Celebrate Earth Week By Meeting a New Neighbor at Thursday’s Potluck
Apr 23, 2024
One thing about resilience: it has to be built—it doesn’t just pop up. And getting to resilience is bumpy, since by its nature, something that is resilient has to withstand pressures and come through OK.
Resilience comes in many forms: a permeable waterfront park that adapts to—and thrives—with rising and falling sea levels; a house that withstands hurricane-force winds; a neighborhood that successfully evacuates all residents in a flood, using a human chain of helpers.
People help one another become resilient: the neighbor who lost her job but found another via a casual, front-porch conversation with you; the acquaintance whose spirits soared when you asked her how she was doing; the youngster who lost her balance rounding a corner on her bike, but with your help picked herself up, brushed off the gravel, and got riding again.
What makes a community resilient? Is it merely an inventory of infrastructure that can withstand the many vagaries of life in a dynamic environment? Is it a place where kind folks look out for one another?
At CamdenCAN we firmly belief community resilience is built person to person, via threads of connection. It’s an active process of finding ways to weave our shared vision and care into a strong life net that can withstand the many challenges we currently face, and will confront in our chaotic climate future.
It’s a tall order. We believe in the task because of the beauty of this corner of the world. Not just the mountains meeting the sea, but fellow citizens volunteering in innumerable ways: working on trails in the state park; leading a book club about the sacredness of nature; picking up roadside trash; leading nonprofits dedicated to chamber music, watershed protection, building affordable housing. Store owners planting trees when purchases are made. Teachers committed to teaching earth stewardship.
There’s a potluck this Thursday (4/25) at the First Congregational Church at 530 pm designed to help weave us together (see more below). We’ll gather and pool our food offerings first, and after a bit, local environmental group representatives will give 5-minute overviews of the work they’re doing.
The potluck is a chance to meet new folks, hear about good works for our environment, and build resilience. Studies have shown that when community members invest time in meeting one another, they get through challenging times better. According to Urban Footprint, building community resilience requires:
Improving social connectedness; Increasing government integration and involvement in planning, response, and recovery; Ensuring effective risk communication to the population and especially to at-risk groups; Bolstering the physical and mental health of the population; Building the social and economic health of the community.
Other Inspiring Earth-Week Tidbits
Bill McKibben: No one else tells it quite like it is. Watch this short video to celebrate Earth week. Pass it along to others who might be needing it. Also read his recent Substack essay: “Is $38 Trillion a Lot?”
Green Energy Times: this terrific, New England based publication has lots to offer. Read the digital version here.
Maine Youth Forging the Path: The state has released a great new website to help younger adults on their path to resilience. Check out Climate and Me, and pass it along. There’s a survey for this age group to fill out as well as information about how to get involved, including Anya Johnson’s groundbreaking work on climate venn diagrams.
Imagination as Fuel: Grist magazine recently held its 2024 Imagine Contest, an annual climate fiction competition. The stories resound with hope and optimism, despite being set in futures we can barely imagine. “The Imperfect Blue Marble” by Rae Mariz held a deep resonance.
Non-Fiction Worth the Time: Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World/Jon Vaillant; On the Move: The Heating Earth and the Uprooting of America/Abram Lustgarten; Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet/Thich Nhat Hanh; Church of the Wild: How Nature Invites Us into the Sacred/Victoria Loorz; The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes Our Brains/Clayton Page Aldern.
Climate Pods: We’ve mentioned our favorite podcasts before, and this week we’re encouraging this uplifing listen: Outrage and Optimism, episode 40 Seconds to Save the World with Paul Goodenough. (More on the role of creativity and imagination as ways to get through this crisis.)
“Pier Pressure: A low-lying wharf in Portland Harbor is a ‘living laboratory,’ offering early glimpses of how coastal Mainers are adapting to a rising sea,” from the Maine Monitor: great article about the many challenges caused by sea level rise in downtown Portland. Adapt or retreat? How will we answer those questions in Camden harbor?
Swiss Women Over 65: if you didn’t hear, a stalwart group of Swiss women sued the Swiss government over its climate inaction — and won in the top European court! Watch the short video from the World Economic Forum here or Axios’ article here. Let’s figure out what bold action Camden can take!
Upcoming CamdenCAN Events
4/25/24, Thursday, 5:30-7:30 pm, First Congregational Church, 55 Elm Street, CamdenCAN Climate Potluck. Come celebrate Earth Week, meet other climate-concerned neighbors, and share a meal. Come learn about climate action initiatives presented by local non-profits, including green burials, SEA, municipal solar, and home gardening initiatives, to name just a few. Bring a dish to share if you feel so inclined.
5/1 at 5 pm and 5/2 at 1 pm, Camden Public Library. Climate Conversation Circles. Read more about these here.
5/16/24, Thursday, 6:30-7:30 pm, Camden Public Library, Camden Talks Climate with Blake Sanborn on designing for harbor resilience. Details to follow.
6/13/24, Thursday, 6:30-7:30 pm, Camden Public Library, Camden Talks Climate on weatherization and home energy use: learning how to tighten up—you’ll save money and feel more comfortable, with Colin McCullough/All Around Home Performance and Camden resident Annie Ropeik, reporter for Maine Monitor. More details to follow.
Other Local Stewardship/Climate-Related Events
4/25/24, 4:00-5:30 pm, Thursday, Camden Snow Bowl Lodge. The Town of Camden welcomes the public to an open house to discuss an ongoing trails master planning for the Ragged Mountain Recreation Area. This is a drop-in event—please come at your convenience and prepare to spend 15-30 minutes learning about the project and providing valuable insights. Representatives from the Outdoor Sport Institute, professional trail consultants partnering with the Town to develop this plan, will be on site to answer any questions. Transitioning this recreation area away from snow-based sports is critical for Camden. Make your voice heard.
4/27/24, Saturday, 11 am to 1 pm, Camden Public Library Annual Spring Cleanup Day. Bring tools and gloves and meet at the ampitheater. FMI: dpjackson@librarycamden.org.
4/27/24, Saturday, 7 pm (doors open 6:30 pm), Barnswallow Books, 166 Russell Ave, Rockport, ME. Fundraising concert for SEA (Stewardship Education Alliance) with Dean Stevens. See more here.
Merryspring: lots of good climate-related information and initiatives, including a session on their pollinator garden, a worm-bin workshop, and a discussion of the Gulf of Maine’s health. Check out their calendar here.
Concluding Thoughts
Where do you see the beauty of Camden?
Maybe it strikes you as you look out toward Isle Au Haut from the tower on Mt. Battie. Maybe it’s the smell of salt air as you walk your dog on Laite Beach while watching the mooring tender replace the winter pickup sticks with the white, mushroom-like mooring balls. Maybe it’s as you sit in Zoots writing your morning blog. Maybe it’s strolling into our unique underground library to pick up the brown-bagged books waiting for you. Or maybe it’s that wave and smile from the mother-daughter pair on their morning walk?
So many treasures.
Climate change threatens a place we love, and the people we love.
Is it worth saving? We think so.
Let’s commit to building resilience, person by person, step by step.
You can make a difference. You do make a difference. Together we are stronger.
We hope to meet you Thursday.
Earth is not where we’re from, it’s where we belong, and it’s the only home we will ever know.
—Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute