MAGIC IN THE AIR

Dance of Joy     LiDoña Wagner 2023

Three Strange Angels

Standing at the entrance to my benefit art sale, was a Baba Yaga figure such as I learned about from Clarissa Pinkola Estes in Women Who Run with the Wolves. In the eyes of this contemporary form of magic and mystery, I glimpsed a woman I had once met at a yoga retreat. 

Coming up behind her was a man in jeans and tee shirt with a friendly grin. I welcomed them into my gallery home where Baba Yaga made her way through a series of rooms - Global Crossroads - Navigating Change - Sun, Moon & Water - Our DNA Tells the Story - My Happy Place & Our Evolving History. 

Meanwhile, her companion - an affable teacher from Los Angeles - engaged me in conversation.

The LA teacher and I connected over our common appreciation of KDFC radio’s From the Top. We marveled that I had heard one of his social activist students play guitar on this San Francisco youth musicians program. 

Hearing the door open, I turned to see a person of Middle Eastern descent entering the gallery. It turned out that he completed a trio of friends who had met in their youth as students at the State University of Iowa in Iowa City. 

Two decades before them I had spent a year at the same illustrious Iowa school but left after failing to be admitted to its Writers Workshop. Lines from a D.H. Lawrence poem came to mind: “when three strange angels appear at your door, admit them, admit them.” 

So, yes, I engaged the trio with grace and wonder. 

I learned that Baba Yaga had not told her companions to what event she was bringing them. Nevertheless, there ensued memorable in-depth conversations about two of my large paintings that had attracted Baba Yaga’s attention. 

They then stunned me by purchasing both paintings from my 'solace from grieving' period. 

Whether you call it magic or the stars being aligned, there was something seemingly unreal about the whole experience. 

SOLIDARITY

CARNIVAL SPIRIT IN EUGENE

Credit: Kathleen Heinz

Credit: Gil James

TUCSON & PHOENIX SPEAK UP

Create: Anonymous

Credit: David Domian Figuroa

Credit: David Domian Figuroa

Credit: David Domian Figuroa

Credit: Jim Wiegel

D.C. SAYS IT ALL

Credit: Anne Bridgman

Credit: Anne Bridgman

Credit: Anne Bridgman

Credit: Anne Bridgman

Credit: Anne Bridgman

QUINTESSENTIAL EUGENE

 PROGRESSIVE

FUNLOVING

ON THE MOVE

SMALL SCALE REGENERATIVE FARMING

 By Terry Bergdall

 

Gooseberry Acres in Dwight, IL

My first cousin and his wife (Garry and Deanna Atkinson) and the family of their son (Luke Atkinson, Meredith, and their 4-year-old son, Owen) have a small farm in Dwight, Illinois – a rural farming area about 40 miles south of Joliet. On the weekend of Sept 20-21 my wife Pam and I travelled an hour and a half on Amtrak from Chicago to Dwight. 

 

Eggs, Honey, Fresh Bread & More

Luke and Meredith have fulltime day jobs: he’s a grant-writer with a nonprofit organization in Chicago and she is an independent travel agent with an established list of clients who appreciate her personal attention. Both accomplish the bulk of their work through the internet. While their day jobs keep them financially afloat, their primary passion is addressing global climate change through small-scall regenerative agriculture.

 

Farmhouse with frame for greenhouse in front of garden.

Luke and Meredith moved from Oklahoma to Illinois four years ago, attracted to the Chicago area by a network of college friends. Two years ago, they obtained a vacant 100-year-old farmhouse on a 5-acre parcel of land near Dwight and moved from an apartment in Chicago to begin activating their vision. A year later, in anticipation of retiring from their work in Oklahoma, Garry and Deanna bought a house within five miles of Luke and Meredith. Soon they will begin living fulltime in Illinois, delighted to be close to grandson Owen.

 

Feast for egg-laying chickens

Surrounded by large scale commercial farmers that produce mono crops of soybeans and corn, Luke and Meredith grow organic food. They have established contracts to sell small amounts of organic produce to local schools where each week Meredith also provides 160 sourdough par-baked crusts for lunch pizzas. By raising a few chickens, they can also sell a small number of eggs. They have planted new apple trees, adding to a few existing fruit trees already on their property. Grandpa Garry is an experienced beekeeper and Luke and Meredith anticipate adding this to their regenerative farmwork under Garry’s guidance.

