apparently wile we were fighting our a partied and creating some freedoms, so were they. But maybe they still keep this point in the forefront of their Government minds. Striking is more of an everyday threat there. All big countries have their strong and week points. Thinking about the world’s troubles on a mountain to me, is as natural as taking all the garbage away from a campsite. Leaving it the way I found it. I will always look at the world from an artist’s point of view. I see lessons everywhere, “I ride the river’s currents to my final designation and try to create harmony and keep in tempo with my fellow travelers. This philosophy would work well in a perfect world, but its not! America’s founding fathers gave us the right to speak out. Harmony can only be achieved when all are treated equally. Visiting all those wonderful countries fed me the food I need to birth new music with hart, but also taught me how far we have fallen in the past {Auschwitz}. I learned that in France, people walked into fire to escape the persecution of the Spanish inquisition. I believe that America and the world is having one of it most important test NOW. By NOW, I mean so much of what we do now will affect the world forever! Is our government failing us? Who is the government but WE, so when We blame it for its transgressions and expect it to fix its self, that’s too simple! We must be honest about what is happening, and each one of us must be held accountable before we lost the fragile balance between all of us! In Berlin some Hitler youths were being walked out of a groceries store buy 5 militarily men and a dog with a medal guard around it’s mouth, Wearing any Nazi symbols are forbidden In Berlin, so now they ware army black. Sounds like a NYC fashion style. In Buddhism, we work on improving ourselves in order to fix what’s going on around us. Our attitudes can be the poison. “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never harm me” this only make us numb. At 47, I have felt the sting of misunderstanding and could very well and have lashed back, but that does not solve anything, but escalates it. Walking soft and caring a big stick…Good for hunting prey but I think if I had the bigger stick, I’d offer to put it down first. Yes I might become a martyr but it’s time to look to the future of Human kind. We are becoming way to selfish. I hope we all donate money and time to help with the many disasters we will face now and the future. Now we must look at better ways to help humanity to ensure a better future for all. We can eliminate hunger in our time. Cars can use alternatives fuel now and solar panels can work and save money. Rebuild the southern Golf cost states with this in mind and we could be beckon of light and an example for all in the future. “The river of Iron” could be an apocalyptic dead river! People should always have the right to breathe nature and yes I think Surrealism is still poignant, it is man and nature fused together. One day we will melt a clock We fly and some of us are made of Iron. Hi from Paris Hi US, I’m at my final stop on my European trip, 5 days in Paris. Boy have I been walking a hell of a lot, 7 to 6 hours at a time! I think “Paree” is the most beautiful city I've been to so far, although Krakow has a warmer vibe and Kyoto has the Gardens and the Island Bonaire has a natural land and seascape well... Everywhere I walk I see masterpieces and a history that dates back a century BC, its a lot to take in. Oh, and there are a lot of beautiful woman in Paris! I'm staying in a hotel that's restaurant’s three-course meal 40 Euros with an American tip.. Pricey but eating here is part of the experience, the room which is small but clean and has it’s own privet shower and toilet for 53 euros a day; boy was the food and room worth every penny, oh Euro! I got a chance to see a mass at the Notre Dame. Where strangely enough, they did not mind photos taken, the same at the Louvre. Where I saw about 50 people climbing over each other to take photo’s of the Mona Lisa, Ok… so did I. I'm starting to miss home. But I’m not looking forward to the flight home. I've learned so much about culture and people, mostly good. When this trip is over I will have been on four planes, two trains, one for 10 hours between Krakow and Berlin, the other from Toulouse to Paris, 5 hours, And to Manny Metro trains to count, and on 4 wheels, hugging the mountainside roads almost as beautiful and wild as the mountains them selves. I visited my warm and wonderful new Family in Poland where I experienced one of “The man made wonders of the word” in my option “the Wieliczka Salt mine”. I spent one difficult day at Auschwitz, stopped off in Berlin and Amsterdam, and made real friends in France, mainly Toulouse and in The Pyrenees Mountains. My feet hurt and my stomach has been up and down, I’ve partaken in food that is fit for kings and on my walkabouts… I stumbled on the Theater that Bertolt Brecht first preformed “Three Penny Opera” “Checkpoint Charley” and on Jim Morrison’s Grave… well not actually, but lets say that Jim was not in my travel plans. OK for now, from a noisy street called “Rue De Lappe” in Bastille, Paris France. New Orleans… Peace and Love A bientôt Miguel “MW” Weissman