Two events in the last week in this area are worthy of mentioning, YES! Magazine had a 15 th anniversary party in Seattle and the Mother Earth News Fair in Puyallup. Both reflect the changing society that is not covered by most media.
The speakers at the YES! event were internationally know experts on the global climate changes and the social movements that are grass root and frequently ignored by popular news outlets. The website is http://www.yesmagazine.org/about/15-years-of-yes. This magazine is positive and hopeful in a time when most of the news only prints stories of doom. This magazine talked years ago about buying local. They showcase the individuals that are leading the way in thinking and acting out ways to control their own lives. One of these people is Bill McKibben founder of the 350.org. I find him to be a balance to the newly elected 100 congressmen that all believe in Creative-ism, don't believe in Climate Change and feel to default on the National Debt will probably not affect the world economy. The source of sanity and change has to be with the population at large, with thinking like that in our national capitol.
A couple facts that McKibben shared should give all of us pause. The planet's warmest temperture was recorded last year, 129 degrees in Pakistan. I have to ask myself, what is the temperture that humans can no longer survive living in a region? Moscow last year had 8 days with 100 degree temperatures and the Russia government realized that they had seen a change serious enough, to hold on to their wheat reserves. They no longer will export wheat. The earth has warmed one degree and the Arctic cap has melted. What will happen if it goes two more degrees higher? When will the earth changes be enough, for our government to act? Local governments are acting but there is no large national movement yet. Seattle was the first city to sign the Kyoto Treaty and the city has moved beyond that requirement. All of us gardeners in the Pacific Northwest are aware of the 10 degrees cooler temperatures this spring and double the amount of rain in recent months. I feel there is a pocket of like minded thinkers living in this corner of the planet sense the change and are acting on it.
A world where we don't know the source of our food, who grew it, who processed it or made it available for us is a disconnect. A world where we don't know who made our clothes, our shoes, our furniture, our vehicles, our drugs, our amusements is a world of disconnect. In our hearts, all of us suffer from the lack of knowing, this is affecting our health and our spirit. YES! MAGAZINE opening talked about this as an issue. All of us need to be on the path of simplifying our lives and connecting to daily matters that touch us physically and emotionally.
One of the highlights of the Mother Earth News Fair for me was listening to a gardener from Salt Island. Linda Gilkeson quickly explained why residents of this part of the world can grow food year around in an easy to do manner. BACKYARD BOUNTY lays it out with charts and suggestions while always practicing organic methods. Gilkeson is a practical gardener for this climate with no double digging, little weeding, mostly natural ways amending the soil and routating crops. She pointed out her favorite blue chair as her favorite spot in the garden. I have my grape arbor and my napping spot, this woman was talking directly to me.
Recently, I was talking to my grandson, Ahman, while tending to my worm box. "I love my worms, Ahman, they give me the best tea in the world for my plants," I said. "Grandma, you have so many things you watch grow, don't you. The chickens, the worms and all those plants in the garden, your fruit trees. You just like to see things grow, don't you."
"I guess that is true, Ahman."
