You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it.

You don't take a photograph. You ask, quietly, to borrow it.

~Author Unknown

The above quote symbolizes my interpretation of Sustainable Development, while combining a joy in my life: photography. It reminds me to graciously honor all that surrounds me acknowledging and respecting the subtle motions that interconnect all things equally apart of this world. We all live on borrowed time, borrowing resources to sustain our existence, we have an obligation to respect what we borrow. To treat our planet not simply as a resource, but as an entity, maybe even like a corporation that possesses a legal right to freedoms. Treating the future equally as important as if it were the present. Borrowing a snapshot of time such as the quote suggests draws to mind our temporary existence, the way we tread this planet during that short existence shaping the beauty of future landscapes. As old photo albums suggest, our time on this earth may be short, however, much like photographs the patterns and effects of our ways live well beyond us. Capitalism is on an over two hundred year crash course that does not take in account the market failure of our environment, in particular carbon. An evolution of our economic system must occur so our species can fully develop to it’s potential in harmony with the Earth.

We as a generation must meet the needs of the present without compromising the future generations ability to meet their own needs. The quote reminds us to eliminate the notion of possession and replace it with the respect that it should be returned. Borrowing can be directly connected with development because we borrow the futures ability to borrow that same resource. Sustainable Development is borrowing as little of the futures resources as possible while maintaining a certain level of necessary growth. Our nation and our world have over-borrowed the future’s resources. History has shown microcosms throughout the world what over borrowing does, for example the overfishing of Atlantic Cod in the North Atlantic. Bridging the gap between the notion of ‘my’ existence to honoring the rights and freedoms of the next existence can be seen more clearly respecting our rights of reproduction. Coincidentally, I believe when someone has children a very significant shift in consciousness occurs.

Overpopulation of our planet and having children can be contradictory to sustainable development. If we simply replace ourselves and do not have a net gain from our family planning endeavors, it would be a great step in developing sustainably. An estimated 3 billion people will be added to the world population in the next 13 years. Adding numbers adds mouths, adding mouths subtracts resources. Our planet can hold only so many, and if we continue to grow as we are, we will eventually hit a population ceiling of our species. Increases in our civilizations population borrows time from the future of mankind.

I view our civilization as stewards of Mother Earth, harvesters of her bounty. The dominating masculine-conquering philosophy of property ownership needs to be infused with a feminine sharing value of borrowing. For example my dog Cassius, I do not own, but take responsibility for. Every species and people has a right to clean air, clean water, healthy food, shelter & happiness. In my humbled opinion, if one denies another of any of these things it is truly a travesty and breaks our planets natural law. Water has the right to flow with the tide, sea lions a right to ‘human’ beaches, a tree to grow where it wishes. Life is about balance. Species’ populations grow and shrink in response to other species populations. A boom in field mice population may easily correspond with a boom in owl populations. Both have equal right for life, but must also be in balance. Mother Earth naturally finds balance; it is of the most fluid path. Many native civilizations have existed in perfect harmonious balance with nature by honoring it with high respect.

The Iroquois Confederacy coined the term, “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations”. Development is essential and natural to our species, but how we go about it is another matter. Since the Industrial Revolution, our species rapidly evolving in size and complexity, civilization has grown wastefully and irresponsibly. The Native people of our North American soil maintained a very different concept of development. Their societies, while not exploding in high growth rates of monetary value, sustained growth for tens of thousands of years. They held a large social safety net that provided for all, while giving room for overall growth of the society. They did this without any concept of ownership. Interwoven into the core of the Natives belief system was that all things are connected, physical goods only borrowed. Shamanism, the world’s oldest faith is overly coined into paganism and greatly miss-understood; it is a person’s spiritual connection and practice living in balance with the natural world. Deeply ingrained in most indigenous populations, valuable philosophies of respect for interconnectedness are held. A growing number of western minds have been developing an alternative mindset to our current spiritual and economic systems; one that combines western democracy & the agile rule of law with native principals. All concepts conspiring to create more efficient solutions, which not only provide prosperity but also, reduce waste in the resolution of our greatest problems.

As our national debt passes $12 trillion, we are borrowing from our futures right to equal freedom. Our children do not deserve to inherit such a debt of negligence. As we burn past peak oil, we borrow our futures right to cheap energy options for economic growth. As we pollute, we take the purity from the future. Humankind is faced with the grave task of repositioning the future of the human race. Changing the collective mindset from ownership to borrowing, while respecting inherently what is our legal system is the most prudent task we face.

