For me, the last week of October was spent in Austin, Texas area teaching and doing outreach for future biochar classes in the Colorado River Watershed. First off, let me say, Texas does not do anything small. The City of Austin, which used to have about as many folks as Green Bay, Wisconsin including all of its suburbs (250,000) has grown to a metro area of over two million souls. Nancy and I were able to tap in to more than half a dozen oases that retain a bit of the slow pace, of old, reaffirm our connection to nature and we were lucky to be able to establish ties to a network of people turning the corner on the rampant destruction of nature that exists nearly everywhere one looks. Austin has a historic connection to the environmental movement in that Lady Bird Johnson was from 'round there. I knew that she helped to midwife the birth of modern environmental ethics and popularize the notion that without available intact natural environs, human beings would die from the soul crushing aspects of concrete and steel. However, I did not know the extent of her involvement in networking, community building and her relentless work in bringing to fruition some of the most remarkable in-town natural areas I have ever seen.
They are pouring more concrete in Travis, Hays and Williamson Counties each year than most small counties in Wisconsin have in total, but there is a growing realization that this arc cannot be sustained. Most of the "Leftys", having seen their homespun and quirky city ransacked by corporate forces, are either digging in their heels for the long, good fight or running, arms and legs akimbo to the Hill Country or points beyond the reach of the superslabs. It is still possible, within the megalopolis, to carve out a lifestyle that keeps neighborhoods walkable and with the advent of electric people moving devices, those opportunities seem to be growing, but the congestion and the affection/affinity most people seem to have with the automobile, the attendant woes that come along with those rides continue to grow.
Congestion seems to creep in all directions and unless one is willing to take a circular orbit around the metropolis, traffic occasionally snarls for twenty miles whichever way you go. The few times we were on the limited access roadways, pop-up gridlock seemed to be everywhere, anxious to steal your time. I can't imagine that building more roads will alleviate the congestion. In my over half century of experience, paving just assures that more folks will drive there. We even saw events where people purposefully drove off the road, over curbs and gutters and on sidewalks to get through when there was not enough pavement.
At every big box "hardware" store, like Home Despot, lines of men expectantly wait, as they did during the Depression, for someone with money and materials to drive by so they can ask them if they are willing to exchange cash for labor. The underclass is not shy there, nor do they lack motivation. A few have tools or at least a tool belt, but many can not afford even that. Nancy asked, after a few days, if there was a union of beggars or perhaps a guy like Fagan from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist handing out the best begging spots for his cut at the end of each night. After a bit of research, I found that "rent" is charged for the best spots, where cars stop regularly for red lights and people beg for coins and green money. The impromptu tent cities that have appeared under the countless overpasses seem to be the very real cost of growth. Luckily, the better off are not shy either. In the airport I saw a postcard that was a picture of the population sign that read: Austin, Pop. FULL. This is not just the opinion of some, but it seems to be the mantra of the many. Each of the two million seem to be working an angle and the whole is a vibrant and frenetic mass of sprawl.
We checked the EWG (Environmental Working Group) searchable database that allows one to enter any zip code in the United States and get a detailed analysis of the local city water supply and decided not to drink local water while we were there. It seems that the burgeoning population has overtaxed the already tenuous water supply and several local residents told stories of the water providers for their towns, cities and villages that made the water providers sound like mobsters. The hair on our necks came to attention when chilling stories were told about what we hope would be public servants acting like extortionist poisoners. Heck, I didn't even want to shower once I read the facts about the water supply. How can such great people in such a lovely spot allow the life of their city to be ground out under the boot of the ultra-wealthy? The answers to that question might take a lifetime of research to tease out and unravel.
Did I mention, I had a birthday while there? We had some of the best locally grown pecans!
