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There needs to be an outdoor drinking fountain at every single park / rec center at least. Thank you to a fellow Daytona Beach citizen for bringing this up. My fellow citizen was specifically referring to the houseless population, but truthfully, like so many other things such as public benches, water fountains are a basic bare-minimum essential for livability of a city.

One of my nearby parks has a three-level drinking fountain / water-bottle refill fountain. Tallest level for tall humans, mid level for shorter humans, and the bottom level for dogs and other furbabies.

Constant steady availability of drinking water fountains/waterbottle refill stations is a necessity to all of us.

BTW I noticed that the beautiful, newly reopened opened Dickerson Center doesn’t seem to have a water fountain outdoors. I will be bringing that up to the city, and I’m going around noticing where else we need outdoor water fountains.

And the intensifying heat only emphasizes the need.

The availability of water stations outdoors is a non-negotiable essential. It helps serve as a cooling system as well. Could save lives. Anybody, housed or unhoused, can be done in by the heat very quickly. This is just one example of how caring for our unhoused population is in the best interest of us all.

Another old-fashioned type of cooling facility is a public fountain. Nowadays in a lot of places the closest equivalent is what’s called a splash pad. But a splash pad is more of a children’s recreational facility, and people would probably look askance at adults trying to cool themselves there.

Actually people do look askance at the unhoused population trying to cool themselves there. However, we actually all need public fountains. Not only for cooling ourselves, but also as a “third place”; a public commons for reestablishing basic trust and human connection.

Out and about, I meet a lot of people who are very overwhelmed in their work. Never quite being able to do it all; not quite knowing what tasks to focus on. And these are smart, really good hearted people.

Over time, I have started to notice a pattern. A lot of these overwhelmed people are also very disconnected. What I mean is that they are not plugged in to community. Via social media, via in-person relationships in their residential neighborhood or the neighborhood of their business, or both.

This isn’t necessarily related to introversion versus extroversion. There are ways for introverts to form networks and plug into community without having to be fake extroverts. Ask me how I know this <wink>.

Of course if a person feels overwhelmed they’re not exactly going to feel like reaching out to other people. That might just feel like another task on top of everything else that they’re already overwhelmed by.

The thing is to see community as essential. Plugging in is non-optional. Plugging in is what prevents overwhelmed, and I would venture to say that a lot of the people who were overwhelmed are overwhelmed because they are not plugging in.

People like that can be exhausting to deal with because they tend to know little or nothing about upcoming events, aligned organizations, or relevant local resources. I say exhausting because for those of us who are connectors, we feel obligated to keep them connected too because they are part of our network.

None of this post is to try to make anyone feel bad. And we all have our skill areas. And areas where we’re more willing to apply attention than others. That said, everybody needs community. And if you are overwhelmed, I will suggest to you today that you look to plug into your immediate neighbors, and follow your local social-media channels that announce events and resources.

There are a lot of you exhausted, goodhearted people out there trying to do great work for the planet. Get out of your own way: Plug in. It may seem like extra work at first but I promise you it will very much lighten your workload while also adding joy to your life.

Short list of easy ways to plug-in:

Online

• Follow your city government’s Facebook page or Twitter account etc. (And if each department has its own account, you could follow those too if you like).

• Follow your neighborhood association / neighborhood watch’s Facebook page.

• Join NextDoor

• Sign up to get text alerts from your city government

Offline

• At the bare minimum, at least meet all of the neighbors adjacent to you. Ideally more.

• Same goes for a business, meet at least your immediate neighbors but ideally the whole street or whole block.

• Joy in your neighborhood association or neighborhood watch and attend the meetings. If you are a business, join your merchant’s district and attend the meetings.

— There are a lot more ways you can plug-in, but this is at least a start. You’ll reduce the workload on yourself and also on other people. And you might really meet some people you like!

