Sun, Moon and the Chakras of Gaia - 2010

 

Sun, Moon and the Chakras of Gaia

 

A recent newsletter from SpaceWeather.com highlighted two items of interest. First was the discovery of a new "Radio-Active” Sunspot. During the final weekend of March 2010, sunspot 1057 emitted radio bursts, detected by shortwave receivers all over the world. Even tabletop shortwave receivers translated the Sun's shortwave energy burst into sound energy. Some described the radio solar bursts as sounding like a roar. To me, the recorded sound clip sounded like a waterfall, crashing into a redrock alcove from a precipice above.

 

As humans, are we ready for what some call “Contact”? The subject of extraterrestrial or nonphysical-contact with humans on Earth looks great in the movies. Too bad Hollywood has elected to portray those who might contact us as evil and destructive. Despite my belief that there is nothing to fear in contact, would I rush out to welcome ET if he or his spiritual cousins landed in my backyard? If direct, large-scale contact occurred, would pervasive human fear lead to chaos on Earth?

 

What if our non-physical friends and spirits were hosting shortwave radio broadcasts targeted toward amateur radio enthusiasts here on Earth? Even if widely publicized on scientific websites, such events would raise only a ripple in the great unconscious. If such a contact did recently occur, what might be the message to Earth or its people? Alternatively, might these shortwave bursts be a nonphysical "conditioning exercise", allowing humanity time to prepare for contact that is more meaningful? Perhaps The Masters bypassed humanity in favor of direct radio communications with Gaia, as we call the Earth when acknowledged as a living entity in her own right. Across her surface, the Earth can accept, bend and reflect radio waves. For example, shortwave radio energy bounces off of both the Earth and its electrically charged ionosphere. This skywave phenomenon allows humans on one side of the Earth to use low energy, two-way, wireless voice transmission to converse with similarly equipped humans on the other side of the world. It is like having a mobile telephone with nearly unlimited terrestrial range.

 

After the recent radioactive sunspot event, former enthusiasts all over the world are dusting off, and tuning in their old shortwave receivers. If the Earth receives another radio show featuring that big star, our Sun, will they be ready to listen in? If collective consciousness on Earth mimics the ways of the superorganism (an organism consisting of many organisms), we might yet crack the Sun/Gaia code and discern its message and meaning to Earth and humanity.

 

Also from SpaceWeather.com was an explanation of the first full Moon of springtime in the Northern Hemisphere. According to folklore, this full Moon has a special name - the Worm Moon. It signals the coming of northern spring, a thawing of the soil, and the first stirrings of earthworms in long-dormant gardens. In the reflected “Worm moonlight", we can see the awakening of the landscape. If you click on the accompanying image of the Moon, you will open an alternate, larger image. There, one can see evidence of the Moon Chakras, each one seen in reflected earthlight. In the lower right corner, we see humankind, as represented by an airliner in the evening sky.

 

According to one website, the Earth exhibits both a physical body and an energetic body, complete with a chakra system identified by ancient mystics and modern scientists alike. She has her own life force and her own path of unfolding, separate from us, but including us. There is general agreement that Gaia has seven major chakras distributed evenly across her body and connected to one another via two lines of energy that intersect at various points on the earth. Earth's First Chakra is located at Mount Shasta in Northern California; the second is beneath Lake Titicaca in South America, and so on across the face of the Earth.

 

Often, I travel on Interstate I-5 from Southern California to Southwestern Oregon. Even during drought years, Mt. Shasta retains a high mantle of white snow. Its position as home to the First Earth Chakra parallels and reinforces its role as a terrestrial weather creator.

 

On one visit, clouds shrouded Mt. Shasta down to its flanks. Otherwise, on each visit, that sacred mountain has always shown me something new. To view the Mt. Shasta as I saw it on three different visits to Mt. Shasta, click on her individual thumbnail images. Larger or alternate views will open in a new window. The first pair of images shows a cloudbank rolling toward the mountain, and a view of its peak, levitating above the cloud tops.

 

The second pair of images shows Mt. Shasta on a clear winter day. If you look closely, you will see a dark green energy being emerging from the forested area. Look for a character similar in appearance to Oscar the Grouch, just behind the tip of the tall pine tree in the foreground. The being’s snow-white right arm extends down to a hand. Its three fingers form a cursive capital “M”. Perhaps one of our astrologer friends can help us understand why an energy being is emerging from Mt. Shasta and making the sign of Scorpio with his right hand. Do energy beings even have hands? Some viewers will see a mountain, snow, rocks and trees. Others will see new energy, as it exists all around us.

 

In the third pair of images, we see a ring appearing on the snowy slopes above the tree line. Had it been a lava vent, ejected material would have accumulated at its lower rim. Instead, its circular structure and slightly raised center suggest a meteorite or comet strike. If comets, asteroids and meteors carried water and life to Earth, might they also supply vortexual energy to the Earth Chakras?

 

In addition to her seven major chakras, Gaia has minor chakras and other vortices of energy, all of which are significant to her life-energy system. As with any living thing, all these energy centers need caretaking. Just as we may heal ourselves through our own chakras, we may heal and support Gaia through hers.