We saw thirty acre parking lots, covered with steel frames on rubber tires that had giant signs reading "TINY HOUSE TRAILERS" with a phone number. We saw countless dwellings that could not pass even a casual inspection and we saw "homes" that should have been torn down generations ago. We saw countless shacks with Audis, BMWs, and high end trucks and SUVS that were worth more than the domicile itself parked outside. If not for these swayback, dilapidated homes though, more people would be sleeping in tents, under those same overpasses. The flip side of all of this poverty and growing public health crisis is a frenetic affirmation of life. The music scene is off the hook. Any night of the week there might be thirty or more live bands you could go out and see. Top quality restaurants are tucked in to places that look like utter dives and brightly colored murals and public art is nearly everywhere. Jung theorized that every bit as strong as the drive toward life, in humans there is a death drive and in the air, you can feel the electricity that is created by the two of them there. When thousands of humans line the bridge under which a colony of bats has made their home every day just before sunrise and again, just before sunset, you know that the amazement people feel when they experience the feeling of being part of nature is at least as alluring as the feeling they get when they are kept apart from it.
We were also urged to go to Barton Springs for a swim and to explore the many nature trails that bisect the city. Fast friends we met told us of the wildflower gardens and wild and scenic opportunities to explore nature while we were visiting, so it was plain to us that these things are considered valuable by the people of Austin. We were directed to the regional hot-spots for nature lovers and took most of them in as well. Perhaps these places have become even more appreciated as the population stacks up and overflows into the countryside. When we did get off the beaten path, it was like a kayaker in a big eddy pool. It felt restful, serene and we gained the insight of human-scale interaction. We appreciated the kindness and insight that came from individuals who carve out a living among the hasty opportunists. There seemed to be no shortage of gracious hosts and helpful locals, perhaps that is part of the reason they have gotten the business (as my grandfather called it) from well-heeled thugs. Nature seems to be alive and well wherever they have not poured concrete. I have heard that Austin is to Texas what Madison is to the rest of Wisconsin; an island of liberalism in a conservative state. I'm not sure that either analysis is true. The tendrils and tentacles of the super rich have invaded everywhere and it does not matter if your state used to have a Socialist Governor, the cleanest and most abundant water or had the most co-ops per capita as Wisconsin did or if you live in a place where oil was considered black gold, the right to use up what the land has to offer is considered sacrosanct and there is still an active push to change the Constitution to prevent property and income tax from ever being collected, the fight to retain some semblance of dignity and progress exists right alongside the crushing poverty that comes from extraction and regressive beliefs that might, wealth and privilege make right and that all others can suck it.
I am planning a return to the area because so many people were so excited about what biochar can do for the region. In the very same area that is being exploited by the opportunists there are people who have taken a long view that holds as sacred our rights to be affirmed and loved, well fed and supported by the natural world. I am in league with these folks and cannot wait to help them spread the word about beneficial changes we can make with just a bit of forethought and commitment to the natural world. If we do not defend and enhance Mother Nature, who will? If we don't do it now, with the attendant courage and commitment, the tenacity of the rest of nature, when will it be done?
They are pouring more concrete in Travis, Hays and Williamson Counties each year than most small counties in Wisconsin have in total, but there is a growing realization that this arc cannot be sustained. Most of the "Leftys", having seen their homespun and quirky city ransacked by corporate forces, are either digging in their heels for the long, good fight or running, arms and legs akimbo to the Hill Country or points beyond the reach of the superslabs. It is still possible, within the megalopolis, to carve out a lifestyle that keeps neighborhoods walkable and with the advent of electric people moving devices, those opportunities seem to be growing, but the congestion and the affection/affinity most people seem to have with the automobile, the attendant woes that come along with those rides continue to grow.
Congestion seems to creep in all directions and unless one is willing to take a circular orbit around the metropolis, traffic occasionally snarls for twenty miles whichever way you go. The few times we were on the limited access roadways, pop-up gridlock seemed to be everywhere, anxious to steal your time. I can't imagine that building more roads will alleviate the congestion. In my over half century of experience, paving just assures that more folks will drive there. We even saw events where people purposefully drove off the road, over curbs and gutters and on sidewalks to get through when there was not enough pavement.
At every big box "hardware" store, like Home Despot, lines of men expectantly wait, as they did during the Depression, for someone with money and materials to drive by so they can ask them if they are willing to exchange cash for labor. The underclass is not shy there, nor do they lack motivation. A few have tools or at least a tool belt, but many can not afford even that. Nancy asked, after a few days, if there was a union of beggars or perhaps a guy like Fagan from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist handing out the best begging spots for his cut at the end of each night. After a bit of research, I found that "rent" is charged for the best spots, where cars stop regularly for red lights and people beg for coins and green money. The impromptu tent cities that have appeared under the countless overpasses seem to be the very real cost of growth. Luckily, the better off are not shy either. In the airport I saw a postcard that was a picture of the population sign that read: Austin, Pop. FULL. This is not just the opinion of some, but it seems to be the mantra of the many. Each of the two million seem to be working an angle and the whole is a vibrant and frenetic mass of sprawl.
We checked the EWG (Environmental Working Group) searchable database that allows one to enter any zip code in the United States and get a detailed analysis of the local city water supply and decided not to drink local water while we were there. It seems that the burgeoning population has overtaxed the already tenuous water supply and several local residents told stories of the water providers for their towns, cities and villages that made the water providers sound like mobsters. The hair on our necks came to attention when chilling stories were told about what we hope would be public servants acting like extortionist poisoners. Heck, I didn't even want to shower once I read the facts about the water supply. How can such great people in such a lovely spot allow the life of their city to be ground out under the boot of the ultra-wealthy? The answers to that question might take a lifetime of research to tease out and unravel.
 |
| We also went out to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. Definitely worth the trip! |
We saw thirty acre parking lots, covered with steel frames on rubber tires that had giant signs reading "TINY HOUSE TRAILERS" with a phone number. We saw countless dwellings that could not pass even a casual inspection and we saw "homes" that should have been torn down generations ago. We saw countless shacks with Audis, BMWs, and high end trucks and SUVS that were worth more than the domicile itself parked outside. If not for these swayback, dilapidated homes though, more people would be sleeping in tents, under those same overpasses. The flip side of all of this poverty and growing public health crisis is a frenetic affirmation of life. The music scene is off the hook. Any night of the week there might be thirty or more live bands you could go out and see. Top quality restaurants are tucked in to places that look like utter dives and brightly colored murals and public art is nearly everywhere. Jung theorized that every bit as strong as the drive toward life, in humans there is a death drive and in the air, you can feel the electricity that is created by the two of them there. When thousands of humans line the bridge under which a colony of bats has made their home every day just before sunrise and again, just before sunset, you know that the amazement people feel when they experience the feeling of being part of nature is at least as alluring as the feeling they get when they are kept apart from it.
We were also urged to go to Barton Springs for a swim and to explore the many nature trails that bisect the city. Fast friends we met told us of the wildflower gardens and wild and scenic opportunities to explore nature while we were visiting, so it was plain to us that these things are considered valuable by the people of Austin. We were directed to the regional hot-spots for nature lovers and took most of them in as well. Perhaps these places have become even more appreciated as the population stacks up and overflows into the countryside. When we did get off the beaten path, it was like a kayaker in a big eddy pool. It felt restful, serene and we gained the insight of human-scale interaction. We appreciated the kindness and insight that came from individuals who carve out a living among the hasty opportunists. There seemed to be no shortage of gracious hosts and helpful locals, perhaps that is part of the reason they have gotten the business (as my grandfather called it) from well-heeled thugs. Nature seems to be alive and well wherever they have not poured concrete. I have heard that Austin is to Texas what Madison is to the rest of Wisconsin; an island of liberalism in a conservative state. I'm not sure that either analysis is true. The tendrils and tentacles of the super rich have invaded everywhere and it does not matter if your state used to have a Socialist Governor, the cleanest and most abundant water or had the most co-ops per capita as Wisconsin did or if you live in a place where oil was considered black gold, the right to use up what the land has to offer is considered sacrosanct and there is still an active push to change the Constitution to prevent property and income tax from ever being collected, the fight to retain some semblance of dignity and progress exists right alongside the crushing poverty that comes from extraction and regressive beliefs that might, wealth and privilege make right and that all others can suck it.
I am planning a return to the area because so many people were so excited about what biochar can do for the region. In the very same area that is being exploited by the opportunists there are people who have taken a long view that holds as sacred our rights to be affirmed and loved, well fed and supported by the natural world. I am in league with these folks and cannot wait to help them spread the word about beneficial changes we can make with just a bit of forethought and commitment to the natural world. If we do not defend and enhance Mother Nature, who will? If we don't do it now, with the attendant courage and commitment, the tenacity of the rest of nature, when will it be done?
No comments:
Post a Comment