When we save a couple of dollars each month, we provide for our children. When one progresses truly sustainably, a zero-sum gain will occur. Civilization must evolve to respect and honor responsibly the consequences of our actions. Photography is an analogy of our footprint on this earth; the photo being the material that lives thousands of years beyond us. A photograph is an encapsulation of a moment in the past. We must live our lives in knowing our actions will directly impact the landscape of our children’s children ability to stand before with pride and develop. The future of our species depends on our ability to develop sustainably. The current situation is example enough that a shift in consciousness, way of thinking, tried systems, must evolve. Evolution is essential to our growth and development. Learning from the outdated greed-based capitalistic model and transitioning into a community-based model of shared growth that works in harmony with our natural world is as inevitable as it is necessary. When a photograph inspires us, like a majestic landscape, it influences us to honor our ancestors, who enabled this moment, and their way of life.

and the Journey ends....

24 days and 4,971 miles; we have finally landed at our destination! Sun shined in our faces as we made our descent from the snow packed Cascades onto the Puget Sound. Too many experiences to fully explain have filled our lives over the past month. We both are a changed people, having grown from shared experience. Now reality is setting in, rent, utilities, groceries, credit card bills, furnishing the new apartment, aigh. Something in both of us, as we opened the door to our new apartment, in the out-flowing of pure excitement seeing our new life, the question was asked "do you want to get back on the road?" We laughed, truly happy with our new home, the transient time we spent on the road will always stay with us, where ever our lives lead us to. Since Sedona, or trip has sped up a bit from the multiple month long anticipation of our new apartment neither of us has seen. Rented over the internet on craigslist, based off only blurry pictures of only parts of the place, we were in store for a treat. We were pleasantly surprised about what we found; The location, extra space, and a garage!

The final leg of our journey: Scottsdale, AZ: Much enjoyed time with Ed and Jackie at their home below Camelback Mountain.

Grand Canyon National Park:  What a big canyon.  Our jaws dropped and we approached the rim.  The sheer sight of the canyon puts life into perspective, one sees how little they are in the world.  Exiting the chaos the grand canyon village is, we found a few great look-outs.   That's me looking the wrong way.

Zion National Park:  Great park.  Another visit is in store for us.  Absolutely majestic.
Provo, UT: Kelly's was born in Provo, so we thought a stop for the night was needed, to see her baby stomping grounds.

Great Salt Basin: Great 15 min stop to get out and run around.  This is where they do speed tests. Endless tire track go off into the distance.

Boise, ID: Very clean, newly built, and surprisingly warm. This city surprised us both, I guess we had little to base any assumption off for it. Yakima, WA: This city looks like it is about to blossom. Washington is now the 2nd largest producer of Vino behind California. Yakima sits very close to the Columbia River Valley's explosion of new vineyard that I can say produce pretty darn good wine. 10 years ago the land that hold these new vines were simply wheat fields. Alki Beach, Seattle WA: Well, this is us now. View of Bainbridge Island, Vashon Island, Olympic National Park, and of course the Puget Sound.  A hundred years ago this place was called New York Alke, ironic ending from where we started.
Thanks to all and let us know if you are in town! Kelly and Fraser