 

According to Wikipedia, the Gaia hypothesis is an ecological hypothesis proposing that the biosphere and the physical components of the Earth integrate to form a system, which maintains both climate and biogeochemical conditions on Earth in a preferred homeostasis. The hypothesis promotes viewing the Earth as a single super-organism. Having already passed many predictive tests, Gaia theory now moves from pseudoscience into the realm of scientific theory.

 

As the weather warms in spring, honeybees may swarm from their nest or hive. After laying eggs in a number of specially prepared “queen cups”, the old queen leaves the nest. Soon, she and her escort of scouts and workers alight upon an area of nearby foliage. As the swarm protects the queen beneath a blanket of their bodies, scouts confer on the best place to start a new hive. Using a form of dance, individual scouts tout the worthiness of their preferred new sites. Scouts visit each of the competing sites, then return to promote the one that they determine is best. The selection process may take days, hours or mere minutes, depending on the level of scouting completed prior to emergence of a swarm from the nest.

 

Once they reach consensus, the scouts and workers escort the queen to her new home. Meanwhile, back at the old nest, the forty percent of honeybees who stay behind elevate a new queen and carry on. Upon final departure, the swarm disentangles itself as each individual bee takes flight. In an aerial ballet that looks like pure chaos to a human observer, the mass disperses rotating vortex of bees. Soon, they are gone, spiraling away toward their new home. Using creative intelligence and some good dance moves, one super-organism of bees gives birth to another, right before our eyes. into the air, and then comes together again as a

 

In concert with Nature, the swarming of honeybees often coincides with the Worm Moon. The Sun’s rays warm the springtime air by day. Bright moonlight illuminates the pathway of those still traveling to the new nest at night. After watching a swarm of honeybees morph into a super-organism before my eyes, I believe that such events reflect the beneficent vortexual energies of our Sun, Moon and the Chakras of Gaia.

Email James McGillis

 

By James McGillis at 10:32 PM | Personal Articles | Comments (0) | Link

The Bankruptcy of Super Bowl Advertising - 2010

 

"You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time" - Abraham Lincoln

While watching the 2010 Super Bowl, we enjoyed the game, but were dismayed that violence and antisocial behavior were elevated further as art. Our concern was less for the game than for its corporate advertising. For only $2.5 million per minute, a corporate sponsor could perpetrate any message they like on the largest TV audience in history.  

To see that violence is now part of popular culture, look no further than the gang cultures of Los Angeles. Over the past sixty years, gratuitous violence attained the status of cool or acceptable behavior. Now, the waterfall effect of violence pours down from one generation to the next. Likewise, high definition violence is now an integral part of corporate advertising culture. During Super Bowl XLIV, several ads featured physical violence perpetrated on innocent people. The most startling moments included blind-side tackles of vulnerable humans. The digitally enhanced tackles arrived rapidly from off-screen. Their apparent force was so great that victims flew off the opposite side of the screen.

The word, “New”, is the first tenet of Madison Avenue style advertising. Using “New” in an ad guarantees that people will pay greater attention. Many Americans think that there is nothing new in their lives. Corporations try to fill these unspecified needs with new products, services or simply their advertising presentation. While TV ad violence is not new, high definition images, with surround-sound enhanced violence is. Once a violent ad campaign becomes popular, the only way to “keep it new” is to ramp up the violence.  

“Sex sells” is Madison Avenue tenet number two. Selling sex is at the core of the GoDaddy.com ad strategy. Over the years, this strategy has rocketed GoDaddy from “also ran” to its current position as a top-ranked internet services company. This year, GoDaddy's edgily sexy ads featured female racecar driver Danica Patrick, lying on a massage table. As Danica languidly smiles at the camera and repeats here lines, an attractive blond masseuse stands nearby. Later, the masseuse rips off her own bodice and moves toward Danica. Cut – fade to GoDaddy.com logo. With a strip show going on, who remembers any message other than the innuendo of lesbian sex? What will the two, scantily clothed women do next? With GoDaddy’s history of showing racier versions of their ads on the internet, how many viewers browsed to see if more Danica Patrick action was available? 

The third tenet of Madison Avenue advertising is Death. Until 1975, self-censorship and tradition dictated that movie violence never originated off-screen. That year, Steven Spielberg’s mechanical shark faltered during production of his movie Jaws. During post-production, there was scant footage of the mechanical shark available. In order to salvage the movie, Spielberg kept the shark off-screen most of the time, using music to represent its lurking menace. When the shark finally appeared, it arrived from off-screen, attacking the hero as he stood on the deck of a boat. That single act of off-screen-to-onscreen violence legitimized the device, both in movies and corporate advertising.

At $100,000 per second, things happen fast in Super Bowl advertising. In the Mars Snickers ad, eighty-eight years old, Betty White runs downfield with a football. With her cutesy face and unsteady gait, naturally we root for her. After dodging several obstacles, Betty is then blindsided by a fast-motion, full-body tackle. Despite the crushing blow, Betty quickly returns. Fortified with a Snickers bar, she makes a successful downfield run. Not so lucky is an elderly, disabled man. Sitting calmly in his wheelchair, a high speed, full body tackle sweeps him off-screen. Why is it, I wondered, that advertisements featuring disabled people so often perpetrate violence upon them?

