The Quickening

heidi08 City Reports December 4, 2008

A friend of mine from England wrote me yesterday about the latest cosmic scuttlebutt. She called it “The Quickening” (a phenomenon where older folks feel like time is speeding up), but said that it was now happening at a global level even in young lives. This is thought to be due to the slowing of the earth’s spin and the massive advances in technology.

a time in the earth’s history where not only are both human and geological events are speeding up, but the rate at which they are speeding up is speeding up. It’s fractal time.

Earths poles have shifted and we are heading back to the true galactic center. So gravity is decreasing and time is speeding up and the whole whirlwind is supposed to culminate on December 21, 2012. Apparently it has something to do with passing near the central black hole in the galaxy and the Mayan Calendar and precessional movement and I’m not sure what else.

This is particulary interesting to me because time has been very odd indeed since the beavers approached Martinez. Allow me to explain. I can remember this languid, halcyon summer of filming and photographing our 2007 kits, where it seemed like weeks stretched on forever. Then a gunshot of sudden panic in late October when we found out the beavers would be killed, and then a literal blur of activity from November 07 until, well um, now.

There are specific epochs of time I remember among the din. The subcommittee epoch, which seemed to drag on forever. The first flooding and massive dam lowering and death of our kit epoch. The April meeting epoch and the earthday followup. Then many farmer’s markets and a festival and art in the park. Most recently the bridge-sitting epoch which seemed like 1 day and a million days all at once. If the calendars were suddenly taken from my life, it is possible I would have no idea whatsoever what month it was. Surely that’s got to be the effect of “The Quickening”?

(Or maybe its just been because I’ve been as busy as…well, you know.)

No danger of calendars disappearing though. I just got the 2009 watershed calendar in the mail! Designed by artist John Fingers, it is a lovely collection of images throughout the bay area, and features our favorite subject with the tail up photo I took the day the city reported they would be exterminated. Track down yours today.

Meanwhile, ask your friends. Is the effect of The Quickening visible in their lives this past year? I’d be interested in what they say.

Artis Gratia Castor

heidi08 Educational December 3, 2008

As a keystone species, beavers make have a huge impact on their environment. It seems they have a pretty large impact on people as well. I have said before that I never made a video before they paddled into my life. Now they’re adding a few more transformations to their resume.

Our own Cheryl Reynolds, whose remarkable photos have decorated these pages for the past year, has decided to launch a photography show. Persuaded by our beaver friend and artist Frogard Butler, she has recently joined the East Bay Artist Guild. As a new member she gets a large display space in the shop window where they currently feature artists. You can see her work near the Pleasant Hill theater storefront, at either 55 or 105 crescent drive. She’s still making the final choices for her showing, so if you have a favorite photograph, check out her website and let her know.

Beavers inspire a host of artists, as we learned at our crowded John Muir birthday-earthday contest. I recently discovered this site with a unique protagonist called “Da Beaver: Environmental Hero!”. It’s drawn by Alex Humbolt, who describes himself as “an environmentalist who dislikes being arrested”. It’s a creative way to look at some of the big challenges we face. I love his concept, but I’m thinking Alex needs to visit Martinez and spend some more time with beavers, so that he can learn a little more about their habits and character. (They don’t live in the dam, for instance, and their actions improve the environment even without super powers!) Still, the idea is first rate, and I’m sorry his efforts trailed off after the second issue. Maybe a visit on Amtrak would reinspire him?

“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”

heidi08 City Reports July 7, 2009

Troubled by pesky criminial prosecutions? Here’s some problem solving Shakespeare-style. Contrary to the modern misunderstanding that this references frivolous lawsuits as the problem with modern society, Dick’s advice to Cade in Henry IV part 2 is much more elemental: Bothered by the consequences of breaking the law? Then kill all the lawyers (and if you don’t believe me, ask Pakistan).

I’m thinking that Rossmoor must have had their “problem solving for Dummies” book open to the Shakespeare/Machiavelli page, because in their most recent news story they offer the following “longterm” solution to their acorn problem.

One long-term option is to work on limiting the acorn production of the trees. This can possibly be done with a spray-on solvent and by heavy pruning.

I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in.

The grand solution-eers of the gated community, with the entire Mount Diablo Audobon Society at their disposal, and a host of contractors willing to pitch in and help out, have offered a solution of chemically treating the trees to reduce woodpecker population. The mind was already reeling at their decision to hire a sharpshooter, now it has dropped like a stone into the abyss. Birth Control for Oak trees? Why not cut down the offending bird-accomplises altogether? You’ll have a much better view of your gates without all those pesky natural obstructions.

This is akin to killing all the salmon to control the grizzly population, or stopping tourism to St. Marks square to limit the pigeon population. This is as bad an idea as any we have heard from the Martinez City Council and that’s saying something. Does anyone bother to worry that there might be other creatures dependent on the acorns? Or that a sudden decrease in available food might increase storing operations before it decreases them?

(I guess we can be thankful that the technology wasn’t available back when we were dealing with that pesky “native american” problem).

Property managers and architects everywhere know exactly why this problem has happened. The solution isn’t to kill the woodpeckers or eliminate the acorns or shoot the media. It doesn’t cost 170,000 dollars either. The problem is the “synthetic stucco” (and if by synthetic you mean pretend, I think the name is perfect). Its longer name is Exterior Insulation and Finish System or EIFS for short. It has so many problems that it even has a legal defense network for disgruntled homeowners. Water damage behind the facade is a more widespread problem than acorns, but there are many reasons to avoid this material, and just as many to invest in its replacement. Do your homework and find a real solution.

One of my favorite moments at the famous November 7th meeting came after about an hour of public comment. A woman approached our city manager directly and pointed out the remarkable solutions offered by an audience of lay-people who had all spent thirty minutes on the internet researching solutions. She referenced our hard work and asked with genunine inquiry, “What have you done to research the problem?” Had he learned about any of the tools or problem-solving devices we discussed? He wriggled like a man uncomfortably far from his vacation and said that they hadn’t thought they would work in this setting. Her response was amazing. It took my breath.

“But you knew about them? You knew about these options and you didn’t present that information to us?”

This remarkable Perry Mason moment is probably what inspired an early retirement for our City Manager, and he quickly redirected her question towards the council to deflect her attention. With two short questions she had highlighted the fact that (as Mulder would say) “The truth is out there“, and that people who are paid to offer solutions should bother finding it. I hope that woman has a mother or aunt at Rossmoor to ask the same question of their Board.

To paraphrase Dr. Seuss once more:

From there to here, from here to there, stupid things are everywhere!

Beaver Diva

heidi08 kits December 1, 2008

Last night a few old timers stood on the bridge and watched one of this year’s kits enjoying a treat. S/he was actually fairly picturesque, hands raised, face up, and expression of almost teddybear adorableness. One of the yearlings snuffled up for a taste and the size difference was substantial. We had been bemoaning how “big they’d gotten”, thinking about the little beaver bundles we use to have back in July. Then we saw big brother and went OHHHHHHHHHHHHH they’re still little!

I describe the idyllic appearance of the little kit in order to set the contrast for little monster behavior that follows. When big brother, who was 30 lbs heavier and 2 feet longer, appeared to be approaching the treat, the little beaver diva SNAPPED and chased him away, as siblings have done since the beginning of reproduction. This is MY treat!

Big brother obligingly dove under the water. At first we thought to escape the diva, but then we observed he came back with a nicely preserved willow branch. They must have an underwater food cache in the vicinity. And as the diva beaver watched his sibling carry away something much more desireable than he’d prevented him from having you could almost hear the rivalry:

“Mom always liked you best!”

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=cTdZ71scwik]