Sunday August 27, 2006
Location: Yellowknife
N62' 27'58.2"
W114' 20'47.3"

Life is beautiful. Last Thursday after posting my blog I set myself up to leave Yellowknife. You see, I came here with a pre-set plan: get in, and get out! Time to move South, you’ve been in the North long enough I told myself. But soon after I first arrived, I met Alex Beaudin and Matthew Grogono at the local artists market. Matthew invited me out for a boat ride and a chance to see his houseboat (Yellowknife has a beautiful houseboat community) while Alex, also a filmmaker, talked about his current projects, his involvement in the local film coop WAMP and we also discussed swapping some DV footage for our respective works. Matthew is also the founder of the Yellowknife Glass Recyclers Co-op Limited where he and other members like Alex turn old bottles into beautiful glasses, vases, bowls and whatever else they can think of. Houseboats, filmmaking and recycled glass art… but I still insisted I was leaving.

Thursday rolled around and I still hadn’t got around to the boat ride or the footage swap, so, before hitting the road, I figured it would be nice to pop into the Yellowknife Glass Recyclers Co-op for a visit. Here, parked in the shop/studio driveway my van decided she wasn’t going anywhere. My glow plugs, that have been acting funny for a few weeks, had finally ceased to work and she just wouldn’t start. It was almost comical, because I had been talking earlier with Matthew, how I was leaving unless I received a sign to tell me to stay… ask and ye shall receive.

Luckily for me Matthew wears many hats, one of which is mechanical guru. It seems I had broken down in the right place, we would fix the problem, but first, a boat ride around houseboat bay.

There’s something so appealing about these houseboats, offshore floating in their own reality. There’s something magical to living out on the water, rising and falling with the rhythms of Great Slave Lake, and knowing that if anyone wants to come out and see you, they need a canoe and a paddle. But I think the mild isolation is just a part of it. The other part is the fact that these homes are very low energy, and with the exception of propane, are completely off the grid. All of the houseboats are equipped with solar panels providing the energy for basic lighting and propane for cooking and refrigeration. In contrast to my last blog, it’s places like this that give me hope for a better future. What would our world look like if everyone treated their home like a houseboat. I can guarantee we wouldn’t leave the lights on, and I’m fairly sure that when you have to physically bring out the garbage you bring in, you become much more conscious of what you buy into. I’m sure it’s not a perfect world out there on the water, but my feelings are, it’s a step in the right direction. Either way, it's an alternative perspective to our standard North American housing model. It makes me rethink the large spacious home built upon cheap energy, opting instead for a simpler living, so that others may simply live.

It’s nice to see people using their creative potential to make the world a better place… Although I’m very critical of where I see most of our society headed, I also understand that it all comes down to our individual choices and creativity. If we were to apply ourselves seriously, the potential is endless.

Peace,
d

PS, the van is running fine again.. thanks to Matthew for his guidance.

Here is the YGR Co-op Studio and some of their work,

Thursday August 24, 2006
Location: Yellowknife

So I only planned on being here until Tuesday, but alas, like with everywhere, I’m still here as there have been some really interesting developments.

I arrived here early last Friday morning just in time to make it to the Joint Review Panel Hearings on the Mackenzie Gas Project. This is a space where the public can voice their concerns regarding the pipeline and it’s development. Everyone who stood up to speak was clearly deeply concerned about the pipeline, questioning the rational behind it all. Why pump clean natural gas out of the NWT, transport it thousands of kilometers using a 7billion dollar pipeline project, only then, to use this clean fuel for the further development of the tar sands which in turn will greatly increase Canada’s contribution to greenhouse gases?

The answer as far as I’m concerned, is because a) the world is running out of oil, and b) Canada/USA will make large sums of money off the project since it doesn’t seem like any of us are planning on driving any less, any time soon. In addition, our and the entire world’s economy is driven by cheap, easily transportable, fossil fuels. If the fossil fuels don’t flow economies collapse, sending us into a potentially never-ending depression. There are no alternatives out there that will do the same job as fossil fuels. Our only other option is to lower our standard of living and revamp creations like the big box store and suburban sprawl. But, as I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, necessity is the mother of invention, and based on our actions, as far as I can see, most of us seem pretty content with our current patterns of destruction.

But does that make the pipeline the right thing to do. To be honest I have no idea. All I can say is, I personally and intuitively FEEL that building the pipeline will open up a pandora’s box in the north. What is done, can never be undone.