During halftime, Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend of the classic rock band, “The Who” sang a medley of their hits, starting with, “My Generation”. The song’s most memorable line is, “I hope I die before I get old”. Obviously, the folks at Mars listened to that one.

There is an alarming trend toward random acts of violence perpetrated on older or disabled Americans. Recently, the district attorney in Los Angeles charged and convicted a man for the unprovoked beating of a disabled person. If not for a security camera at the scene, the crime would have gone unsolved.

Contrast Snickers’ onscreen violence with the Anheuser Busch ad featuring a young bull and a Clydesdale colt, growing up together. Is this what The Who meant when they sang, “Out here in the fields, we found something real”? Designed to engender positive feelings about a brand, “feel good ads” of this type have broad audience appeal. How many children who watched this farmyard ad will grow up to favor Budweiser beer?  

Through their ads, corporations reveal what C.G. Jung calls the “Shadow Self”. Often representing the raw, unseemly side of our personality, we try to hide it from everyone. Blind to the messages they are sending, corporations rely on shock value to keep us watching their ads. Projecting anti-age, anti-disability messages immediately brands them as corporate hypocrites. Their sheer meanness is an indicator of the hidden contempt that some corporations feel towards humanity.

With masterful obfuscation on the subject of aging and death, many of these ads target young, healthy Americans. Corporate advertisers offer young people a “free pass” by perpetrating violence only on older, more vulnerable people. This perpetrates the hoax that generation “X, Y and Z” are immune to aging or disability. A deeper, meta-message is that corporations see older or disabled persons as “non customers”, and thus dispensable.  

A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that corporations are “associations of citizens”. Their ruling neglects the fact that foreign interests control many U.S. corporations. Whether foreign or domestic, Corporate Persons, now have the same constitutional right to free speech as any other “citizen”. Does it concern the court’s majority that Corporate Persons immediately ratcheted up their high definition, surround-sound calls to violence against human citizens?  

Now that “corporations are people too”, we shall see an advertising onslaught of which Super Bowl XLIV is only the kickoff. Corporations may now spend their ad money on anything legal, including unlimited support for political campaigns. The 2010 Super Bowl featured at least one ad financed by “an association of citizens”. With its “pro-life” stance on abortion, the ad featured NFL football player Tim Tebow and his mother. In a dysfunctional payback for her not aborting him as a fetus, he blind-side tackles her as if she were a mere Betty White. 

Often unexpectedly, the “Corporate Person” displays its Shadow Self. GoDaddy.com is about sex, and they barely hide it. Mars Snickers are about death as entertainment. Anheuser Busch is about selling beer to children. Ironically, the pro-life “association” resorted to gratuitous violence against a mother to publicize their “pro-life” message.  

If The Who’s ten-minute mini concert had been a Super Bowl ad, it would have cost $25 million. Since Anheuser Busch ads ran for ten full minutes, you could say that they paid for The Who's presence onscreen. Did our new Corporate Person realize that The Who’s longstanding message is that we should mistrust authority, power and greed? “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss”, they sang.  

As the concert reached its crescendo, Roger Daltry belted out, “We won’t get fooled again. Oh, no…” The song’s finale directed all conscious viewers back to its central message, which is – Do not trust anyone, especially a Corporate Person who buys, sells or pulls the levers of power from behind a legal curtain. This applies equally to those who do their corporate bidding from the bench, wearing the black robes of justice. In either case, the cynical nature of their Shadow Self steps forward, naked for all to see.

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By James McGillis at 01:51 PM | Personal Articles | Comments (0) | Link

This Magic Moment, So Different And So New... 2009

 

This Magic Moment, So Different And So New...

 

In April 2007, I traveled from Los Angeles, California to Moab, Utah. On the night before my arrival in Moab, I stopped at Navajo National Monument. There, they have a free campground that sits high on a west-facing ridge. That evening, the sunset was beautiful. Far from the nearest city, the quiet night soon filled with stars. 

 

Only a week before, I had met Carrie, at her home in Simi Valley, CA. Now I was on the road, heading to Moab, over 800 miles away. Having met her only twice, I knew that she was the woman I had searched for all of my life. This new relationship would last forever, I believed. The only thing I had not yet done was to tell Carrie that I loved her.

 

After reading for a while that night, I felt lonely and alone, far from friends and family. Since I was fifteen miles off U.S. Highway 160, between Tuba City and Kayenta, AZ, I assumed that there would be no cellular telephone service. To my surprise, a strong signal reached my coach, perhaps from Tuba City. From the 7200-foot elevation at Navajo National Monument, there was a sixty-mile sight-line to Tuba City, at 4960-foot elevation.