 

Regenerative garden and solar array. 

The photo above shows the enclosed garden Luke and Meredith have built where sweet corn, pumpkins, cherry tomatoes, squash, and other vegetables are grown. They installed solar panels behind the garden last year to electrify the house. (Barely noticeable in the distance are three wind towers on a nearby commercial farm.)

 

New greenhouse for winter veggies.

To the side of the garden, is a new “high top tunnel” greenhouse. This was done through an assistance grant they negotiated with the US Department of Agriculture in 2024. The greenhouse is about the same size as their garden and with durable plastic will provide a warm environment, allowing them to grow vegetables during most of the winter.

Open for business! 

It was all very exciting for Pam and me to be with a young family deeply devoted to an alternative lifestyle in order to fulfill a vision of caring for the future of Planet Earth. 

SUN DAY

NEW HOPE Accelerated Cheap Energy 

SUN DAY Sept 21, on the eve of the fall Equinox, was the brainchild of Bill McKibbns, founder of 350.org for young people and Third Act for those over 60. 

Here in Eugene, members of 350 and 3^rd Act organized a celebration and teaching venue with booths outside the Campbell Senior Center and tables & chairs inside. 

ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT    A Livable Planet 

Oregon needs to pass an Environmental Rights Amendment to preserve a livable planet for our children. OCERA is the Oregon Coalition for an Environmental Rights amendment. It is a voluntary committee working to qualify this initiative for the 2028 ballot.  

FEDERAL TAX CREDITS  Electrification Code   

To benefit from federal tax credits by 7/4/26, we need to take steps now to get new construction or complex canopy projects underway and secure commercial solar projects. 

By working with neighbors we can pass legislation changing Oregon’s electrification code to allow Balcony / Plug-In Solar arrays. If Utah did it, so can we! When enough states change their code, they can pressure for a national change that will allow lower income persons to reduce their electricity costs. 

TRANSPORTATION FEES 2027 / Legislation 

Recent state legislation imposes higher fees and road-use taxes on electric vehicles when it is the gas guzzlers that ruin the roads and pollute our air. This is not set to go into effect until 2027. We need to get busy NOW to get this gift to the oil and gas industry reversed.

   

SOLAR ARRAYS & WINDMILLS ARE THE 

FORESTS OF THE FUTURE

REDUCING CARBON & 

KEEPING PLANET EARTH 

LIVABLE FOR HUMANS

A World in Transition

A WORLD IN TRANSITION

Economically, today’s world is WORKERS vs BILLIONAIRES. On Labor Day in the US, there were over 1000 rallies in all 50 states. All were clarifying that it is workers who create an economy, not a small group of wealthy individuals. Globally, South Korea stood up for its workers who were snatched without warning from a Hyundai factory in Georgia.

Politically, today’s world is made up of Regional Alliances based on caring for all their citizens. Recently in the US, four west coast states have forged a partnership to ensure that their citizens have access to science-based information about health and available medicine. In Western Europe, countries in the European Union are bonded in support of Ukraine.

Culturally, the Solar Panel and Windmill have become symbols of a new era of cheap sustainable energy. The state of California gets 40% of its energy from solar and 20% from wind. Agrivoltaics (solar aiding agriculture) is cropping up all over the world, such as in Africa, Colorado, and recently in Japan where researchers announced that solar panels over rice fields have proven an effective way to grow a diet staple while also producing clean energy.

While oil and gas exporting countries (Saudi Arabia & Russia) and states (Texas) invest in clean energy for themselves, they are attempting to keep countries and states that need to import oil and gas from having the cheaper solar and wind power that is now available. The Trump administration has sold out US citizens, eliminating clean energy initiatives under President Biden and trying to get oil and gas companies to produce more just to keep making money for the already rich. 

SUN DAY CELEBRATION - September 21

At the equinox on Sunday September 21, we all have an opportunity to celebrate the hope and possibility solar energy gives us for a livable planet. Here in Oregon we will have electric cars and bikes available for attendees to try out, along with fun activities for kids and families. To take advantage of Oregon's rebate option which ends at the conclusion of September, people can access the rebate by signing a contract to buy an electric vehicle ... no money exchanges hands that day.

Let's make SUN DAY as significant as the first EARTH DAY was.