We are heading to Standing Rock

Friends, I will be traveling to Standing Rock, accompanying my dear friend Erin Inglish, to join the peaceful demonstrations there against the Dakota Access Pipeline. We are feeling called to be there in person, and are honored for the opportunity to contribute in this way.

For those who live here in SLO County, we will leave November 15th, and we would like to fill up our caravan with as many locally donated supplies as possible, to help them get through the winter. The Sacred Stone Camp Wish List includes : warm winter coats in good condition, sub-zero rated sleeping bags, wool and/or fur blankets, heavy tarps, non-perishable food, cured meats, batteries, headlamps, wall tents, wood stoves, lighters, ropes & tie-downs, heavy duty storage bins, propane, solar power, and more. Click HERE to see a full list of their needs.

If you have, or can give, any of these items, please begin to gather them up. You can drop off your donations at K-Man Cyclery in Atascadero or Paso Robles, or Gulliver's Travels in SLO, any time before November 13th.  (The sooner the better!)

Standing Rock : Photo by Dallas Goldtooth : #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL

There are many other ways you can help too!

Click HERE to donate money to the camp directly, which we recommend.
Click HERE to donate money to their legal fund, which we also recommend.
Click HERE if you'd like to send money to us, so that we may purchase larger ticket items, or bulk items, to bring along with us to camp to donate.

THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts - for sending your love & support in whatever way you are able. #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL 

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I recently had the honor of talking with Kandi Mossett, "Eagle Woman", an Indigenous leader on the ground at Standing Rock. This is her story in unedited form - and i think you'll understand why when you take a few minutes to truly listen.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

Water Protectors & A World Upside Down

Life feels heavy, my friends. There is much a-stir on our planet. Our Indigenous People, praying together as Peaceful Water Protectors, are being met with militarized police in North Dakota. Journalists there are being arrested for doing their job. The election approaches and continues to be an embarrassment. Undesirable predictions for our future are coming true. And Climate Change is no longer looming on the horizon - it is here now.

We need LOVE, now more than ever. We must work together, starting TODAY, to bring about a peaceful loving future for all life. Profits should never be more important than People. And this means that we likely need to look deep inside ourselves and ask some tough questions... What ingrained beliefs or behaviors must we change? What is standing in the way, in our own hearts & lives & habits, of moving us towards a just and equitable future? And what are we willing to live WITHOUT to arrive at that future?

So I challenge you... BE the love, my friends. Every day. To everyone you meet. Make decisions out of LOVE. Not greed. Not apathy. Just pure LOVE. Because the answer is simple... the answer is LOVE.

Standing Rock : Photo by Dallas Goldtooth : #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL

Have you heard about Standing Rock? Do you know what is going on there, and why it is of the utmost importance? If not, please get informed immediately. America is currently being forced to take a hard look at what it is founded on, and it's not pretty, my friends. It is time to Stand Up with our Indigenous People - United - against hate, against greed & oppression, against Fossil Fuels. We must stand together, with LOVE, for each other, and for our Mother Earth. 

I recently had the honor of talking with Kandi Mossett, "Eagle Woman", an Indigenous leader on the ground at Standing Rock. This is her story in unedited form - and i think you'll understand why when you take a few minutes to truly listen.

Sign a petition urging President Obama to reject the pipeline HERE
Donate to the Water Protectors, they need ALL the help we can give HERE
GO to Standing Rock. Stand with them. Find info HERE

#NoDAPL #StandWithStandingRock #WaterisLife 

So much has happened since my last email - WOW - please forgive me for bombarding you with so much info this time around - I promise I'll get better at sending out monthly updates - haha! In September I attended the National Heirloom Seed Expo in Santa Rosa and talked with some heavy-hitters in the world of Permaculture - John Jeavons, Christy Wilhelmi, Matt Thompson, and more. I filmed harvest at Tablas Creek Winery, a biodynamic winery near Paso Robles, CA. I attended the Greenbuild Expo in downtown Los Angeles to learn about radical advancements in net-zero architecture & urban one-site water reuse. I visited renowned Water Lawyer Eric Garner of BB&K for an informative conversation about CA water law. I attended the SAWPA Riverwalk and had an inspiring conversation with Celeste Cantu, GM of the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, about the importance of managing watersheds as a whole.  