 

As soon as I saw cellular reception on my mobile telephone, I dialed Carrie. That night, she was staying at the historic Santa Maria Inn in Santa Maria, CA. We talked for over an hour. I told her that I loved her. She told me that she loved me too, but as she did, the cellular connection buzzed in my ear. Not knowing what she had just said, I did not want to ask, “What did you say?”

 

During the conversation, she invited me to fly back to LA for my birthday, on Cinco de Mayo weekend 2007. It was an offer that I gladly accepted. Later, she called me back and asked, “You did hear me when I said, ‘I love you too’, didn’t you?” From that moment on, Sunset Campground at Navajo National Monument became a special place in my life.

 

Two and one half years later, in October 2009, Carrie and I shared our first sunset at that magical place. She and I were traveling from Moab, Utah to Casa Carrie, in Simi Valley, CA. Leaving Moab before noon; we arrived at Sunset Campground about an hour before sundown. That gave us time to prepare a toast to that special place. Our wine that evening was a Kokopelli Vineyards Arizona Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

As sunset fast approached, we took our glasses out to the rim of the campground. There, at sunset in that beautiful place, I proposed a toast. It was, “To our Love”. Since Kokopelli plays such a big part in the energies of that area, we toasted to him, as well.

 

Soon, the sun dipped behind a large cloudbank hovered on the western horizon, many leagues away. Distances in the Four Corners can be deceiving. There is a sight-line from the monument to the San Francisco Peaks, ninety miles away. For that reason, it was impossible to know how far away the clouds really were.

 

Although I had once experienced an overcast sunset at that place, I had not seen the sun set behind the clouds from there. Perhaps because of a false horizon and perhaps for reasons more magical, our sunset lasted for longer than expected.

 

As we looked to the western sky, shades of gold showered from the clouds above. Looking like fiery red creatures, deep red colors shone through many holes in the cloudbank. Above the darkening horizon, in clear sky the color of faded turquoise, we saw splashes of golden light. As we watched, coded swoosh-dot-dash lights hovered above the horizon. The brightness and intensity of these celestial features were unlike any clouds we had seen before.

 

As the sunset slowly faded, the intense display of light remained. For many minutes, features in the cloud-cipher barely changed. Whatever message it had to impart, we had time to marvel at the beauty of nature in that time and place. Turning to Carrie, I said, “It looks like Kokopelli in the sky, coming to greet us and bless us in this sacred place”. Pausing before she replied, “It is a magical place. Thank you for inviting me to share this special place with you.” If it were not for my need to keep taking pictures, I might then have melted into the sandstone of the ridge on which we stood.

 

As the sunset faded in the foreground, an angel or cloud-being came to rest atop Navajo Mountain, over thirty miles away in Southern Utah. At 10,385 feet, the peak stood out against a darkening horizon. Mimicking the shape of the mountain below, the being’s arms rested atop the pillow of air that separated mist from rock.

 

As darkness closed further around us, we turned again to see our sky bound Kokopelli, still shining, low in the western sky. Since all good things must end, we turned to face the final moments of our private sunset. Golden light flowed across the land, cloud beings rested atop nearby peaks and Kokopelli showered sparks of golden light before us. For both of us, it was a magical moment.

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By James McGillis at 10:48 PM | Personal Articles | Comments (0) | Link

Learn To Appreciate Nature, From A Distance - 2009

 

Learn To Appreciate Nature, From A Distance

In December 2009, I drove south on U.S. Highway 101, known in far Northern California as The Redwood Highway. Near Davison Road, in a spot called Berry Glenn, I encountered a herd of Roosevelt Elk. About twenty-in number, they were migrating north along the far edge of the highway. Since we were within Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and only a mile from Redwood National Park, I sensed that these animals had never heard the sound of a hunter’s rifle. Long before native Yurok Indians made their way along Redwood Creek, the distant ancestors of these animals had walked this path.

 

Since Roosevelt Elk are among the largest of the deer family, I stayed inside my vehicle, turned on my emergency flashers and then paused to take a few pictures. By the time I had pulled off the road and stopped, the bull who led this harem was hidden from sight. The visible herd included only females and juveniles. Where might the bull linger? Was he hidden in the brush along the highway? With a light drizzle falling, the females, walking in pairs, passed my open window. Although the elusive males can weigh up to half a ton, adult females easily top 600 pounds.

 

Although traffic was light that weekday afternoon, one driver came to a halt behind me, leapt out of his car and approached the herd while standing in front of my vehicle. It was then that I realized that a fight was brewing. A lone female, haggard by age and weather, protected the rear of the heard. By her actions, it was clear to me that she wanted no part of this human interloper. In defiance, she planted all four hooves in the center of the northbound lane and bellowed repeated warnings at the photographer.

 

Whether one is viewing whales in the ocean or elk herds by the road, the first rule of wildlife viewing is, “Do not approach wild animals”. According to Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, far more humans are injured there by elk than by bears.

 

When I realized that this crazed looking cow was bellowing at the man, I called to him and said, “That animal is upset. She could charge you at any time. You’d better get away from there.” Although he never looked at me or acknowledged my presence, he did move back behind my vehicle and then returned to his car. As I departed the scene, I kept my emergency flashers on as a warning signal to approaching motorists. Only when I was far from the action did I breathe a sigh of relief.

