Where do you go when…?

the dump burns down? I'm not a dump picker (not allowed here anyhow), but it was/used to be a lot less expensive to take my garbage and recyclables to the waste transfer station about five miles away.

Last Sunday it burned to the ground. No one knows how it started, but how it finished was to obliterate all the structures, and make it impossible to recycle or receive trash there.

The company, Waste Connections, Inc. has a contract with the city of Port Angeles and cooperates with Clallum County.

Today I decided to drive up that road to see what I could see. There were six other cars presumably hoping to leave their trash there as well. Surprisingly they were mostly unaware of the fire. If those people were subscribers or followers of the Peninsula Daily News, they could read the story here.

But service and solutions after the fire did not seem to be on the minds of the company.

It is not possible to see the fire damage from the gate, and there is very
little information for customers arriving to recycle and dispose of their trash.

My background in public relations caused a rise in temperature and ire… how easy it would have been for company leadership to put a plastic real estate type of box with an information sheet and map for their customers.

Fitting that the company used a black trash
bag to cover up the sign, but this is a poor
way to communicate to clients.

Instead they simply took a black plastic bag and some duct tape, and wrapped up the informational sign that lets drivers know they have turned on the right road, Blue Mountain, to get to the dump.

Now drivers who know where they are going, still keep on driving the mile up the road to find a padlocked gate, with only a number to call and no directions to the Port Angeles transfer station.

And it costs twice as much to drive twice as far. Now we have to drive past the City of Port Angeles, out past the cemetery and airport.

Even though the larger waste processing facility is located on land with an impressive view, it is not small-user friendly. Instead of $5 for a load, it's a $10 minimum…. hmmmm.

Although the sun was shining, my mood was not so bright -wondering just how many times I might have to make this trip before the Blue Mountain transfer station is open again.

As one leaves the Port Angeles transfer station, just before
arriving at the cash window, it is possible to see all the way
across the sound to B.C. Lovely sunny day...

Festival de Cine Verde de Barichara - Festiver!

A popular place on weekends and when the river is rushing,
but is is also important to remember that locals have built
up immunities to the things that are in this water.

A BIT OF A RANT ABOUT ECOLOGY...
The film festival for ecological filmmakers, Festival de Cine Verde de Barichara, began on the 20th of September running until the 24th and this is a first here in Barichara. The mission is a grand one, hopeful of reaching young and old on the issues of habitat preservation, promotion of initiatives, projects, etc. No one wants to see a successful event more than I do.

Dinner's waiting... uncovered chicken parts in 70+ degree
temperatures (Oh well, it is shady...) along with the laundry.
Underneath this platform were piles of chicken feathers,
bits of trash, and decaying other chicken bits - gasp!

However, click on this YouTube promotion which I find rather curious. I don't discount the heartfelt welcome the video offers, but the ecological aspects are confused by a large plastic rolling thing which doesn't make sense to me at all. Also, the place where the young boy is swimming appears, at first glance, to be 'scenic,' but it is hardly the place of ecological splendor when the consequence of trash, decaying chicken parts and excrement can be washed into the pool by our torrential rains; a pool which is actually swimming with bacteria. This didn't show up on the film, but here is what I saw a few days ago at this location.

It is not my intent to tear down the objective of the festival, but the disconnect between the ideal and the reality is huge here. There is a terrific need for leadership for the community to bring it forward into the 21st Century without losing the charm and beauty of the 17th Century and we are about to have an election which I fear is based on 19th Century objectives.

There are the outsiders, referred to as 'afuedas', some of whom see this village as a potential money pit and are doing all they can to place themselves for what they see as the coming windfall, and some others of whom are attempting to turn the tide to protect what is viewed as precious and antiquated and attractive while educating on the merits of preservation, ecological awareness and good, planned growth. The battle lines are being drawn and it may not be pretty.

