Page 30 - Flathead Beacon // 9.9.15

NOTES FROM THE HINTERLANDS
TRISTAN SCOTT
TWO BEAR ON TWHE MIND
HEN THE SMOKE DISPERSED AND THE day dawned cool and clear, the familiar urge to go for a run finally took hold, returning in
earnest for the first time after weeks of impenetrably chalky skies and atmospheric malaise.
Even the tactile sensation of lacing up my shoes made me shudder, and in those first few foot strikes I imag- ined what a fish felt like slipping back into water after a spell of breathless wriggling, gliding through its natural environment.
There was a time in my life when running felt like a task to be dispatched, a half-hour of agony justifiably endured for a rotating cast of motives – in high school, to stay in shape for Nordic ski races; in college, to stave off the Freshman 15; as a writer, to introduce physical movement to a discipline that often involves sedentary routine; and in vanity, to fit my Levi’s.
At some point, however, running ceased being a chore and became my partner, a loyal companion that awak- ened me, springing me into consciousness when I’d oth- erwise still be searching for the cool side of the pillow.
For most people, running isn’t a love-at-first-sight kind of relationship, but it is deeply personal, and after enduring its nagging long enough, I eventually learned how to embrace it, and have since been rewarded in div- idends untold.
Every lifelong runner understands this feeling, has nodded along indulgently as the non-runner explains his or her disdain for the sport, regurgitating clichéd truisms about not running unless chased while the run- ner reserves proselytizing, knowing that the virtues of this beloved sport cannot be articulated to the non-run- ner until his or her own personal transformation occurs, like a chrysalis undergoing metamorphosis.
My own metamorphosis occurred while preparing for my first marathon, during which I subscribed obses- sively to a rigid training schedule, crippled with para- noia about the specter of injury or illness, anxious about missing a workout, terrified that I might fail despite all of my hard work.
On one of my final long runs before the race, I was padding along a damp, leaf-spattered trail when it occurred to me that I was having fun, enjoying total consciousness without any of the mental handwring- ing or tedium that always seemed to accompany a run. The anxiety lifted and the exhilaration was liberating, unleashing a fountain of energy that compelled me to enter countless marathons through the years.
But this year, for the first time in many, I have not once risen early to the comforting spasms of pre-race jitters, donned a bib and set out to cover that magical distance of 26.2 miles. I haven’t struck the strangely pleasing metronomic rhythm of meeting a training partner at dawn on a Saturday to embark on a three- hour run, sharing the fraternity of agony and, later, the giddy enthusiasm of pre-race planning that occurs over a heaping plate of pancakes.
At least, not yet.
The upcoming Two Bear Marathon and Half-Marathon in Whitefish is right around the corner, and while many runners have been training for the event all season, I’ve only occasionally glanced at the reminder on my calen- dar, contemplating the discomfort of taking a half-hearted stab at something as deeply committing as a marathon.
But then again, what’s the worst that could happen?
As of this writing, there are 18 days separating me from the starting gun, and in honor of everything that running has given me, I’m going to do my best to stump it out and hang at least one marathon bib on my fridge in 2015.
See you on the trails.
TWO FOR THOUGHT SAME TOPIC, DIFFERENT VIEWS WORKING TOGETHER
BY TIM BALDWIN
Working closely with others has its advantages and dis-
advantages. Depending on the type of work, we are either encouraged or discouraged from learning our fellow work- ers well. While some workers become friends through work, there seems to be less of that today. Let’s think about it.
No one wants to get “burned” by a fellow worker; that could lead to employment termination or thwart one’s career. It may cause embarrassment or rebuke. The better decision: keep your distance ... don’t let people get to know you well, and vice versa. This creates a superficial and shal- low relationship at work. Trust suffers; thus group synergy suffers. Selfishness increases. Social importance seems pointless.
It’s true that getting close to people at work has negative consequences, but there is perhaps a greater evil: not learn- ing about human nature and relations. Wisdom comes from experiencing people and our environment. If our careers ignore what it means to be human, our careers will not enhance the quality of our lives, spirit and relations. Let’s encourage our social connectivity.
