Cancer is a serious subject. Raising money to help fight cancer is a serious subject. But with the help of Star Wars, it can be fun.
Saturday night, the Arizona contingent of Mountain Base of the Rebel Legion participated in a Relay for Life event for the American Cancer Society. The Dune Sea Garrison of the 501st had a team, and graciously allowed us to move into their campsite for four hours to help support the effort and raise some money.
Ben Kenobi, Visas Marr, five Jedi (one with spiky hair), two Leias, a Rebel Fleet Trooper and a Tusken Raider hung out and hobnobbed with Darth Vader, Darth Nihilus, Boba Fett, a Clone Commander with a BIG blaster, an Imperial Commander and several stormtroopers.
There were some solemn moments during the various ceremonies, and seeing the stormtroopers remove their helmets during one of the memorials was touching. As Jedi, we bowed our heads in respectful silence.
But the overall theme of "movie night" was FUN! Walking laps in costume, cheering on the walkers, browsing the various raffles and fundraising sales... and holding our own raffle to raise money which had the added bonus of making people, especially some eager kids, very happy.
My thanks go out to all my friends of the PLB, the Spew Crew and the GHG for their generous donation of prizes allowing us to have 25 lucky winners! And cash raised for the American Cancer Society at no cost to them.
My highlight of the night was walking backwards to the relay walkers with a handful of raffle tickets, in my full Jedi costume, hitting up those who were working their own booths. At one point I was walking straight into Darth Vader and a group of stormtroopers! A boy of about ten ran up to me and said, "Look out, Darth Vader's coming!"
"I ain't afraid of Darth Vader!" I told him loudly, and as he passed we exchanged high fives, and so did the stormies.
It was a little too hot and I sunburned my ear 
in the hour before the sun went down, but over all it was a happy and successful evening!
The other day I had five good minutes.
Grampy-Wan decided to clean the pool, and this requires my assistance... my special contribution being my ability to get down on the concrete and finagle the vacuum hose around until it's plugged in tight and all the air is gone without losing suction... after this feat, I sat and watched...
And while sitting in the sun in my yellow pajamas and sun glasses, my back to the brick wall, I saw things. I heard things. I noticed things.
And for five minutes I was a good Jedi, focused on the here and now. I let the Force flow through me and heighten my awareness of the ordinary. No thoughts back to the regrets of the past, no worries about the future... Just a few moments in the sun.
Obi-Wan Katnobi walked across my lap with a meow and took his place on the corner of the fence overlooking his kingdom. A bird flew by and I didn't worry about him catching it and dragging it into the house...
The wind rustled the trees, and I noticed my neighbor's tree has leafed out, and I didn't think about the shade trees I used to have in my yard that I killed...
Some freshly cut grass floated on top of the water and I didn't think about how they might clog up the filter... I just watched the sun shine on the little, tiny waves... and listened to the birds chirp and the wind moving the trees...
My other neighbor has a TV antenna, and I wonder if back in the 60s, when the neighborhood was new, if every house had a TV antenna on top it... I see the turbo-vents whirling on the roof on every house around... Air conditioners turning on and off...
And the sparkly clear water looked so soothing, reminding me of how much I love the water, and then I realized how I'm stuck here for another stinkin' summer!!!!!!
So, the moment was over... I was back to my fretting and worrying and complaining.
But it made me stop and think how Star Wars has affected my interpretation of things. Now when I wonder, I wonder about the GFFA.
Do they have pool-cleaning droids? That's not all that far out there, what with the automatic, built in pool cleaners that new pools have these days...
But do cats chase birds in the backyards of Bakura? Do palm trees rustle in the breeze on Dantooine? Does cut grass skitter across the clear water of the Silver Sea? Did an idiot with a salt-water fish tank kill all the trees on Coruscant? Oh wait, that was me...
Do Jedi ever stop and sit with their feet in the water?
So now instead of fretting, I'm going to dream about barefoot Jedi on the shores of distant lakes, and Force sensitive cats, and flying cars... that don't need gas...
And may the Force be with us all...
Yes, the rumors are true, it's my birthday... I am officially as old as Yoda and not in half as good a condition... and it's Toxic Waste Day...Does it mean anything that the city in which I live had it's semi-annual "Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event" also known as "Toxic Waster Day' today, on my birthday? Oh, I hope it was a coincidence... although we know from our Jedi teachings that everything happens for a reason, and there is no coincidence...
A long time ago, in a town 900 miles away, on this date in history, in a hospital that doesn't exist anymore, I was born...
Was it a big deal? I suppose... my parents already had three children, the youngest of whom was 10... so to say I was a surprise would not be out of line... shock was probably more like it...
I'm sure my birth would have created a disturbance in the Force had I been born in the GFFA... I'm not sure where I would have fit in had I been born there... Would Qui-Gon be saying, "Had she been born in the Republic...."? I consider myself fortunate to have been born in the US... but to be born a Jedi would have been truly special...
To have a special power, a gift, so to speak... and the training to use it properly, for good... to be bathed in the light of the Force... to give myself over to it, to trust it implicitly... to hold the power in my hand and go forth into the galaxy to do good...
Yes, it would have been the best thing one could be... unselfish, compassionate, dedicated... to always know the right thing to do, because of the power of the Force...
Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Chaos, yet harmony.
Death, yet the Force.
Yes, I can see my self living the life of a Jedi... or envying it from afar... they would most certainly be my heroes if I could not be one of them...
Sigh... instead I am a mere human, earthbound... I hold no special powers, I am ruled by my emotions, I fear death, and my most serious decisions revolve around which frozen meal to have for dinner... or which fabric to buy for my newest Jedi costume...
So.... What is Granny's point, you're all thinking?
My point is... I CAN'T POSSIBLY BE THIS OLD! What the hell happened? I should be a about 35 or 40 or so... My past is longer than my future...
But I don't worry too much about that, because I won't remember it anyway...
