Greenstitch Reflections from Greenstitch Climate Action, Red Twig Farm and Fibershed Interns and Mentors by Cory van Gelder, Wellness Coordinator and Heather Arnold, Greenstitch volunteer Greenstitch Climate Action, Red Twig Farm and Fibershed internships offer teens an opportunity to learn hands-on ways to address the issues of environmental deg- radation and climate change. The interns often express how they wish the issues around climate change should be taught within their schools. Their awareness of how the changing climate will directly impact their lives is in contrast to the lack of urgency and preparation they see in their society. Putting on the Climate Fest is a way to begin bridging this gap, sharing their learning, in hopes of inspiring the community to take action together. The following are reflections from some of the interns and mentors: “If we want to create change, we have to learn about the thing we want to cre- ate change about and learning about the thing could be scary but if you become aware of that and you embrace being scared and channel that into being motivated to make it less terrifying, then we can help make change and work towards fixing our mistakes.” Morgan Olsen, Greenstitch Intern “My favorite thing was the leaves because I liked that there were emotions on them because I think that human emotion is what causes us to do harm out of anger and greed and we use those emotions to drive us to do bad things. But human emotions are also the solution and if we can channel joy and happiness and motivation towards climate change then we can create a solution using our desire to help the earth.” Poppy Henderson, Greenstich Intern “One of my favorite things was the Entanglement Art piece and how we connect- ed together the causes of climate change to the solutions. I liked this because it gave people more hope about climate change. It also gave people an idea of what they can do to change the issues at hand. Some of the solutions were really big but some of them were smaller things, like being kind, which people can do in their daily lives.” Emily Goodwin, Greenstitch Intern “The connection between the climate and aerial dance is very meaningful to me. When I’m performing, I am embodying the emotions that we all feel about our human experience at this time. This connects us as a community in a deep and unspoken way.” Nika Arye, Greenstitch Intern “Farming is a whole cycle of how to better the climate. One of the most empow- ering things we can do is grow our own food. No need to use fossil fuels bring- ing produce from one place to another. Plus it benefits the insects, bird life and soil organisms around you, as you provide habitat and food for them as well.
Detail from Climate Art installation
Polaris is the first star in the handle of the Little Dipper. The rest of the dipper extends in a slight curve back towards the bend in the BD handle. Counting Polaris, there are 5 stars that make up this curve. The brightest is the 5th one. See the sky map for help. Sometimes you can only see Polaris and the 5th star, but by letting your eyes adapt to the darkness you’ll begin to see more. A final note: This sky map shows the sky at about 9 pm in early June. As the sum- mer moves along, the entire sky is rotated counter-clockwise. The BD will have its handle pointing more upward, and Arcturus will be more in the southern sky. But you can always count on the BD handle for locating it. Good luck! There are no bright planets in this summer’s night sky, but you can find a very bright Venus in the pre-dawn eastern sky. “The climate crisis requires us to learn how to live in a sustainable way in connec- tion to the land we live on. The Coast Miwok people have 5,000 years of expertise in this. Yet, by design of genocidal policy, it is hard for people today to remember that the people whose land we are on still exist. In fact, there is an active, vibrant Coast Miwok Council of Marin which recently acquired land in Nicasio to bring back traditional ways. We are grateful to Nancy Binzen and the Coast Miwok Council for providing beautiful images and important information for us to include in our Climate Installation during this past month of April.” Cory van Gelder, Greenstitch mentor Gardening isn’t only about food and beauty, it also sequesters carbon from the atmosphere as you grow things. At Red Twig Farm, the sheep are grazing and stimulating the grass to grow, which sequesters carbon into the soil. They fertilize as they move through and aerate the ground with their hooves. The food waste and clippings grown in the garden is composted and made into soil, making it much richer and putting nutrients back into the soil. Doing these things hands on and working with the earth makes us want to nurture and appreciate the land more. We get to understand better how farm to table is a much richer experience and appreciate what we are eating. We can be fighting for the climate while also enjoying the beauty around us and pro- viding food for our community all at the same time.” Lola McCourtney, Aileen Light and Kaia Yudice, interns at Red Twig Farm “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.”—Jane Goodall This quote exemplifies what Gina Smith, Red Twig Farm mentor offers her interns with hands-on work at her farm. “I’ve been inspired by the teen interns we’ve hosted at Fibershed along with all of the other interns and high school students who have worked on this project becoming immediately engaged and excited to see that their self-expression and choices through clothing can be a way to respond to the climate crisis. There are so many ways to feel empowered by building skills and knowledge to value our natural materials and textiles, and sharing that within our community.” Heather Podoll, Fibershed mentor
Tonight’s Sky by Rich Lohman Summer 2024 We enter this time of year with our Earth nearly fully tilted towards the Sun, bringing us more hours of day- light and fewer hours of dark skies. There are also fewer bright stars in tonight’s sky, as compared to the winter
skies. Most prominent, and the brightest in our summer sky, is the red giant star, Arcturus, located high in the south eastern sky at the beginning of June. It is easy to find if you start from the Big Dipper (BD). Extend the natural curve or arc of the BD’s handle and you’ll arrive at Arcturus. The phrase “arc to Arcturus” is com- monly used by amateur astronomers to locate this star. Being a red giant means that Arcturus is in its latter and cooler stages of life. Take a good look with your eyes or binoculars to notice its distinctive yellow-orange color. It has a temperature of about 4000° compared to the Sun at 6000°. In the prime of its life it could’ve been 10 to 20,000°. In contrast to the Sun, however, Arcturus has a luminosity or inherent brightness 170 times greater, and a diameter of 25 times greater. We would need to travel out about 36 light years to experi- ence such a huge star! The name, Arcturus, comes from the Greek meaning “guardian of the bear”. The bear in this case refers to the constellation, “Ursa Major”, which means “big bear”. The Big Dipper is contained within Ursa Major. Let me suggest you use the Big Dipper to try to locate the Little Dipper. Its con- stellation is called Ursa Minor (little bear). In most of the Bay Area, with its bright lights, this is not an easy find. But here in the San Geronimo Valley we’re fortu- nate to have many nights when it is visible….if you know where to look! Start with the 2 stars at the “dipper” end of the BD. These are often called the “pointer stars”. Extend their line into the empty space beyond the BD and you’ll come to Polaris (our North Star). It’s not particularly bright, but it’s pretty much by itself.
Any questions: Contact Rich Lohman, richneal@pacbell.net
SGV Community Center Stone Soup Page 5
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