Page 2 - Sonoma County Gazette September 2019

Dear Readers,
THANK YOU for the many comments on my September letter to you. If there’s any that tells me I live where I belong, it’s knowing that so many of my neighbors share my values. That’s comforting!
The rest of the planet does seem to be moving in a similar value direction as well. Yes, there are strongholds of people who resist change, hold on to how things have been done throughout history, etc. But young, forward-thinking people who care about the future, not just the present, tend to think globally.
That fragile blue marble in space we call home is ONE place that is home to ALL of us. When children are part of our lives, we want to protect them from harm. We do that by taking care of each other and this delicate planet.
As we head toward rainy season we have established a fairly new tradition of cleaning up our watershed in preparation for winter rains. This was started a long time ago by canoe clubs who saw firsthand all the trash that collects on riverbanks and in bank-side trees. Seeing it from the water is enlightening... and inspiring. You just have to clean it up!
Then along came Chris Brokate...a janitor by trade. He can’t help himself.
He cleans things up. He started collecting trash on the river, especially in homeless people camps where piles of debris, toxic waste, and more ended up in the river when rain climbed up the banks to carry it out to sea. The Garbage Patch Kids became a small army of volunteers cleaning up all year long.
That caught the attention of Russian Riverkeeper Don McEnhill and he asked Chris and his Clean River Alliance to join his non-profit where there is financial support, etc.. In the mean, time the county got on the bandwagon and funded many cleanups, established watershed awareness, programs for people to participate, etc. Movements grow from a tiny thought to a powerful force that has a life of its own. Hence, our centerspread of Watershed Cleanups that happen in September into October before the rains come...we hope.
There’s not a day that goes by without me exclaiming my love for where we live. I get up and look out my window at this extroadinary environement that feeds, nurtures, and protects us. It makes sense to feed, nurture
and protect it in return. So think along the lines of...yes...fire
season as well as rainy season. We’ll keep passing along what we are learning so we can ALL be ready for all emergencies.
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2 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 9/19