rThen and now...
posted by Robinson on 2009-06-11 17:59:15
 
If I wasn't already sure, it's clear to me now; sustainability lies somewhere between the new technological world, and the rural way of life that still existed in North America (and the rest of the world, for that matter) about a hundred years ago.
 
You remember, the place and time where people used to say "hello" to each other in the street?  A time when we lived in communities, were in touch with the land and readily used idioms like; "as the crow flies" to explain what we meant in terms that had a direct connection to the environment that surrounded us.
 
Today we have largely lost touch with our "connection" to the land, the earth, and each other....
 
We have let ourselves go to the point where we have created almost unimaginable examples our collective stupidity like the toxic plastic soup larger than the state of Texas floating off the coast of the United States, introducing chemicals and carcinogenic materials to every level of the food chain, and breathing poisonous gases on a daily basis.  The good news is that we can see what we are doing and are moving out of debate into action; trying to solve issues that are largely created by us.  I envision the day when our grandchildren ask "Grandpa, is it true that cars used to let poisonous gases into the air"?  This is the place where we all want and need to be...
 
Presently we are at "that place in between" theory and reality, where manufacturing plants are shutting down, or sitting idle and are not yet retooled and fitted with the new highly skilled employees of the future.  The solar panel installers, and manufacturers... the wind turbine manufacturers... the hydrogen, electric or compressed air powered cars...  Unlike Dustin Hoffman’s famous line “plastics are the future” in the 1967 movie "The Graduate" I believe that “biomimicry is the future”.  These technologies and their workers are all on the horizon.  It's a very exciting time to be alive; to see humanity finally paying attention to how we fit into the bigger picture.
 
But will faster cleaner and more efficient be the holy grail to our eternal happiness, and survival?  It's certainly part of the answer toward living in balance with nature, but the other part of the equation lies in the way we lived in connection with the land for thousands of years.  If we can find that spot where we can use our new technology at it's highest and best use, to serve us and the planet while realizing that nature had billions of years to perfect the systems we live in, then we might have half a chance.

On my recent business trip to "the big smoke" Toronto I had the pleasure of being kidnapped so to speak, and taken away to a place where my cellphone had no reception, there was no internet, no voicemails, no emails.  You can image how this was a bit of a departure from the norm for someone running a tech start up company, but my passion for the outdoors, and the opportunity to meet a Canadian North Pole Expeditioner (and Guinness Record holder) called.
 
Off to the Gatineau we drove... I stopped counting after about 7 hours of driving and listening to disco music.  When we did finally arrive I stepped out of the little Mini Cooper and into what felt like stepping into another time.  I found myself in an almost idyllic setting.  A countryside of family farms nestled amongst the rolling hills, lakes, trails, trees and sky... a place where I could breathe... where I could smell the sweet aroma of the trees bursting into life.  I remarked to my friend how different the trees smell here from back home... not better, not worse, just different... and equally beautiful.

I fell in love with the place from that moment; time seemed to stand still.  "Hey let's go" my accomplice shouted as she went through the doors of the small store.  We needed some provisions for dinner and stopped at the local "Boucherie Gauthier" in Gracefield, a family business that has been serving locally produced meats and cheeses since 1933.  Inside I was greeted as though I had lived there my whole life and had just returned from a long absence.  The jovial way, the laughing and warmth made me feel immediately at ease and part of the community.
 
We made our way through the winding road up to the family's cottage on the lake.  I had been corrected days earlier; it's not a “cabin” like out west, but rather a "cottage".  Cabins are supposed to be built of logs, but they still call log cabins - cottages.... so to tell you the truth, I still can't tell the difference between a cabin and a cottage.  Anyhow, this beautiful home on the lakeshore was built over 80 years ago, and we were there to open the house after the long winter.  We went to work with a little spring cleaning; and as I swept off the deck, I couldn't help but think about how at peace I felt.  As I listened to the birds signing I imagined myself living there.  I said to my good friend "I could probably live here" she laughed, and said "You'd go nuts"  - she's probably right.... orrrr... is she??
 
We visited some of the local neighbours and heard stories of how “so and so” had fixed this, and someone from across the lake had made that.  It was striking to me how naturally everything seems to work in this community.  How resourceful people were and how willing they were to help each other.  I went on an afternoon tour of another local town and was amazed by the number of small and medium sized businesses that do what alot of the giant multi nationals do.  You can find log homes, companies that makes cement infrastructure, the French style baked bean company, the guy who makes birch bark and cedar strip canoes, all to meet the needs of the local community.  
 
If I was to imagine a place to want to have a family farm, maybe a maple syrup farm?  This would be one place to consider.  It's amazing...  The stories of the family relatives that built the rail lines 100+ years ago, the summers on the lake, the families, the love stories, the kids and dogs; it's a place and a way of life that resonates with all of us...
 
Lovely people, covered bridges, the sound of the lake lapping up on the shore.  I will miss the moments there; laying on the dock feeling the warmth of the sun, bringing me and the trees alive with the sweet smell of spring.  Going to town and being greeted by strangers with a smile and a wave...
 
My recent work trip to Toronto, Ottawa, Blue Sea Lake and Wakefield made me realize that the world as we know it is finally starting to change.  It's taking some time, time the planet may not have, but it is finally happening; people are waking up to what we had.