Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Count Down to 60----- I stand with them




Early this morning I shared two videos I watched that is dealing with the Native Americans protesting the pipeline that is being installed across so many states and across their sacred, supposed to be protected lands.
A brief overview of the pipeline:

Why protest?



Again, why protest? What could go wrong? What harm can possibly come from this pipeline?


Effects and recovery (?)

another viewpoint:

A list of pipeline accidents in the US on wikipedia:
 I could add link after link but this is already link heavy so here are my thoughts....


If you know me, you know how much my woods and beyond means to me. You may have seen, or can see the many photos that I have taken of plants, wildlife, from insects to birds to mammals or landscapes. In my youth I have dipped my hands in the small creek, that runs across this property and drank heartily, to quench my thirst. I have felt the spring breeze, the summer sun, walked among the brilliance of the fall colors and played in the snow. These woods were my playground, I loved their peace, their serenity, their living history. Before the loggers came many years ago, there was a very large White Oak that had carvings all across it. Many dates from the 1800's along its bark. Then, even as my heart broke for the loss of trees I understood that there was a disease in some of the trees that this was necessary for the rest to survive. My grandparents were being responsible landowners and nature conservationists. Now, large Oaks reach skyward and the wounds from then are long healed.
I have hiked mountain trails, followed alongside of meandering rivers, and stretched out in fields of high grass. I have seen Louisiana bayous and played in the ocean. I have stood in awe watching sunrise and sunset. I have stood on the side of a high mountain pass and looked out across this land feeling a true sense of awe at its beauty.
This is an incredibly amazing land gift, upon which we reside. It is up to us to protect it from ourselves.
We act as if everything is permissible. We toss trash out of car windows, we dump garbage where ever we think no one is looking. Companies pump their pollutants into the air and or waterways without concern. They construct collection/ retention ponds that seep pollutants into the ground and ground water.
I do understand those who are gathering in the Dakotas and their reasons for protesting and I stand with them. Too many times pipelines have leaked, too many times there has been damage done to waterways, too many times we pretend to protect, we pretend to clean up, we pretend to care as we turn a blind eye with a shrug and the words, its progress. It is something we must learn to accept, adapt to and live with.
It may be progress, but there has to be a better way. There has to be a way to protect what is endangered. This planet, this country, the lands and waterways that are so precious and so necessary for the future. We have to take a stand and peacefully, prayerfully, legally, do what ever is needed to protect this land, these waterways, the history, the sacred lands, the lifestyle of the people from this so called progress.
They are doing what they can to speak up. To protest. To be the difference for the land that they and I love. I stand with them.

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