Hello!
The next three subjects in “111 Faces of Klamath Falls” are Joseph, Ed, and Nicole.
I consider Joseph a friend, but our connection is unusual. We’re not connected on any social media, and we don’t have each other’s phone numbers, but we see each other around every so often, when it’s time to see each other around every so often. I had JUST been thinking that I would like to include Joseph in this project and was hoping to run into him soon, and just like that…I ran into him at the park! A few weeks or months will pass and I’ll think, ”I haven’t seen Joseph around,” and then just like that… I’ll see him!
Ed and Nicole aren’t complete random strangers, but I hadn’t actually ever met them.
Joseph - 34
Joseph - 34/111
Q: What’s something that brings you delight?
A: “Communing with nature.”
Q: What’s something great about yourself? (a trait or accomplishment)
A: “I’m an easy-going guy."
Q: Is there a problem for which you have a solution?
A: For the problems we’re facing now, with division and divisiveness, Joseph said, “we’ve got to bridge the gap to bring each other together as one untied family. We’re one human family that is being divided by everything…we need to be more loving towards each other.”
Q: What’s your life’s dream/goal, and how are you working towards it?
A: Joseph is a filmmaker and for as long as I’ve known him, he’s been dreaming of, and working toward doing a project with Netflix. (A film called, “Smile and Be Afraid.”) He continues to persist, and he’s optimistic that he’s getting closer to someday making this a reality! Best wishes and all the good vibes that this comes to fruition soon!
Q: How would you like to be remembered? (personal legacy statement)
A: “I would like to be remembered as a good person, as a kind person, as a happy person, and as an honest and reliable person.”
Ed - 35
Ed - 35/111
Q: What’s something that brings you delight?
A: “My Grandkids!”
Q: What’s something great about yourself? (a trait or accomplishment)
A: “I’m 71 years old and I’m still alive!”
Ed also added that he climbs Mt. Shasta every year!
Q: Is there a problem for which you have a solution?
A: “I don’t have solutions, I have a few ideas…dialogue solves a lot of problems, but it’s not a strong trait in a lot of our leaders today.”
Q: What’s your life’s dream/goal, and how are you working towards it?
A: “At this point in my life, my goal is to pass some of my knowledge and my business to my children, and give them the same opportunities that I had.”
Q: How would you like to be remembered? (personal legacy statement)
A: “I want to be remembered as fair, and that I listened to other people and helped to guide them with calmness and serenity.”
Ed is a farmer. I spotted Ed doing some spring cleaning with fire. (Burning to clear weeds.) I pulled off to the side of the road to observe his process and then walked over near him, careful not to catch myself on fire, and explained that I had stopped to watch and ask a few questions about burning and other tractor options.
Ed and I visited for quite a while. It would take well over a thousand words to explain to you the significance of our encounter. It was a meaningful exchange, and important to me. I’ve spent the past week considering just how I would try to adequately explain this if you’re not from around here. Someday, I’ll write about this topic at length, but this photo project isn’t the right place. Instead, I’ll give you the super condensed explanation of some background, so you’ll understand just how special our visit was to me.
Please understand, this is an extremely over-simplified explanation. (and the explanation is coming from my point of view, and opinion.) I’m only sharing it because meeting Ed and talking with him has made an impact on me. I meet people in my photo projects who will stick with me forever, and Ed is one of those people.
One of the biggest issues in all of Klamath County, is our ongoing water crisis. Agriculture is a main industry here. Another important part of our community is our Indigenous People - The Klamath Tribes. We’ve been battling severe drought conditions for over two decades. In the most concise explanation I can give, there’s too many consumptive users and not enough water to sustain our ecosystems and agricultural industry. Remember, I’m over-simplifying this! Our water crisis has resulted in an ecological crisis and a crisis within our community, or communities. We must fight to preserve species and prevent fish from going extinct, which are culturally significant to the Klamath Tribes, and also protected by both the endangered species act, as well as protected by a nation-to-nation treaty with the US Government. Basically, by law, and by law of nature, we need to protect species from going extinct. Because the Tribe has Senior Water Rights, and because our Irrigators also have water rights, and of course, crops can’t grow without water and fish can’t live without healthy water and the endangered fish are of critical cultural importance to the Tribe, and were once a subsistence food source…the result is a divided community because there hasn’t been enough water to sustain thriving fish populations (because of poor water quality and a host of other reasons) and enough for irrigation needs.
If you don’t know me personally, I’m a Klamath Tribal Member, but I also ventured into farming. Well, I can’t make that claim any longer, since this will be the second year in a row that I’m not going to farm. What I desire more than anything — are solutions that will prevent our endangered fish species from going extinct, solutions that will save our fish and sustain agriculture, for regenerative agricultural practices to become part of the solution, and for our divided communities to heal and thrive.
Ed sort of figured out who I was after I stopped to ask him questions about burning vs. tilling, but I hadn’t realized that I also sort of knew who he was until after we had talked for a while. We just visited. We had a dialogue. We talked about the problems in Klamath County, about agriculture, about fish going extinct, about what could have been done differently in the past so that we wouldn’t still be in this situation, and we touched on racism and white privilege, and what that means to Ed. We just talked. Ed shared his knowledge with me, we laughed, and at times, I even got a little teary-eyed. I lost track of time. I don’t know if we talked for 20 minutes or if it was closer to an hour. Our conversation was honest, respectful, and at times, a difficult one. We started out talking farmer-to-farmer. Our conversation then evolved to one between a farmer-to-Indigenous woman+environmental & social justice activist. Eventually, our conversation evolved to a HUMAN-to-HUMAN conversation. We were having a dialogue. Together, we were dreaming of better days and better ways…to a future when we’re united, collaborating, and thriving.
Ed is right…open dialogue and actual human-to-human communication is critical to solving so many of our problems. He showed me right there, with calmness and serenity, just how much can happen when we have human-to-human dialogue.
I appreciated Ed’s time, knowledge, and conversation. If you’re from around here, know of our ongoing crisis, or know me personally, you understand the significance of our conversation. You also understand just how rare this sort of dialogue is, and just how much it’s needed. I stopped just to ask Ed a few farmer questions but left with so much more. Once again, a subject I met has refilled me with hope and optimism.
Nicole - 36
Nicole - 36/111
Q: What’s something that brings you delight?
A: “My dog!”
Q: What’s something great about yourself? (a trait or accomplishment)
A: “I’m a Grandmother of three.”
Q: Is there a problem for which you have a solution?
A: For the problem of racism, Nicole’s solution is, “killing people with kindness.”
Q: What’s your life’s dream/goal, and how are you working towards it?
A: “My dream is to be rich in love.” “I have Shawn,” Nicole added, when describing how she’s working towards it. (Remember VaShawn? You met him back in week three!)
Q: How would you like to be remembered? (personal legacy statement)
A: “I want to be remembered for always giving a helping hand, and as a great friend, mother, and girlfriend.”
Sincere appreciation to you - Joseph, Ed, and Nicole! Thank you!
Thanks for following along. Wishing you another great week, and some great dialogue. Let’s solve some problems together.