“I have always wanted to fly.” Thus Keren, a nine-year-old female Canaan dog who loves to tell stories (some are true), opens Dogged Flight. Keren tells the secret of how she realised her puppyhood dream of flying with the birds.
Call it climate change, call it global warming, or call it a solution, namely creating a sustainable energy future. I am struggling to tell a story of impending environmental disaster that both informs and motivates. The story is that of disasters that are likely to change the conditions of life for all humans and indeed, everything living on earth, and within the lifetime of my young grandson.
There are many stories and many partial solutions. Proven solutions can apply to any municipality. I have sketched out a range of options and proven pathways to success. Planning for a sustainable energy future for Mytown
"Because you still listen, because in times like these
to have you listen at all, it's necessary
to talk about trees."— What Kind of Times Are These
By Adrienne Rich. 1929-2012
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/181516#about
In the State of the Union, the most powerful man in the world, the President of the United States, was unable to deal with the issue threatening the future of humanity: "The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change." I seek to understand how our political system is unable to act on our behalf. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
To: The King of the Trees
“It would be immoral to leave these young people [grandchildren] with a climate system spiraling out of control.”—Dr. James Hansen
I read The Third Industrial Revolution by Jeremy Rifkin as part of my search for realistic methods to assure a better world for my grandson, a world facing major environmental degradation that imperils the future of society. Solutions are available, the problem is that we deny the reality and we cannot even have a national debate on the issues because of deep divisions and the political control exerted by the very economic forces that are driving the destruction.
We humans seem to become part of a landscape wherever we are planted, to wear it like a garment or a skin, to possess, and be possessed by the rocks and the trees of our places, and it is incredible to think that we cannot forever inhabit our land or our place.
It seems natural for a parent or grandparent to give things to a child. But what gifts will have a lasting impact? The most valuable gift may not be a thing, but a relationship, a value, a skill, or an outlook. I try to create books that can help build those valuable gifts.
Yesterday was the kind of warm sunny day in early December that feels like fall, not winter. Walking with my dog, Keren, past a parochial primary school playground at recess. Kids wrestling, showing off, swooping around in a ball game, chirping and shouting, making playground noises—like a flock of birds. I passed on, down the hill, and then turned back to see what the sudden rise in noise and pitch was all about.