 

As I continued my drive, I recalled a time in Yellowstone National Park when I took a risk in order to photograph an American Bison. Parking my car near a spring fed meadow; I spied a lone male bison grazing perhaps fifty feet away. Wanting to get the best picture possible, I walked closer to the beast. As seen in the accompanying photo, he was an adult male, in the prime of his life. Standing there, peacefully grazing in that meadow, he was by far the largest animal I had ever seen up close in nature. The word, "formidable" came to mind. If you break that word down, you get "form", "id" and "able". Certainly, that bison was an architype representing all three concepts.

 

Almost imperceptibly, I saw the bison turn his head tward me. Even as a low grunt emanated from his throat, I edged closer. After taking my picture, I backed away slowly. At what still felt like an unsafe distance, I turned and walked more quickly towards my car. It was then, with my back turned toward the bison that my mind's eye opened, if only to see him charging at me. If this were true, it would be a close race to my car. With a full ton of angry muscle and bone hurtling toward me, I could easily lose my concentration and composure.

 

Short of breath when I reached my car, I turned to look back at the bison. Still pulling up clumps of fresh grass to eat, the bison had not moved. At first, thinking that he was a dumb animal, I had trespassed across an unseen boundary that demarcated his territory. That summer afternoon, I had intruded into his peaceful energy field.

 

Humans and bison have had a continual, if distant relationship with each other in Yellowstone for almost two hundred years. In that time, I believe that the bison have found collective wisdom. As almost two centuries have passed, the Yellowstone bison herds have genetically self-selected their gene pool in favor of those who are indifferent to humans, no matter how provocative or foolish those humans may be.

 

In the future, we see a time when humans shall remain calm and respectful while in the presence of nature. If so, that elusive bull elk may elect to stand calmly in the brush, rather than crashing out on to The Redwood Highway and into the path of an oncoming automobile. In honor of humanity's future relationship with nature, we believe that soon it shall be so.

Email James McGillis

 

By James McGillis at 01:52 PM | Environment | Comments (0) | Link

Predictions For The Fate of Humanity - 2010

 

Predictions For The Fate of Humanity

In late December 2009, I traveled on U.S. Highway 101 south, from Port Orford, Oregon to the San Francisco Bay. That day, I chased a storm that cleared to the east as I drove through the redwoods of Northern California. With the 2010-decade then only days away, a foggy future in my mind mirrored the many fogbanks I observed during my drive. With fear running rampant on TV cable news and the lips of many people, what might the coming decade bring?

 

On January 1, 2010, most people who own a working timepiece and live in contemporary world culture believed that the day marked the beginning of both a New Year and a new decade. It was time for predictions, prognostications and perhaps, some new personal resolutions.

 

Paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, “Now we are engaged in a great decade, testing whether this Earth, or any Earth, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure”. If you wish to know now how this story ends, we cannot offer you satisfaction. We can promise, however, that by the end of this decade the fate of humanity shall be clear.

 

The outcome need not be apocalyptic, as the End of Days and 2012 Mayan Calendar doomsters seem to agree. What they missed in their dire predictions is the big joke that the Mayan placed in their calendar. Unspoken and unwritten, was knowledge that their calendar indeed ended, but that the continuum of a time-space reality here on Earth did not. After their calendar’s eons of noble service, creating a new and equally accurate one would be easy.

 

As we embark on the 2010-decade with 20/10 myopia, can we expect to disembark again in ten years with 20/20 insight and enlightenment? As we begin the 2010’s, no one knows for sure. The good news is that human spiritual enlightenment has been gaining ground in our world ever since East met West.

 

Once a particular issue gains enough momentum in human culture, it can appear to be unstoppable. Examples include fear of terrorism, the rapid spread of Islam in the world or the increasing frequency of terrorist acts. Concentration on any or all of those subjects will not help America and Europe win the supposed war on terror. Since the Jihadist mentality has had several decades to fester, we will continue to feel negative aspects of its momentum for some time to come.

 

Whether Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, or none of the above, those of us who fall on the side of peace and tranquility can still change this world for the better. Our secret weapon in the war for peace is the personal resolution. Picture a Jihadist, praying to Allah at the close of Ramadan. Pausing to welcome the New Year, will he yearn both for self-love and for the death to the infidel, or non-believer? It cannot be. As mutually exclusive concepts, self-love and other-hatred cannot coexist in the same human being.

 

Photographs of human auras and of water molecules exposed to meditation and loving contemplation reveal brighter and more coherent vibrational emanations than do control samples. Thus, we might say that loving thoughts emanate energy that is a quantum level higher than thoughts produced during moments of fear, hatred or self-loathing.

 

This year, if all lovers-of-life resolve to approach their fellow humans with love and compassion in their hearts, they will create enough positive energy to dampen murderous thoughts in geographically disparate populations. With the strength and purity of its energy, love will trump and void hate every time. Under such a regimen, within ten years’ time, peace could prevail among millions, if not billions of humans who do not currently enjoy it.

