When I reflect on the short 43 years I’ve been alive, and an American Citizen of The united States, I’ve watched a system of governing unravel under the strain of corporate pressures in economic strong-manning. We are mistaken to think a single man is running any show in this nation. The lines are drawn by investment, and returns. All the white collar 401K retirements are wrapped up in the corporate hustle. I watched the Enron melt down, and it set a precedent. Working people would not have a guarantee of concessions, should a company fail. So throw it all under the bus and walk away rich people- that’s what’s happening in The USA right now. Democracy is being thrown under the bus for the billionaires.
As a small farm in Western Washington, I may not have a hat in the ring of politics, beyond my vote, but this current runaround of a two sided coin is getting stale. I’m too smart for this BS, and it’s time to call it out. From the pasture, I’m watching the hay shipped abroad for global conglomerates that don’t give a fig about human rights and the wadge earning worker. What planet do you think we’re living on? I can’t raise sheep without hay- alfalfa through winter, yet the price of a bale is out of reach for small scale production, and priced out by horse people who enjoy riding. It’s preventing food from being grown, the act of equestrian hobby/sport/animal abuse. Sorry, but after seeing horses on The Mongolian Step, seeing any equine confined to a stall is the upmost form of confinement- like putting a person in a cage/jail cell. Truly, look at a prison structure and then look at modern barns and commercial/industrial animal production facilities. You’ll see cells, confinement design, shit lagoon drainage, or outdated septic fields. That’s what happened to Alligator Alcatraz/Auschwitz- bad poop management.
Our corpse is so toxic, we pollute our own water table if we die there. Take it in for a moment- we are toxic. When we become cancerous, from our environmental toxicity, we then poison ourselves with plutonium and “heal” to prolong our pollution on this earth. Prolonging our insult to this biological injury says a lot about our egos. Let’s all follow our original instructions; to live with the earth around us, in that soil on the hands, bare feet on the earth where and when we can, there is a way to work back towards holistic balance in this system. Running on cash has taken away the true values of life and hollowed out basic needs into streaming and same day delivery to all who buy in; giving themselves over to consumer driven capitol gains for a few at the top, while the rest of us, and they, buy now, pay later debt slaved, but only a little for those at the top, the bottom 99% will pay the interests so the wealthy 1% gain their capitol to throw bread crumbs at their investors- all in that 1%. None of these investments will support the majority- but trickle down? Yeah- in the shape of no more free speech, people grabbed by masked kidnappers and hustled into unmarked vans without warrent of any kind. Is it really ok that it’s “only” black and brown people.
Meanwhile, foreign trade tariffs are crippling our industrial farmers- growing the majority of our commodity crops, which run the agricultural arm of the country. Beef is not part of that commodity wagon- only corn, sot, and wheat are given subsidy crowns. 10 billion went to industrial farms in March of this year to cover some of the crop value crashes happening all over the country. Nebraska is declaring bankruptcy. Arkansas soy farmers are about to default on their farms, putting tens of thousands of acres into private foreign investment, and away from American ownership of the very soil we stand for. I’m waving a red flag here for my fellow citizens. Our very terra firma is on the line, and there are a few Peabody Coal Co‘s hauling it away. The legacies of human encroachment on nature for profit has left us all empty- like a pop bottle. Sorry, but I will ride John Prine’s words for support. It’s those musicians of the 60-70s that I’ve been reflecting on, along with post-modern impressionistic guitar strumming about love and loss. It’s that old cowboy ballad to calm the waning wild west.
I walked the land of a friend today. She had 20 acres of 3rd cut temperate rainforest on a glacial ridge above The Snoqualmie Valley. There is natural restoration happening here- with an understory on the rebound. Creeks and streams are still dormant, remaining underground during the dry season. That’s what Weiss Creek, the stream that flows through EEC will turn to in future. Imagine a childhood stream drying up when you grow up. It’s happening now around the world, and we’re the cause. I understand why many of our ancestors fled underground when things got tough. It might be the future for the next few generations- after the floods. But I hate to be a Nostradamus. This little plot of heaven will remain fertile and functional for at least my lifetime- if there is no major fire- or even if there is, I hate to put any limitations on the possibility. Future forecasting prevents living in the moment, which we should all spend more time doing. That’s the fountain of youth so many quest for, in my humble book.
After over ten years of sitting with land and working to better its fertility and restoration to native rainforest, I’ve had a little time to think about what’s going on, or growing on in our world. In this small corner, there is so much potential, and a willing return to what was, the old growth, sacred waters, and salmon, fish for all the people- humans, animals, vegetables, and minerals all fed by one source of great thrashing life. The fish are returning now, up the rivers in the valley below, and some to this very land, through the small creek sourced from natural springs. The Coho come here to spawn, from the Ocean; thirty miles away. How amazing- it’s still going, and some recovering, from our slaying of the woods, timber dollars raked from the land- even today, hundreds of acres at a time. What will the future hold for these scalped lands? Again and again, the trees grid planted by the millions, often paid for by our “plat a tree” endeavors. Beware the green wash– you should know better by now.
