April1978 RAIN Page 21 been technologically extrapolated and riddled with hidden inefficiencjes. In the short run, we may enable ourselves l2aind("()P§ to accomplish impressive fcats, bloomThis Island Earth Having read about myself so much in the last couplc issues of RAIN, I'd started to wonder if they were talking about the same person. At last, however, I'm here in Portl.and and have merged with my phantom-self enough to self-consciously push this pen across the page. Now, if I can't figure out where I really am, it's my own damn faultl The Great Blizzard of '78 was part of the delay in coming west, leaving me ocked in at the farmhouse in Maumee, Ohio, while the snow blew sideways out the windows, and the sparrows clutched stoically to tree branches for dear life. In its wake, greater Toledo lay buried in snow, muffled and still; despite the obvious misfortuncs, it was beautiful. The day after the storm, I trudged out inw the world and hitched a ride on an overcrowded snowmobile into the suburbs. What I saw would have warmed the- bt'art of any true- anarchist. There, emerging from their condos and luxury apartments, trekking toward the supermarket amidst the drifts and abandoned cars, with boots and backpacks, were hundreds of people- talking, shoveling, smiling. Never had I seen so many real human~ in this normally bleak, autoridden neighborhood. It's not JUSt that crisis pulls us together-it also pulls us out, freeing us from all our sd f-impbsed atomism. And don't it just feel good to ue helping one another! Territorial Imperative-? Move over! \ fter several days and a break in the weather, I managed to escape with a fellow traveler for the West Coast in a two-car convoy. Our relaxing pace made the Journey stretch over six days and gave me time to stop and visit with dear friends of long standing. During the long hours on the road, the gradual changes of the North American land form stretched out before me, giving free reign to visions and imaginings ... One Iowa afternoon, endless ridges of cirrus clouds backlit by a strong sun cast a magical veil of ligh t over the land, like so much luminescent fishscale. You know that such far-fetched analogies i.n nature are more than just matters of coincidence ... then came the mirages, waiting wet and unapproachable at each crest of the hilly roadway, reflecting the sky and so suc· cim·t1y framed br the curving hills that they would take on the appearance of hnles. You could swear these were gaps in the cosmos through which you were about to pa.ss, and that even if only an opricaJ illusion, they were reflecting some other order of realit)1seldom so literally expressed.... At one point in southeast Idaho, the high plains lost all perspectives on the mountains, and yet the feeling of elevation was nverwhelming, especially for an Ohioan. With the curve of the horizon, and the last ticr of clouds sinking beneath it, it was as if you were on an island in the sky. In all, a very accurate sensation! But then there were the downc;r too: On 1-80 was the constant trafficking in beef, with cattle trucks hauling their cargo from farm~ to feedlot, one after another. The American meat fixation is visibly astounding; too many millions of these animals go to the slaughterhouse, wasting inordinant amounts of kilocalories in val uable grains that could give us much more energetic value if more directly used ... Somewhere in eastern Oregon I confronted the stark roadsign: " DUST. NEXT 40 MILES," witness to land·use patterns all over the fragile West, where so much has been transformed in an attempt to extend the land's economic value. But it's not like there is alway stability in such large-scale manipulation as massive impoundments of riyers, extensive irrigation projects and the energy-intensive mechanization of agriculture. Just think: before these heavy changes, that sagc and scruh grass were the best that natural evolution had to offer. In all, I thought, industrial people have had different ways of extending their adaptability, some of which have ing deserts and Jireaks at every supper. In the long of it, OUI flexibility to adapt and survive on a changing planet may be drastically impaired. As I descended into the great Gorge of the Columbia River, headJng toward PortLand, I couldn't help but wunder. Our gift for reason and speech, imagi' nation and calculation, will enhance our livelihood only if we learn how w use them within ver), real constraintswithin seasons and cycles. Yet use them we must. This is not a dilemma, but a condition of existence, and one which in no way limits the incredible l"lssibUitics before us. It is su.ch possibilities, I suppose, the things that don't yet exist or [hat have been lost, the necd for eCOlogical consciousness, the simple, elegant and empowering technologies. the tool5 uf democracy, self-reliance and human dignity lhat bring me to this place called RAIN. I hupe I can serve them well. - SA Fire on the Mountain Sad news to share. The house I.ane and I were building out on the OTegon coast burned down February 9-rhc morning a.fter we finished it. I'hc cause of the fire is unknown, though it SUlrted somewhere in the entrance, woodshed or porch. Most of the money side of the loss was covered by insurance (lnd we will probably bt:gin rebuilding in 3 few weeks. "Ve don't have the energy yet to sbare wha.t we've expcrien.:ed and lc.arned, but will try to when we can. All the love and help p.:opk haw given us have be-cn wonderful. Thank you all. - TB UNNATURAL PHENOMENONI the RAIN perpetual motion machine bard)' paused in late February long enough to be captured by our Olmera. Left to right: Tom, Steve, Joan, Linda, Lane and Lee.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz