Resilience is Regeneration

The community that shows resilience is that which can grow happy and healthy children. Truly, we are merely the caterers for the next generation’s party.

Seeing local kids with positive energy and open minds is a promising sight for the future. It is also a positive reflection for our manner of life that so many children who grow up here choose to return here to reside.

Contribution by Christopher Heron, April 2015  

Cultivating Knowledge and Understanding

Our community houses an institution of higher learning. This is a sanctuary for ancient thoughts and perceptions and a nursery for new ones. Just as biota stems from water, cultural change stems from universities. People come here to grow and evolve and in so doing our community and its potential evolves.

Contribution by Christopher Heron, April 2015 

Communal Creativity

Our community is healthy with abundant creative expression.



My local circus troop, Electric Blue Monkey Theatre, has hosted grass roots artistic gatherings to build community cohesion and generate inspiration.

We had the foresight  for the last festival to prepare a garden to supply fresh veggies for massive meals.

Contribution by Christopher Heron, April 2015   

Recycled Homes

Our community has particularly elastic concepts of shelter, allowing for many unique solutions, using alternative supplies (often recycled) to answer to eternal human question of where ( and as it follows - how) to live.
 

Many structures employ passive solar building techniques like window position and thermal mass for heat storage. This vision and flexibility houses many families and individuals that in other places might find it hard to have their own home.

See more at earthship.com

Contribution by Christopher Heron, April 2015  

Investing in Seed Banks

There are many seed exchanges throughout the Taos community. These gatherings allow local gardeners to share abundant locally adapted seeds with each other. What one has a need for another has extra of. In this way the community enriches both individual gardens but also the assets of the sustainable growing potential of the area as a whole.

Contribution by Christopher Heron, April 2015 

LET IT SNOW!

    Day after day of steady snow fall is a welcome sign of resiliency for our community. Not only does it guaranty large amounts of tourist dollars for our local economy, it is the watery savings account we will draw on year round.

    The snow tourists ski on today will be a time release water source. Swelling streams for rafting in Spring and prolonging acequia waters for longer summer irrigation. A healthy water table level here depends on abundant winter snow.

Contribution by Christopher Heron (from February 2015)

Streams, rivers, and fishing

Spring run-off helps make us resilient because it helps provide water for our irrigation, and keeps our fresh water rivers flowing where we get our fish from instead of buying fish from the store that wasn't even raised in New Mexico.   

This is a brown trout that I go fishing for to eat with my family. Instead of going to the store for fish we go to the river that is close by. I believe this is resilient because we are eating local fish, that have not been caught in a different state and brought here.

Contribution by Andre Santistevan, April 2015