But there is also a group of natives, whether native to Barichara or to someplace else in Colombia, who see the growth in Barichara as dangerous, life-changing, and a threat to the old way of living and controlling the camposinos (workers). These people have little to lose in their efforts to stop what is, although they don't see it, inevitable. I recently warned some individuals who want to establish a new business outside of town that they must be mindful to find a way to include those locals who will be eventually displaced by the new activity; whether by finding them a job in the new business or doing something else to moderate the pain of change. Resentment is a powerful emotion, easily fueled by a minor slight.

It is wonderful to have a cinematic festival here in the pueblo. Free movies every night with a double feature for four days is one of the benefits. Last night we saw a US film, "A Sea Change," (www.aseachange.net)  which was an excellent explanation of the damage that CO2 is doing right now and which will affect all of us. This is a great film for children to understand the importance of our oceans as a grandfather writes and shares with his grandson his perspectives.

The night before we saw a Canadian film, "How to Boil a Frog," which was a delightful - and sometimes humorous - call to activism using YouTube and other social media to effect change. The language in the film, however, is not for young kids.

But the irony is not lost on me that for all its focus on the ecological aspects of filmmaking, there is a huge gap in understanding that education about preserving the land begins with the very young and must be guided ever afterwards by an astute leadership.

Fuego! means "Fire!"

There has been no significant rain since the 24th of December. Everything is very dry and has the potential to really burn like crazy. Three days ago the wind was blowing at least 25 mph and gusting higher. I went with two art buddies to the cliff that marks the western end of the city of Barichara to draw/paint the mountains.

I really love this picture of my friend making a decision
about which direction to face to do a painting.

My other artist friend is getting settled near the edge of the
cliff. I could not get that close and be comfortable.

We worked on our various art projects until the sun set over the mountains and as we were headed back up to the roadway, I saw a fire and yelled in my best Spanish, "Fuego!"

I am not sure if my friends were unable to hear me, or if they were unable to understand my Spanish, or exactly what the problem was.  I tried yelling louder, but they kept giving me quizzical looks and mouthing what looked like "Que?" (What?) from further down the path.

The fire was only five minutes into the burn when I took
this shot. You can see by the way it is spreading that the
wind is very strong, pushing it along toward the trees.

Finally I just shouted as loud as I could, "FIRE!" and they came rushing up the path. By then the flames were jumping up into the trees and all the plastic bags were exploding with whatever was inside them. Now it was big enough that people along the roadway were stopping to ask questions and to try and offer some help. But there was no water source nearby and no other source to extinguish what was now growing into a huge fire.

Fortunately we had not parked my car near the trash as I have done in the past. Although it was clear it was a set fire, it is hard to say if whoever set it would have done so with a car nearby. Good thing I didn't have to find out! My friends were talking on their cells to various people who might assist, including the police. Other people had called the police as well. I decided to walk back and get the car as it was getting darker every minute and I would have to walk on a narrow dark road without much protection (guard rails, etc.).

There was little point for me to hang around anyhow because if anyone asked me a question, I would have been struggling to answer it in Spanish. (I am making progress, but my new word this week is 'caracol' which means 'snail.')

By the time I returned, the fire looked like this - only about 20 minutes had elapsed. One of Colombia's big issues is that people have cut down too many trees to build and to make fires to cook over. As a result, there are many many places where the land has literally fallen away from lack of tree cover. Having a fire anywhere obviously is terribly counter-productive.

Precious trees are being consumed by the fire at this point.

So there is a real need for education of the folks about managing the trash, not setting fires to burn it, using some of the food waste for compost, etc. And it seems the village could use a volunteer fire fighting force as well. I don't know how I can be an agent for change, but I continue to work on my language skills and perhaps something will come clear in time.

I chose to take the reflection of the colors of the setting sun on the clouds
behind me instead of the direct rays of the sun going down behind the
mountains. That was pretty too, but the colors were better here.

Before I sign off, I can at least show another beautiful Colombian sunset, taken before all the excitement of the fire.