The Journey Begins

New York to Seattle Washington by way of the southwest.  We are in the middle of our journey about to pack up and head to our next destination.  Sedona, AZ has been great to us and presented motivation to keep all friends and family up to date on our travels.  The miles are adding up, almost at 3,000 so far.  The road is a great place to be, we have been meeting some fascinating people and seeing some amazing sites.  Only so much can be written. Our Driveabout so far: Richmond, VA:  Debbi surprised us with some homemade Eggplant Parmigiana, yum.  Went to Debbi & Ed's favorite little jazz place and experienced some great music.  It was a quick stop, but so great to see Debbi & Ed, & the dogs.  Crossing over the Blue Ridge Mountains was pretty spectacular.  I think Kelly and I found a new love for the beauty in Virginia. Nashville, TN:  Country Music and fried pickles.  Only one is good, can you guess which? Memphis TN: Best Ribs on my life.  No question.  You can order the vacuum sealed seasoned spectacular. Charles Vergos' Rendezvous Charcoal Ribs.  And well there is Elvis, we have never seen so many gold records in our lives (next to the carpet on the ceiling of course... Yes there is green carpet on his ceiling in his party room... Those of you who lived through the 70's probably aren't too surprised by that).  If you didn't guess by now, this is Elvis's couch in the 'Jungle Room'. Hot Springs, AR: Dilapidated Victorian mansions show the reminisce of a once thriving oasis.  Natural hot springs feed these beautiful bath houses, bringing the Roman bath to the early 20th century.  Tucked away in Arkansas, a hidden gem. Amarillo, TX:  Well, West Texas.  We don't want to offend anyone, but it is West Texas.  A free 72oz steak if you can eat it in under an hour (plus a couple of sides).  We had the police chauffeur us in and out of the restaurant because the WWE was in town with crazy fans outside.  We saw the wrestler Big Show, he literally sat on a chair and it collapsed! Santa Fe, NM:  One of Kelly's favorites so far.  It feels like the center of Native American Art.  We got to see Jed's business, The Shiprock Trading Post, the most beautiful gallery we saw (we are NOT being biased).  Not too dog friendly of a city, for we had animal control called on us when we tied Cassius up outside a restaurant for 15 min.  We bought a great piece of Zuni Pueblo Pottery.  Jackalope furniture, sat next to our Silver Saddle motel and held great pieces, we found a flawless deer skull.  Tons of great Salsa and people. Gallop, NM:  Quick stop. We stayed in the famous El Rancho Hotel, where old western movie stars frequented.  The history was interesting, the food - not so much. Petrified Forest National Park:  The sheer energy in that wood, wow.  Every stop we made we had ancient Native Spirits in the insanely large crows, protecting each area like sentinels.  Kelly is certain they were Chief Spirits.
Sedona, AZ:  We have spent the past week on a spiritual retreat, soaking up the essence of what it means to be alive.  So much personal and shared growth has occurred.  The energy here is trans-formative.   We both feel almost bombarded from it all, it will take us a good amount of time to fully digest.

 
Now off to the Grand Canyon, then Scottsdale, then who knows.... But eventually we will be in Seattle!

Our Industrial Food Complex: Oh, the taste of good pesticides' in the morning

Food... How I love good food.

Whether it be pulled chicken & jalapeno tamales with guacamole, or a seaweed miso masterpiece. I love good food and hate crappy food. The problem is, unless you make it yourself (which I am finding is the only solution) good food is expensive, while bad food is cheap and everywhere. With age, I have come to learn and fully appreciate the differences of these opposites, it really hasn't been until recently that I have come to fully understand the complexity of locally grown organic food. I think my family's love of food, my green thumb, and a couple of documentaries & books have motivated a very earnest passion and desire for world change on the food-front.

While I haven't yet read Michael Pollan's first book, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals; his second,  In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto materialized fact to my already growing suspicions. His primary point is found in motivating the reader to really look at what they consume in their day and ask themselves "Is this really any good for me". Outside of the basic FDA nutritional guidelines (which Pollan pokes some serious holes in) we must as a civilization demand food that taste's good, is very nutritious, and is grown in a sustainable way with caring local hands & most importantly (and what is at greatest stake for humanity currently) is the ability and freedom to plant and grow ones own seed, -ones own crop- ones own nourishment for themselves. To identify the source of such a dilemma posed against humanity one must pull away the curtain that many multimillion dollar corporations would like never to be discovered. Behind which would be revealed a reality drenched with money-lust, laden with greed and week without power scenario that sounds more likely suited for a science fiction novel. The reality is grave, we as a people, united as a human race are faced with a war (most of which are unaware of even existing) of preventing imperialism over life itself.  This nightmare scenario is made possible, by the patent law under the World Trade Organization agreement & US Law from which many conglomerate corporations are heeding the rights to own seeds through biotechnology and patenting. Such tools are being used by huge multinational corporations in their quest to control the global food supplies. There is so much that big corporations have blinded us to. What would our children's children say to us now if they had such an opportunity to change what is happening currently?  Read an earlier post on: Monsanto to try and outlaw Organic Farming here.

I have been engrossed in the field of "Green Washing" with reusable shopping bags, but with food it is a different story. The best food for you doesn't have a label. There should be no marketing behind it, at most a farmer's hand making a sign. Today as one walks down the aisles of a super market, or even Whole Foods for that matter, we find claim after claim of how packed nutritionally the package food is. While Whole Foods does a good job of offering local food, they too have processed items packed with crap claiming to be good crap (because it is packed with Omega 3!). As the saying goes, we are what we eat- no wonder most Americans are obese.

