Bioneers!

Today was a return to "real life" after three days of listening to and hanging with Earth-loving, courageous people who are actually working to make a difference. It was a bit of a letdown, actually. After hearing all the bad things that are happening on this planet, I walked back into the Land of the Clueless. I just want to scream, "WAKE THE @%#$ UP!" I work at an institution of higher learning for crying out loud, and I saw only TWO other members of the staff at the conference. We're getting so close to the Point Where Things Will Get REALLY Bad, that this stuff is more valuable than anything taught in a class. I can't believe some of the things that students are asked to learn, while the few classes that might give an understaning of climate change are "electives". Good God, EVERYONE needs to know this stuff.

The real power of a conference like Bioneers is in bringing together people who strive and struggle, day after day, to get something done, sometimes alone. In one big room, we recharge, exchanging energy until we can go out and work one more day, or one more year. Often, what moves us to cheers and tears is music: thanks to Seth and May and the other amazing Earthworks musicians for their gifts of song.

Some sites I learned about:
http://www.350.org/ - actions regarding climate change worldwide on OCTOBER 24th! GET OUT THERE, or start an action near your home!
http://circleofblue.org/ - water news from around the world
http://www.storyofstuff.com/ - Annie Leonard has even by demonized by Fox News! (She must be doing something right!)
http://www.nrec.org/ - the Neatawanta Center's site, thanks to Bob & Sally or whoever put this together!

The Great Lakes Bioneers in Traverse City had a water-oriented theme, and I came home after the first day with plans to make a shrine around our well head. It's squeezed uncerimoniously between the driveway and the woods, just a few feet upslope from the propane tank. The spot is currently a "weed" patch, with some catnip, motherwort and burdock (all good friends). I don't know what I want it to look like, but I want something to remind us that this hole in the ground is the source of our life, our blood, our energy. The little pump down there brings us something sacred. Winter is bearing down on us, so watch for news and pictures in the spring.

Over the weekend, we heard from several amazing elders, from familiar places like California, and unfamiliar ones like the North Sope of Alaska. Our region's own John Bailey challenged us with a very important question for this time in the existence of human civilization: "What kind of ancestor do you wish to be?"

What kind of ancestor do you wish to be?