Pesky Jetstream

It's Sunday morning, it's high summer and I'm very cold. Last night the weather forecasters on TV said that rural areas would see between 3 and 6 degrees Celsius once the cloud had cleared and that the morning would feel cold. They weren't kidding. I don't know how low the temperatures fell, but even if they only dipped to 6 Celsius, that's pretty cold for July.

While shivering away in front of my Mac, I happened upon a lovely page that seemed very relevant to our mad weather, the fearfulness that is creeping over people about fuel prices and keeping warm this coming winter and the general stupidity with which we treat this planet. Written in 1855, it shows a wisdom that we have lost or become estranged from, and maybe we should make a start on undoing some of the wrongs and damage we have inflicted on the earth.

This is the Address of Chief Seattle (1786 - 1866) of the Suquamish Tribe in 1855.

The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky , the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the presence of the air and the sparkle of the water , how can you buy them?

Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle. Every sandy shore. Every mist in the dark woods. Every meadow. Every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people. We know the sap that courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins.

We are a part of the earth and it is part of us. Perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear , the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadow, the body heat of the pony , and man, all belonging to the same family.

The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you our land you must remember that it is sacred. Each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.

The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. So you must give to the rivers the kindness you would give any brother. If we sell you our land , remember that the air is precious to us. That the air shares its spirit with all the life that it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life.

So if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers. Will you teach your children what we have taught our children , that the earth is our mother ? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth. This we know. The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.

All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web he does to himself.

One thing we know our God is also your God. The earth is precious to Him. And to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator. Your destiny is a mystery to us. What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered ? The wild horses tamed ? What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills is blotted by talking wires ? Where will the thicket be ? Gone. Where will the eagle be? Gone. And what is it to say goodbye to the swift pony and the hunt , the end of living and the beginning of survival?

When the last red man has vanished with his wilderness and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie , will these shores and forests still be here ? Will there be any of the spirit of my people left ?

We love this earth as a newborn loves its mother's heartbeat. So , if we sell you our land , love it as we have loved it. Care for it as we have cared for it. Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you receive it. Preserve the land for all children , and love it as God loves us all. As we are part of the land , you too are part of the land.
This earth is precious to us, it is also precious to you. One thing we know, there is only one God. No man, be he red man or white , can be apart. We are brothers , after all.

We may not be able to do anything about the pesky jetstream, but we can recycle, use fuel wisely, stop wasting resources that just won't be there once we have used them up and most of all, think about the consequences of our actions on our environment.

We sold out a long time ago, but it doesn't mean that we're beyond setting some of those things right. Bleating on that your small contribution won't make a difference isn't good enough - if everyone makes a small contribution, it will add up to a huge change. Do you want to look back, if you have the luxury of doing so, and kick yourself for dragging your feet? Better to make changes, conserve and preserve and at least we can look back, whether we are in an ice age or a desert, knowing that we tried our best.