Simplicity

Outdoor survival says you need food, water, air, shelter and a positive mental attitude. One can break that down in many ways, but it all boils down to the same thing: All the extra is not necessary.

I lived in Thailand for nearly a month in a village with few comforts as we know them. In America, when you ask children what "thneeds" they have in their lives (as taken from the Dr. Suess book called "The Lorax") they will mention things like multiple televisions, PS2's, XBox 360's and even cell phones (these kids are 10-11 years of age). I did not ask the children of Nayao Village what theirs might be, but I would imagine they may have answers that would challenge our very way of life here in the cushy U.S. of A.

Speaking of The Lorax, I came across this rebuttal to the book by the logging industry that I found to be rather interesting.

How lucky we are to have things like chairs with cushions and brand new clothes of any kind that we did not have to make ourselves. Let alone that the majority of us do not have to work to support our families at the age of 13. Even the poorest of our nation have so much more than the richest in a village like Nayao.

Take myself for example. To American standards, I do not live very highly on the economic scale. I live at my job in a 100 year-old farmhouse that is consistently inhabited by box elder bugs and mice. I do, however, make a living that is supporting me in what I need, comfortable things to sit and sleep on, a computer, a cell phone, access and the means to obtain any reasonable goods I could need. The luxury of eating out in restaurants and going out with friends for a drink. The ability to go out to concerts, a running vehicle, the right to vote, a safe atmosphere, plenty of food, a good education...the list of luck goes on and on.

Now one can argue that what makes me happy may not coincide with what makes the villagers of Nayao happy, and there is certainly truth to this. The major fact though, is that I have all the basic necessitites of life, and do not struggle for them. In addition to this, I ALSO have access to things that do enrich my life, regardless of what those are.

Simplicity seems to be much more simple to acheive than we seem to realize. Yet here I am typing on my personal computer in my cozy bedroom...it's only fair to recognize.

Youth leadership action

After having just taken a two day course in grant writing, I've become aware of how the process can be less intimidating than one would think. I also have the good fortune of being loosely linked to Will Steger, polar explorer. These two things have lead me to become rather aware of the potential of this opportunity:



These are the criteria for becoming a Youth Venture Team:

• You and your Venture’s leadership team are ages 12‐20.

• Your Venture benefits the community.

• Your Venture is youth‐created and youth‐led.

• Your Venture is a new organization or a major new program of an existing organization.

• Your Venture must have the support of adult ally

• Your Venture is ongoing and sustainable (not a one‐time event).

• Your Venture has clear, attainable goals and a realistic budget.

• You are a part of a team that is trustworthy and committed to ethical standards

You can download the application, or you can just do it online. I looked at it, and it is a simplified version of a grant proposal all sectioned off for you in questions that lead you to a very good finished product. If you are a youth, or you know someone (possibly even a group of kids) who is/are between the ages of 12 and 20, tell them to get working! It's really not all that hard to do, you just have to be committed enough to follow through.

Encourage youth.

Earth Day

In my life, there were two Earth Days, although my good friend Derek makes an excellent point, every day should be Earth Day. He also mentions that a black background on whatever website it is that your screen is loading takes less energy than does white. This is something I didn't know. I was even a little skeptical, but looked it up, found a post about it at EcoIron, and even a reference to that:

http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2007/05/09/can-a-black-google-save-energy/

Who knew?

My first Earth Day revolved around The Lorax. We hosted a huge Earth Day at our camp, and had over 500 people! It was a record year, as we were expecting between 100 and 400.

As you can see above, Brian had a grand time holding down the Orienteering fort. Kids were able to check out the camp with a map and compass to pass the time. Fortunately for them, there was a lot of water around, because it was scorching in the 70's! Yay!

It was then time to set up the Lorax! We would been able to keep right on smiling like this, but about halfway through this wonderful puppet show, half the set fell over, just inches from the faces of very small children. You see the middle peace with the water, and the red piece with the clock pictured below and to the right? And see how there is a metal pipe coming off the the top? That just happened to be what hit the closest. Holy cow! It was exactly like a dramatic scene from a movie, and I wish so much that someone had video taped it.

I can talk about how funny it was only because no one got hurt. You see, the backdrop in the center is painted canvas. Halfway through, we are supposed to flip that canvas over so you see the other side. Because none of us are tall enough to do this, even while standing on chairs, Carmen and I were using the wooden axes to extend our reach and flip it over. The trick to this is that we generally do this play inside-note the terrain difference. The pushing from one side was apparently too much, and we barely knew what hit us. It was already halfway down before it occurred to me what was happening, and we all watched in horror as it fell.

The audience was composed of very little children-mostly toddler age and up, but not what we're used to. They must have thought that it was supposed to happen, because even as the sed came crashing down right in front of some of their noses and the dirt and leaves flew up over them with an official thud of the set, none of them flinched. Not even the littlest ones, and not even the parents in the background. It's a miracle no one was mad.

Meanwhile, we were all left exposed behind what was left of the set, Carmen and I still standing on chairs with axes raised, in disbelief. We all felt much like the Wizard of Oz must have when the curtain was pulled and all his secrets were revealed, only we had nearly taken out many toddlers in the process.

Our Assistant Director was there, and thank God she has a good sense of humor. What else were we to do? We set up the set again as quickly as we could with the help of one dad, and I, as the narrator, went out to say a few words. I remember apologizing and explaining that we generally do this on flat ground, but I can't remember anything after that, although I was told that I handled it well.

My second Earth Day also involved The Lorax, but it was not quite as unexpectedly eventful as the first. This one was also done outdoors. I don't think the Lorax has ever gotten so much fresh air.

This one was different. We created as mystery called The Mystery of the Missing Lorax as a way to attract new schools through this free outreach program. With the Lorax set as the main backdrop, we set up stations for each of the "suspects" to both teach a mini lesson and give clues to the 5th graders, leaving it up to them to decide who dun it.

As we set up the set, we are careful not to let it go anywhere!

Will's station (He was Gustav) was set up to teach about the life of a Voyageur. He has a great French accent and a wonderful way of scaring children into believing that we kill animals for their furs and nothing else. This, of course, is not true, but fourth graders completely believe a big guy with a lot of furs, apparently.

Below, you will see Carmen's station. She was the Barbaloot Liason, because, come on, Barbaloots and humans don't speak the same language you know!
















What does a Barbaloot look like, you might ask? And what, praytell, does B.U.R.P. stand for?

This is a Barbaloot, and he is a Barbaloot Under Rural Protection. Keep an eye out for official human-sized T-shirts to be made soon.



Matthew played the role of a totally righteous camper, Mr. E. Dude, and taught about outdoor survival before giving up all the secrets of his clues.


I was Tori Taxonomy, trying to get all the animals classified, but then there's that Lorax, and where does he fit in? I think they thought I was completely and totally crazy. I guess my plan worked well. :)And then there was Brian, who played the Onceler Detective. He looked really official.

And who was all this commotion about? What is the Lorax? Describe him, that's hard. I'll just show you the mugshot:
What happened to the Lorax? Nobody knows. I guess you'll just have to come see our presentation to find out which one of the suspects could take such an adorable animal from the Trufulla Forest.

As I like to say, do at least one thing. For the community, the earth, human kind, animals, the air, the water, just anything. We are all part of the Earth. It could be once a week, month, day, year, but just do one thing.

Happy Earth Day.