Before
I began this blog in 2013, I asked myself frequently if it would become one of
the thousands of heartlessly orphaned sites that let others know just how
committed their writers are.  I couldn’t
answer, of course, having no glimpse into the future.

  

This
long hiatus might have been excusable if no one was watching. But some are—the
frequent book purchases prove that. So for anyone who has minded: So sorry. I’m
back now.

It’s not for lack of amazing environmental
developments. On the contrary, so many are occurring these days that keeping
track is impossible. And hallelujah for that!

There’s
the lead-up to the Paris climate talks, COP-21,
in December, on which something is always happening, though you might not know it from the media.

There’s
the Pope’s wonderful encyclical, Laudato
Si’ (Praised Be): On the Care of Our Common Home, which is expected to tip
the nations toward action. 

There’s
bipartisan legislation introduced in the US Senate (S. 600)
to designate matching grant monies for nonprofits for energy conservation and
renewable energy (please call your senator!).

There
are the many important books begging to be read and pondered, such as Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate, which I recommend. 

And
theEPA’s
Clean Power Plan, proposed last summer and set to roll out very soon. (The
one that compels our belovedGov.
Mike Penceto keep insisting,“We’re
a coal state!” But aren’t we a farming state? If we don’t act
decisively on climate change we’ll be neither anymore.)

More
locally, I have a new title at Hoosier
Interfaith Power and Light (Program Director). We continue to hold climate
boot camps and other workshops all over the state (see upcoming events page for
the next ones). We’re growing and moving in wonderful ways.

And
my church, First Presbyterian in
Jeffersonville, is buying solar panels and hopes to have 14 kilowatts installed
in September.

And
in my denomination, the Presbyterian Church (USA), divestment from fossil fuels is
being considered. And the Presbyterians
for Earth Care has invited me as keynote speaker for their conference at Montreat, North Carolina,
in September (again, see upcoming events page).

Personally,
I have to keep reordering copies of Inhabiting
Eden, the workbook, and
the leader guide, because they keep selling out. And I am still on the
speaking circuit, with inquiries for 2016 coming from as far as Oregon, Kenya,
and New Zealand. In the past month I spoke to 200 Muslims from all over the world (and a few Christian guests) at a Green Ramadan Iftar in Fort Wayne sponsored by the Pen and Inkpot Foundation, and to 40 arborists at a conference sponsored by the Indiana Urban Forest Council. 

After
being away a full half of 2015’s first six months, I’ve finally woken up in the
same bed 38 days straight. I’ve been in the garden early mornings, digging
onions and pulling zucchini, summer squash, cabbage, tomatoes, jalapenos,
cukes, eggplant, and basil. In the kitchen late afternoons, chopping up Jerusalem
salads, cole slaws, and every squash
recipe I can find. Sitting with Don for late-night reflections over wine,
or biking to the food truck, or riding up to Henryville for a night swim in the
pond we call Lost Beagle Lake.

And
under the fan on the back porch the rest of the day, writing, emailing, organizing,
and preparing for the next rounds of travels. It’s a good life. Just a bit too
much of it. And not likely to let up soon: both Don and I are going to be
grandparents before the year is over, according to his daughter Nellie and my
son Ian, who are both expecting little girls.

Babies
born this year are likely to live into the 22^nd century. I’ve said countless
times, as every other climate advocate has, that what we do today determines
the world our grandchildren will face. 
Soon our own will have names and faces, and then I will be torn: do I
spend my remaining years nurturing them, or keep trying to change the world
they will live in? Probably both. So I’m sorry, but you can probably expect
another hiatus soon.

For
a little while, though, I will try to write more often.