 

It is not whether we humans win or lose our wars; but rather, how we play the game of love and life that shall decide our fate. No single human can reverse climate change or put an end to poverty or war. Collectively, humanity has the ability to do all of those things and more. All it takes is individual desire, coupled with the resolve to complete the required actions. These acts of goodness well may distract us from fear, hate and self-loathing. If so, ten years hence we could wake up to a more peaceful world and a healthy Earth to support us.

 

On the following day, as I completed my drive, the energies of the sun surrounded me. From Interstate I-5, four miles north of Westley, California, I observed cattle grazing on a green hillside. Whether the visual effect came from sunlight refracting through my camera lens or something entirely different, I cannot say. What I can say is that a bubble of new energy large enough to cover that field shown before me on that day. Smiling, I remembered that all is well in the universe and in the little 3-D world that we call our own.

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By James McGillis at 04:09 PM | Current Events | Comments (0) | Link

Potash, Utah - That Sinkhole Feeling, Again - 2009

 

Potash, Utah - That Sinkhole Feeling, Again

During a 2009 visit to the Intrepid Potash - Moab, Utah website we were pleased to see new safety related information regarding the mining and processing of potash (potassium chloride) and salt (sodium chloride) crystals at their Cane Creek potash plant. In an earlier article, we had criticized the company for not providing holding ponds designed to catch leaks or overflow from settling ponds at a higher elevation.

 

Their website now states that, “the solar ponds are lined with heavy vinyl to prevent valuable brine from leaking into the ground and the Colorado River. A series of holding ponds have been constructed to catch any spills and return potassium-rich brine to the ponds.” Whether these safety features existed all along, or are recent additions, we do not know. Either way, Intrepid's release of more information about their operation, rather than less is laudable.

 

In the event of a catastrophic failure at the upper ponds, what percentage of the brine might the holding ponds catch and retain? With the continued absence of information regarding holding pond capacity, we can only guess and hope that it is adequate. “Adequate for what?” you might ask. We can think of at least two scenarios in which a catastrophic failure might test Intrepid's holding pond design and capacity.

 

First is weather. What is the expected level of water flow into the settling ponds during a “one hundred year flood”? What about the "one thousand year flood"? In order to determine the size of a one hundred or one thousand year flood within the Shafer Basin and Potash, researchers must consider both historical data and paleoflood records.

 

Now that a drier climate in the Four Corners region is an established fact, we can expect storm and flood activities to increase in intensity, if not in number. Lack of an historical record does not preclude the formation of larger storms there in the future. In that regard, we would not be happy with a holding pond system that provides less than full containment of all settling pond brine.

 

A second threat at the Cane Creek Plant and its ponds results from the solution mining of potash itself. The Intrepid Potash - Moab Utah website indicates that, “water from the nearby Colorado River is pumped through injection wells into the underground mine. The water dissolves the potash from layers buried approximately 3,000 feet below the surface.” Missing from the company’s website is information on injection well locations, and their proximity to the fragile holding ponds.

 

In order to understand the importance of proximity, we need look no further than the City of Carlsbad, New Mexico. According to a recent Los Angeles Times article, New Mexico mines used a solution-mining technique similar to that of Intrepid, at Moab. Over the years, six million cubic feet of brine solution mining has been extracted from a salt deposit located directly beneath Carlsbad.

 

Although there has not yet been a collapse at the Carlsbad mine, in 2008 two similar mines north of the city experienced catastrophic failures. With the collapse of the overlying rock, each of those mines became a sinkhole four hundred feet across and one hundred feet deep. Since the mines operated within state and federal guidelines, there does not appear to be easy recourse against them. The state and the mine operators can simply call these unexpected events “Acts of God” and then proceed to disown any further liability.

 

In the case of Carlsbad, New Mexico, a collapse under the busiest intersection in town is a real possibility. Rail lines, an irrigation ditch and a mobile home park are now under threat of collapse. In the case of Intrepid Potash – Moab, Utah, no one knows how likely a catastrophic mine collapse might be. In an event similar to the Carlsbad scenario, might the solar ponds disappear into a sinkhole? Worse yet, could gravity cause the brine to cascade downhill towards the holding ponds and the Colorado River below?

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By James McGillis at 06:36 PM | Colorado River | Comments (0) | Link

Help Conserve Moab's Water - Drink Rare Utah Wines - 2009

 

 

Help Conserve Moab's Water - Drink Rare Utah Wines 

During our October 2009, visit to Moab, Utah, we noticed that fall color had arrived in the Spanish Valley. The deciduous trees showed bright yellow leaves, but the scarcity of freezing weather had produced few of the burnt-orange or flame-red leaves we had hoped to see.

 

Before the sun drops behind the Moab Rim, there is often good light to the north and east. From my vantage point at the Moab Rim CamPark, the Slickrock sparkled in the late afternoon sun. Likewise, the Moab Rim reflected light along the length of its crest. To the east, clouds shaded the La Sal Range. Dark green foliage faded into dark gray granite near their summit. As the cloud formation moved slowly across the sky, its virga veil trailed below. With the recent warm, dry weather, there was no snow, even on the highest peaks. In the high country, autumn was over, but winter had not yet begun. From the top to bottom, the relict forest of aspen seemed to have dropped its leaves all at once, leaving behind only a trace of color.

