Last night the mules spent the night in Lake Elsinore on a vacant lot. While we were packing up this morning, the Lake Elsinore code enforcement officer approached us and said we could not be here. We said we would be gone in about an hour. He said right now get your stuff and leave. He then called the sheriff.
Sheriff came and said you’re trespassing. If you don’t leave immediately, you will be arrested. We said we were not trespassing. There were no fences preventing our entry and no signs to inform us that we could not be there through the night for the purpose of a night’s sleep. The officer did not pursue the issue any further. We cleaned up after ourselves and left. It took over an hour.
The Mules will be staying in the town of Lake Elsinore tonight seeking a public piece of ground for the purpose of a night’s sleep. We require very little area through the night and are on our way in the morning.
The Megatropolis and its forever spreading cities and towns must come to respect the Mules and the way of living they represent as we are all being driven like sheep into a smaller and smaller area in which to live and raise families. We must establish a place we can all go and practice The Art of Living freely and responsibly in our country. As the Mules practice their ages old nomadic way of life they also show the absolute necessity for such a place we can all go move freely and keep and regain our sanity.
The attitude held by most public officials of the cities we pass through such as Lake Elsinore is utter disrespect and disregard. The mules wonder why because the attitude and demeanor of the citizens of the cities and towns we pass through is always friendly and positive.
The Mules were walking down a dusty road on a hot summer’s day in Mendocino County when a lady named Mary and her husband came upon us in their automobile, stopped and inquired as to where we were going. We said Covelo. She said where are you from? We said everywhere. Mary then looked around, reached around to the back seat bringing forth a jar of something. She said do you like honey? We said yes. She then handed us a jar of honey.
This honey did not look the same as honey we were use to seeing on grocery store shelves. Its color was pale yellow. Later that evening, we found out that it would not run from the jar in 90F degree weather and it was stiff as a board. We then decided to taste this unusual jar of honey so we did and found it to have a most unique flavor and texture never before experienced during our 70 years off again on again casual consumption of honey with such a unique delectable taste.
After about a week to ten days of consuming Mary’s honey and finishing the last bit in the jar, the Mules said to themselves what are the chances of ever tasting honey like that again? The Mules said back to themselves “zero”. We are one timers, good things happen just once, the Mules have learned from 70 past years. Don’t try for a second shot you’ll miss.
On July 26, 2017, we posted on Facebook about Mary’s honey and said “If you see Mary please tell her the Mules need another jar.” We received several responses and one said that it was Mary Osteen’s honey and that Mary is at the Covelo farmers market every Friday.
Well, after about 3/4 weeks, the Mules got a message on Facebook from a lady named Dolores and she said she knew of this notorious lady in Covelo named Mary who sold this delicious unusual honey that would not leave the jar when turned upside down. She knew how to acquire yet another jar of Mary’s honey for us the Mules. The Mules said great.
Dolores said she’ll send it on a fast track. We said we travel a slow track. She said okay slow track. Where? The Mules pondered some then requested that Dolores send this now mysterious jar of honey that won’t leave the jar to a lady named Patricia, who is another friend of the Mules and lives in Norco, CA, a place like Mary’s honey with its own uniqueness where human beings practice and know the extreme value of this ages old sacred relationship between Man, Horse and Earth.
Thus the Mules thank Dolores for sending the Mules another jar of this delectable honey. We also thank Patricia and Mark with us in this picture for being so helpful to the Mules by giving us a place in Norco for a few days to catch up with mail.
Last night the Mules stopped in Diamond Bar at one of its city parks to sleep for the night. We found an out of the way bare piece of ground next to the maintenance yard to spend the night, so we did for less than a 12 hour period. Upon awakening in the morning, I fixed my breakfast and proceeded to pack up Little Girl when three Los Angeles County sheriff deputies appeared answering a call that there was a horse in the park.
I responded that we had stopped here for the night and were now on our way.
They said fine, no problem, we just got a call and we were checking things out. They looked at our website and were very interested. We talked while I was packing up. They then wished us a safe journey and left. We then left ourselves.
Area of Occupancy
Pictured are examples showing the amount of space the Mules use for less than a twelve hour period during the night. Sleep and rest is essential for all living beings health and wellbeing.
We use the Fresno No Camping Ordinance as an example for the cities passing No Sleeping/No Camping ordinances. They are all using the same argument to justify their passage.
