Such a wonderful description of "land-use change" (as it's so reductively called). I absolutely love Millan's "Water begets water, soil is the womb, vegetation the mid wife."
And to imagine how beautiful the LA basin must have been, and how utterly horrific it is now -- a literal concrete jungle of roads, cars, and buildings. It's criminal to treat the land so.
Rob it's hard to swallow European / Human History as it plundered the new world(s) around our planet. You've processed a deep respect and the KEY steps laying out the demise of an entire people, the Tongva, as well as the disintegration of an integrated, interdependent
hydro-ecological system that remained in tune with a social order of people for a very long time.
Tongva understood the dynamic living systems that needed to be tended, not abandoned. Will we Humans reconnect in time with our Earthly selves? And on a large enough scale to transform the uncomfortable relationship we have with our planet?
We need a small miracle, particularly, at this time. I think the idea of creating a living model within the LA area, something on the magnitude of the Tongvas' vision. This might work to introduce people to a planet that takes care and tends lovingly to all its living parts as long as those living parts do not forget to tend to the planet. How to get enough onboard to struggle and find the route of respecting our living planet? Trying desperately to bring it back from the brink of ending life as we know it here. It almost feels too late now. But maybe NOT!
I'm with you, Cliff. The times are desperate and about to get worse, if that's possible. And yet, there are the Tongva reclaiming an acre. I do think that if we could gather ourselves around one single thing, it would be water. Water, which is life, could save us if we would let it.
Great read, wondering what is needed and what min scale to regenerate the summer rains? Can we with all the compute power that resides in California have a stab at that? Where how and what needs to be regenerated? no not 'going back' to some mythical past, but going forward. Or are the rains lost for ever?
Good questions, Koen. These questions don't have answers because official science isn't researching them. Again, climate is treated as a co2-only affair. I don't think such questions are even in the view finder. And of course, the answers would be different for each situation. But I don't think the rains are lost forever, as the ocean and mountains are still there. And the landscapes, if given help, can recover. But it's worth striving for. Imagine if we did recover summer storms in any of these places. That would be a transformative event, a pole star.
YES we're made mostly of waters. Without a deep sense of this and it's intertwined connection to all life one cannot exist without the others protection and visa versa. Maybe we're just a blinded and lost race? We may impart reality and vision, educating along the way, but unable to reach the deeper seeds in the center that really transform behavior into action. We can succeed on smaller levels and hope that it translates to larger realms
Thank you so much, Rob. I look forward to reading your ideas about the first steps toward restoration.
very timely reminder of the power of nature, and the life giving soil
Thank you so much. A powerful story, well told.
A fascinating read,thank you Rob.
A compelling and informative read, thank you for your diligent work in connecting these histories.
cool, glad to see you writing on this topic
Thank you Rob for covering this.
Such a wonderful description of "land-use change" (as it's so reductively called). I absolutely love Millan's "Water begets water, soil is the womb, vegetation the mid wife."
And to imagine how beautiful the LA basin must have been, and how utterly horrific it is now -- a literal concrete jungle of roads, cars, and buildings. It's criminal to treat the land so.
Thank you for this story.
Rob it's hard to swallow European / Human History as it plundered the new world(s) around our planet. You've processed a deep respect and the KEY steps laying out the demise of an entire people, the Tongva, as well as the disintegration of an integrated, interdependent
hydro-ecological system that remained in tune with a social order of people for a very long time.
Tongva understood the dynamic living systems that needed to be tended, not abandoned. Will we Humans reconnect in time with our Earthly selves? And on a large enough scale to transform the uncomfortable relationship we have with our planet?
We need a small miracle, particularly, at this time. I think the idea of creating a living model within the LA area, something on the magnitude of the Tongvas' vision. This might work to introduce people to a planet that takes care and tends lovingly to all its living parts as long as those living parts do not forget to tend to the planet. How to get enough onboard to struggle and find the route of respecting our living planet? Trying desperately to bring it back from the brink of ending life as we know it here. It almost feels too late now. But maybe NOT!
I'm with you, Cliff. The times are desperate and about to get worse, if that's possible. And yet, there are the Tongva reclaiming an acre. I do think that if we could gather ourselves around one single thing, it would be water. Water, which is life, could save us if we would let it.
Great read, wondering what is needed and what min scale to regenerate the summer rains? Can we with all the compute power that resides in California have a stab at that? Where how and what needs to be regenerated? no not 'going back' to some mythical past, but going forward. Or are the rains lost for ever?
Good questions, Koen. These questions don't have answers because official science isn't researching them. Again, climate is treated as a co2-only affair. I don't think such questions are even in the view finder. And of course, the answers would be different for each situation. But I don't think the rains are lost forever, as the ocean and mountains are still there. And the landscapes, if given help, can recover. But it's worth striving for. Imagine if we did recover summer storms in any of these places. That would be a transformative event, a pole star.
Absolutely and worth aiming for because even if it doesn't work and the rains don't come back we regenerated probably thousands of hectares.
YES we're made mostly of waters. Without a deep sense of this and it's intertwined connection to all life one cannot exist without the others protection and visa versa. Maybe we're just a blinded and lost race? We may impart reality and vision, educating along the way, but unable to reach the deeper seeds in the center that really transform behavior into action. We can succeed on smaller levels and hope that it translates to larger realms