After looking at the pipeline project and how profits will be distributed, it will make no sense for the pipeline to run at half capacity. Currently three anchor field drilling pads are planned in the far north, but in order for the pipeline to remain full, I expect that many more feeder lines will have to be built over the next 20-30-40 years throughout the NWT. I feel that if the pipeline is built, the attached image of the total potential pipeline impact will probably end up being very close to accurate. Why build a pipeline if you’re going to leave natural gas in the ground… if you spend 7 billion dollars building something, you might as well use it. Sucking the NWT natural gas reserves dry! Not to mention that more and more people around the world are buying into car/consumption culture and fossil fuels are a limited resource, so, duh, we NEED that fuel!

Now, things change, so really what’s the big deal, maybe it’s all part of the process for humanity to build the MGP? And it’s all part of the process for Canadians to destroy one of the only natural landscapes we have left. Now, proponents say that the pipeline will be fairly low impact. But seriously, how can something of this scale be low impact, it is simple cause and effect. You can’t pump billions of dollars of natural gas out of the ground, burn it for whatever purpose (say tar sands), and say that it’s going to have a low environmental impact. That’s a completely ridiculous statement! The MGP will change the north and as the fuel flows, will affect the entire globe. The question becomes, will that impact be seen as positive or negative by our great grandchildren in the years to come. I would say, at this point, the bigger question is, how many of our families will survive to see great grandchildren?

Maybe, as I’ve previously suggested, everything is going according to plan, just maybe not a human conscious plan, maybe it makes perfect sense according to natural laws for the global human population to have its numbers greatly reduced due to depletion of resources. When you look around at everything we’re doing in the world, it may not be such a bad thing, at least as far as the planet is concerned. And, this wouldn’t be the first time. When we look at history we see that nature has always held humanity in check. Throughout history countless civilizations have repeatedly lost touch with the sustainable balance of nature, rapidly using up their resources as they focused on growth and prosperity rather than long term planning.

“Chapter 14 asks the perplexing question arising for every past society that ended up destroying itself, and that will perplex future earthlings if we too end up destroying ourselves: how could a society fail to have seen the dangers that seem so clear to us in retrospect? Can we say that their end was the inhabitants’ own fault, or that they were instead tragic victims of insoluble problems? How much past environmental damage was unintentional and imperceptible, and how much was perversely wrought by people acting in full awareness of the consequences? For instance, what were Easter Islanders saying as they cut down the last tree on their island? It turns out that group decision-making can be undone by a whole series of factors, beginning with failure to anticipate or perceive a problem, and proceeding through conflicts of interest that leave some members of the group to pursue goals good for themselves but bad for the rest of the group.”

- Excerpt taken from the introduction to Jared Diamond’s book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Given to me by a friend in Wrigley, I’m reading it now.

Maybe it’s all part of the human condition. Another quote from the film The Day After,

“Stupidity always finds a way.”

Now as I sit here in my fossil fueled van being critical of the MGP… the question becomes what is the solution. Stop driving, stop buying junk, reduce your ecological footprint.. do it NOW! Sadly, it’s not going to happen, we’re like fossil fuel junkies, we are addicted to this stuff, and the only intervention will be an intervention by force (mother nature or otherwise). I personally feel that it’s coming. Call me Mr. Doom and Gloom, but I think we’re living in interesting times, and feel that in my lifetime there will be some seriously difficult lessons learned by us all. Our world, that we hold onto so tightly, is rapidly changing, far beyond the limits of our control.

Peace,
d

This site was sent to me by my new friend France Benoit from Yellowknife. Please please please go check out this Chicago Tribune Documentary. The entire doc is available online at the below link. If asked, it's worth downloading the new version of Flash for free!

LINK --> OIL: A TRAVELOGUE OF ADDICTION

peace,
d

Just a quick note to say although Forbes Campbell is no longer with me on the road, he is still blogging in relation to the SFD project! You can check out his blogs by clicking the Assistant Filmmaker link to the right.

Blog from Yellowknife coming in the next few days.

peace,
d

Thursday August 17, 2006
Location: Wood Buffalo Park, En Route to Yellowknife

I’ll try to keep this brief, as I tend to write way too much sometimes. After the Spiritual Gathering, I spent two more days hanging out with Darcy Moses and we had more amazing conversations about art, oil and gas, and where we’re headed in this world. Darcy gave me a selection of films to watch out in the van before bed. He mentioned one in particular, The Day After. This is the only film I watched, and this would be my prescription for anyone having a hard time letting go of over consumption. I highly recommend you watch this film and then ask yourself, what is your lifestyle worth to you? What price are we willing to pay for all of our wants?

