The upside of being assigned a teeny, tiny itsy bitsy
airplane is that you can see out of both sides and out into the big wide world.
And, as I sit here, looking out at southeast Michigan, I am struck by the
difference between the view out of the right and left windows. On the right, I
gaze at the Detroit River and see all of the trademarks of heavy industry: the
billowing smokestacks and I swear I see the growing piles of petroleum coke
that have been so hotly discussed by the media (although surely this must be my
imagination). On the left,west of the city, I see a myriad of small lakes
gleam silver in the early evening light; dense wooded areas, as well as the
regular, rectangular fields where I know a farmer is lovingly tending crops.
.JPG)
At all times, but particularly at times like these when I
have a bird’s eye view of the world that I am reminded o the importance of events
such as the Homegrown Festival and the greenbelt initiative. The Festival works
to build community support through people’s hearts (and stomachs). Support that
is vital to the initiation and continued support for political actions that
will protect and conserve what makes our community green. I have found, through
recent experiences, that there is nothing more powerful than communication and
community involvement when working to affect change. This change could be
altering peoples’ spending habits, whom they elect, or what ballot initiatives
they support.
So let’s work together to stay on the green side of the
gradient. Support your local farmers. Support your local parks. And, put September
7, (6-10pm) on your calendars and have a great time supporting Homegrown
Festival 2013.