We are in a pivotal moment, where determining what is real has become almost impossible- at least online. I’m stepping further away form screen time inducements– even basic news. The narrative is skewed so far from my own reality in the day to day of this holistic farm and forest, I struggle to relate. Scales are tipping faster, the planet is shaking us off, with intensified storms, violent swings in weather, which for a tender of soil and ecology, means immediate adaptation and a sort of “hold fast” attitude. I’m still observing, taking it all in, both in the woods and the political gambit, to the best of my ability. I want to understand, it’s a life quest- to know what is, as I find it, and evolve. What I plant today may not be growing tomorrow, so I sew continuously, all kinds of seeds, expecting nothing and everything at the same time. What a concept. If only we could plant our political forests in the same mindset. That would be stagnation, no? How does this impact the little slice of land that is EEC Forest Stewardship? Well, from taxes to legal representation, it’s all based on who I vote fore locally. But is it still? Thay orange fool in that house of white gilded in gold has no place in my day to day, except in the executive, totally immune actions of an old white guy with a lot of missing information in his world view. Scary. But that’s been the way of things for my entire lifetime, and many before me.
As I walked this neighbor up the road’s land, I reflected on what could return if we would just let it. Instead, our current administration is gunning (yes, pun too) to build roads in to the last vestiges of public wilderness set aside for our enjoyment, and as a wilderness for our diverse wildlife and vegetation. Reflect on this please- the last untouched wilderness in The US is being carved up by mislead capitalistic resource plundering. It will be the final nail in American public lands privatization. Again, red flags for the land and soil of this country. I’m addressing the ecological threats, but our very democracy is at stake too folks, I’m just trying to keep the narrative I speak related to my own life and role in this world. I hope other land stewards and growers have awareness of these immediate conservation threats. The list keeps growing, but I have this moment and these thoughts to share with you now.
Thank you for your time in reading this, and your reflections on the continued erosion of American freedoms and values that I was raised with by several generations of hard working people, including two grands who fought in WWII against fascism, and one died over The Pacific- we never got his body back. This is personal. My great-uncle flew in a fortress pane that was shot down off The Philippines. My Grandmother’s family never got over the loss. I was not born yet, but my Grandfather, who did survive Guadalcanal, spent a lot of time outside with me, planting gardens, tending a small forest, and a creek behind his house. I took all that love of nature, from a man who was 16 when he signed up and went to war for this country, giving his youth to The Navy, and defending us against a belief that would have taught us to kill people that were different- or at least put them in camps and forget what happens after that- like The Tacoma Detention Center here in Western Washington, or the east side of the mountains, where farmers had to let their fruit crops rot on the trees because ICE took the migrant workers from the fields. One after another, the neighbors disappear, until they come for you.
How do I start the day with these thoughts? Well, I see the sun rise, hear the birds calling, watch the geese moving through the orchard, and see a dog’s tail wag as I step outside to take in a deep breath. My day starts here, on the land, with intention to grow things, learn, and share the bounty of this life with those I know and love. If I can help others tend a little bit in their own lives, we’re on the right track- surviving. Ideally, we’d be thriving, and in the scheme of the world as a whole, we are, but at such costs to others we’ll never know or see. What is balance? How to turn the wheel a little more smoothly through all the spokes so everyone takes a turn through prosperity. That would be the governance for me. Sounds- or smells, like Communism, or Socialism. Change is coming, and I’d like to lean towards a more liberal way to share a thriving world, rather than a totalitarian dictator male god head commanding my actions. I can’t imagine training my Kangal pup through demands and forced behavior, he would quickly turn on me, seeing my unstable actions as true weakness. That’s what we’re in now, a weak trend in leadership- rule by force, threat, and payoffs to the upper crust.
Ok, enough about governance, we have a top down running here on the farm. I feed what will one day feed me, but if I don’t treat the animals well, it reflects in their health and production. The cycle is unavoidable, you get what you put in, so if you watch a lot of youtube, but don’t plant any seeds, nothing will grow, no matter how much you stream online. I feel out country has become too much watching and not enough doing- we can all talk about what should be, but until we act on it, nothing will change. Plant ideas, stories of action, and move your feet, to the voting booth, the town meeting, the city council when it meets. Know your local representatives, and keep track of state and federal positions. Write letters demanding action, go to protests and march. When my sheep bray together, I hear them and get compelled to feed, move pasture space, or check minerals to make sure everything’s good. “We are without salt- get a block in here or we’ll have deformed lambs!” That is the consequence for not properly feeding the animals what they need. What is missing in your diet?
Yes, I’m embracing more metaphor for us here, but it’s all the same- and so, should be digestible for bright minds that follow this little blog on the corner of no where and everywhere. Now I’ll take a page from my old barn cat Lucia- take a nap on the couch and wake with a clearer mind. In praise of those who see the path and take it, following old footsteps of wisdom without stepping on the faces of our ancestors.
EEC Forest Stewardship 