We posed the question, ‘Why Is It So Flippin’ Hard to Live in Tahoe-Truckee… And what are you doing about it?’ A bunch of you answered. Many Kudos and Thank You! To whittle the pile down, Moonshine staff sorted and selected the top 10. A panel of five (unpaid) judges read these and chose the winners…. Congratulations to our Grand Prize winner Beth Ingalls! And the Runner Up Regina Curry! Congratulations ladies, you done good! (Several of the judges suggested we hire you.) Please enjoy reading their eloquent entries and the Honorable Mention entry from Mark Kircher below.
Ridgetop Juniper
Something’s in the air, a change in the weather coming. Yeah, it’s hard to live in the mountains, always has been. But it’s getting harder, here like everywhere else, due to another sort of environmental factor. Our natural forces of sun and water and gravity have a sustaining, nurturing touch, which is somehow lacking in the rub of free market forces. These currents run at cross purposes, reflecting differing values, selecting for differing qualities and leading to a different end.
We are all forest creatures at heart. Through countless generations of evolution, we are of this place. This world can still show us how we are to live. In the wilds, the attitudes and relations that have made all life possible are everywhere evident. We take just what we need. Covering ground out there, our decisions have clarity, the ramifications are immediate. Let’s bring that insight and discipline home. And if the going’s getting too rough now, maybe it’s time we find some higher ground, a perspective to suss out a better way.
So, what are we here for? Our local junipers thrive up on that ridge top, not just in spite of their harsh environment, but because of it, content to grow slow on the barren granite. Exposure to the elements deters competitors and pests, and dances these ancient beings into incredible contortions and gyrations, their strength of character radiating the hard beauty of this range. We’ve all known a few of these awesome local characters.
Some of us are here to share in that dance, subtle and profound. The wondrous Sierra high country works at our core, drawing us like momentum charging headlong swinging in the fall line. Riding it rushing where it leads, we approach grace. And so doing it shapes and molds us in its likeness. For sparkling moments we are the mountain expressing itself, Life nodding at its own reflection in passing. Our panting bodies know this is what we are made for. So we actively seek out the hard way, the line of strength, going there to meet the bliss, in praise of this exquisite life. Willingly we sacrifice and gladly we toil, to be worthy of the Tahoe hard life. Somebody’s got to do it.
And just what are those rich folk doing anyway, while we play deep in their million dollar views. Working? Time is the most precious commodity, and ours is borrowed. Our ‘economy’ would have us mortgage our life time, and liquidate future generation’s resources, to pay for fleeting indulgences and the perceived security of accumulation. Way up on the hill though, we know fun is free and that security is over rated. We thrive on calculated risk and the vital thrill of exposure. Seconds gain lasting intensity. We humans are prone to hoarding, we’re gatherers born and bred. It’s a primal urge that has served our kind well, until recently that is. Do the math. Nothing can grow unchecked. Cancer kills.
How can we glorify taking more than our share? Cast the money changers from our temple. We’ve no entitlement. Every buck we make is that much more impact on our depleted planet. We don’t need to earn more, we need to spend less. Downsize. The ski industry can not evade the irony of hastening its own demise, burning hydrocarbons while praying for snow. Us too neither. Global warming is not just a marketing crisis. Burn trail mix not gasoline. Skin up and earn your own turns. Do more with less. Sustainability is the real bottom line. Want to know a real cost of business as usual; look at the tar sands oil fields in Alberta (onearth.org). We’re strip mining a forest the size of Florida to keep our economic engine running. Basically we can stop our selves now, or we can just keep on driving, on off the cliff and just let the ground stop us. Indeed these are hard lessons, but denial is not viable and history shall be our judge.
Recognize and resist the deep psychological marketing that is designed to exploit our native proclivities. Material ambition is a neurosis, with a huge tab. Throw away your television. Go for a walk in the woods. It’s time we reassess our relationship with all the objects in our life. A house or a car or a bike is really just a tool. Rent, own or borrow, they need only perform a function. Don’t buy into the delusional persona accessorizing.
And what more could we really want for here, anyway? We have that age old bounty, good folk sharing toothsome vittles by a warm hearth. Tahloha. We are blessed. It‘s inspiring how richly one can live with good ol’fashioned thrift, practicing simplicity with style and flavor. Eat closer to home. Conserve liberally and vote your values with every transaction. And if you want the best, you’ve got to make your own. D.I.Y. Do it with your kids. And do it for them. Enrich them by spending time not money. Our children will need our example of how to live lightly to adapt in this changing world they are to inherit.
Mountains are an apt medium and metaphor, but after all, the true terra incognito lies within. Life is a journey of self exploration. And we really can go so much further with less baggage. Lighten up. Live by your wits. Life will provide, have faith. Just watch your step, trust your feet. Look at the spaces and follow your line where it leads. Walk the talk, and leave only tracks. Clichéd aphorisms, but no less apropos. The ravens will chortle at our feeble efforts irregardless. And when our boom town goes bust, the wizened junipers will still be poised there on the precipice, grinning hard into the gale. Bring it on.
Read the 1st place and 2nd place.
