A Mayan Forecast

We had three days of warm temps that made mush of the snow. The cattle felt good enough to buck and play when we arrived with the feed truck. And though today is still warmish, it's snowing again and the wind is picking up.

I asked Mark what I should blog about this week. The elk he and Clyde hazed off the stockpiled feed? The recent wedding ceremony he performed for our nephew? Or maybe just these quiet cherished evenings before calving starts. We have a date tonight to watch Downton Abby on public TV. I told Anna, “we might even shower!”

Actually Mark said I should write about the real truth behind the end of the Mayan calendar. According to Alberto Villoldo, as reported by Jurriaan Kemp and Elleke Bal in The Intelligent Optimist, the date of  December 21, 2012, never meant the end of humanity, but the end of one way of thinking and the beginning of a new world view, a tipping point, the beginning of a new cycle. In this new universe, you “only change the world by changing your inner life.” There will be challenges, but they’ll be outweighed by immense opportunities for those willing to step into a new era of consciousness.

And how does a rancher move into this new consciousness? Mark’s first response though he really liked the article was, “I don’t know.” We discussed what it might mean. Surely it will be taking the lessons from the past and using them in new ways to address ecosystem health while at the same time achieving sustainable profit. It will involve our young people and fresh ways of looking at managing the land and animals. It will be about producing food with the eater front and center, more of a collaboration than separate activities. It will focus on relationships - with plants and animals above and below the soil, and with people, our families and the consuming public. Collaborative groups will march ahead, leaving extremists behind to fight it out in an old and dying approach to managing resources. It will involve humility, vulnerability, and real courage. Who’s with us?