Section 10-1700: Purpose “Streets and public areas should be readily accessible to residents and public at large.” The Mules are a part of that public.
“Use of these areas for camping or storage of personal property interferes with the rights of others to use the areas for which they were intended.” The Mules don’t store anything. When people store their personal property, they lock it up, hide it with the expectation that it will still be there on their return be it one day, one week, one year.
The Mules unload their belongings off their mule, fix dinner, then go to sleep for less than a twelve hour period during the night, never leaving their belongings. This is not storing personal property. The Mules leave in the morning, leaving the space they occupied cleaner than it was when they arrived.
Do the Mules practice proper sanitary measures? Absolutely. We throw a nylon tarp over us so we can’t be seen. The result is the same as a park user going into a urinal and covered by four walls. The Mules urinate in a plastic bottle, crap in a bag, then carry our waste until a proper place for disposal is found.
Public Safety The Mules have been migrating north and south in this state for over five and a half years. We have never hurt a soul. The automobile however has killed and maimed thousands for that same period of time. For any municipality to infer the Mules are a public safety hazard is to turn basic common sense on its ear.
Per the National Safety Council, the number of motor-vehicle deaths in 2016 totaled 40,200, up 6% from 2015 and the first time the annual fatality total has exceeded 40,000 since 2007. Medially consulted motor-vehicle injuries in 2016 are estimated to be about 4.6 million, an increase of 7% from the 2016 rate. The estimated cost of motor-vehicle deaths, injuries and property damage in 2016 was $432.5 billion, an increase of 12% from 2015. The costs include wage and productivity losses, medical expenses, administrative expenses, employer costs and property damage.
Last night on January 6, 2018, we slept in Castaic. Upon awakening this morning, we packed up, got on the Old Road and headed south. The Old Road is a frontage road that parallels Interstate 5.
After walking for about an hour down the sidewalk, we were approached by a California Highway Patrol Officer (CHP) informing us that he had been getting calls that the Mules were walking in the middle of the road. No, we never walk in the middle of the road. We either walk on the sidewalk when it’s available, on the shoulder when it’s available, or in the lane of traffic when neither of the two are available. We have an absolute right to do so.
Anybody riding a bicycle, riding a horse, pulling a horse-drawn wagon, riding in a wheelchair, or walking has the right to use the public thoroughfare. These are public roads. The roads are not exclusive for the high speed machine called an automobile. The freeways are. Nobody has the right to be on the freeway except the high speed machine. The other roads – city, county, state – are all open to all other venues, be it a bicycle, an equestrian, a squirrel or a frog.
California Vehicle Code requires high speed motorists to slow down or stop to proceed in safety when meeting these other venues. The high speed motorist refuses to do so. Instead they come at us at full speed, never taking their foot off the gas pedal, picking up their cell phone, calling the CHP and claiming that we’re walking in the middle of the road. The CHP responds, comes out, and tells us if they catch us walking in the middle of the road or get calls to that affect, we would be arrested and the mule would be impounded. Totally illegal. Completely illegal.
As we proceeded walking south about two hours later we were approached by another CHP officer claiming he saw us walking in the middle of the road. WHAT AN OUTRAGEOUS assertion. Pictured is where we were walking. We have every right to walk on the public thoroughfare, we have every right to walk on the shoulder of the public thoroughfare, we have every right to walk in the lane of traffic if there is no place else to walk, such as bridges, such as areas cordoned off for construction. We have the same right to passage as the high speed automobile.
After that contact with the CHP we continued south and stopped at Starbucks to charge our smartphone and get a cup of coffee. We were in there for about an hour. I had secured Little Girl to a pole in the parking lot. I could see through the window that police officers were pulling up to where Little Girl was tied. I then went outside to talk to the officers and told them that the mule belonged to me. They said okay that’s fine. They said that they had gotten calls that someone was concerned about the mule and that they needed to respond, and that was that.
We got back on the road, proceeded south, stopped at Walmart to buy a canister of oatmeal, got back on the road until we found a place to sleep for the night.
When somebody leaves their house, gets in their car, gets on the public thoroughfare with the intent of going to a store to buy food or supplies for themselves and their family, they fully expect that when they leave the public thoroughfare to enter the parking lot, they will be able to park their car, walk into the store, buy their groceries and supplies, walk into a coffee shop and enjoy their cup of coffee, return to their car, put their groceries and supplies in their car, and leave to go home.
