Snake River at Oxbow

LICHENS AS SILENT WITNESSES OF
TIMES GONE BY . . .

Lichens, mutually beneficial composites of two simpler life forms,
are small wonders. They are composed of a fungus, which provides
structure and a hold on rough surfaces like rocks, and an alga, which
provides the solar power necessary to synthesize food out of the raw
materials of carbon dioxide and water. Lichens obtain their water and
nutrients from the atmosphere, so they frequently tell us much about air
quality. And lichens are patient. Very patient, in their growth, typically
expanding out from a center in slow motion, about one or two centime-
ters a century. Imagine that! So, many of the different colorful species
of lichen I see everywhere as I trek around the Wallowas—beneath
my feet, on granite rocks, on the limbs of Ponderosas—were perhaps
present before the dams on the Snake were built (completed c. 1958).
Or even before the first European Americans arrived. (c. 1805).

What stories they would have to tell!

THE WAY OF NON-VIOLENCE

We shape the world and the world shapes us.

The way of non-violence is not merely the deeply held intention to live
a life without conflict and the use of force; it of necessity actively seeks
to make explicit the contradictions of thought, culture and convention
that lead to violence (and waste) of any kind, against oneself, against
one’s fellow human beings, or against the Earth. The voice of frustration
of the current era, amplified a thousand fold by the populist rhetoric of ad
hominem Attack Radio and TV, flirts with violence of the most insidious
kind as a misleading means of releasing equally misguided rage. This is
a profound mistake.

The way of non-violence, as an alternative, takes the rule of law and
civil stability as its point of departure, and seeks by means of argument,
dialogue, or, when necessary, civil disobedience, to widen the circle
of ethical awareness and discourse to include in a radical and un-
compromising way the whole of the human community and the
living Earth.

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I might just mention here, following the ethical principle,
First, do no harm, I never use cars or snowmachine. I
do everything on foot, bike or ski. I think this in a
deep and direct way affects my work, and how I see
the world. So all the photos above were approached
on foot, including all the in between spaces, sometimes
involving journeys of weeks or months.

I would not want to work any other way.