It’s a difficult film, not a warm and fuzzy one, but if we’re not careful it may be where we’re headed. I pray and hope for an alternative solution.

“I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.” - Albert Einstein (quoted in The Day After)

Peace,
D

PS. I have an upcoming blog in the works regarding, how now, after traveling throughout the NWT, I see the Mackenzie Gas Project. It should be a good one, all I can say is everything comes full circle. Stay tuned.

Wednesday August 16, 2006
Location: Leaving Wrigley, En Route to Yellowknife.

I spent this past weekend in the community of Wrigley just north of Fort Simpson. When I asked how big Wrigley is, I never got a straight answer, but I did hear, “Not sure, but it’s probably one of the only places with more dogs than people.”

Before I pulled into Wrigley for the first time I stopped at a small spot in the woods outside of town to have a cat nap. I was fast asleep when all of a sudden I heard footsteps outside my van, I awoke and pulled back the front curtain slightly, to see a man walking away to a white truck. Inside the van was another woman who seemed to see me. She waved laughing and then they pulled away out of sight.

Later as I was driving through town, I was thinking, man there’s not much to see, I might as well turn around, when all of a sudden driving up the hill into sight was that white truck again. Smiling and laughing they pulled up beside me, the man leaned out, we exchanged greetings, and they told me of a better campsite just up ahead at the end of town. And then, gesturing to the back of the pickup, Darcy the driver asked, “Hey do you want some moose meat? We got four today for the spiritual gathering this weekend.” Usually I’d be like HELL YA, but to be honest I was caught a little off guard and I was like, “Ummm, wha, (looking at the pile of meat in the back of the truck) Umm, sure.” Rose, the woman sitting next to him, said, “We’ll come visit you, and bring you some later.”

I guess I’m not turning around and driving out of town. Devine, moose meat, intervention. A few trucks came by my campsite, but most people, including Darcy and Rose Moses, figured I was sleeping, or best left alone.

The next day I drove through town and all was quiet… which was ok since I had to get back to Fort Simpson for my flight with Simpson Air, as I was leaving I saw Darcy and Rose at the Band office, “Where’s my moose meat?” I demanded jokingly, they smiled and we got to chatting about the upcoming weekends Spiritual Gathering, they invited me for lunch and we chatted some more, good energy all around.

Later after visiting the site of the sweat lodge with Rose, I talked briefly with Chief Tim Lennie about the pipeline, and then Darcy and I talked for a good three hours in his office about film, fashion and art in general. Darcy Moses is a well-known fashion designer from Montreal (among other places) who is up in Wrigley reconnecting with his biological family and, I can only guess, exploring his personal process. It was really nice to talk to him.

I really wanted to stay to help setup for the Gathering, but instead headed out for my flight in Simpson. When I got off the plane to after the flight on Friday night I ran into my friend Larry, who told me he was actually praying for a way to Wrigley. Larry has been in Simpson for 6 years and never made it up to the gathering. It was time, I guess. Devine, guy with a van heading north, intervention ;-)

Larry and I drove up to Wrigley talking about Buckminster Fuller, Quantum Physics, hope and healing, and how, if as a people, we don’t our direction soon, we’ll be REALLY F#$|(ED!

We pulled into Wrigley just in time for the Dene Hand Games, which I could not even begin to explain, so I won’t. All I’ll say is it involves concealing objects from your opponents in one of your two hands using trickery, fast movements, shifty eyes, and maybe even a little magic. It was great to watch and try to understand, maybe one day.

The Gathering also included great feasts (prepared by Rose, who swore she’ll never cook again, although she’s a chef by trade, hehe :-), Pow Wow dancing, Residential School Healing Workshops, Traditional Plant Use Workshops, and Live Music with John Landry. For me it was hand games all the way, I loved it! It’s funny, although I really had no idea what was going on, the energy of the beating drums, the laughter of the players and crowd, and the magic of the movements were contagious, I couldn’t leave.

