Category: Nature

Revolution of Understanding

I have had the good fortune to visit Australia a few times. I deeply appreciated the beauty, the wildlife, the kindness of the people and the bits of aboriginal wisdom that I gleaned. The fires consuming much of that continent are leaving behind horrific loss. The efforts to save the animals are heroic and inspiring, but the sorrow is palpable.

Last year’s fires in the Amazon were attributed to agribusiness and the unwillingness of people to consider the consequences of such catastrophic change. Indigenous leaders are assassinated routinely as they desperately inform us of the folly of over consumption.

The media rarely tells their story.

Or are we simply too busy maintaining unsustainable lifestyles to care?

The unprecedented flooding of Jakarta is mostly ignored, as has been Puerto Rico’s never ending quakes. Compassion, once a revered trait, now takes a second seat to costs and profits. But, no worries, we have unlimited finances when war and oil are the concerns.

In the debate over climate change we have lost a lot of time. Corporate advertising and political lobbyists have successfully lulled too many into a stupor. The President and Congress are eliminating laws that protect our water, air and public lands – and giving corporate greed even more incentive to destroy the earth.

What will it take to turn it around?

A while back I heard the phase “revolution of understanding”,* and I have concluded that yes, if we are to find a way through this nightmare, it will take tremendous understanding. It will take the understanding that we are one people and one planet.  It will require vision and courage to make the choices that could have been made long ago.

Most importantly it will demand our love; the fiery kind of powerful love that refuses anything less. We can do this.

 

  • “Revolution of understanding” is a phrase I heard from Prem Rawat, a human being whose conviction towards living helps others to walk their own walk. And I for one am grateful.

 

Gut Check

Goldman Sachs has announced it will stop financing oil drilling in the Artic. They are reckoning with something that the United States government has yet to realize.  As the White House rushes to open bidding on 1.5 million acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Goldman Sachs is refusing to continue to support drilling in such delicate and important reserves.  They will also no longer support coal–fired power plants that do not have carbon emissions technology.

Now we know that Goldman Sachs is devoted to making money, so we can surmise that its stockholders are coming to the truth of this moment: There is no monetary gain in destroying the earth.

As a people we have been divided over the cause of climate change, but as we become witness to the devastation of fires, floods and unprecedented winds, we are acknowledging this: the costs to survive these calamities will continue to be much greater than the costs to mitigate them.

Capitalism is being moved by the bottom line of profit. But make no mistake; the efforts of young indigenous and non-indigenous youth to end the use of fossil fuels have hit their mark. They wisely recognize that profit can no longer lead the way. It must be common sense and respect for the earth and her people that will direct our course.

There is a debate that the personal choice to live free of fossil fuels is not as important as forging a change of laws. But I would argue this: it is those who have the conviction of personal conscience and love of the earth that are driving the changes in laws and perspectives.

The Rights of Nature and the Rights of Indigenous People must continue to take precedent. As human beings on this earth it is time.

 

Photo is of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain, looking south toward the Brooks Range mountains. Compliments of Wikipedia Commons.

The Thinning Veil

As the weather turns towards winter our interaction with Nature offers another window of understanding. Shorter and often cloudy days are a transition away from the busy buzz of summer. The waning of the green and the falling leaves remind us of the finite nature of life. For those who live of and from the Earth the impending winter teaches us to prepare for what will surely be the stark contrast of summer’s plenty. So it is of little wonder that centuries of people have held the end of October and the beginning of November as a time of reflection.

Samhain, the Day of the Dead, All Souls Day and more were created by human beings who wanted to honor and celebrate this unique season. This passage of time brings with it the recognition of death and of those who have gone before us. Ancestors are honored and homage paid to them, in hopes that any darkness that had stalked them would let them rest in peace. There is also a hope to chase away any demons that may have been left behind.

The end of October and beginning of November is often referred to as the time of the thinning veil. The veil is the cloak that keeps us from the awareness of our true nature. When the veil thins, we have the opportunity to see differently. It is as if Nature has given us this time to make peace with our finite nature and to begin to comprehend our nature of infinite consciousness.

To distil this time to a holiday marked by fear and titillation is a commentary on our culture’s discomfort with death and our lack of connection to life’s more subtle invitations. When ceremony looses its roots, we are left with superstition.

Let the season remind us.

 

photo: wikipedia commons

Love of Place

Every apple seed can produce an entirely unique tree. Every tree has a story to tell and there is so much to learn. I have the pleasure of living in an heirloom apple orchard. It delights the senses throughout the seasons, it informs and it nourishes; its beauty has captured my heart…All of this has caused me to ponder the significance of love of place.

We cannot all stay in the place of our birth. My maternal grandmother left a beautiful seaside town on the west coast of Italy to come to the United States. And while I am sure she missed the sea, the foods and flora of her home, she taught me through her actions the importance of love of place. Well into her 70’s she tirelessly cared for her garden, her chickens and her bread with a gratitude to the land that allowed it all to be.

