Time To Tend To Our Garden

Time To Tend The Garden

I was up the woods high above Deer Lodge, Montana with Sean Steinebach, a forester from Sun Mountain Lumber.

He was showing me what years of failing to take care of the forest can do to the overall health of our fragile ecosystem.

Bugs came in and destroyed the lodge pole pine but instead of thinning and cutting down the dead and dying trees, we chose to ignore the problem causing an even worse mess and in the process pushing nature out of sync.

Now, preparing the damage will take longer and be much more expensive.

As we talked in the truck ride down the mountain I said this is a lot like human beings. Sean looked at me kind of funny. I said when we don’t take care of our “shit” it falls and like the falling tree’s, makes getting through the forest much more difficult.

We put off taking care of problems because society thinks everything is fine.

We don’t want to deal with it and we don’t want to disrupt our nature.

But ignoring the issues simply prolongs the problem and like the tree’s cluttering the forest floor, become kindling for fire.

Let’s go a bit deeper if you don’t mind.

When we allow too much clutter, the dry mess is just waiting for something to spark a fire. And with all that emotional fuel just laying there, it’s just a matter of time before a fire blows up.

For decades, as with the forest, culture has slipped deeper into dysfunction and disrepair. The Debris in this case is not dead wood as with the forest but instead failed ideas, plans that don’t make sense and an ideology that’s drying up because it can’t sustain itself.

So 2020 comes.

The Dark Time Arrives.

Our cultural floor is covered with dead material that is useless and just waiting to be set on fire.

A storm of sorts testing our resolve and striking out against the dryness of deception, lies and deceit.

A cultural fire erupts and begins to burn the crap exposing the cracks in our system.

Still some refuse to face their fears.

Instead they blame a man they fear.

Then a storm they don’t understand called the dark time.

As I sit here this morning digesting that idea and reading headlines I find myself excited by what is happening. I don’t think the world will change in two weeks but as some “woke up” others begin to awaken from their slumber and realize it’s time to tend the garden. It’s time to speak up and not just in words but in action.

Ignorance is no longer an excuse.

Just trying to get along is a cop out.

Fear of what might happen a lie and instead we must dig in and clean things up.

Tonight we’ll talk more about taking care of our forests on Get Real with Rick Dancer. We’ll look back at the Archie Creek Fire and talk with some experts about what is next. 5pm Pacific Time on Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Linkedin, Twitter.