A Piece of my Mind

Global warming. Boom! This is global warming. It is raining today, it was raining yesterday and it is supposed to rain tomorrow. The day before yesterday I was volunteering with Cotati Creek Critters doing understory tree work in eighty degrees of heat and the day before that I was out at Bayer Farm turning over the soil for a new harvest under the blazing sun. What’s wrong with this picture? It is nearly May!

What I don’t understand is how people can deny that global warming is occurring. Why would we be having conferences in Copenhagen if there was no problem? Why would the weather be so unpredictable on a daily basis? I guess some people live in bubbles, while other people simply do not understand. Global warming does not mean that it is going to be ridiculously hot all the time. Global warming is unpredictable weather patterns and strange weather changes, not necessarily hot weather changes. I would say that in the last couple of years the patter of weather has provided good evidence of global warming.

Increasing perception for United States engagement has constantly been the goal amongst the 193 countries wrapped up in ambiguous climate negotiations for the last couple of decades. Conferences, protocols, treaties and endless other amounts of what seems to be official business, have not been so official. Global warming cannot be treated, it can only be helped. The problem is that we are treating global warming like we would other global issues, one that can be fixed. It is not a war or a battle, it is not a matter of trade or economic scale’s. We keep taking precious resources from the Earth that we cannot give back. It is not a fair trade. Everything that was realized at the Copenhagen conference last December was something that scientists and environmental activists have known for decades.

So what now you may ask? Well now that diplomats and government officials are finally on bored with the real problem and recognize it’s different levels of consequences, we can begin to minimize them. Andrew Revkin, journalist for The New York Times and blogger for Dot Earth is right, the United States and other superpowers need to address this just as seriously, if not more, than other countries. It is not like many other cases where we hand off money or aid to poorer, less advanced countries. This problem is distributed equally around the world.

I do not have the answer. I am not sure how we can make significant changes that will decrease the effects of global warming and begin to heal the huge hole we have put in the ozone layer. But I know where we can begin. This is what my blog is about, starting small, at the community level. If we can all became active agents in our communities, doing our part and more to help improve the local land and educate others on what HAS to be done we may begin to see the changes at large. We need to live in a way that less advanced countries have been living like for years, in a less wasteful manner. I think this would be a great start to helping the United States become a more engaged country with the real issue, global warming.

Go help, Go Volunteer, Go Green!

Outdoor Fun the Tom Sawyer Way

Sun, fun and a new twist to my volunteer work. Playing with kids. I do choose a bit purposefully where and with whom I volunteer with, staying away from day-care, tutoring or any other kind of child play activity. I have short patience with children and children tend to have short patience with me. It’s not the best match.

It wasn’t until this weekend, on April 15th that the tables were turned and I realized how much fun I have with children, especially when it comes to embarking with them on Tom Sawyer outdoor adventure’s and education!

Land Paths sponsored a free community day at Bayer Farm, Tom Sawyer day. And could they have picked a more perfect day. Probably not. The sun was shining and the weather was just right. A calm breeze was sailing through the farm, picking up the children’s hair and carrying a mixed smell of spring flowers and animal droppings from the petting zoo. The show up of kids from neighboring elementary schools was fantastic! Between 50 and 100 little rambunctious kids running around the farm, very eager to see everything that we were offering to them. Tom Sawyer Day at Bayer Farm offered a petting zoo with chickens, rabbits and birds; an insect display brought by the SSU Biology department; art tables with pirate hat making and face painting; a scavenger hunt and sun flower seed planting. After setting up the farm and activity table, I ran the sun flower planting table where we rolled planters out of newspaper and planted soil and seeds in them. All the children were so well behaved and really wanted to learn about the sunflower seeds and how to plant them. They were shocked when one student asked how the sunflower was going to grow if they are planting the seed with its shell still on it. When I replied, “the seed bursts out of its shell naturally once it receives the sun and water it needs,” their eyes got so big! I forgot how easily children can get excited.

Overall, Tom Sawyer day was a success and working with the kids was so much fun! It got me thinking that I can maybe handle environmental education with children. Seeing how their heads just wrap around any new facts that you give them is very satisfying. It really is important that children learn the simple things like how to plant a seed and pick a ripe tomato. These children may have gone home that day and asked their families if they could grow a couple vegetables in their yards. That is what Land Paths is aiming for, educating and providing an opportunity for families in the Roseland area to partake is sustainable food practices. With high obesity rates, processed foods and job lay-offs, it is such as important time for people to know how to obtain what they need the natural way. Tom Sawyer day was an awesome way to put some of these ideas in the heads of young children.

Earth week is finally here! Get your hands dirty and be a part of this special time! If anyone would like to see Bayer Farm and be introduced to the land and see what is done there, this week is another volunteer opportunity. April 23rd, 2.00-5.30. Come check it out!

Sunny Days with Cotati Creek Critters

Blue skies, warm sun and the smell of spring was all around us last Sunday. The Cotati Creek Critters held another successful stewardship day. We lucked out with such beautiful weather last weekend as gray skies and chilling air came rolling back into Sonoma County just a day later. The Creek Critters got a huge show up of volunteers thanks to members of the community and freshman interest groups at SSU.

My work began last Friday when I went in to help prepare for the Sunday stewardship day. It was me, Wade, Jenny and a couple of interns. Wade Belew is the stewardship coordinator and the big brains behind the work done on the 1-mile stretch of the Laguna De Santa Rosa that Cotati Creek Critters take care of. Jenny Blaker is the outreach coordinator. Jenny’s soft British accent and kind words pulled me in right away with questions of how she came to Rohnert Park and began work with Cotati Creek Critters. It was really quite simple; she followed her heart and her passions.

Even though the preparation work for the Sunday stewardship day did not allow us to dig our hands in the ground, it was a perfect opportunity for me to talk to and get to know Wade and Jenny better. As we cleaned out the shed, prepared hay stacks, mulch, pegs, shovels and cleaned gloves, I asked a bit about their backgrounds.

While managing all aspects of Cotati Creek Critters, from nursery work to creek stewardship days, Wade does independent woodwork with a specialty in designing and building bird nest boxes made from recycled redwood fencing. He also leads nature walks with Land Paths, which is the organization that runs Bayer Farm.

Jenny obtained her MA at Sonoma State University in Conservation Psychology and helped start Cotati Creek Critters in 1998. Now Jenny’s job for the Critters is to recruit volunteers, like me, and run the Inside/Outside Nature Education Series.

After sweating in the sun for three hours, obtaining a nice farmer’s tan and a thick dirt layer under my nails, it was time to go home to shower and rest until Sunday.

Sunday ended up being just as beautiful as Friday, the last sunny day before this week full of rain. It was time to work. After teaming up with a couple from North Dakota who came out to California for an adventure after college, we began planting right away. Down by the waters edge, Wade had taken out wild blackberry plants that were invasive to the area. Covered in mulch and netting, our job was to plant native grasses every two feet or so in the 25 foot long stretch of newly turned soil and mulch. This took us about two hours in which a new job was to be met for the last hour of work. Snacking off brownies that Wade brought from a previous party and donated cliff bars, I was feeling the need to shower again and also to take a nice, cozy nap. Our last hour of work consisted of fixing up trees that had been planted before the harsh winter weather. We weeded around them, set down new cardboard to prevent weeds from attacking, spread mulch and netting, nailed pegs in four corners and planted grasses on the edges. Mission complete. Another successful stewardship day with Cotati Creek Critters!
Go Volunteer, Go Help, Go GREEN!