Dear Friends
Fourteen years ago, I completed one of the most challenging adventures of my life. I
was met, after the seven day, forty-seven mile hike, by Emily, Kathleen and my
sister Mary Bek and her husband Bill.
The sign, “Free the Tuolumne” refers to
the river that was stopped by a dam that was built and then
flooded Hetch Hetch Valley, a place as beautiful as the Yosemite Valley we know
(even with all its crowds!) I was one of seven who participated in the Inaugural
“Muir’s March” to raise funds for Restore Hetch Hetchy. John Muir famously said:
“Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water
tanks, the people’s cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been
consecrated by the heart of man.”
If the dam ever comes down in my lifetime,
I want to be there with my fellow hikers and take, with them, the first sledgehammer
swings to the O’Shaughnessy Dam.
But, of course, life is filled with visions
and dreams and projects we do not get to see through to the end.
Still, it is satisfying to know that we did our part to make some
progress towards fulfilling those dreams. We all have a chance to keep bending
the arc towards those things that will bring more peace and justice, health, healing and beauty
to this world.
John
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