FORWARD WITH CHALLENGE-BACKWARD WITH WONDER

AT THE EDGE

    One of the great signs in our locker room was the bromide WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET GOING. 

     It's one of those things you never forget and it's advice many seek to follow, especially western citizens living through historic drought. Published reports indicate sections of the central valley, America's key agricultural zone, are sinking two inches a month because water is being pumped from aquifers in such volume. 

     We study maps, satellite images and thermographic interpretations, like reading tea leaves hoping to find something that assures us El Nino will bring rain to parched earth and concerned taxpayers. 

        The Santa Lucia range coastal slopes are hazy. The usually pristine and cobalt blue sky, thickened by wild fires including one in our county. Thousands of firefighters and national guard troops  are at war with burning nature. It's that way in Washington, Oregon and around the globe. 

      The misery is indeed global. Possibly the greatest refugee migration in history continues, while Muslims war with each other. Tom Friedman recently put it in plain terms that I paraphrase-while they fight about to whom did God give the holy land, mother nature is at work.  She doesn't do politics, only physics, biology and chemistry.  Friedman noted it isn't Sunnism, Shiaism, Whabism or fundamentalism that counts. The only ism that matters is environmentalism. Muslim fighting is destroying nature as well as humanity and political regimes are being turned on their ear as people demand electricity and air conditioning. Hot areas are getting hotter.

       China's recent explosion underscores how that giant, and lesser nations are doing their worst to despoil the planet, ruin water and foul the air. 

      Tough going on this blue marble. Business as normal ain't working. Even meddlesome good intentions fall short. Serious science now addresses prospects of an extinction. Don't you think it's time to think as planetary citizens, doing our best to overcome those old and artificial boundaries of nation, sect, tribe and race. Your problem is my problem. Solutions are to be shared. Even the most wealthy and powerful cannot live without clean air, water, food that be can trust and inhabitable space. It is as Fuller said, spaceship earth.  It's the only one we've got.

 THROWING IT BACK-OUT WEST.

   Your blogger and the intrepid Catalyst blogger in 1985 somewhere on a ledge.  30 years ago we'd go the edge in moccasins and sandals and nearly bare legs. 

    And on that Arizona adventure we had more tranquil moments. Left to right, SWMBO, young Kristin, Lana and Bruce, AKA Catalyst.  Long time ago with long time friends.

   Mid 80's first visit to California for Katherine. Something must have clicked. She's now a California RN and still loves the Pacific.

   See you down the trail.

Painted-Bone Dry and A Short Throw

ENCHANTED EVENING

   Marvelous summer sunsets are a California positive, helping us to survive historic drought.

IT HAPPENED BEFORE

    By 1863 the drought on the central California coast was so severe, ranchers drove starving and dehydrated cattle off bluffs into the Pacific. 

    Today ranchers have alternatives, including thinning herds. A recent walk brought all of this to mind

  It's difficult to see what the cattle may be grazing on.

DRY CREEK BEDS

   San Simeon Creek should be rushing through this. Now only traces of a flow.

  So now all of us, quadrupeds and bipeds adopt the attitude of the above lady-what's up?  In the meantime we wait for El Nino.

A FIVE YEAR THROW

    Five years ago this summer-the Journalism Hall of Fame induction. The ceremony was in a magnificent Tudor hall in one of the historic buildings on the campus of Indiana University which now houses the Hall of Fame in the Ernie Pyle Center.

  You can link here to learn more about the particulars.

  This summer my thoughts are with former president Ray Moscowitz who presented me with the Crystal plaque. A great newspaper editor who oversaw operations for 14 papers in his career, Ray is battling a brain tumor. He faces the challenge with the same zeal and forthrightness that he practiced journalism. Ray is a 2002 inductee.

  Also proud of my former colleague and longtime friend Kevin Finch. Kevin is now a professor at Washington and Lee University. You can link to his blog in the Rich Blogs column to the right of this post.
   Time certainly does fly!

   See you down the trail.

SEEING THE FUTURE and CATS IN A BOX

BEAUTY IN THE WAY IT IS

   One can't live in California without continued thought of water.

    For some it is a shroud of angst, inescapable. Others step into the challenge to conserve, educate and find a better way. Most are someplace in between. 

   Growing up where we never gave a thought to water, there was plenty, leaves me "hypersensitive" to new realities. I think those of us who live with less, those who have adjusted to finite limits, have seen into the future.

     This is not limited to California, it can be anywhere. Refugee camps are full of people who have seen the end of life as they knew it. Working poor who barely can feed children and pay rent. Those who live in cars. The good life, the good old days do not exist and for some it never did.     