Food, Inc. - Well, no more meat. That's about all I can say after this greatly executed film. I have been severely altered in my view of our meat in this country. I knew a lot about genetically altered plants, but Chickens, cows, pigs, etc. Arrgh. I love good meat too, which makes it even more troubling.  I guess as long it is grass feed, holds no growth hormone, free range, and organic we could eat it. There is something about visually seeing what happens in our food systems around this country that sticks in one's head, unlike reading about it.

Since I can remember I have planted a little garden every spring (with the exception of some recent apartment-living years). Whether it be in a pot at my Long Beach house, or digging up my mom's entire backyard and scheming the crop rotation and needed ingredients for the compost - Soil and my own grown food have coated my hands. First because I simply liked digging, getting my hands dirty, and watching something grow. Now, I have come to really appreciate the harvest, no matter how small. It is the accumulation of countless hours of work, planting, watering, weeding and sweating. Life is about appreciating the small things- the fruits of one's hard work and as citizens of Mother Earth the freedom to grow. If we all spent a little more time appreciating our food I think we all would be a much happier people, un-needing of more stimulation of yet more wasteful material. Closer to complete satisfaction with ourselves and what we consume.

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth is revolutionary."

- George Orwell -

Google & China

Well, I just got motivated to get really political. Not in the red and blue sense (shortly my friends), but in the need to loudly speak out in what is going on with the Chinese government.

First, read the official Google's Blog statement about current events: New Approach to China

Next, listen to me. :)

I commend Google on their approach and position to this situation. The Chinese government is traveling down a path that is not sustainable in so many different ways. From the environment, over population, food shortages, to this obviously obscene act to control the minds of their citizens. It is one thing when the control is occurring in China, and another when they try to bring that controlling hand - through deceptive means outside of their own borders. Well I guess America does it militarily. protecting energy rights; China thorough the internet, controlling speech and the minds of 1.3 billion people. My largest problem is that it is not a hackers, or group of hackers, or some small anarchist movement; but it is the Chinese government hacking into some of the largest American companies in hope to secure intellectual property. Their mission is one of economic war, because the only way the ruling party will stay in power is if the continue a 9% growth rate per year. Having to fight opposing views. Otherwise, with no increased opportunity, China's citizens will begin to speak of democratic views. Demanding rights. Demanding more freedom. Demanding... voice.

I believe every person on this planet has an inherent right of speech, no matter where they are born. The right to breath, the right to eat, the right to drink and the right to speak.

Yéle Haiti & the Earthquake

Haiti - Outside of the earthquake that just devastated the region, Haiti is real need for help. It is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and is right in our backyard. An estimated 50,000 people have died so far, the entire nations infrastructure is in ruins. We can't land a full sized military cargo plan on their capitals runway to provide aid because it is too short. Haiti is in a trying time.

The short story that sums up Haiti problems is this:
Poverty is the source. Haitian citizens have deforested their country past the point of natural regrowth. Cutting down millions of trees over the past few years has caused serious issue in regards to the health of the topsoil in the region. Flooding is constant issue as is the lack of high crop yields. The citizens cut down these tree because any other heating/cooking method is too expensive. One cuts a tree to cook for their family. A million people follow suit. All the sudden there is no forest, no soil, no food. Now they have to rely on imports, very expensive. Mud cakes are routinely sold on the streets for food to the poor. They provide some mineral nourishment, but mostly help suffice the burn of appetite. Wyclef John born and raised in Haiti has been and is probably the most influential person in the country, supporting sustainable growth, replanting forest, offering monetary aid to the nation.

Yéle Haiti is a grassroots movement that builds global awareness for Haiti while helping to transform the country through programs in education, sports, the arts and environment. Yéle’s community service programs include food distribution and mobilizing emergency relief. Grammy-Award winning musician, humanitarian and Goodwill Ambassador to Haiti Wyclef Jean founded Yéle Haiti in 2005. For more information please go to www.yele.org

I invite you to assist Yéle Haiti as they begin to mobilize medical and emergency supplies for Haiti. You can donate via their website at www.yele.org or text “yele” to 501501 to donate $5 to the Yéle Haiti Earthquake Fund.