Of course, this means we must be honest and virtuous with ourselves and others. It requires responsibility and candor. It means learning to be diverse and open-minded. It means seeing the importance and value in others, recog- nizing how others improve our lives and admitting we don’t have all the answers.
Let’s be more human and get to know our neighbors.
BY JOE CARBONARI
I confess: I am a schmoozer. I talk to people. I like talking with people. I like talking with peo- ple that I meet socially, and I like talking with the people that I do business with. I particularly like talking with people that I would like to do business with. It is the way that I work.
I use text messaging, and I seemingly live by email. I prefer, however, to meet in person, or at least to talk by phone. It is the way that rela- tionships are built. I grew up playing ball, and I believe in teamwork.
To work as a team you need to have trust. To have trust you have to know the people that you are working with. You have to know their strengths and weaknesses, their reliability and their “distractions”. The best teams are built by those that like people.
Dale Carnegie said “Give me a person who can work with people, and we’ll hire all the experts that we need.” I agree with the approach, and suspect that it’s based on an understanding and appreciation of the “irrational.”
Our inner motivations guide us. We are all different. Get to know, really know, those that you have important dealings with. Take the time to fraternize. It will help you pick your “experts,” and those that you can trust.
GUEST COLUMN VERDELL JACKSON
WHAT WILL IT LOOK LIKE UNDER CSKT COMPACT?
the compact binds the state of Montana to implement “calls” on water at the direction of the federal govern- ment/CSKT for instream flows, or on any water that could be connected to an instream flow.
The federal government or the CSKT will exercise their rights according to the minimum flows in the water abstracts in the Compact. Unlike Montana’s water management, which is based on survival of fish, the Compact water abstracts are based on a robust river standard. The irrigators would be notified to stop using water. They would comply because they could not pos- sibly pay the fines that would be levied if they ran their pumps, or they may call junior water users.
Irrigators within the CSKT reservation understand how the Compact will affect them because they were notified to stop using water during the middle of the summer. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) failed to store sufficient water for irrigation. Instead the BIA has already begun implementing the Compact and is using irrigation water for Compact-level instream, flows which are much higher than the existing instream flows.
It is tragedy that the CSKT Compact passed the Montana House by a mere three votes. The following Northwest Montana elected officials compromised our irrigation water rights and gave $53 million to the tribe: Ed Lieser, Zac Perry, Chas Vincent, Bruce Tut- vedt, Dan Salomon, and Greg Hertz, along with the sup- port of Attorney General Tom Fox, and County Com- missioners Cal Scott and Gary Krueger.
Former Kalispell Sen. Verdell Jackson served in the Montana Legislature for 16 years.
T
HE FLATHEAD IRRIGATION PROJECT ON the Flathead Indian Reservation was built by
the federal government to make the reserva- tion productive. Dry land farming was not sustainable without irrigation. The same situation exists in the Flathead.
For example, I grow grass hay for horses and irrigate out of the Flathead River. I irrigate half of the land that I farm one time and do one cutting. The land that I irri- gated stayed green and produced half as much hay as last year because of the drought, while on the non-ir- rigated ground almost all of the grass turned brown and produced 20 percent of what it did last year and was much lower in quality. My hay did not pay the cost of the fertilizer and pumping cost. I operated at a loss.
I am now watching the farmers who irrigate their land several times during the summer and are now get- ting ready to start their thirdcutting of alfalfa. They are not affected very much by the drought except their expenses are higher because of the cost of pumping more water. They will make less, but they will still make a profit.
Under the Compact, during a drought the irrigated land will look like the non-irrigated land this year. There will be no second and third cuttings. Look at the fields covered with short mostly brown grass and the short wheat that produced shrived grain and you will see the impact of the off reservation water rights of the CSKT Compact. None of the farmers including me who irrigate with surface water or wells connected to surface water will be able to irrigate even once because
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SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM