700 Posts and the Surpassing 1%

When I began this project, it was with the intention of not just writing about topical subjects, but to write about events and ideas that have staying power. That lift us up, inspire, and share the powerful reality of knowing more and understanding deeply issues that have been with us for decades and centuries. Some millennea-old that need our attention and remain with us even if they are purposefully obscured from public knowledge, or easy view. I have done thousands of hours of digging through dusty archives, old-school card catalogs, poured over old arial photos and detailed studies and research papers as well as thousands of primary sources that would bore the hell out of the average person, not because it was all that much fun, but to get a grasp of what is going on around me (us) and true facts, essential aspects of our situation regarding our relationship with nature and what we know about living in harmony with rather than at odds with the planet. I know that I try to pour more into the average sentence than may be good sometimes, but this is the way I have found to bring many of my subjects to light. Seven hundred posts ago, if someone had told me that I would take hundreds of people out on ECO-Tours, teach thousands to mqake and use biochar or that a developmentally challenged friend would have the most composed and accurate understanding of why planting trees is a good thing to do, I might have scoffed. I could not have guessed that our small group of friends and a few hundred people we did not even know at th eoutset, would come together to plant over sixty-thousand trees across Northeast Wisconsin or that we would plant even more native perennial plants across our watershed. Seven hundred posts on, I no longer question whether it is "worth" it to write. I do not wonde rwhat miraculous things are yet to transpire. That was settled long ago. If one person can benefit from the thousands of hours of research, struggle to find the right words and the editing, re-writes and late nights spent burning the candle at both ends it was all worth it. There have been times when more than a thousand people a month were reading my posts and that was pretty heady stuff, but now, I have slacked off my brutal schedule of seven posts a month, choosing instead to branch out and share my works in other places. I may write here less frequently, but my aim remains true. I came to understand, as I wrote more and asked people to share something with me if my writing touched them, just how little asking can mean to some people. What I found is that few are able to step out of a capitalistic system; into whatever comes next. We stand at the threshold of a new age, but people don't know how to jump, or they stand transfixed, stock still, like deer in headlights. I know I have said it before, but this paralysis needs to stop, or we may never move on. In the landscape of pay-per-view, paywalls, service fees, premium packages, ad-free for-a-fee and endless advertisements distracting from serious content, I have taken a different tack. I put the best information I can find into words that my readers seem to appreciate. Many have followed me, or commented or even complimented me on what I have written, but this is not the same as being given th ecoin of th erealm, to help me cover the expenses involved in producing content for free. Few have felt the need to pay for the effort I have put forth. The giving economy needs to be supported in some way, but many who are getting rewards from the sacrifice of others seem to delight in their own privilege. Taking, taking, taking, becoming belicose in their consumption, as if the more they consume without giving back, the stronger they become. This only proves they have not heard the underlying message, the through line of all my years of effort. They must feel entitled to all the benefits without having to give back even the slightest amount. In no way is this meant to call people out, condemn or demean them, it is only to say that we are not yet in practice for whatever comes next. We, as a people, are hamstrung by convention. We have become so used to, or accustomed to, cash on the barrel-head and exploitation for money that when someone lets them take on an honor system, or puts a candy bowl out for people to enjoy a bit of sweet with the commerce they must enguage in, they cannot help but fill their pockets or purses without leaving anything in return. Sometimes, without leaving any for the next guy either.

Our next mega-project, mine and ECO-Tours' is to use restoration biology to build back soils on an 80 acre parcel in Northern Wisconsin and we are getting some great response to our call for help in that respect. I'm glad that protecting and regenerating the land is getting a better response than my writing has. As my last post detailed, we were at 1/120 of th eway to our goal. Less than amonth ago w ewere at that level of support and have increased the number of people supporting us and the amount raised for that purpose. We have now raised more than 1%, or 1/100 of the amount we need. We have come from one place, only to arrive at another. They say that we can never go home and in my experience, that is true, but we can return home to the landscape, the soil, our mother, Earth. We will eventually all return to her anyway, but we can choos eto do it now and learn to live in th ereciprocity of giving and taking ,as all creatures have since th ebeginning of time. When we arrive, all of our ancestors will be there with us, whether they be named or even remembered, our spirits will continue to reflect them. This reaching and surpassing the 1% mark has let us do several things. We have been able to solidify our understanding of the size, scope and extent of funding our project, make some preliminary estimates of how many people will be required to make the purchase happen and how long it might take if we continue along at our current rate of fundraising. It has also allowed us to begin to see patterns about who is helping and for what reasons. If all things stay the same as they have been, we might expect a thousand people to be involved, possibly even 1,200 by the time we reach our goal. If this is the case, each and every contributor, on average, will be saving about 3,ooo square feet! how much is that worth to you? https://gofund.me/52fa3b77