To have people constantly call the police simply because a person arrives by horse or mule and not in an automobile is outrageous. To have officers or security guards stop and interrogate a person simply because they arrived by mule because the person didn’t arrive in a high speed automobile is ridiculous.
This is not 1817 where you load up your six-shooter and go out to shoot some deer for dinner. This is 2018 where one must proceed on the public thoroughfare, enter a parking lot and go into a grocery store or a big box store, which controls the food and supplies. That’s where you get it. If you don’t get it there, you’re not going to get it.
I have known my mule Little Girl since she was born in 1990 and she has been by my side and full-time care since I bought her in 1993. While she may not technically fit the official federal designation of a service animal, she is my service animal and is an integral part of our nomadic way of life that’s been here for hundreds of thousands of years. She is in service to this place. Any common sense mind would come to the conclusion that she is without a doubt a service animal.
The Mules know that much of our contact with law enforcement agencies, CHP, local police, county sheriff, and animal control is instigated by trolls. These trolls will call enforcement agencies complaining there is a homeless man walking in the middle of the road with a horse. There is a man leading an injured horse past my house. There is a horse tied in the Starbucks parking lot with no water. It looks emaciated, etc., etc.
Their intention of course is to keep the Mules under a constant state of harassment, wear us down and keep the Mules from doing this most important job of using their constitutional right as well as everybody else’s to move freely and spontaneously in this country. The Mules have never been charged or cited for anything other than our God given right to stop and sleep at night, such as our arrest on National parks land in Thousand Oaks, CA. The Mules will never be worn down as we have access to endless amounts of energy harbored in the nation, the 3 Mules nation, from which we come. When one Monk falls another Monk appears brought forth by the force of energy accumulated and acquired throughout our history dating back hundreds of thousands of years living with respect and reverence for this sparkling jewel suspended in the mist of time we call Earth.
During the past month, while we were at Wind Wolves Preserve, we worked (volunteered) about four hours a day clearing the overgrowth on the trail in upper San Emigdio Canyon. We cleared this trail last year, but the brush had overgrown and covered it up again.
Where we spent the night
After Christmas on the morning of the 26th, we left our camp where we were staying at Wind Wolves and proceeded up the canyon where we passed an old mine (photo above), which I’m sure we passed a few times before, but have never noticed those previous times.
As we went along to the top of the canyon, we passed this big beautiful tree, which had a nice fresh scent. We got to the highway and on the road and proceeded east to Lake of the Woods.
We arrived at Frazier park around 2:30pm. We went to the library to charge our phone, but it was closed.
After that, we met Michelle and her daughter Jessica as we were walking down the road. They got out of their car, introduced themselves and said they followed us on Facebook. They brought Little Girl a big bag of carrots. Every time we go through Frazier Park we always meet very nice people.
As it was getting dark, we spent the night along I-5, awoke in the morning and proceeded to where we are now at the start of Old Ridge Road, which will take us along the ridge, which parallels I-5 going south into Castaic and on into Los Angeles.
The Mules as they move and walk freely how they choose and when they choose are nearing the end of their journey through 2017 and continuing that journey into the New Year of 2018.
The wealth of the Mules is the energy created and harbored then to be used in the most mystical of ways to promote and enhance the art of human beings living on this beautiful earth with reverence and respect for all its inhabitants.
The Mules look forward as never before to the ongoing challenge to remain free against the on-slot of the manmade world and its ever increasing knowledge and use of technology which is threatening the freedom and very existence of human beings and our sacred ages old relationship with life on this earth.
The perimeter lines must clearly be drawn as to where the manmade world of glamor, glitz and endless discovery, cannot tread. Who better to draw these perimeter lines and maintain these lines than the Nation, the 3 Mules Nations, human beings of a like-mind using their ambassador at large, the 3 Mules, to set these boundaries.
On our way south, Little Girl and I stopped to visit Lady, who looks great and is being given the best of care along with her pasture mate Coco.
We waited here for ten days for a $300 6-hour life skills class in Fresno that we were required to attend by the Alameda County District Attorney for our arrest by the California Highway Patrol in Castro Valley.
Now Little Girl and myself will continue on our migratory journey south to the San Diego area.
