This past Saturday I took a rather significant bonk to the head while photographing my husband's mountain bike race. Mountain bike vs. Spectator, if you're hungry for a visual. I mention this mishap because I am feeling quite lucky today. Lucky to be alive, lucky to have a thick skull, lucky to have a bad-ass gang of angels following me around, and lucky to be able to continue to work on this film, albeit at a slightly tamer pace for the next few weeks. I am a firm believer that life doesn't throw anything our way that we cannot handle, so onward and upward I go, gently....
This month I spent time in the northern reaches of California. I traveled up to Mendocino County as spent a day at Frey Vineyards in Redwood Valley. Frey Vineyards is a certified organic & biodynamic winery, and not only are they doing all kinds of good for the earth, they are making some delicious wine too.
I took a walk on Shasta Dam. The US Bureau of Reclamation wants to raise the dam by 18 feet, which would flood the Winnemem Wintu tribe off their remaining lands, cost taxpayers a fortune, and provide only a small amount of very expensive water to an elite few. Please read the fine print whenever you are given the opportunity to vote on what may, on the surface, seem like a "water fix", as the reality is often quite different.
I continued north to the tiny little town of Fort Bidwell, sitting in the tippy top eastern corner of the state, a part of California I had yet to explore, and WOW, I think my brain exploded (but this time in the best way possible). I spent two days with Abbey & Spencer Smith at the Jefferson Center for Holistic Management, a hub for the Savory Institute.
These beautiful souls are practicing Regenerative Agriculture and Holistic Land Management - mimicking the behavior of ancient grazing herds in order to heal and regenerate the soil. The incredible importance of healthy soil it is relatively new to me, my friends, and you would be amazed, as am I, at it's potential... not only in regards to healing the water cycle, but also in regards to reversing our climate crisis. This is a BIG deal.
And finally, a word about our trees... the lungs of our planet. After spending a couple of days in the Southern Sierras for hubby's mountain bike race I realized the gravity of the situation. Our Mother Earth has lung cancer, and we must do everything in our power to HEAL this planet, not destroy. With 113 degree days in June here on the Central Coast, and fires already raging all across the state, it's beginning to feel like we may already be too late. But I refuse to despair. We can do this, together, from the ground up, with love and care and community. Much love, my friends. Namaste.