The people of Wrigley were gracious hosts. It’s a good thing I didn’t turn around that first day, like so many other visitors probably do. Sometimes you have to be a little patient, a little lucky, or simply scratch beneath the surface in order to see things for what they truly are.

In the smallest places, where nothing is happening, great things often lay in waiting.

Peace,
D

Saturday August 12, 2006
Location: Fort Simpson – En Route to Wrigley

When I arrived in Fort Simpson three weeks ago, the first place I went was Simpson Air, where I met Jennifer, Allison, Grahm and owner Ted Grant. I dropped off some info on my project and they gave me some suggestions of other people in town to speak with about going up river. I checked in daily with Ted to see if there was any possibility of getting up in the air, in exchange for sponsor credits. Now, Ted is a really busy guy, and at first I interpreted this as disinterest, and a no go on any possibility of a flight. This was not the case, Thursday, after returning from a quick two-day trip to Wrigley, Ted told me the flight was on. Friday morning, 8am, pilot’s name Loren, also traveling with me, two Japanese film producers.

We headed out at 8am and were gone all day… we landed at Little Doctor Lake, Glacier Lake, and Virginia Falls. We took our time flying, from the air we explored the Ram Plateau, the North Nahanni Range, the entire South Nahanni River, Rabbit Kettle Lake, and the list goes on. If interested, do a Google Image search on these places and I’m sure you’ll be blown away. My cameras were rolling the entire time, and when we touched down I hade some time to take some beautiful medium format shots.. MMMMmmm can’t wait to see them.

Anyway I owe a big thank you to Ted Grant and the entire crew at Simpson Air. And a special thanks to Loren for allowing us to take some extra time at Virginia Falls, it was greatly appreciated!

If you ever find yourself up in Fort Simpson and need a plane for hire, make sure you hit Simpson Air! Good people.

And to Miki and Iizuka my Japanese film friends, (actually Miki is Japanese but now lives on Canada’s east coast) I wish you good luck with all that you do! Miki was working on the project as a guide and translator, whereas Edzuki is a director of a film series for Japan’s TBS Vision Channel. The series takes people to UNESCO heritage sites around the world. When I heard this, my reaction was, “Wow! You get to go to some amazing places!” Iizuka’s reaction in broken English, “Yes, some good… but. Oh… some, Very Bad!” I’m pretty sure he won’t be saying the same thing about the NWT the Nahanni National Park and surrounding area. I had no idea places like this and the Dempster Hwy existed in this country! I think it’s the same for a lot of Canadians.

Peace,
d

The idea is not to fight against what is unsustainable, that fight is already lost, the idea is to preserve what IS sustainable and make sure those values somehow live on.
-- Epiphany @ 3am


There are 4 new 'unedited' blog entries written since Jul 28th. peace out!


Some pics below (Are they really dark for you? let me know sfdwindpath@gmail.com Computer issues.. I'll try to figure it out soon)
My campsite at Marten River

My VanGarde'n

I feel looney tunes when I take pics of myself inside my van

Sunset at the beach in Fort Simpson

Sunday August 6, 2006
Location: Fort Simpson, Loyal Letcher's House

On Thursday August 3rd Loyal's cousin James and I decided to head out for a hike up the mountain behind the North Nahanni Naturalist Lodge. We set out at about 6pm. We began by heading up a creek bed, after an hour turning straight up the steep mountainside. We forced our way through heavy spruce, tangled saplings and large sections of scree, all the while going straight up. I was carrying my camera gear, which weighs a good 40lbs, and the burn in my legs was almost unbearable. It took us a grueling two and a half hours to reach the summit... but as James, breaking trail ahead of me with 30-30 rifle in hand (in case of the bear we spotted the day before), kept saying, "the higher up you go, the better it gets!" That's what kept me pushing on. I would stop now and then to take a break, putting my bag down and eating a Tootsie Roll stolen from the kids Loyal Jr. and Stanley's not so secret stash, and would let the landscape wash over me. There's just something about climbing a mountain. The journey up isn't always filled with pleasantries but the view is almost always worth it. Seeing the world from a mountaintop gives you perspective on the scale of the world we live in. And while your legs burn and your feet ache as you throw down you bag, the surrounding landscape seems to be saying, "Don't worry my little friend, your pain, like all things will come to pass. Just let go, and enjoy the view." Or something to that effect ;-)

I set up a 8mm timelapse, shot some 16mm and 35mm stills and then James and I sat on the summit for a while longer. What a place. Often in places like this, while I'm filled with bliss, I'm often also saddened. I think about the land to the south, and all the destruction going on, I think about how unsustainable the system we've built has become, and I think about how once the whole world looked, and more importantly felt like this. What has happened to our values? As we race around in our cities, seeking the latest high tech fix we find ourselves becoming separate from nature.

