SCARED STRAIGHT: (BEAVER VERSION)

When I lay dying, probably sooner than I’d like, surrounded by strangers and IV drips, I’m likely going to remember four important things: That I helped a few special children make a path through horrific pain, that I picked the right husband and was lucky he picked me, that I helped convince our city to let  27 kits be born in Alhambra Creek and that in my own tiny way I encouraged men and women across the continent to try this also.

Like Steve Straight in Connecticut who closed his comments to the South Windsor city council last night with these incredible remarks:

Instead of wasting more money and time killing beavers nearly every year going forward, I would like to suggest that we follow the expert’s recommendations. I call on the Town Council to stop any trapping of beavers now, and to work instead toward coexistence with the next beavers, and to let the citizens of South Windsor enjoy these fascinating creatures as they go about their work creating a tremendous ecosystem that harms no one.

Let’s be clear: The beavers are not going away. And by the way, neither am I.

Powerful, awesome last line, Steve. You are, without a doubt,  the single best thing that will ever happen to beavers in South Windsor.  You can’t imagine how much this matters, to the community, to the council, to the next hopeful person who will try to follow in your footsteps. I’m so grateful our paths crossed and that you  were ready to take up the beaver gauntlet.

Great victory after great pain.

Meanwhile there are plenty other things to be proud of in our beaver hall of fame. Like the beaver ambassadors stellar work in their promotional video for friday night’s premier of Sarah Koenisberg’s film on beavers and climate change.

The teen group is organized and inspired by Esteban Murschel who has been hard at work for two years trying to build a community interest around beavers in West Linn Oregon. He drove down for our festival in 2015 and would have come last year but for the very timely birth of his first son!

Something tells me that this friday the performance auditorium is going to be packed.

Fantastic performance! It is so fun to see you celebrate beavers and use all these talents on their behalf. I especially love your matching ‘portland weather uniforms’ (rain jacket and jeans). You couldn’t have picked a better song.

Although I’m not sure I could have avoided tinkering with the lyrics a little.

A watershed, a watershed
A watershed, a watershed
A watershed, a watershed
A watershed, a watershed

In the river
the peaceful river
the beaver swims tonight

With the fishes
And frogs and heron
the beaver swims tonight

We-e-e-e we’re the engineers
We-e-e-e we’re the engineers