NEW YEARS LETTER 2024

It’s a wonderful time of the year! The holiday festivities came full throttle and the family members made more noise than ever at 7:30 am. Per tradition. I hope all of your years go out with joy and cheer.

Rivers and Roads

Time for the New Year letter means time for quite a bit of reflection and thanks, and also looking ahead to the future, setting goals, and making plans. While this will not be the last rivers and roads section, it may look a little bit different because we have officially said goodbye to our road home, Patty, the Subaru Outback, and are planning for what comes next.

Right now the status of life can be described in one word: limbo. While we have stopped traveling and camping for work, we now are back to traveling in an even smaller car to families’ houses while we look for work. The attempt to acquire affordable interim healthcare coverage has been way more of a headache than the rest of our living uncertainties. I think I have read about a 200-page novel worth of fine print to decipher if coverage starts January 1 or February 1 and what the timeline to sign up for an alternative plan actually is.

Besides the joy that is the American health care system, there are many other things that have brought real joy the last few weeks.

With snow on the ground and the sun out on Christmas morning, it was a cheery holiday this year. We were blessed with such wonderful food—homemade and chef-made—Italian, North African, American, Japanese, Mediterranean, and Korean. But the best part of the holidays is always spending time with folks you care about and sharing tales, playing games, and showing love. It’s a time when people join together to spread more goodwill. In the spirit of goodwill and after watching Klaus, a touching animated film, I want to share my most favorite road story…

The Wonderful Willow of CA

We were deep in California when the atmospheric rivers hit the Pacific coast. Our plan for the night had been to camp inland in the national forest. These particular sites were non-reservable so you had to show up to see if there were any available. Unfortunately for us, upon arrival we found out that both our plan A and plan B campgrounds had been closed due to a high risk of falling trees. The soil was so saturated with water and the winds were so high that trees were crushing things right and left… and we did not want to be a part of that. So we fled.

We had no other choice but to go down from the mountains toward the coast. Hopefully, we would find fewer trees and some open space to camp. We came to a little beach town, Stinson Beach, directly north of the city of San Francisco.

It was a cute, quiet beach town. There was a little coffee shop open right next to the public beach access and a handful of people walking their dogs along the waterfront. The chilly, wet air was occasionally broken up by a ray of sunshine and we decided to go for a walk along the coast. Beautiful houses lined the shore, but there was something amiss. The skeletons of their foundations were showing and some houses were boarded up entirely. As we walked further down we came to a house with a whole hoard of people in neon construction vests surrounding it. They were passing plywood around and nailing up the house’s windows. It wasn’t just construction folks, but firemen and families helping as well. It seemed like the whole town was there. We stood and watched as this beach front property was deemed uninhabitable.

The further we walked the more it sank in. These atmospheric rivers have caused dramatic beach loss in this area. These houses would eventually all fall into the ocean, but that process had been recently exacerbated by higher water levels, rising ocean temperatures, and stronger storm surges. As we walked back to the little cafe for lunch, I was struck by how calm everything seemed right now, but how horrifying it would be to shelter in one of those houses during a storm, not knowing if it was going to tip over or stand strong.

As evening settled in we found out there was hardly a hotel in this town and the coastal highway to San Francisco was covered by a mudslide, so we had no direct route to the city either. We decided that our best bet for camping would be to squat in the back corner of the long beach park and hope that no one bothered us. We decided to make homemade chicken noodle soup in the wok.

A few hours later, dusk had come and the chicken noodle soup was simmering. A couple and their dog suddenly emerged from the bushes and were walking right toward our car. I was cooking out of the back of the car as they stopped to talk. It was not unusual for people to come talk to us since our car had a bright wrap with trees and a bunch of logos on it. These folks seemed nice—mostly judged by their happy dog.

They asked about our work and what we were still doing at the beach. We explained that everything had closed and since we camped full time, we were planning to do that here, if it didn’t bother anyone. They stared at us thoughtfully, then said…“You really do not want to be caught here tonight.” That took us by surprise. Was that a threat—a warning? “Come midnight, the tide will wash you away. You’ll be under water.”

OH. Ohh no. Jesse and I glance at each other, mouths slightly agape, trying to silently scramble through our backup plans only to find that we didn’t have any and that this was our backup plan. The couple continued, “Our property is just over this hill and normally we have people stay with us but they cancelled because of the storm. If you need a place to stay—we have room.” Again, Jesse and I look at each other silently trying to decide if we trust these people or if they are plotting to murder us. Weighing getting swept into the ocean versus a warm dry bed with a slight chance of murder, we took their offer. They must be good people…they had a dog after all!