The people of the Bahamas are now beginning the struggle to rebuild after the destruction of Dorian. The people of the Amazon who have been displaced by intentionally set fires are forced to uproot. Throughout the world migrants traveling by sea and by foot are being forced to leave their homes. It is through my own love of place that I can possibly understand their grief and their uncertainty.

Love of place. For those of us who live by the fruit of the earth we are inexplicably bound to her. Love of place is essential to our well being and it is hard to comprehend living without it.

Many of us have lost this relationship to land and I suggest to you that it may well be the cause of much of the disharmony and disrespect that we witness today.

Science now tells us that we need more time in Nature. This is something that our hearts have always known.

 

 

Just One Battle

There are no longer many battles to wage. There is just one.

The Amazon is burning. People in China want to eat more meat and Cattle Ag is destroying the “lungs of the Earth” to provide it to them. Leaders at the G7 climate summit made perfunctory nods and inadequate gifts of money to stop the fires, while the president of Brazil held his ground and refused their help. The indigenous president of Bolivia also turned a blind eye to the raging fires, as the Amazon burns.

The “Leader of the Free World” skipped climate meetings but let us know that he knows more than most about the environment. All this, while his band of followers continues to chant “drain the swamp” and we all sink in the quagmire.

But where was I? Oh yes, there are no longer many battles. There is just one. It’s not Chinese meat eaters, Big Ag, and not even the man who would be king. It is not the Republicans or the Democrats nor is it all the people who are so very willing to play ping pong in the duopoly that has eroded whatever hope Democracy had in this troubled land.

No, none of these are worthy opponents for battle.  There is only one. We knock that out and the rest will tumble like dominoes.

It is the war on ignorance*.

To battle ignorance we need clarity**. We need to remember who we are. We need to stop seeing our differences and take stock of our similarities. We need to remember this Earth is our home. And reckon with the reality that it is up to each one of us to protect her.

The ally of ignorance is doubt. The ally of clarity is peace. The choice is always before us. Find clarity and fight like hell.

 

 

Photo is from Wikipedia Commons on the 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires

*Ignorance definition is – the state or fact of being ignorant : lack of knowledge, education, or awareness.  – Merriam-Webster

**Clarity definition is – the quality of being coherent and intelligible and the quality of transparency or purity. – Oxford

Say “NO” to 5G

There is something new on the horizon. AT&T has joined forces with Bug Tussle to bring the world-touted 5G to our doors in the Driftless of southwestern Wisconsin. Here is what I have learned:

The towers need to be placed every five to ten miles and most certainly will be 300 feet tall. They emit microwaves. That is the kind of radiation you try to avoid as you pass through airline checkpoints, but now will be living around and under full time.

It won’t mean a lick of difference to most people as far as usage is concerned, but it will be great for machines. Machines, however, won’t suffer from radiation poisoning, as humans, animals and plants will.

I know it is hard to read all the scientific jargon and everyone I talked to in the industry assured me that while they have not read the negative press, they are also sure we cannot stop the inevitable.

People who are offered a monthly sum for placing towers on their properties are exchanging green hills for green bills. And they are uncertain to what they will help usher in. What will become of our local phone companies who bring underground broadband to our doors? I am not talking of Century Link. I am talking about companies like Hillsboro Phone Company. How many people will keep their landlines when Bug Tussle waltzes in? Who will cry for those lost jobs? And who will pay the medical bills of increased cancers and other abnormalities in our area?

The time to decide is now. Will we continue to self-destruct in the name of progress, or will we demand better ways to treat the earth and one another?

I am holding out that we are not as greedy or as foolish as the snake oil salesman would like to believe.

 

Brussels has it right. They said No to 5G due to health risks.

photo is courtesy of Wikipedia Commons licensing.

“Protect Us”

“Protect us”. This was the consensus of Monroe County citizens as they faced their County Board in a zoning hearing on June 17. Over thirty people exercised that right. They came to request that a moratorium on nonmetallic mining be on the agenda. They spoke with impassioned and carefully articulated facts. They spoke about the unchecked increase in the size and scope of mining around their communities. They spoke about real and observed health risks, particularly to children. They told of love of land and of community and refused to accept the new norm.

They shredded the “we bring jobs and money” arguments of the corporate representatives. Their response was unwavering. Jobs can be found elsewhere and the pittance of money will not bring back health or return the natural beauty of this region.

When he finally spoke the Board chair expressed that yes, it was true, there were no laws in place, no ordinances, no considerations of health and well being when mining was allowed in their county. And while he acknowledged something must be done, he stopped short of allowing the requested moratorium. The moratorium would have excluded current operations, and allow citizens the time to become informed before having a referendum.

Instead he politely bowed to the mining representatives. His deference to them and his inability to be swayed by the citizens were obvious.

It appears it will take more than common sense, more than historical and scientific facts to undue the ignorance of the few, who made closed door deals, and allowed unchecked nonmetallic mining in the area.

It will take the unwavering voice of “we the People”. And from what I can tell the citizens of Monroe County are stepping up to the task.