The people who brought up the environmental footprint of fighter jets, other military aircraft, and militarism in general make a very important point. (This was on a thread in the Deep Adaptation group, about the high footprint of flying.) Militarism is a huge environmental detriment. Not to mention of course the unacceptable human cost. And my country, the USA, is the leading instigator of militarism.

On that note, I am looking forward to attending the Veterans for Peace Convention later this month. Aug 25-27. It is the USA national convention.

Here’s the link to see the schedule, read the FAQ, and register: https://www.vfpconvention.org BTW there is even going to be a poetry soirée on the Friday evening!

Major kudos to the VFP for having its conference be a VIRTUAL event. All conference organizers, particularly organizers of climate conferences <forehead-slapping emoticon>, should take note.

Thank you VFP for fully recognizing the cost of flying (and all the other stuff that goes with in-person conferences) to people and the environment.

Thanks for walking your talk!

#peace #environment #veteransforpeace

Big discussion over in the DA group about flying; privilege. Inevitably a few people in these circles still feel that they must fly across oceans to go see their faraway family members. This is an example of a huge dilemma that our fossil-fueled society has enabled. In the olden days it would not have been an option. If you moved far away from family you knew you might never see them again. Only about 5% of the world’s population has ever set foot on a plane.

This is just a huge topic that often comes out in the world of voluntary Degrowth, Deep Adaptation and so on.

I responded to somebody who asked me if I had given up my car, and who said that frequent flying by the rich is the big problem.

Thanks for explaining what you meant. I don’t necessarily agree, I do think things need to change, but I get what you’re saying.

And of course I understand your wanting to see your brother. Probably if I were in your shoes I would constantly be asking him to please move near the rest of the family.

And I also do understand what it’s like to be that one family member who lives far from their family. I really love the place where I live, love my community here — even though I miss my family. As the person who chose to make their life in a different place, I have to make a lot of extra effort to maintain our relationships.

I do agree w you re. frequent flying. And fancy travel & other extreme consumerism by the very rich.

But in my country, the USA, the “middle class” is jetsetty and consumerist on a robber-baron level. Especially my fellow white Boomers. And since our numbers are very large (both middle-class and Boomers), every choice we make has an even greater impact collectively.

Since I am a citizen of the USA, I consider it my job to try to help reset the norms in my country, since my country is consuming 25% of the world’s resources with 5% of the world’s population.

i don’t have a car. I find automobile ownership an unacceptable burden for myself and for the planet. But I do understand that it can be very very difficult for people to get around without private cars in today’s perversely designed world.

I get around mainly by foot and bicycle. No it’s not always easy, but I enjoy it plus I feel like it’s important to try and set an example. (My occupation is sustainability educator, self-employed.) And I am an activist pushing for a better public transportation and more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly streets.

I do all the stuff you mentioned and I’m constantly finding ways to do more. It’s actually enjoyable and life-enriching. And since joining this group and similar groups, at least I know I have plenty of company.

*******

Excerpts from a couple other comments on this DA post that resonated with me:

“Most people I know are poor and have never even driven a car. I’m surrounded by activists from marginalized communities, they also make up most people in the world actually. It’s almost like these people you mention should be called aliens or something. Most people don’t fly, I think 3 percent of the world population can afford to fly.”

And

“Yep, for those who fly, stopping is often the biggest thing they can do.

“Another big one is to earn less income.

“Because environmental damage can’t be decoupled from GDP, the more money a person earns the greater the damage. Even if it is spent on ‘good’ stuff like home insulation, we have no control over how that money is spent after it leaves our hands and gets spent multiple times again.

“For those struggling to pay for the basics, the biggest action they can do is learn about Degrowth and spread the message.”

(Shared with my neighborhood watch group today. Posting this here in case it’s useful for anyone else.)

Beachside Redevelopment Board meeting tonight!

Hey Neighbors!

Beachside Redevelopment Board meeting 6pm tonight! At City Hall, in the City Commission Chambers. (Upstairs. BTW there is a very nice water fountain water bottle refill station downstairs by the restrooms. Fill your bottle or cup with nice chilled water and come on up.)

