Let me introduce myself: My name is Susanne Connor. I live in Hailey , Idaho. I am a flyfishing guide, a clothing buyer, ski coach, and the van fleet manager for the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation.
I live with my partner of 16 years, Scott Schnebly. Together we operate Lost River Outfitters in Ketchum, Idaho, an outfitting business and retail store that he started in 1984.
We live in a house surrounded by organic vegetable gardens, we mostly eat meat that we shoot ourselves, we heat our house with wood, we do a lot of canning and smoking and preserving. I feel like we get to live a pretty sweet life.
We are both adamant about water issues, fish preservation issues, non-pesticide and herbicide issues, and are quite definitely against GMOs.
Well, I have been struggling coming to terms with certain things this winter. We've had a tough clothing selling season, and here I am bearing the responsibility of buying more for next year. There has been a lot numbers crunching and thoughtfulness, but also one irrefutable fact has been creeping into my daily growing awareness: is this a practice that has future for both me and the world we live in? My job has become exceedingly more difficult......
But, I have muddled through it, or better, am still muddling through it.
I have also reached a , to me at least, giant mile stone: I just turned 60! This brings up another whole set of emotional issues. OOOOOPS, I can't say : I will do this or that when I grow up, too late for that one. Now it is more: what can I do to sustain myself when old age comes knocking on my door? How can I support myself , how do I WANT to support myself? There has been a lot of soul searching.......
I have some pretty strong environmental ideals but I have felt compelled to not voice them except to folks who are of equal mind. You see, the favorite of my jobs is guiding flyfishermen and women. I love EVERYTHING about it! You get to be OUTSIDE. You get to pick a gorgeous spot to be outside and ALL DAY LONG!!! you get to be in good company with someone who wants to be there with you, who is PAYING you to be there with you. You get to share you passion for fly fishing with someone. You get to practice your ability to teach someone, put a smile on their face and have them come home happy and tired and full. How lucky can you get? Another part of this job is that you also get to sneak in a look into the scary part of Western life, or is it LIFE now???? This is the issue of WATER..........without water there is no life, fish lay gasping for air, crops dry out, humans go thirsty. How can there be a balance?
Well, I've learned to tread lightly with the naysayers of 'global weirdness'....yup, just to make sure they understand that the cold and snowy winter in the East is also part of this irrefutable truth: the world's climate is changing and not for the better!
See, I am in a quandary here: I love to guide, I need the money, I even need the tip, I need for the naysayers to still go with me, even when they ask me:'Do you believe in global warming?'......... Are you for real?????
But I have been answering with diplomacy:" All scientific evidence aside, let me tell you about my garden. It used to freeze Labor Day weekend. Now I harvest it at the end of October...........
But, they answer, it's just a cycle, we are not to blame.....REALLY???????
I have been keeping my mouth shut, because I need them, but there are some things underfoot that threaten the very existence of my oh so sheltered life. The truth is about to strike home right here in little old Hailey, Idaho: We are running out of water, right here, right now.
I have been reading some disturbing news lately. First the story about Sao Paolo in Brazil. The 12th largest metropolis in the world has 60 days of water left! 60 days.......
Then the article in the Mountain Express shook me to my very core. Our regional water issues have been affecting US...........no water below Magic after July 1, giant fish kills in a fishery that was so special and that hosted trophy fish. Although this turned me into an advocate, a spokesperson, for change, the newest disturbing news will turn me into on ACTIVIST. The news is that the farmers and ranchers way to the South of us will most likely call for the water that we all use right here! The time has come to speak up!
Now this issue has gone from affecting US to affecting ME personally and with that YOU as well. We are talking those of us with home water wells or those of us hooked up to the Hailey water system! This is HUGE!
as I mentioned before, I love to garden. I have been doing it all my life. Scott loves to garden, he grew up on a farm.
We may love it and that would just make it a hobby, but for us it is our small part of being super sustainable, of eating organic fruits and vegies at least 6 months of the year, then canning and preserving a lot of them, feeding them to our clients and friends. We still have potatoes and squash, tomato sauce and all kinds of preserves left over from last summer's garden.
Without water, there will be no garden. I always thought my personal sanctuary would be safe, but it is no more!
What can we do? How can we affect change? How can we preserve our lifestyle?
More and more I find that negative begets negative, only positives can bring forth positives.
I cannot hate the farmers down South for threatening to take 'MY" water just because someone 150 years ago laid claim to it. But taking our water up here is a band-aid solution. It does not solve a thing. It just trickles the water poverty down to an even deeper level.
Let's face it, we live in the high desert, and this fact will become even more apparent with worsening drought.
What can we do to preserve rather than take away? This water issue reminds me of deficit spending......take from Peter to pay Paul. Water is not a renewable resource any longer.
The canal water needs to be piped rather than run above ground where there is attrition through evaporation and seepage. We need more water efficient crops. We need to educate and brainstorm. We all are tenants of a planet that will evict us if we don't initiate change NOW.
I am and always will be an optimist, we all have to be or we might as well jump off a cliff right now. But, the positive outcome that I am trying to visualize can only happen with positive change and compromise and awareness and action.
Now the question arises: what can I do? What can we all do? We need to rally the troops and come up with a plan!
So I am starting by sending this little blog to raise even a little bit of awareness. I'll have to think of a way to find the time to help bring about a change. Even if our Hailey water is safe this year, it may not stay safe. I am realizing that inaction is no better than doing the harm yourself.
Any great ideas?
