ly hear more about all these things in these pages and elsewhere-we're not giving up writing altogether-just want We're.: slowing down (some), recovering from too much work, and making space to let in ne.:w ideas and dreams instead of pushing on the old ones. It's called recycling ourselves. We are feeling joyful about the process of again putting our efforts where our journalistic mouths have been- building our house, expe.:rimenting with various alternative systems, and simplifying our lives. We're excited at the healthy feeling of putting down strong, growing roots in our little coastal community. Tom ran for the sewer board and lost but discovered that people.: are open to his ideas. Lane's work with a birthing information council IS proving an exciting way to develop community and self-help health care awareness. We feel the seeds of new ideas and awarenesse.:s beginning to germinate. And of course Skye, the new membe.:r of our family, takes a lot of both of our time. You will undoubtcdcycle himself back out into the field of community economic development and plans to leave the RAIN staff some timc in September. You'll be hearing from him in future RAINs. .. . Jeff concluded his internship in June, is taking a summer leave, and may continue to work with RAIN upon his return from Alaska. On the other hand, there are all these new people whom we haven't had the chance to introduce... . Tad, our spring/summer intern, has gotten us off to a great start with the Antioch College co-op program.... Del is jobsharing as business manager and adds a good sense of stability.... How could we not mention Jill yet, whose graphics and layout have taken RAIN's muchloved visuals in new directions.... Anti Debra Whitelaw-this introduction is up to date!- our new intcrn with strong some freedom from monthly deadlines. In fact Tom has plans for a new book in the works. Now if we.: could just find a way to earn a living! It's always difficult to leave the security of the known and head off to new, unstructured days. But we feel strongly that it's time to shake ourselves up a bit. The same thing goes for the magazine. That old unknown! Deciding to make the break, we threw the I-Ching. The.: image we got was The Well. "We must go down to the very foundations of life. The town may be changed but the well cannot be changed. They come and go and all draw from the well. Thc well is there for all. No one is forbidden to take water from it." So be it with the.: RAIN. Take it, and use it to nourish all. If you want to get in touch, write to us at: Bender/deMoll, Neahkahnie Mountain, 38755 Reed Rd., Nehalem, OR 9713l. -Tom and Lane interests in rencwable energy and environme.:nt. Oh, we should notc that Steve Johnson, present at the creation of RAIN, is once again a contributor to these.: pages. Welcomc back, Stcve! Our recent promotional campaign was a great success. Our growth is compelling us to more clearly define our individual roles and responsibilities so that we can maintain our collective spirit. We now have a business manager, a managing e.:ditor, a rcsource coordinator, and we're looking for an editor. But we continue to use consensus de.:cision making. The changes in RA IN reflect changes and growth in the appropriate technology movement. The real challenge of the futurc will be to remain truc to our beginnings. The Folks at RAIN August/Septcmber 1979 RAIN Page 19 ENVIRONMENT Exploring Environments, Ruth Yarrow, 133 pp., $5.00 from: High Rock Park Conservation Center of the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences 200 Nevada Ave. Staten Island, NY 10306 I have gotten pretty bored with environmental education handbooks and haven't really looked at any for several years. But this one was thrust into my hands, so I decided to sit down with it for a while.:. I don't know the state of the art, but this docs a nice job of combining nature walks with whole systems ideas, energy usc, food chains and population growth. Eugene Odum and Frances Lappe are frequent references. Very simple and unpretentious exe.:rcises. If I were.: a teacher I'd make good use of it. (Thanks to Del Greenfield) -LdeM From the Horse's Mouth Those who curse.: at eve.:ry effort of environmentalists to block excesses of Big Business should note three recent news items that have wandered past our amazed eyes. The first was a statement by a Boeing executive that the company really owed environme.:ntalists a vote of thanks for stopping the SST. They now realize.: that both energy and dollar wise it would have been a disaster for the company. The second was a statement by some oil company executive admitting that the Alaska pipcline! ocean tanker route to the West Coast doesn't w~rk and that they would have been smarter to adapt the alternative of'a trans-Canada pipeline to the Midwest rccommended by environmentalists instead of fighting it. And finally, ycsterday we saw a quote from the president of the Northwest Timber Association, which backed the overcutting of our national forcsts but now realizt:s how short-sighted they we.:re and the grim outlook the timber industry now faces (compounded by the failure of hybrid "supertrees", planted on thousands of acres, to grow to maturity). It's good wher: former opponcnts finally realize the wisdom of alternatives to conventional practices! - TB
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