It was an absolute treasure to spend a day with the deep souls of Walking Water as they finished a pilgrimage from Owen's Valley to Santa Clarita, walking along the path of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. I attended a free (yay!) rain-water harvesting workshop at the TreePeople headquarters in Bevery Hills. And to round out two great months with an overwhelming bang, I attended the Bioneers Conference in San Rafael, and talked with some of today's leading voices in the world of water, urban farming, and regenerative agriculture - Brock Dolman from O.A.E.C., Ariel Greenwood, Ryan Camero,and Wanda Stewart. Wow, friends... this story, OUR story, the story of WATER, which is truly the story of LIFE, is enormous. I remain humbled and honored to be on this journey. xo

I feel called to end this update as I started it - with a call to action. Let's BE THE CHANGE.  Let's live in LOVE. Let's uplift and support one another. Let's ALL be Water Protectors, in every choice that we make, every day. Let's all learn to care, truly and deeply, for each other, and for our Mother Earth. Let's challenge our current paradigm, let's question our outdated belief systems, let's stretch, let's grow, and let's do all of this TOGETHER.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

Where There Once Was Water ... there is Fire

My heart goes out to all those who have been affected by the fires raging - locally in Big Sur and at Lake Nacimiento, and throughout all of California. Be safe out there, my friends, and hug a Firefighter - they are truly heroes. 

July & August have been tremendously full, and I am thrilled to take some time today to share all our recent adventures with you. Thank you for your continued support for this project. Much love!

In early July a crew of us headed out to the San Joaquin River Gorge to visit the Lodge family and to learn first-hand about the beauty of the region, and the dangers of the proposed Temperance Flat Dam. I encourage you to learn more about this issue HERE - And to join us in asking Sally Jewell to oppose the Temperance Flat dam HERE.

I spent an evening on the shores of Huntington Lake, in the heart of the Sierras affected by bug kill, meditating and sitting with the trees... in the silence, listening... observing... feeling. Our forest... is dying. And for the first time, I sat and I cried with her. Maybe from exhaustion, perhaps sympathy, or even a passing wave of that oppressive feeling of helplessness... I don't know. But when you sit there, looking eye to eye with a dying forest - the lungs of our planet - for me at least, it was hard not to cry....

On a lighter note, my dear friend Mike Mariant and I flew the drone over Tablas Creek Vineyard, a local biodynamic winery in Paso Robles Wine Country, in preparation for filming a couple days of early morning harvest activity in the coming weeks. If you are on the lookout for delicious wine that is grown biodynamically, Tablas Creek is your place.

I traveled up to the South Fork of the American River to do some white water rafting with Friends of the River. Now let me just begin by saying that this crazy business was never on my to-do list, haha!, but alas, I went rafting on Class 2 & 3 rapids, and I managed to stay non-projectile and perma-grinning, the entire day.  Friends of the River is a state-wide river conservation group fighting to protect our rivers, and I definitely got to experience (and film!) some good fun "River Luv". You can join me next year!  Because, yeah, I'm hooked.

As always, thank you for your love and support! If you are interested in participating in this project, or if you know of anyone who might be a good contact, resource, or interview, please be in touch. Namaste.

Coming up...
The Heirloom Seed Expo : Santa Rosa, CA, September 6-8, 2016
SAWPA Riverwalk : Santa Ana River, CA, October 6, 2016

If you haven't yet, please sign up for our newsletter HERE - we send out updates about once a month, and if you're on the list, you'll never miss a thing!  :)

Regenerative Bliss & Head Bonks

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.

Personal Responsibility

Flooded rice fields are a common sight in the Sacramento Valley. The average pound of rice requires 449 gallons (1,700 liters) of water to produce.

It's heating up out there!

June is here. Yowza! El "None-yo" is in our past, it's HOT, record hot in some places, and Lake Mead is at an all time low. This is heavy stuff, my friends.

As I continue on this wild adventure, I am learning that the consequences of our personal choices are not as abstract & removed as they may seem. Our personal choices & habits are, in fact, at the root of our planet's struggle. I am learning that I must do everything in my power to minimize my footprint on this Earth. To use LESS. Less water. Less stuff. Less everything. We all must. And the good news is ... YES, it absolutely makes a difference.

In early May I had the opportunity to meet (and film!) one of my all-time favorite filmmakers, Josh Fox, as he visited SLO on his "How to Let Go & Love" tour. AMAZING. I traveled to Sacramento to participate in California Rivers Day at the State Capitol with Friends of the River, California's only statewide river conservation organization. I also spent a couple inspiring days at the Yisrael Family Farm, a 1/2 acre urban farm in Oak Park, whose mission is pure... to "Transform the Hood for GOOD." 

And I flew. Yew! Thanks to a long-time friend, and his shiny new pilot's license, I had the opportunity for a bird's eye view.... of thousands of nut trees in tidy little rows, sprawling urban developments, the intricate and delicate Delta, and freshly flooded rice fields stretching for miles.

Steven and I traveled to Yosemite Valley for a few days to celebrate two super fun years of marriage, and it was refreshing to hike amidst the roar of the waterfalls and to feel their cool mist on our faces. Mother Nature is wondrous indeed.

This film, this project, is already the biggest and most rewarding of my career.... and I still feel like I'm only just beginning. AMAZING. You may have caught my mug smiling at you from the cover of the Paso Robles Magazine recently, or perhaps from the Art pages of the New Times. Whee! I am honored and thrilled to be making headlines along the way. Thank you all for your continued support & care. Y'all are truly the BEST!  xo

May the 4th be with You

Happy May, my friends! I cannot believe how quickly 2016 is flying by. Wowzers. I have much excitement & many updates to share with you today ... yay!

First & foremost I would like to welcome to the WTOWW Family, Fialta, a huge-hearted & ridiculously talented local band. Check out their music here.

I have been a busy little bee lately... buzzing around the state of California, talking with a variety of folks about our state's water issues, and focusing, of course, on SOLUTIONS.

I talked with Creston-based Agriculturalist Hilary Graves about the sensitive nature of decisions made regarding the Paso Robles Ground Water Basin. I interviewed author Seth M. Siegel about his book "Let There Be Water : Israel's Solution for a Water Starved World". And then I hit the road north... spent a day hiking around Wilder Ranch in Santa Cruz, and then headed up to the big city to present photographs from my project at the San Francisco Green Film Festival. What a rush that was!

I came home in time to participate in the Earth Day Fair & Music Festival in SLO, then traveled south to spend a morning with Ron Wildermuth at the West Basin Municipal Water District talking about the importance of recycled water in our future water portfolio. I toured one of the San Gabriel Basin clean-up facilities, operating amidst the largest and most polluted groundwater "Superfund" site in California, with Ken Manning, Executive Director of the San Gabriel Basin WQA. And I spent an afternoon in Yucaipa talking with Steve Loe, the retired Forest Service Ranger responsible for starting the public outcry against Nestle's bottling operations in the San Bernadino National Forest.

I remain incredibly grateful for all the support & care as I continue on this journey. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Y'all are truly the BEST! xo

new family & updates

Happy Saturday, my loves! Kickstarter officially delivered our funds (HUGE thanks to all our backers!), and I have hit the ground running. I'm SO excited to share with you that we have new members to welcome to the WTOWW Family... Proxima Parada! These guys are an incredibly talented and immensely fun-loving local band, and you will be hearing their music in the film in a big way. Check out some of their rad tunes!

I recently spent a week filming in Los Angeles, and had the opportunity to interview Bruce Reznik, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Water Keepers; Ron Finley, the one-and-only "Gangster Gardener"; George McGraw, Founder of DigDeep; Lonnie & Mary, passionate Bee Farmers in Corona; and Dr. Richard Oppenlander, Author of "Comfortably Unaware". I also toured the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility at West Basin Municipal Water District, and talked with the folks there about the importance of recycled water in our current and future water landscape.

I had the opportunity this week to interview Seth M. Siegel, author of "Let There Be Water". He gave a presentation at Cal Poly about what Israel has done to create a secure water future, and generously sent all guests home with a copy of his book. It's a must-read, in my opinion.

I have been invited to present images from my project at Open Show in San Francisco on April 15th as part of the San Francisco Green Film Festival, and I am thrilled for this opportunity. If you live in the Bay Area, please come - I would LOVE to see you!

For you SLO-County folks, my project is currently featured in Information Press, Paso Robles Magazine and SLO Life Magazine. And I will be a featured artist at the Earth Day Fair & Music Festival on April 24th at El Chorro Park. Mark your calendars and come out to play!

Thank you, again, from the bottom of my heart, for joining me on this journey, and for making all of this possible. You are the best!

Whole Hearted Gratitude

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

For YOU, for your trust & patience, love & support, and endless cheerleading, and for all the opportunities that await, I am grateful. This has been a wild ride. And I couldn't have done it without you.

Truly amazing. 474 backers on Kickstarter. $32,449 raised. 130% funded. You're the best! ;)

You'll be hearing more from me very soon, but for now please know how much I appreciate you. Your support has literally brought this project to life, and your trust means the world to me. Much Love, y'all. xo