The couple seemed relieved. They offered to show us where to go. This posed a problem since they intended to show us now but the chicken noodle soup was still cooking and the back of the car was a mess. So, we did what any reasonable couple would do… in the beginning of a horror movie… split up. Jesse went with the couple to scope out how to get there, and I would finish packing up the soup and the car. We agreed that Jesse would come back to this spot to meet me.

As soon as Jesse left I realized that, of course, there was no cell service. I put our soup in containers thinking… welp, Jesse is a goner. I sit and I wait. What is a reasonable time to wait? I couldn’t tell you. About 20 mins go by. That felt too long to wait. I am sitting in the car looking at my phone hopelessly when I spot lights coming up behind me. It was not Jesse. The person, in a pickup truck, steps out and comes up to knock on my window.

It was the park ranger. This gruff but kind-looking man tells me that he forgot to close the park, but he was doing it now so I am going to be escorted out. The park entrance is at least half a mile down the beach and I was losing hope of ever finding Jesse again. The ranger closes and locks the gate behind me. I could not load a map but I recognized the cafe we went to earlier in the day and I think maybe Jesse would come to look for me there? He didn’t. So next option—I started driving slowly up and down the streets close to where Jesse went off into the woods with the couple.

By some miracle, after some wandering, I received a call and spotted a little blob down a road waving his hands in the air at the exact same moment. Reunited at last! I scoop Jesse up and he shows me to the entrance of a compound. While I had been waiting and meandering the streets, Jesse had been recruited to help the property owner fix some string lights and open up the Love Shack—the tiny cabin we would be staying in. As he tells me this, thoughts of “are these people swingers? are they looking to get something out of us?” were still running through my mind. But, as we go through the gate and the lights turn on, the expanse of this place comes to light. I spot an ornate gazebo, a koi pond, bamboo fences, tiki heads, an airstream, and a handful of tiny chalets. This place is an Alps meets Indonesia surfer’s paradise.

We take shelter in The Love Shack after checking for any hidden cameras. No cameras were found, so we turned on the little space heater, ate some soup, then got a wonderful night’s sleep. If you had asked me three hours earlier that we would be sleeping in a cozy cabin with beautiful views next to a koi pond, I certainly would not have believed you. Come morning, the couple extended the offer to house us for as long as we needed because they knew the storms had shut most things down. We stayed one more night, and then the highway opened back up and we made plans to head down to San Francisco.

We thanked the couple for their generous hospitality and for welcoming two strangers onto their property on such short notice. They not only had saved us from getting swept into the ocean in the middle of our sleep and sheltered us during the storm, but they graciously invited us to stay on their property full time, if we needed a place to be. It turns out they could use some hands to help do repairs after such a heavy rainy season and Jesse had already passed the test by helping light the string lights. They had a full airstream ready and waiting to be occupied. Sadly, we had to turn them down because we already had a full time job. We had no idea how unique the spot really was at the time. After leaving Willow Camp, I was struck by how fast one simple encounter could change your life—how fast one invitation could cascade into so much more.

This encounter caused me to brim with longing to be able to welcome people into a space like they did. To be so unhesitantly invited in and given the benefit of the doubt reminds us what it feels like when people believe in the good of people. Ultimately, that goodness only grows.

Hot Topic

SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION

Little actions can butterfly to have big effects. But sometimes it takes physical objects to conceptualize impact. That brings us to our topic this week: consumption.

Around the holidays, 25% more waste is produced than any other time of year. Plastic waste is at the core of the sustainable consumption discussion because its lifespan is so disproportionate to the amount of time we actually use the plastic items we make. Think about the last plastic item you threw away. How long did you use it?

The UN’s SDG 12: “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns” shares some lofty goals. It addresses natural resource use, retail, food, chemicals, reuse and recycling, corporations’ reporting, procurement, lifestyle purchases, developing countries, tourism, job creation, and subsidies. But in effect it is mostly talk. Like resolutions, they take work to put into action. The latest COP set out to decide what to do with plastic. However, because plastic has brought a lot of good into the world, shaped our consumption expectations, and is beloved by the oil companies that largely see it as THE way to make money as the world shifts away from fossil fuels for energy, it has been challenging for country representatives to commit to the reduction of plastic production.