   The thistle, cursed by ranchers, farmers, gardeners and landscapers is a kind of signal. In this fourth year of historic drought, the thistle flourishes and spreads. It is a survivor.

 I see beauty in these frames. This is flora that thrives, even without water.

      It is about adaptability isn't it? Some of us, some things, are better at it than others, better at learning new ways and better at survival.

      This dynamic planet, a living, changing organism appears, by our short human lens at least, in the midst of profound change. Our specie may not be responsible for all of what is underway, but we have contributed mightily and in not helpful ways. A Beijing clouded by exhaust, rivers poisoned by chemicals, dead zones of trash in the ocean are examples of changes that now imperil all of us, even those who know better and have said so. Sadly there are those who have had no say because they are yet to be born into this change.

      Despite all our cleverness we cannot bring life out of death. We can not reanimate extinct species.

      There are millions of earth brothers and sisters who are desperate and certainly in more peril than we Californians, living in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. We conserve, debate, pray for rain, bet on El Nino's, grumble, get angry about the arrogant wealthy who waste water, engineer conversion systems and wonder if luck may run out. In that way we are seeing what awaits this blue marble of a planet. 

        Forces of nature, forces of our own doing, accelerated population, advanced technology, religious and ethnic politics, bad choices, the commercialization of government and our capacity to elevate brutality over reason conspire against us. More fundamentally, there are no winners in the struggle of humankind vs "nature" or cosmic luck. There is only change.  Some of it might be good. Some of it will not.

      We bipeds are capable of great adaptation and invention and resilience. We can also make hard decisions. Making those hard and good choices, application of reason and our higher principles is how survival proceeds from here.

LISTEN TO THE 1000

   In this context, it would do us all well to pay heed to the wisdom of 1000 of the brightest minds who have said we need to make sure our Artificial Intelligence systems, are not turned into weapons. 

    On this front we need to make sure the bankers, financiers, money boys and hustlers do not prevail. 

    The statement of the 1000 is the latest in a series of signals we've been getting about the future. Are we prepared to listen?

THE CONTINUING ADVENTURES OF

HEMINGWAY AND JOY

Cats in a box, redux

   Joy on the left and Hemingway have yet to meet a box they did not like.

 A box from a recent shopping outing and left in the garage was a place they needed to be, despite the bulging of the seams.

   At least they've learned to share.

    See you down the trail.

MOUNTAIN LIGHTNING-THE UNEXPECTED-PEACEFUL BLUE

    This is no mere pedestrian shot of a rain barrel almost full, no indeed! What we see is evidence of great cosmic oddness and even history.

     A woman who has lived most of her 91 years on the Central California coast says she's never seen anything like it.

     "We've had rain in July but nothing like this. And I never in my life have seen lighting and thunder like that."

     A mid 70 man, a Californian, says he's never seen an electrical storm like it. He stayed up to watch it. In fact, that's been the talk up and down the coast. For many it was a first time ever event.

      We're referring to the storm that moved up from the south and dazzled the Central Coast and scared most of animals in the county. I grew up in Indiana and have witnessed many lighting storms, thunder that shakes a house and sometimes the tornados that are spawned by violent storms. What we saw and heard was in that league.

      Arcs filling the sky over the Santa Lucia range and then rumbling over the slopes and through the valleys. Our cats, Hemingway and Joy were traumatized and could not find a secure enough hiding spot. Poor Hemingway would have burrowed into the wall if he could have. Friends said their border collie actually "picked up" the approaching storm minutes before the first flashes or thunderclaps.

      Fortunately the thunderstorm was accompanied by rain-an odd commodity that is hugely deficit in this fourth year of a drought. We keep getting optimistic predictions for the rain the El Nino may bring this winter, but over an inch of rain in July, in Cambria California?!  Oddness. But we love it and the locals were on the verge of breaking into flip flop splash dash dances up and down the canyons and through the East and then West village and along the ocean bluff board walk. Rain! In July!

       

PACIFIC BLUE

   A dry July is more tolerable when the Pacific blue is nearby providing entertainment.  Our friend Diane Norton caught great moments in San Simeon cove as a couple of visitors came calling.

Photo by Diane Norton

San Simeon Cove

Photo by Diane Norton

Photo by Diane Norton

   Meanwhile just down the coast in Cambria a fellow is looking for a smaller specie.

  What a difference a sunny day can make. It was last September, gray and misty when some of the behemoths were in the same San Simeon Cove. It is a great joy to live on the "commuter route" of these sea going mammals.

