Going Grand

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A Perfect Circle-What’s Going On©Virgin Records US 2004

Well, I’m heading into the biggest ditch of them all tomorrow morning and won’t be out until January 9th. For 10 days I’ll paddle and row down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, completely unplugged. It’ll be a nice change of pace from the chaos that has been surrounding me of late.

Over the past month and a half The Natural Life has been growing steadily in both audience and contributors and with it, interest. Mostly though, you’ve all gotten to know what’s going on in my world, but more than anything I’m interested in what’s going on in yours. I look forward to returning to some news from all of you. Until then, enjoy your days.

Not quite reindeer, but a Christmas connection

Baker County, Oreg. – “On a day like today it might seem that we’re out here feeding the elk to keep them from starving,” Alice Trindle of T&T Wildlife Tours said. The snow had been falling for the past two days with little sign of letting up, but at the Anthony Creek feed site in the Elkhorn Wildlife Area patchy spots of grass still poked through the snow.

“The real reason is because we’ve interrupted their natural migration patterns,” Trindle said. “This time of year this Rocky Mountain Elk herd would normally be in Hells Canyon (of the Snake River). But since we came over on the Oregon Trail and started building our homes, farms and ranches, the elk could no longer move freely between their summer and winter feeding grounds.”

Trindle said that when her grandfather was a boy nearly 90 years ago, there were relatively no elk to be seen in this area of Northeastern Oregon and related the decline of Oregon’s elk to that of America’s bison: victims of our encroachment and over hunting.

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Why we must all be staunch

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Ray Lamontagne-How Come©RCA 2004

Fairbanks, Alaska to Hokitika, New Zealand- So let’s review: Staunch is an overarching respect for and connection to the forces of nature bred by our insistence upon being humbled repeatedly by those forces. It’s an individually cultivated quality that translates to others and makes our personal circles and communities stronger and more reliable. It’s a willful commitment to better ourselves by enthusiastically engaging the challenges that life presents us, and when it doesn’t, creating our own challenges.

Being staunch means enjoying life, though in reverse order than what we are used to. Instead of getting frustrated by life’s difficulties we relish them. Instead of being happy while life floats along through the good times we become frustrated by the awareness that without challenges, we cannot grow. By being staunch we strengthen our bond to the world, to each other, and perhaps most importantly, to ourselves. For we can never know who we truly are unless we strive to find our limits and then move past them. But why does any of this make it paramount that we become staunch to benefit our world?

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When pressure builds

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Fort Minor-Right Now©Warner Bros/Wea 2005

Mt. Emily, La Grande, Oreg.- In natural systems, areas of high pressure will always flow to areas of low pressure. Surface water cools and becomes more dense until the pressure of its weight becomes too much for the water below it and it sinks, driving the ocean currents that we have come to rely on for our food, transport and weather. Hot air rises to point where it can rise no further, builds up and then rushes to an area with less air. A storm ensues. Pressure builds in human systems as well, but where does it flow to?

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Tahoe Outdoors: a means to involve the public (some of what I’m working on)

[mp3]wp-content/uploads/2007/12/deltron-3030-20-memory-loss.mp3[/mp3]Deltron 3030-Memory Loss©75 Ark 2000

“When information is abundant and available all the time everywhere, a new relationship between the press and the public needs to be formed…To do this, journalists must first invite their audience into the process by which they produce the news.”

-Kovach and Rosenstiel-

The Internet Revolution has shaken the foundations of democratic life. The free, instantaneous transference of information has reshaped everything from the way that we communicate to the way that we choose our political leaders. The Internet has also changed the way that we interact with our environment, cutting us off from the spatial relationships that we have always had. The ramifications of this technological advancement are only just beginning to be understood and the rate of change far outpaces our ability to adjust to it. As a society, if we are going to successfully manage the changes that we are currently undergoing, our culture must begin to catch up to our technologies. As with the first revolution that this country faced, journalism finds itself in a unique position to lay the foundation for our cultural advancement.

Over time, journalism has taken on many roles within this society. From the Federalist Papers to the YouTube debates, journalism has played an integral role in the founding and formation of this country. However, journalism’s audience is dwindling. Because of the ease with which the public can access information from the Internet people are obtaining their news elsewhere. But journalism is more than just news, it’s a way of connecting people. As a form of communication that links the average American to a political process which, despite the Internet Revolution, remains out of reach, journalism must retain its place as a core tenant of American life. In order to keep that place though, journalism must change.