 

The next morning, Carrie McCoy and I set off to explore in and around the Spanish Valley. Our first stop was at Johnsons on Top, a mesa bounded by Mill Creek Canyon to the north and the Spanish Valley to the south. Several years ago, Grand County and the State of Utah approved a low-density, high-end residential development on that mesa. When the real estate market dematerialized, that project, known as Cloudrock went on hiatus.

 

Since last year, the only “improvement” to the mesa was additional signage admonishing off-road vehicle drivers to stay on the road. For years, the access gate at the road has made it look like an entrance to private property. Only the locals and a few Moab old-timers know that there is an undeveloped mesa at Johnsons on Top. It follows that marauding outsiders probably did not make the many off-road tracks we saw that day. More likely, some locals felt entitled to make a social road wherever and whenever they pleased, even if it was across Utah Trust Land.

 

At the far rim of the mesa, we snapped our “MoabLive” outdoor portraits. From that high ground, we saw Mill Creek Canyon below. The dust storms of spring 2009 had hastened snowmelt upstream in the La Sal Range. Pools of sand, terraced in the streambed, provided an illusion of flowing water. A photo of the La Sal Range that we took from that spot one year prior showed a snowpack at high elevation.

 

When the creek went dry, the Grand Water and Sewer Service Agency (GWSSA) had to close its Sheley Diversion Tunnel from Mill Creek. When water no longer flowed down the tunnel to Ken’s Lake, the reservoir had no other replenishment source. By October 2009, demand for irrigation had drained the reservoir almost to the elevation of its outfall pipe. Over-subscription and overuse of Ken’s Lake water resources are now a fact. If early snowmelt becomes the norm, future years may bring only one brief shot at filling Ken’s lake. As the major source of irrigation water for the Spanish Valley, that resource may now be too valuable to support large-scale alfalfa farming in the desert.

 

Using data collected in 2001, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality/Division of Water Quality (DEQ/DWQ) found increased temperature to be the major “pollutant” present in Ken’s Lake. Blaming it on solar heating alone, the DEQ/DWQ petitioned the U.S. EPA to reclassify the lake as a “warm water fishery”, rather than to find ways to retain its old designation as a “cold water fishery”. In so doing, they ignored the fact that only 400 acre feet of water is normally present in Ken's Lake at the end of any summer season. Perhaps it was not obvious to the state agency, but such a small pool of water exposed to the summer sun near Moab would rise in temperature.

 

The solution to this dilemma rests largely with farmers in the Spanish Valley. By leaving a higher residual waterline in the lake each year, that larger mass should not heat up as quickly as the smaller pool now does. That would require a "conservation mentality", rather than the current "extraction mentality". In October 2009, there was barely enough water in Ken's Lake to support a small warm water fish population. It would soon drop to its minimum level, after providing Spanish Valley grape growers the final shot of irrigation water necessary to protect their rootstock from the coming winter freeze. In less than ten years, Ken’s Lake has gone from full to empty and from cold to warm. If spring 2010 again brings dust storms to the La Sal Range, expect to see hotter water and less of it at Ken’s Lake. With the recent spate of regional dust storms and the continued drying of the western climate, we believe that the new pattern of rapid snowmelt is likely to continue.

 

Departing the mesa, we came upon a ridge overlooking the Spanish Valley. From there we saw a high desert environment, sprinkled with irrigated fields, ranchettes and homes. With the Pueblo Verde Tract directly below us, we scanned the valley for other signs of irrigated life. In the center of the valley, we saw greenery that was the vineyards at the Spanish Valley Vineyards and Winery. According to their website, the estate comprises several acres of vineyard and its attendant small farm winery, both of which are owned and operated by the Dezelsky Family. There, they grow and produce wines made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Gewurztraminer and Riesling grapes, as well as a unique cherry wine.

  

Having found the tasting room closed Sundays, on a Monday afternoon we made our second attempt to visit the winery. Located on Zimmerman Lane, just off Highway 191 South, the winery would benefit from a “cultural location sign” on the highway. In California, each wine-growing county provides tasteful highway signage directing motorists to local wineries. Perhaps Utah will see both the economic and the environmental light and then begin promoting their rare vineyards and wineries.

 

When nearby Arches Vineyards and Winery ceased production, the Dezelsky’s bought their remaining stock of bulk wine, finishing it under the Spanish Valley Winery label. In 1998, the owners of Red Cliffs Lodge purchased Arches Winery, collocating it with the lodge and renaming it Castle Creek Winery. When Castle Creek Winery opted to purchase grapes from outside of the state, that left Spanish Valley Winery as the last which grows, produces and bottles only Utah appellation wines. In almost any state other than Utah, that alone would be enough to elevate the winery to the status of a cultural landmark. In a state which legalized bonded wine making only in 1988, the state's overall attitude towards wineries and wine making remains one of indifference and neglect.

