Revisit: Howls from Mountain and Valley
- Details
- Category: Environment
- Created on Thursday, 19 November 2009 13:52
- Written by Mike Ely
Six months ago, I wrote this piece after traveling through high passes and forests. Now we are returning as the snow starts to fall there. The rest of our moderator team will maintain the site, as we go welcome in December with the wolves.
Some of my projects for Kasama will be on hold. For the coming week, write to the kasamasite email rather than my personal address. Send suggestions about posts, videos and any alerts about site problems. Also, we will be using Kasama Threads more to discuss this site and its progress.
Talk to you a little later -- about ten days later.
By Mike Ely
We were staying in a green flat valley in the northern Rockies. A steep snow-covered ridge of mountain started to rise abruptly just a short walk from the house. At about 2 am in the morning there was a knock on the door. "Come outside. Hear this."
We stepped out onto the wide porch, into a slight chill, and listened -- looking up at that wall of mountain in black silhouette against the stars.
We waited, and there it was.
A wolf howled loud, and held its note. And then, far to the right on a different part of mountain, came a reply, mournful, searching. And then another. Over and over they howled in longing.
A wolf pack must have gotten separated during their nighttime adventures. They were seeking each other out. Howling, and moving closer to connect, in the dense woods above the valley.
And then, an amazing thing happened.
The dogs of this valley started making noise. It rose from dozens of scattered ranches, farmhouses and homes-- until the valley floor seemed alive with their sounds.
Some of the dogs barked -- short and hostile -- warning their owners of the wolves. But there were others among the dogs, more than you might suspect, who didn't answer with protective yaps -- but with long searching howls of their own. "We're here."
On the porch, we grinned. There are often more dreaming of freedom than you might expect. And my thoughts flickered back, for a second, to our work: how do we regroup in ways that connect with all those who are waiting?
Sustain Kasama
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Kasama is a communist project for the forcible overthrow and transformation of all existing social conditions. We are open to learning, unafraid to admit our own uncertainties. We will not shrink from what we do know: the solutions cannot be found within the current world order or the choices it provides. We are for revolution. We seek to find the forms of organization and action for the people most dispossessed by this system to free themselves and all humanity.
To take this road, we need a fearless, open-eyed debate, discussion and engagement. We need fresh analyses of the rapid changes shaping the world around us. We need to sum up a century of revolutionary strategies and attempts, victories and defeats – instead of the conventional wisdom and facile verdicts that paralyze our movements. We need to re-imagine a radical politics that can take life among people and move mountains.
Dig in.