"Marshall McLuhan told us to think of all technology in environmental terms because of the way it envelops us and becomes difficult to perceive. From morning to night we walk through a world that is totally manufactured, a creation of human invention. We are surrounded by pavement, machinery, gigantic concrete structures. Automobiles, airplanes, computers, appliances, television, electric lights, artificial air have become the physical universe with which our senses interact. They are what we touch, observe, react to. They are themselves "information," in that they shape how we think and, in the absence of an alternate reality (I.e., nature), what we think about and know."
- Jerry Mander - In The Absence of the Sacred

I wonder if we will ever find our way back? Or, is the natural world destined to be redefined and reshaped, this time not in the image of god, but in the image of the technological human. Again this larger question emerges, gods plan versus the technological human, are they separate or one in the same? Is this all part of the process?

Heading back down the mountainside I put my bag down for breather. James is skirting large cliffs up above behind me. Rocks begin to tumble down towards me. I get up and in the process, kick my camera bag. It goes tumbling down the ninety-degree slope, it flips end over end with great momentum until it finally stops thirty feet away against a large rock. I figure my camera gear is toast!

Without looking in the bag, we continue down the mountainside to the lodge, we arrive just after sunset. I look in the bag, everything is fine, it's like nothing happened. I have to talk to Lowepro the bag company about a sponsorship, because I'm sold.

Anyway, Loyal and I fly out on Friday morning, with Ria and the kids to follow on Saturday. When we get home I head off to the bank, "where's my wallet?" I return to Loyal's place and tear apart my van, as I proceed to have a complete mental breakdown. I can't remember when I saw it last. Did I bring it with me to the lodge? Or did I hide it somewhere here? Oh my god... it was in my camera bag... and it's halfway up the mountain laying in a tangled mess of saplings.

I decide that the $600 it costs to charter a plane back to the lodge is worth it. My only other option is to fly home, and spend a few months and $$$ putting my identity back together. The only thought that stops me from breaking into tears, is the plus side, always look on the bright side, if I went home, I could attend a really close friends wedding. Maybe it's meant to be.

I fly back out and the next morning set out back up the mountain. I trace key markings, the flat rock, the broken tree, back to the original spot. There I pull out a machete and start methodically hacking apart a 30' x 20' space. I find some batteries and a filter I lost, but no wallet. There on the side of the mountain, looking out over the beautiful landscape, instead of losing my mind, a peaceful calm washes over me. The mountain repeats, "Don't worry my little friend, your pain, like all things will come to pass. Just let go, and enjoy the view."

It's amazing how tied we are to our identification, without it we're pretty much screwed in the world we've built. But the mountain doesn't seem to care, to the mountain I'm just another animal. All of this gets me thinking about ID and the ego and how we cling to the image we have created for ourselves. This self-image, much like the wallet, and much like most of our society has been shaped by us for our security and comfort. And although the construct often serves a purpose, maybe it's important for us to shift our perspectives every once in awhile, perhaps seeing the world as a mountain does.

Peace,
D

PS. Twenty minutes, before the flight back to Fort Simpson left, I found my wallet, in the room I had already checked three times, under the mattress. The journey isn't always filled with pleasantries but the view is almost always worth it.

Wednesday Aug 2, 2006
Location: North Nahanni Naturalist Lodge

I've been at the lodge now for a few days with the Letcher family and let me tell you... THIS PLACE IS AMAZING!! We spend most of the time during the day doing work around the lodge and checking on the fish net we set earlier in the week. Loyal has been asked to catch 20 fish for an environmental study out of Edmonton. The fish up here are HUGE, my step father would be losing his mind. We're talking 20-30 pound lake trout, pike & whitefish. Madness! I'm not much of a sport fisherman, but I'm really enjoying watching and learning about laying out fish nets. I've also been shooting some great stills of the process. All on film, since without an assistant, I find myself often leaving the digital at home (in the van). Film is where my heart is anyway... but I'll be sure to shoot some digital pics soon for all you people out in cyberspace.