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Necklaces for Uganda

Bujugali Falls, Uganda- I’m currently working on revising my story about Uganda, Revisiting an African pearl to search for alternatives for possible publication in Men’s Journal and I finally got around to reading an interesting story about Uganda by another UNR student. Necklaces for Uganda is about how UNR journalism student Stevi Wara is helping a Ugandan family by selling beaded necklaces that they make. The story reminded me of another colorful aspect of my trip and the resourcefulness of Ugandans.

While we were in Africa, my buddy Jesse Whitt and I stayed at his aunt and uncle’s house in Nairobi, Kenya. His uncle is the former East African regional director for the United Nations and they lived in Uganda during the mid 80’s when Musevini first came to power. They were there during the ravages of war and as the rebuilding process started. His aunt began by helping local craftswoman get their wares to a wealthier market by working with airline pilots and flight attendant’s who were flying to Europe frequently.

While we stayed at the Nile River Explorer’s camp, we talked with many women who work to provide for their families. In a culture that is male dominated, craft sales prove to be significant sources of income and give women a much needed source of empowerment.

Anyway, Necklaces for Uganda is a cool story.

Good news from the government-UPDATED

Nellis Airforce Base, Nev.- We tend to hear nothing but bad news about the government these days. Though I don’t really trust the government or expect them to get meaningful things done, I think when our government does the right thing for the country we should give them credit.

“The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved final passage of a major energy bill that sets higher vehicle fuel economy standards for the first time in three decades and aims to fundamentally change the way the country uses energy,” Ian Talley of Dow Jones reports. “The Energy Independence and Security Act sets a rising mandate for renewable energy up to 36 billion gallons a year by 2022. Cars and light trucks – minivans and sport utility vehicles – will have to average 35 miles per gallon by 2020, a 40% increase from current levels. It also establishes energy efficiency standards for appliances, the federal government and commercial buildings. The White House has said President George W. Bush would sign the bill Wednesday.

“It is one of the most significant congressionally mandated changes in the way Americans use energy since the 1970s. Then, high prices that followed the 1973-1974 Arab oil embargo prompted calls for energy conservation.”

However, the Democrats weren’t able to include a $21 billion tax package that would eliminate certain tax breaks to big oil companies to fund renewable energies or set a standard for use of renewables in generating electricity.

Fortunately, our state governments are beginning to take the lead in that area.

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Staunch friends required

Fairbanks, Alaska to Bujagali Falls, Uganda- (this is the second part of a story I ran last year in Alaska)After the last installment you must be wondering, “If I’m staunch, why do I need staunch friends?” Well the simplest answer is that being staunch is an awful lot like being a hitter in baseball. The the all-stars, even the roided up ones, only bat around .333. Anything else in the world where you do what you’re paid to do only 1/3 of the time, you’re not celebrated as great, you’re fuckin fired. Staunchiness is much the same way.

If you recall from the example last time, we were turned back by the weather. Nature threw a nasty slider and we swung just as the bottom dropped out; strike three, sit down chump. Staunchiness means getting beat…regularly. It also means relishing the challenge though, so you can start to see where the imbalance comes from. If you are taking on challenging new things, no matter what they might be, with the likelihood of failure eminent, it’s more than a little comforting to know that you have some people that you can count on to bail your ass out. Who’s going to follow you up a mountain? The friends that you can count on to do that, both figuratively and literally, are the friends that are staunch.

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Survey Results-Bringing the news to you

Add your two cents: take the survey here

1. Do you think the news media has an important role in democracy?
Yes-100%
No- 0%

2. Do you think the news media is a tool of the government, business, or the public?
Government-0%
Business-25%
Public-50%
Other-50%
(You could vote for more than one)

Comments:
“All of the above. ‘The news media’ is a pretty amorphous term these days.”
“Business and gov’t making up the majority and public coming in dead last, with a small peice of the perverbial pie.”
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Ways of going green- virtual home tours

Click here to take a virtual tour of Susan Smith’s home


Click here to take a virtual tour of Robin and Dave Rittenhouse’s home

Here are two Lake Tahoe homes that demonstrate two markedly different ways of going green and reducing our impact on the environment.

On the left, Susan Smith of Rubicon Bay shares with us how she has used green technologies to reduce her energy consumption and harness the power of the sun. (She also hasn’t paid a power or heating bill in a year and a half).

On the right, Robin and Dave Rittenhouse show us how they live a low impact life at home by increasing their efficiency while reducing their use of energy. (They have one or two “low impact” days a month where they try not to use electricity or drive anywhere).

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