The Mules have become aware of Bill No. 40 and Ordinance 2017-40 entitled, Adding Article 17 to Chapter 10 of the Fresno Municipal Code relating to Unlawful Camping, which was passed by the Fresno City Council on August 24, 2017.
Section 10-1700 clearly states the purpose/reasons for the passage of this ordinance (2017-40).
REASON #1: The use of Public areas within the city of Fresno should be accessible and available to residents and the PUBLIC. The use of public areas to store personal property interferes with the rights of others to use PUBLIC areas.
3 Mules Response #1: Pictured are our belongings set on the ground demonstrating the use public space we take on any given night. There is 24 hours in a day. The Mules only claim space for approximately 8 hours during the night when most people are in their homes. This can hardly be construed as interfering with the rights of others to use a public area.
REASON #2: Health and Safety.
3 Mules Response #2: This law is casting a large net dragging the Mules into an area which we don’t belong. The law clearly states its purpose in being passed is to address the problem of people congregating in large numbers, pitching tents, and creating unhealthy conditions, such as accumulation of trash, defecation and urination, drugs, alcoholism, etc. The Mules travel alone, stay only for an 8 hour period at night in any one place, dispose of their waste in the most sanitary of ways practiced throughout the ages for thousands of years.
The Monk throws a tarp over himself, squats down, will defecate on the surface of the ground, dig a four-inch hole, and bury it if it’s applicable to do so; or, place in a bag, carry until an appropriate place is found to dispose. The Monk urinates in a plastic bottle then disposes contents in an appropriate place. Our method is similar to the suburban citizen who places their dog’s poop in a bag and disposes of it in an appropriate place.
The Monk carries a scoop, places the mule’s droppings into a bag and carries and disposes in an appropriate place. The Mules methods of waste disposal is by far superior in terms of health, efficiency and costs than the suburban model.
A citizen of the suburban model goes down the hall, turns to the left, enters an expensive, elaborate space surrounded by four walls, closes the door, sits down on a toilet defecates into a pipe that goes under the ground where it travels accumulating disease and toxicity as it makes its way to the sewage treatment plant, where it is treated with many chemicals that are toxic, then is released into the environment via creeks, rivers, etc.
The Mules and their response to public safety. The Mules threaten nobody. We’ve traveled the Western United States for the past 33 years and consecutively in California for the past five years. We’ve walked through San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and the towns in between and never hurt a soul. Our use of public areas has in no way ever created a public safety issue. We have a proven track record of 33 years living our nomadic way of life and bringing the value of that life to all the areas that we have passed though in our endless journey.
The above being understood, the Mules believe that no common sense mind could come to the conclusion that the Mules are a threat to Public Health and Safety or interfere with the rights of others to use public areas. The Mules have received nothing but positive energy from the people of Fresno as we have passed through many times before on our annual migratory journey. The Mules find it hard to believe that the 552,000 people who live in Fresno would see the Mules as a PUBLIC Nuisance, and would not want the Mules cited, taken to jail, heavily fined and the Monk and the Mule separated.
To use 2017-40 against the Mules and this ages old Nomadic way of life for things we do not do and things we are not is illegal. The Mules live under and have the same protections afforded by the Constitution guaranteeing the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as the council members of Fresno. The right to life includes the basic function of sleeping and eating.
Who are these Mules anyway? Well, we are not terrorists, Communists, Socialists, capitalists, anarchists, Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives or Liberals. The Mules are none of these nor do we want to be.
We are Mules born free, wander free and stay free. Living that way until we reach the end of our rope either by accident, natural causes or stealth.
We carry not the weapons of the Man-Made World (Megatropolis). Our weapon is our vision and the energy we give to it all day every day one step at a time. A vision of ever increasing intensity and possibility. A vision using energy and creativity to meet the challenges that appear before us as we continue our journey through the mist of time and space.
We are Mules. We belong to an ages old nomadic way of life.
We live in tune with this beautiful earth and reap benefits of which the imagination can only surmise.
We are Mules. We live with no regret. We live for and by the ever increasing intensity of our vision.
We are Mules. We are watched and followed by the energy of our ancestors.
We are Mules. We wander freely on earth.