What the COP shows is that when really lofty goals are being tackled, disagreements can lead to inaction—a captive paralysis. If we find that we cannot accomplish the biggest goal we must make smaller foundational goals that drive us in the right direction. The hope is that those small acts spark another and another. This podcast does a great job of talking about why foundational goal setting conversations are critical and why shifts in consumption are much easier when done as a group, together.

When we think about our personal goals and our role as individual consumers, there are a couple steps we can take. 1. Share what sustainable consumption means to you with others and bring more people into the conversation. See what other people are doing that works and share what is working for you. 2. Make collective goals. Decide what combined values you have and tackle your goals together so that you build accountability and support. 3. Celebrate the wins and use that momentum to push toward bigger goals. Believe in the power of people.

Things You Didn’t Notice

WHERE DOES IT ALL GO

Did you know that garbage is big business? The end of the year often means disproportionate amounts of waste are generated. But where does it go? During our travels, it was evident that in urban areas, recycling is much more common, and in rural areas landfilling is usually the only option. That is because the most valuable asset when it comes to waste landfilling is the land itself—not just the stuff that is going into the landfill.

Particularly in land scarce areas like New York City, there must be an extensive solid waste management system and a way for the place where people inhabit to remain relatively clean. With a 1.7 billion dollar operating budget, the NYC waste machine exports its waste to other places, exacerbating the disconnect between how much waste it produces and the residual effect it has.

The only chance of incentivizing reducing our waste is to improve our connection to “where it goes”. I am very thankful to have lived in places that are pretty clean and to have seen so many places that have only been slightly impacted by human consumption. But not everyone has that luxury. When you live in a place where your waste “goes away,” every little bit that you can reduce or reuse is improving the condition of life of another who lives in a place where waste gets sent. That is an easy way to add a little selfless spark(le) to the world.

Refresh

• Transportation: After years and years of reluctance, I am finally giving distance running a go. It is not my favorite means of transportation but I want to see if my body can take me the distance with no mechanical advantage—just my legs. Please wish me luck and mental fortitude. Or join me for the Cincinnati Flying Pig marathon! Training begins now. 

• Mentality: Completing hands-on tasks is good for the brain. Having hands-on jobs makes taking care of your brain a part of your daily life. Learning how to take on home repair challenges can be confidence building, money saving, and the ultimate brain boost.

• Community: This eco-village takes living together to another level. They are all protected in a greenhouse to cope with inclement weather.

• Household: This year’s American football landscape looks different. The culmination of college players being able to make money on their name, image and likeness, the 12 team college playoff that runs through all of January, and the reduction in stoppage time and increase in TV ads means bigger money moves and football on Saturday, Sunday and most other days of the weeks longer into the winter.

• Health: The brain and the gut are inextricably linked despite being on opposite ends of our body. The research to understand how our microbiome affects our memory is fascinating, even in its infancy.

Mouthwatering

SHAKSHUKA

This is a soul warming comfort food. Though there are lots of ingredients, the result makes you want to curl up by a fire with a nice cozy blanket and murmur “yummm”. That or have a dinner party. Either works.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 cup chopped yellow onion

• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced

• ¼ teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika

• ½ teaspoon ground cumin

• Pinch cayenne pepper, optional

• 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

• 2 tablespoons harissa paste

• 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped

To top it off:

• 3 to 5 large eggs

• ⅓ cup crumbled feta cheese

• ¼ cup fresh parsley leaves

• 1 avocado, sliced

• Microgreens, for garnish, optional

• Toasted bread, for serving

Game Time

It is time to begin manifesting the perfect 2025. Since AI has been the talk of the town this year, let’s use chatGPT to design your life. Why not have a robot tell you what it thinks your priorities should be? That’s not slightly alarming at all.

What would life look like? Well… here is a chatGPT dream life tutorial:

I hope you all have a wonderful conclusion to 2024 and an even better 2025. Next year, I am excited to dive deeper into a topic we have touched on already: resilient development of cities and communities. Come enter my living in one place era with me.

Thank you for reading this Water Hole letter. Let me know what you think! You can reach out by emailing here. We’ll be back in your inbox about a month from now. In the meantime, if you enjoyed this, please consider sharing it with your friends and family using this link. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, join the Water Hole now. To ensure it reaches your inbox, just add [email protected] as a contact.