(BRB always meets at 6pm on the second Wednesday of the month unless it is canceled.)

Tonight among other things on the agenda it looks like we will be getting a report and Q&A with our wonderful City Manager, Mr. Deric Feacher!

BTW, several of us go to this and other local government meetings routinely. It’s a great way to have input and to meet like-minded community members who are working to make a positive difference.  Plus, for some of us it’s a big part of our social life ha ha. 

Politically, I am a flaming anarchist. If I can endure government-type meetings, so can you. <laugh emoji x 2> Also, sometimes some of us go out for drinks and food afterwards. <happy smile emoji>

Attending this & other board meetings (as well as the city commission meetings, developer-initiated meetings etc.) whenever we can is a great way to not have undesirable development sneak up on us. But it’s also a great way to start really expressing what we WANT, as opposed to just what we don’t want.

I tend to talk a lot about walkability, having basic services in close distance of our homes. Our historic core neighborhoods used to be walkable/bikeable, not so car-dependent, and can be again. 

And I talk a lot about the need for the City to practice beach-friendly landscaping: respecting our natural dune environment; protecting what is left of the oaks and other tree canopy remaining on our little island.

All citizens get a chance to comment at the board meetings, and you can comment on whatever you care about regarding the beachside. 

Creating a beautiful livable beachside that serves the needs of residents of all ages and needs, while being welcoming to our many visitors, is a big task but it is doable. If you are like me, you want to be able to grow old here. The price of us having a truly livable place is being willing to give proactive feedback, rather than us just reacting when threatened with something we don’t like.

Hope to see lots of you there tonight! 

https://www.codb.us/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/6819

Beachside redevelopment board meeting
6pm 2nd Wed of the month unless canceled.

Location City Commission chambers, City Hall, 301 S. Ridgewood. Intersection of Orange Avenue & Ridgewood.

A permie friend asked:

“I often am torn between the beauty of art and music, and then pondering how that energy could have been applied to figuring out how to grow food and live sustainably, helping to restore and revitalize ecosystems so that our descendants have a planet where they CAN do art and music?”

My take:

(TL; DR: Meditation and comfort, transcendence and taking joy in beauty, are arguably functions that are essential for human life. We are more than just biological organisms.)

For the entire history of humankind, even societies that seem to live hand to mouth have always had art. I think we need the arts (including music) to make life worth living.

Not only do I think we can have both; I am pretty sure it’s mandatory.

When I was a bit younger, I used to beat myself up. I thought of myself as frivolous for being called to art and humanities. I reproached myself for not having the skill or discipline to study hard science and know how to do plumbing and build bridges and stuff. But then the insight of a couple paragraphs up suddenly occurred to me. About how even the most hand-to-mouth societies have always had art and music in some form. Hmmm, I thought, So maybe the arts aren’t so frivolous after all!

I think it’s possible that USA American colonizer society is the only society in human history that has ever tried to treat music and the arts, and beauty in general, as optional. I think the results speak for themselves. The most materially wealthy society in history is desperately poor in all the ways that matter.

If the arts and music didn’t exist, I couldn’t get motivated to get out of bed in the morning, let alone lift a fork to my mouth, let alone scrabble in the soil to grow the stuff that goes on the fork.

This brings to mind a quote attributed to Winston Churchill. When someone said we have to cut the arts for the defense budget, he supposedly said something along the lines of, “Well if we cut the arts, what are we fighting for?”

I would say the same concept applies to the permie obsession with growing food. Which of course is necessary, but all too often with us white permies seems to come at the expense of all else, including building community, living near our loved ones, and working for the upliftment of all fellow humans and other fellow creatures. The extreme obsessive focus on physical food-growing feels like a big cognitive drain.

