Preparing for earth time

For parents and everyone the advent of Summer inevitably brings along with it a string of seasonal wonders and a certain set of challenges, scheduling changes, and out of school time activities to determine and implement.

Finally got my sisters to @FrostScience ♡♡♡ pic.twitter.com/sd27tFYL5U

— Tara Chadwick (@wabigun) June 13, 2017

For me and my family this summer was no different. There was camp to organize. Summer trips to consider. Summer work schedules to juggle. And the age-old question of what to do with a teenager, camp, work, volunteer, or couch potato?

...wi deh pan di road!

A post shared by Tara Chadwick (@bawshkeengwabigun) on Jun 26, 2017 at 2:15pm PDT

I don't think you ever know as a parent whether you're making good decisions at any given time. You can only ever do your best to consider all the options and Hippocratically hope that at the very least your choices do no harm to your children.

And so it is that we model through the beauty and Heat that is the south Florida summer in search of shade from the intense sunshine and splashes of 85 degree water which we consider cool.

The search for balance is epic and continual. Just as you think you've got things figured out, something else happens to make you start from scratch.

#sustainable #water #transportation #canoe #dugout #dorey #wood #tree #carving pic.twitter.com/OoSFiGguB5

— Tara Chadwick (@wabigun) June 20, 2017

Development - Freedom - Justice

Just a few words this evening on the eve of Dias de los Muertos... a reminder, an encouragement, a perspective that is gaining traction in the spheres of business and policy innovation...  I'm talking about that old adage: don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Right now, a battle is brewing on the prairie, yes, that very prarie we all used to watch with love in our hearts for the simplicity, tenacity and perseverence of those beloved characters... a battle not unlike that of Alcatraz, Sand Creek or Wounded Knee... a battle where our police, troopers and national guard are being deployed with military grade weaponry to wage war on unarmed, peaceful descendents of Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Crazy Horse, Chief Joseph.  The crime? Attempting to protect our common water resources from destruction by an energy company determined to complete a 1000+ mile oil pipeline from the northern to the southern edge of that prairie.

The tactics haven't apparently changed much... surveillance, smear campaign, bait and switch, false victory, intimidation, humiliation, dehumanization, non-consentual experimental weapon test subjects... seems like we've been through this before... in the 1600's, 1700's, 1800's, 1900's and what's happening now is just a replay with a small upgrade in landing gear. It's gettin old & boring.

Time for the people who populate this island to wake up. Take note. Stop hitting the snooze button. And start acting as though we are the ones who are responsible for this state of affairs. This island is our responsibility and we need to acknowledge and then get down to it. Read. Be aware. Ask questions. Formulate solutions. Be tenacious. 

Our future is based on the actions we take or choose to ignore today. A future based on development that considers Earth's resources as relatives to be respected and used as needed with kindess, love and appreciation... where everone's wellbeing, including those whose voices are not so easily heard, is accounted for... where the job goes not to the highest or lowest bidder, but the one who can demonstrate the capacity to incorporate everyone's voice... now that's a framework worth investing in! 

No matter how great we become, we are all still children of our Mother Earth, it's her garden that feeds us, and her water that keeps on providing life for us all. Let's choose to work with her these next 10,000 years, shall we?