    See you down the trail.

CHANGE-REAL AND IMAGINARY

CHANGE IS A LAW OF LIFE*

     Some change is more difficult to abide. The change to Cambria's rare Monterey Pine forest is heart breaking and so too is big change in a little church.

   Slopes of the Santa Lucia Mountains, hill sides and canyons display the unmistakable damage, wrought by drought, disease and management practices. It is sad to see though a reminder of the tenuous grasp of life and health.

AN IMAGINARY TALE OF 

NOT SO IMAGINARY CHANGE

     Imagine a small town rich with diversity of intellect, life experience and birthright. Picture a charming little church where people of all sorts gather in friendship. This is a cast of actors who represent a cross section of ideas, politics, influence, economic profiles, levels of education and attitudes. 

      See this extended family stand by each other in good times and bad. They celebrate together and they comfort each other as they mourn. They know they have their differences, in the secular world, even in theology, but it is their unity and family which holds them together, so they may grow as people and believers. And they do.

      Then a Pastor tells them a danger is lurking. It is the danger of homosexuality and forces in the larger church and world who advocate for equality and full human dignity. But  gay and lesbian people are sinners he says and the church should take a stand. 

       A division shakes the happy family. Some protest that all people are God's children, made in God's image. Others act as sheriffs "enforcing" the Bible. Whispering begins. Distortions are spread. Friendships unravel. Couples quarrel. The men who wrote the Bible are on the most quoted list. Others say look to what Jesus said and did. The Bible becomes a tool of verbal warfare. People are sickened, sad, angry. There is no joy in the once happy little church. Some depart. Others warrior on, convinced they must take what is left of the little church to a new order where gays and lesbians absolutely will not be permitted to be a preacher.

        One group says all humans deserve dignity to teach and preach and be regarded as fully human and equal. They say it is good to have a diversity of view and to discuss and debate even our deepest beliefs. Another group says no, those are progressive ideas, we are meant to be bound by the authority of the word.  Which word, the others ask, which interpretation, which translation? The words of Paul and other men or the words of Jesus? And so it goes.

        This imaginary little church learns about change.

       

       Droughts of spirit and love, disease of anger, fear and management practices must also affect imaginary little churches.

       Change is hard. Sometimes imagination can help. 

*John F. Kennedy is credited with the quotation. The complete sentence is "Change is a law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future."

    

     See you down the trail.

FROM OUT WEST-LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT AND GOVERNOR BROWN

LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA AND
GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN

    Dear Sirs,

          California and the federal government have an opportunity to partner in problem solving while advancing technology, creating employment and improving quality of life. The state and federal government should design and build ocean desalination plants and a network of pipelines to deliver water to communities and the agricultural zones including of course the Central Valley.

          California abounds in technological and engineering knowledge and has been the crucible of innovation. California produces food that feeds America and much of the world but we can't make it rain nor end an historic drought. However we can respond with imagination and progress.

          A state and federal partnership accomplishes a great deal; regulatory compliance and clearance and a capacity to get it done. Think such a venture is impossible? Consider the extraordinary response of this nation to the crisis of WW II. Consider also the zeal and achievement of the American space program when the nation was committed to a moon landing. This nation could benefit from a good swift kick in the butt to get back on a path to excellence. This project would do that and you can make it happen.

          More good happens in California than in Washington DC. Bipartisan government occurs and while it is not perfect, things get done and problems are managed and solved. Aside from the public business of California, there is also the extraordinary success and life changing impact of technology, communication, transportation and space businesses. But we cannot make it rain. 

          Life depends on water and entering the fourth year of  historic drought clouds are on the horizon and they are not rain clouds. Historically this part of the US has sustained life altering droughts. There is meteorological and climate science now that suggests we could be in another such  period and that it could extend decades. It is arrogance to forget it has happened, repeatedly. Unlike previous eras and epochs we have science and technology to interact with the Ocean.

          The Pacific must be protected and proper environmental and ecological management is mandatory. A state and federal oversight can work to those ends. The peril is too severe to leave such things to a free market, profit making set of values.

          The design and implementation can be founded on the best science and engineering and most of that is already here and could be augmented by others in a critical review and project management.

         As the project(s) move forward each community could  undertake an ascertainment of need including the calculation of a sustainability index. i.e., how much water is needed now vis a vis anticipated growth? how is that water used-commercially, in homes, for agriculture, etc.? what are optimum growth and expansion frames? what are fair water rates in a tiered system?  What is a community's sweet spot to be truly sustainable? All of this would be managed and navigated by an oversight process that is long on academics, scientists, economists, planners and engineers with project management expertise drawn from the best and brightest in business-e.g., Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Larry Ellison and such peers. Think of that quality of individual to be your managing partners.