Anyway, what was I going to talk about, oh yeah, SWEAT IT OUT! The Letcher family is very big on sweating, more specifically they are really big on using the lodge's amazing sauna. So every afternoon after working all day, I've been heading to the sauna located out on a small peninsula, and stoking the fires until they're nice and hot. Then everyone piles in, except Jo, too hot for him, but Loyal, Ria, the kids... we all sit down, talk, and sweat. Loyal and I have had some really great conversations in this cedar steam room, and it's here that I learned my first words in Slavey. I have a long way to go but it's a beautiful language.

There is something about sweating. There is something about sucking back liquids as you body cleans out every pore. There is something about the heat and the process of sitting, talking, and if you approach it the right way, healing. And there's something about diving into Cli Lake, your skin tingling, the stars above you sparkling, and the children laughing. It's what I would call something a little like bliss.

I told Loyal when we got there that I wasn't really that into saunas. But now, the first thing I do when I get back to my family farm will be to build a sauna of my own, or rather, one for my family and friends to enjoy, just as I've been taught by the sauna masters of Cli Lake.

I can't thank the Letcher family enough for taking me in, and being open to me and the SFD film project. One afternoon, during a sweat, I mentioned to Loyal how I was blown away by his invite out to the lodge with his family within moments of meeting me. "It's all about reading people" was his reply.

I think life is all about reading people. Reading people and following your intuition. It's in this way that we find our way out of sadness and into the light. It's in developing these skills that we learn to see what life is all about.

And if all you can see is fog and confusion obscuring the road ahead, I have but one recommendation: go find a nice quiet place to sit and sweat it ALL out.

peace,
d

Monday July 31, 2006
Location: North Nahanni Naturalist Lodge on Cli Lake with Loyal & Ria Letcher, kids Loyal Jr., Stanley and friend Randall, and nanny/close friend Susan and elder 'uncle' Jo (Jose).

Yesterday we all flew to Cli Lake and the North Nahanni Naturalist Lodge by Twin Otter. I am the guest of Loyal Letcher who I met on my first day in Fort Simpson and who graciously invited me, a complete stranger, out to his lodge to spend time with him and his family. Here again, I'm finding that people of the North are open and trusting, I think this is something I may miss as I head further south.

Being a guy who lives in a van I don't really get to do much hard physical labour, so in return for Loyal's hospitality I have offered to help work around the lodge. Today we all went to work cutting grass, chopping wood, and working on generators. I usually spend much of my summer up at my family farm and am really missing working with my hands. There's no better therapy for me in this world than swinging an axe.

After working for a while around the lodge, I went out on the lake with Jose. The water is high and Jo wanted to see what was happening up the main river that feeds Cli Lake. As we head out he grabs his gun in case we see a moose. Loyal and his family are all out of meat it seems, so a moose would be a great gift.

Up river we come across a large beaver dam blocking our way. Jose tells me we have to bust it open, since, when not paying to fly into the lodge, this river is the only access route.

I have broken open many beaver dams in my life, since out east on my family farm near Gracefield we often have beavers flooding the land and turning prime bush into swampland. I have often though about us versus the beavers and our competing interests. For us our land is best left as a forested area. This allows us to hike our trails and also selectively harvest trees on our property before they go to rot. For the beavers, flooding the land expands their territory providing wider security and access to food.

As we pulled at the packed mud and branches of the dam, watched the water gush forward, I marveled at how perfect a structure a beaver dam really is. Built by these small little creatures, this dam was holding back an entire lake from running its natural course.

All this gets me thinking. You see beavers build dams that destroy/change huge sections of the landscape, killing off trees and shifting an entire ecosystem. How is this any different from humans? We built structures that serve our interests and in doing so we completely change our environment and the course of the river as it were. This is something I will be thinking about throughout my project. Where does nature begin and end? Are all the grids, societies and systems we've built separate from or simply an extension of the natural world. Are all of our actions: war, oil & gas, consumption, destruction all just part of the natural cycle?

If yes, the question becomes where is this cycle headed? And, if indeed everything we've built is a part of nature, then, we too, are subject to the ebb and flow of nature's rhythms. And in that case, we should be prepared for the event that mother nature/spirit/god decides to come along and break apart everything we've built.

The illusion of stability pervades everything we've built. Easily forgotten are the lessons left by ancient civilizations. And now we find ourselves in the present moment, nothing can harm us, we're safe, provided for, and very comfortable.

peace,
d