Divide and conquer! Except in this case, it’s us voluntarily dividing ourselves, by willingly going out into BFE with just one or two other people, and grubbing potatoes or whatever. When all over the world and throughout history, people have done that collectively in community.

If all we do is grow food in our own backyards or some remote acreage, what the heck are we growing food for? Just for our own biological survival? This is not what permaculture is about. And it certainly won’t make a sustainable society. It feels to me like a voluntary descent into hardscrabble times.

I might even go far to say that a society that devotes all its resources to practicality at the expense of beauty — a society that treats beauty as optional — is ultimately a society that is … impractical!! Which is definitely unsustainable.

<insert image of American Gothic painting, that iconic painting of the dour-faced farm couple (by Grant Wood; 1930>

PS. Art and music lift us to other realms. Remind us that other realms exist. As another commenter put it, art and music “help us realize the palpable aspects of other dimensions.” I think that might be why some super strict religions are against music and art, at least music and art that are not directly religious. Because it poses a threat to authoritarianism by allowing us to travel to other dimensions in our minds.

PPS. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Artists — including poets, novelists etc. — serve as a BS detector and moral compass for society. It’s surprisingly easy for a cloister of linear, factual, literal-minded people to go off the rails very quickly and lose their BS detectors. I have seen it firsthand with some of the sharpest science-brainy people I know. I have lost count of the times when I’ve been like, “Holy cannoli!! How does this person who’s so science-sharp and so much fact-smarter than me not see that the guy talking right now is obviously ‘off’ even though the sentences he’s putting together have internal validity and make grammatical sense?” In this sense the arts serve a physical, biological survival function for society too.

(This post grew out of my response to someone in the Deep Adaptation group who posted that they have basically given up family proximity for land. It’s a common thing in capitalist culture for people to think they need a bunch of land, and lots of people in the collapse-aware circles have gone to drastic extremes, moving away from strong community and close-by jobs to secure “ownership” of large pieces of land. This mother feels like she has to sacrifice the present to secure her children’s future.)

7 acres sounds really daunting and lonely, especially if it’s only going to be you guys having to do all the work. 3 acres sounds a little less daunting.

And the “eye-watering mortgage,” I’m so sorry. <broken-heart emoticon>

I sometimes feel that places like that are really unsafe compared with the safety of the people we love, and also of neighbors who can share the load. Also, loneliness and isolation are way underestimated as a factor in failure to thrive.

Have you met any of the neighbors? Do they have kids? Will you be homeschooling /unschooling? (Actually although I’m a city dweller, if I had kids right now I would totally want them to be unschooled, with various elements such as neighborhood service projects, working at family business, and online courses.)

I always worry when people who have not grown up in rural areas suddenly move out to rural acreage. Feels like having no other contact or minimal other contact with other people.

But, I recognize that people have different levels of wish for community / social interaction. I’m actually an introvert and yet I could never thrive in a suburban or rural area. I would actually feel more scared and vulnerable. Plus the sheer amount of work, And having to reinvent the wheel, such as teaching yourself how to grow everything, and failing by trial and error when people have been growing food, fiber, fodder, and fuel in community for thousands of years.

Well, I do know that people find a way. And I wish you and your family much joy, abundance, and beauty in your daily lives. It could be that you will find some elders and other community in your new place.

I do feel like our hyperindividualistic western industrialized culture underestimates the importance of community in resilience. And we seem to have maybe some ancestral programming regarding the idea that we can find more safety by moving out onto acreage. It’s the pioneer mentality, and I feel like we are doing a second injury on top of the injury we already did by colonizing this country. We are basically re-colonizing rural areas.

By the way, everyone in this group, whether or not we ever meet IRL … I so appreciate you all for the deep, authentic conversations we have in here on a daily basis — conversations that as we know are not to be taken for granted, as we can’t necessarily have these conversations with the people in our immediate IRL circles. I consider you all part of my wider family and community, and I wish you all health & joy as we stumble & experiment toward building resilience, whatever that looks like for each of us!!