         Notice who is peripheral to all of this?  Elected politicians. Once the public's business was the trust of the United States Congress and Senate. Recent history only disqualifies them from running and likely delaying or destroying such a venture. Of course this will take funding and in that way they will need to be stakeholders, but how to affect that and how to contain their negative influence  is what you both are being paid to do as Chief Executives.

         Private investment could be tapped, in lieu of tax or other incentives. All business has an interest in the viability and sustainability of life and agriculture.

         Mr. President, Mr Governor you wield power and influence and have the ability to summon the "best and brightest" and to establish and pursue vision.  Even if we can water ration and restrict and even if it suddenly starts to rain laying siege to the notion we are in extended drought or climate change, we know that on a strategic world stage, water supply is a critical pointer. We even plan for future wars being fought over water. California and the federal government could evince a scenario that tends to a present need and allows for good options in future need.

         Executives lead, this is your way to lead us through problem solving and to create a legacy that includes a better way of doing things.

APRIL OUT WEST

   See you down the trail.

NEW CHAPTERS-IN IT TOGETHER

PLANET KINDRED

     We're in new territory now. California is in the fourth year of a drought and experts say the state has never been drier, though that may not be true. It's problematic.

      The tree above is a neighbor, one of many Monterey Pines in this area's unique pine forest, one of three natural such forests. I'm worried about the tree and many of its kindred.

     The drought has exacerbated other problems and some predict a mortality rate of 40-80% of the forest. When trees die and suffer so does the abundant wild life in the area.

      We've shared the ridge with this tree and a few that have died and thinned the copse. We've watched a marvelous cycle of life now in peril. 

      First we hear the plaintive cry of a young hawk, then in time we watch flying lessons and still later we watch the aerial combat of hawks and families of crows who have also lived here for generations. Wild turkeys seek refuge in the shade, bob cats, fox, deer and many species of birds roam or roost here. Skunk, raccoons and squirrels are here. Mushrooms spring in the under thicket, wild flowers patch their way into and share the sun. When an old tree goes, life changes in profound ways.

      This blue planet is in the midst of changes and so it has always been. Woodworkers and scientists tell us areas of California have endured droughts that extended decades. Decades! Historians have written of extended droughts that ended eras of cattle ranching. There is a theory the last 100 years have been the anomaly, wetter than normal. 

      We are all in this mystery together and largely we are powerless. We can respond and we have. People of our village have reduced water use by as much as 45%. A newly built system uses waste and brackish water to supply a percentage of our needed supply.

      Meteorologists discuss a Pacific Decadal Oscillation, intense high pressure and variations in the jet stream though, regardless of cause, we live with uncertainty. In our time on the ridge we've seen 37 inches of rain in a season and as low as 8. The last four have been the driest and that brings us again to our trees. 

      It has become necessary to thin the forest of dead trees, to reduce danger. Problems; how to get it done, how to pay for it, what to do with the old wood? Citizens, elected representatives and a variety of experts are in a kind of scrum to chart a course of action.  
     California Governor Brown has renewed the water restrictions and serious people are asking even more serious questions about what this means to California's agriculture, which feeds the nation. Many look to the Pacific and see what could be a water supply, but not without cost and process and politics.

     The good citizens of this marvelous and vast state move toward a future with unmeasured dimensions and uncertain challenges. This is a state of enjoyment where so much of life is lived outside, where the light is vivid and saturated like the colors, aromas and flavors of diversity. These are people who have built technology empires, entertainments and lifestyles where relaxation, kicking back, hanging out bespeak attitudes and spirit.  But it's a new time. Changes are coming.

      Our approach to forest management is likely one of those changes.  Neglect and inattention did not create the problem, but they did not help.  Earlier cutting, thinning, better stewardship and management would have dialed back the fire danger.

      In our village a forest management plan was written years ago, agreed to by levels of government and regulatory agencies, but it has never been funded.  Shame on us!  It is too late for too many trees. I hope my neighbor will survive and I hope we may learn in the uncertain future that we all have a stake in every aspect life on this blue marble.
      Pollution in China, nuclear radiation in Japan, overwatered golf courses in the desert, neglected forest management, toxic waste in rivers, whirlpools of plastic in the oceans, chemicals on lawns, lack of conservation, and on and on, are all ultimately local issues in every community and threatening problems to all life. They respect no boundaries.

   We are all in this together.

    See you down the trail.