We show one and all the magic and beauty of true freedom and the happiness bestowed on those who use it all day every day one step at a time.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2017 EVENTS AS THEY OCCURRED
Yesterday we awoke in San Juan Bautista where we spent the night here in the outskirts. I got up, check Little Girl, went back to my pack boxes and fixed breakfast. Then I went and caught Little Girl and took her down the street to get some water. Then brought her back up, tied her to the fence and ate my breakfast.
Upon finishing my breakfast, I gathered up my stuff, saddled Little Girl and packed up. We left approximately 9:30am. We got on the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail and headed for Salinas.
We walked about 16 miles and got to the outskirts of Salinas and stopped at the Walmart. I tied Little Girl to the tree at the parking lot, went into Walmart, bought two cans of black beans, three cans of diced tomatoes, one can of chick peas, and one can of green beans, went outside, and untied Little Girl. We then walked around in back of Walmart, tied Little Girl to a tree, unpacked her for she was in need of a rest after walking 16 miles.
We been there about an hour when two Salinas Police Department officers in a car showed up and presented a friendly demeanor. I was on my smartphone doing stuff. They kept peppering me with questions. It was obvious they were interrupting me and wouldn’t let me proceed with my business. A little while later, another officer, pulled up in a car behind them, got out of his car, walked up to the other officer’s car, said something to them, and then they all left. I stayed there about another 30-45 minutes, at this point I decided to repack Little Girl and leave.
I then proceeded to Best Buy to return a product that I had bought that wasn’t performing as it was promoted to. We got to the Best Buy parking lot, walking back towards the store, stopped under a tree where there was a bunch of dandelion weeds growing. I was letting Little Girl eat them when two Salinas Police officers pulled up and started asking me the usual questions in a friendly demeanor but I was not interested in talking to them. I had plenty to do and wanted to get Little Girl secured in the parking lot and go into Best Buy to return the product.
When I started to move away, the two officers got out of their car, and put me in detainment by stating that I cannot go anywhere. I asked them why, and they said because you wouldn’t talk to us. When the conversation started, it was a friendly conversation, they admitted that, I wasn’t being detained, I wasn’t doing anything wrong, but because I wouldn’t talk to them anymore, they decided that they would put me in detainment. From that point, they informed me that I was trespassing. I told them that I was at Best Buy to return a product that I bought previously. They refused to let me to go into Best Buy, called the shopping center security, who turned up shortly, told me I was trespassing and demanded I leave.The Salinas Police officer said if I didn’t leave immediately, I would be arrested, taken to jail, and Little Girl would be taken. So, I left.
I walked over to the next parking lot that was connected to the other stores, they shortly turned up once again, and repeated the same process over again. From that point, I left. I then found myself on the street.
We are posting copies of our receipts to prove our purpose for entering the Walmart and Best Buy shopping centers. An automobile has the right to go into a parking lot, park their car and walk into a store. But somehow a man with a mule or a horse, does not have the right to go into a parking lot, tie up their horse and go into the store. We are doing the same exact same thing, except instead of using an automobile, we are using an animal for transportation. We have the same rights in this country as anybody in an automobile that uses that machine for transportation in this state in this country to use our horse for transportation. To deny us the use of a parking lot is discrimination plain and clear. It is illegal.
When a person wants food in 2017, they have to go to a grocery store to get it. The days of going out with your bow and arrow and hunting deer and game are over. Making these parking lots subject to no trespassing laws and allowing a security company to arbitrarily say in effect “I like you, the guy in red hat, but I don’t like the guy in the blue hat. Therefore, I am going to deny the guy in the blue hat the right to park his car, park his horse, and not allow him to enter the store to buy food for himself and his family.” We will be in Salinas until Monday because we want to talk to the shopping center management to get an understanding why they had us evicted from the Best Buy parking lot for doing nothing other than tying Little Girl to a tree in the safest place we can find, to go into Best Buy and return a product we had bought previously that wasn’t functioning as promoted. We were arbitrarily evicted by the security company that works for the shopping center ownership.
People that support us, please don’t call the police. The best method is to call the shopping center who owns the parking lot and their security company that evicted us. For the police could not have done it without the consent of the security company that works for the shopping center ownership. Call them and ask them the same thing that we’re going to ask them Monday morning. Why the discriminatory policy to allow an automobile to do business and refusing a person on a horse from entry. It is unconstitutional to deny a person on a horse that is their livelihood from being able to function on a day to day basis that allows us to survive.