 

Read more on Community Rights nationwide. Or at CELDF – Community Rights Movement

 

 

Resiliency

The melting snow that brought the most recent flooding added to the widening creeks and changed topography of the Driftless. As I surveyed the battered roads and considered where to place culverts, I realized we are embarking on a dynamically changing time. The new flood planes have already forced many from their homes with more likely to come. And discussions of relocating businesses have taken on a whole new meaning as rural towns face the inevitable decisions that lie ahead.

Politicians talk of dams. And I wonder if they are seriously considering this costly and limited solution that seems akin to putting a finger in the dyke.

It makes much more sense to me to hear old time farmers talk about growing varieties of grasses that root deep into the soil and help absorb runoff, rather than build costly fixes like dams.

Then came the news of the wipeout in Nebraska and surrounding Midwestern states. Water is showing us who is king. We have gone horribly astray as we tried to outmaneuver Mother Nature instead of living in sustainable harmony with her.

Unprecedented flooding has also crippled the Pine Ridge, Rosebud and Cheyenne River Reservations wiping out roads and corrupting water supplies. Help there is also desperately needed.

We are being forced to reckon with this new reality. We are being asked to think in new ways and to help one another.  We are coming to the realization of the preciousness and the destructive nature of water and the clock is ticking.

Here in the Driftless we are cleaning up our waterways. We are helping neighbors relocate; and we are talking about community in very real terms.

The differences among us are melting along with the snow and that is how it needs to be as we face this new day and discover our resiliency.

 

Check this site for more updated information on recovery / resiliency efforts in the Driftless.

You can listen to the hour WDRT program  “Conversations” with Jen Schmitz as we discuss resiliency and recovery happening in the Driftless.

You can listen to this WDRT broadcast of “Consider This” on Soundcloud

Ethical Hunting

By the time you are reading this, the proposed ban on wildlife hunting contests may likely be silenced. Senator Fred Risser, a Wisconsin Democrat is the sponsor of the bill and as of this writing there is little support to move it forward.

Let’s be clear, this is not a bill restricting hunting. It is a bill that would ban the gratuitous killing of coyotes, rabbits, squirrels and other wildlife. Most of you have never heard of these contests. They are generally organized by bars, gun enthusiasts and venues looking to capitalize on the revenue of the sport. Prizes are given to the highest number of kills.

According to a news release from Risser “These contests use various tactics to attract, manipulate, confuse, and even temporarily blind wildlife in order to kill as many animals as possible.”

Dogs, semi-automatic weapons, ATVs, traps, snares, and snowmobiles may be used.

Rizzer’s bill prohibits the following: participation in a wildlife hunting contest; organizing, conducting, or sponsoring a contest; and providing a venue for a contest. The bill does not include fishing tournaments.

A few states have been successful in banning these contests. The Humane Society, as well as many hunters, welcomes Wisconsin to follow suit.

Numerous studies dispel the need to hunt predators in this way. Studies also point to the importance of coyotes in reducing the mice and deer populations that host disease carrying ticks.

This bill will not stop the hunting of nuisance predators. But it is widely recognized that preventive measures, from fencing to guard dogs, are the most effective remedies in stopping predatory kills of farm animals.

This bill is a stopgap measure, offered in the hopes that gratuitous killing will end and unnecessary violence will no longer be welcomed here.

You can contact Senator Rizzer at 608-261-6931.

 

Another perspective on ethical hunting.

Above logo of the National Coalition to End Wildlife Killing Contests.

You can listen to it here.

Hypocrisy

While politicians and the press keep us entertained and distracted, Mother Nature seems right on course to help us remember who is boss and what’s important.

The flood of the Coulee Region left a lot of people scrambling. Hurricane Florence is about to do the same.

I also learned of a pipeline explosion in my native home, Beaver County Pennsylvania. This from a pipeline that went active only one week prior and from the same company many of us faced at Standing Rock – Energy Transfer Partners. The cause? Too much rain too quickly shifted the earth.

I know a lot of family and friends believe the security of our nation is dependent on those pipelines. They rally for big business and are happy to see the current administration upend legislation that has protected the environment. They want to see less government, but neglect to see the cause and effects of climate change hastened by this laissez-faire attitude.

Me? I scratch my head and wonder why we are so quick to sell out the gift of Nature. Why we bull headedly hold onto ideas that not only undermine us but future generations as well.

There is a disease I am beginning to recognize. It is called hypocrisy.

There is a cure for this disease. And it is a simple one. Accept and recognize that we are all in this together. All of us. Governments come, governments go. Businesses come and go. Some have held our best interests some have not.

We will never conquer Nature. And it is best we do not try. Instead let us learn from her and work with her for the mutual benefit of all. It is possible. Disasters continually show us this. Now let us learn without Nature’s prompting.

 

This piece aired Sept 12. You can listen to it here.

The photo is of Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

hy·poc·ri·sy
həˈpäkrəsē/
noun
  1. the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform