IN THE LAND OF THE LIVING

These fingers must be tired. After all, they’re dipping themselves into realities throughout the globe. I am getting biofuel from Chino. Eating vegetable from California. Applying for a life-long credential in California. Traveling to Guatemala. Doing webquests with teachers from Hong Kong. Buying crafts from Holland. Keeping in touch with a friend in Chicago.

The world is connected. Sometimes it freaks me out, sometimes I feel comforted by the reminder that we’re all in this together. Some say there’s power in numbers.

After viewing a video on Urban Homestead (www.urbanhomestead.org) it occurred to me how strange it is that I eat fruit that is out of season. Just the other day I ate an apple. It was waxy and hard. I must admit it was delicious. And it made that crunch I find irresistible with fruit of their kind. But thinking about it I know that apple had to travel a long way and most likely pumped with innumerable steroids before it reached my neighborhood grocer.

This does not settle well with me.

In fact, many things about the status quo– so numerous I have no idea where to start the conversation– have been keeping me up at night (yes, literally– the other night I had a dream that George W and friends began drilling in my backyard. Needless to say we lost our pampered tomato garden). GW was wearing a cowboy hat and rode into my backyard on a bucking bronco.

I am a firm believer in what I’ve heard Ben Harper quoted saying many times before, “what good is a cynic with no better plan?”… I know that if you sniff around long enough there are options. It’s easier today to be eco-friendly than any other time since the Industrial Revolution. And honestly, I am inspired by that. I am also overwhelmed. I look at projects like Urban Homestead, which fill me with hope… but also make me a bit sad (not “sad” per se, but I couldn’t think up another word to express that emotion) because I know that living sustainably in Southern California is a full-time job. Combine all the mad-rushes in history and you’ve marked the trail of tears that lead us to the So Cal we know today: oil dependent, market driven, inward-looking, low social capital and uncivic minded.

So, I’ve decided to take a deep breath and start with one step. I’ll take one healing action (for the earth, for the people around me, for my stranger) each six months– a commitment that will take a great deal of ruthless accountability. The wound is exposed, my mind has seen it, my heart has felt it… time to do the dirty work! No more “once I’m done with school” excuse anymore, cause I AM done with school!!!

By the end of next week I should have my biodesiel lab set up and running in my garage. Those of you that are interested, please stop by and check it out… I’ve also got a good mechanic from (formerly from Lovecraft, now runs his own shop in Pas). I can refer you.