Context

The January 30 "Virtual Concert" at talkshoe.com tomorrow will be with Shai Zakai, Israeli ecological artist. One of the projects we will talk about is Concrete Creek, a favorite of mine. She works no matter whether there is war or not, with Palestinians and Israelis. She works even as the region heats up from global warming and when she travels to present her work, she meets anti-Israeli sentiment with grace and inclusiveness. She is a model to learn from. The relevance to the genre of ecological art in general, is how complex context can be when making a simple thing of beauty, out of the degradation we make of our environment.

Tom McCormack and Shai Zakai

Today I was honored on the Virtual Concerts, at talkshoe.com, to host Tom McCormack, Native American storyteller, who spoke to the confluence between cultural divides, willingness to implement solutions to global warming and art practice. At the root, is the power of story to teach and influence.

Next week, also on the Virtual Concerts, if technology blesses us, ecological artist Shai Zakai, who works with Palestinians and Israelis, even in war times, will speak of her practice.

Both these artists inspire me that willingness to change, can be built upon. There is indeed hope.

Global Warming, my Elderly dog and Amory Lovin

Global warming and my dog have been inextricably linked this past couple weeks. When it was warm, i grumbled about global warming as we took walks over the unseasonal green grass. But I was grateful that she didn't have to deal with our bitter cold normal Maine winters. Then abouta week ago, winter came.

She shivered in the cold and slid and fell many times on the icy surfaces outside. It had snowed, thawed and rained, then snowed again. Each step was a s treacherous for me as for her. It got really greuling when she stopped eating anything but Iams biscuits for two days and thatr esulted in two days and nights of digestive upsets. Rescueing an elderly 50 lb dog on ice is one thing. recueing the same animal in the throws of digestive rebellion is quite a bit worse. In a biting cold gale wind and a bit of a blizzard, it got to be quite the ordeal.

I confess, I even briefly regretted all my mean thoughts about global warming. everything is truly relative.

She has since been shipped off to a doggy spa for a couple days. Actually, someone on the mainland who can give her intensive acupressure work to recover from all those icy spills, has rescued me from those sleepless nights of caretaking. For my part, I intend to get my first good night's sleep in many days.

Not the least of what may give me sweet dreams, is the recent Elizabeth Kolbert article in the New Yorker on Amory Lovin. Her basic report from Lovin is that alarmism over global warming does not help. Especially true, since all the solutions to survive and thrive are before us.

I knew that but needed to be reminded. Sort of like acupressure on my brain. Despite my reservations over global willingness from the powers that be, I will practice acting as if everyone else can be persuaded to give up familiar habits and routines.

Bureaucratic Capitulation but....

In the New York Times today, Andrew Revkin reports that NOAA has at last admitted that 2006 was the warmest year ever and it was caused by greenhouse gases.
http://tinyurl.com/ynh9p9

This is hardly news to anyone who has paid attention in the past few years leading up to this winter. Symbolically, it represents the gates falling at last.
The question now, is, is this government, of this country, which dominates the world in carbon emissions, do anything about it?

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about how bad it will be when China comes on line. Well, it may get worse. But right now, we are the worst offendors and China is actively exploring alternate energy sources. It isn't that the ideas and potential aren't there here. It is a question fo where we have thrown our support until now: NOT to alternatives but only to the same old same old, wasting time & resources, while the situation passed a crisis point.

The $64 000. question is whether we will see this bureaucratic admission followed by realistic choices.

Worries and Arguments

I had an argument with someone today. On the way to meet them I was worried about the flowers. I am worried about all the plants that cannot figure out what season it is. I am worried that when it comes time to harvest food, so many fruit trees and other veegtation all species depend upon for food will be so confused that the plants will give up and die. I am worried that the remaining fruit trees will nott have sufficeint bees and bats to polinate themselves to fruit.

When I met my friend, I asked them whaht they thought of global warming. A religious person, this person replied that God had a greater plan and would take care of it all. Meanwhile, they wish environmentalists would stay out of the way of people who want Hummers. Our argument was over what God has in mind.

My argument was with myself, because I felt angry and intolerant of that point of view. When I came home, I noticed a recent post on Climate Crisis Coalition: Rabbi Warren G. Stone, PlanetSave.com, January 2, 2007 wrote, "An ancient Jewish midrash teaches that when God took Adam around the Garden of Eden and showed him its magnificence and splendor, God spoke to him saying, 'If you destroy it, there is no one else besides you!'

That is sort of like, Colin Powell's, "you broke it, you own it.'

What gets me angry is the complacency of those who break it and walk away, leavig others to pick up the pieces- whether those others are God or someone else. And mostly, it is someone else. My wrry is over whther there are enuf of us out here cleaning up the mess.