 

One needs to look only as far away as the Mimbres Valley near Deming, New Mexico to find St. Clair Vineyard and Winery producing and bottling a fine New Mexico Zinfandel, among other varietals. Luna Rossa Winery also grows and produces in the Mimbres Valley, at an elevation similar to the Spanish Valley. Both valleys sit atop large aquifers. The sensible way in which New Mexico supports desert viticulture provides an example of how Utah might support its own growers and producers.

 

As a bonded winery, Spanish Valley Winery represents a way of life once thought to have great promise in Southeastern Utah. Our friend Jim Farrell told us that his Moab Rim Campark used to include the phrase “and Vineyard” on its highway sign. Patrons of the RV Park loved the ambiance that the vineyard provided. When interest in viticulture waned in this century, Jim redeveloped the vineyard into a row of rental spaces for recreational vehicles. Although he enjoyed being a grower, economics dictated that Jim sacrifice romance for economic necessity. 

In the 1970s, a University of Arizona viticulture survey found great promise in the Spanish Valley. With its highly mineralized, gravelly soil, hot days and cool nights, the study concluded that the Spanish Valley had potential to become one of the premier viticulture areas in the country. That survey, plus the backing of one Utah state agency encouraged locals to plant grapes. In the late 1980s, just as the first viable crops matured, another state agency declared that winemaking was illegal in Utah. By 1988, when winemaking became legal in Utah, many of the early growers had abandoned or removed their vineyards. The few stalwart growers remaining near Moab have only Spanish Valley and Castle Creek wineries as outlets for the sale of their grapes.

 

More recently, former Governor Jon Huntsman pushed the Utah legislature to rationalize Utah's liquor laws. Until then, the unofficial stance by the state was disdain for Utah winemaking and sales at its wineries. Since the 1970’s, whenever latter-day Utah wine makers went up against the moral strictures of the Latter Day Saints Church, the winemakers lost every time. Even now, one cannot taste or purchase wine on a Sunday or holiday at any Utah winery. An official summary of Utah Liquor Laws does not even mention wineries or their tasting rooms. With almost sixty days of forced closure each year, how can any business expect to prosper? This is ironic in Utah, which retains a state monopoly on the sale of all packaged liquor, except for beer. With politics, morality and economics stacked against Utah’s small farm wineries, is it any wonder that this potentially rich viticulture area grows alfalfa instead of grapes?

 

As of this writing, the Spanish Valley Vineyard and Winery is offered for sale. For over twenty years, the Dezelsky’s have either worked for or owned the operation. By their choice, it is time for them to move on. A sale of the property will allow a new owner to build on their solid reputation as producers of Utah appellation wines. For less than two million dollars, a new owner could own acres of cultivated vineyards, an abundance of high tech equipment and facilities that could handle far larger production.

 

In 2009, the Christian Science Monitor wrote that the Four Corners area is already hotter and drier than it was fifteen years ago. Not since the Great Disappearance of Pre-Puebloan Indians around 1200 CE, has the climate been this hot or dry. With that knowledge, the State of Utah should actively encourage, rather than discourage its citizens from growing grapes and producing wine. An easy way to show that they care would be to allow bonded wineries to offer tasting and retail sales on Sundays and some holidays. For the moralists among us, the overall consumption of alcohol in Utah would not rise perceptibly. Raising water-stingy grapes with drip-irrigation might then become a viable economic alternative to growing water-thirsty alfalfa in the desert. Additionally, Utah should allow tasteful highway signage, directing visitors to each rare and unique winery in the state.

 

When dust bowl storms swept across the Great Plains in the 1930’s, the federal government Shelterbelt Program encouraged farmers to plant trees as windbreaks, thus retaining loose soil in their fields. Farmers and ranchers in Southeastern Utah should likewise be encouraged to plant grape-arbor windbreaks adjacent to their fields. By doing so, the arbors could help diminish the intensity of regional dust storms that now plague the area. At Monument Valley High School, Utah, a small plot of grapes grows near the athletic field. Could this signal a renaissance in viticulture in Southeastern Utah? For the sake of the few remaining warm-water fish in Ken’s Lake and all of us who love Utah wines, we hope so.

 

After leaving the winery, we spotted a large American Bison resting in the well-watered yard of a home on Spanish Valley Drive. In the 1870s, bison herds were so large that transcontinental rail traffic often halted for hours so that the animals could cross the tracks. Despite their historically large numbers, they did not destroy their natural environment. As the wheels of off-road vehicles sink ever deeper into the soft soils of Johnsons on Top and other mesas, we must face facts. Creation of new social roads in the desert threatens both our soil and our water. Inadequate water conservation threatens to leave us like that lone bison, resting under the desert sun on the last patch of irrigated soil in the Spanish Valley.

 

When off-road enthusiasts eschew new social roads, alfalfa farmers take less water from Ken’s Lake and all of Utah begins supporting its homegrown wine industry, we may yet again see balance in the water cycle of the Spanish Valley, Utah.

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By James McGillis at 12:58 PM | Environment | Comments (0) | Link