Thinking about Earth day, April 22, and the focus on planetary awareness that permeates through various events, rallies, and an overall sustainability emphases, I think the perfect time for a latitude day would come two days later, on April 24. We can transition from thinking about the whole of the earth- “there is no Planet B”, to a focus on our own locale, and to bridges that connect our locale with other locales around the world. Those bridges will necessarily take many forms, and the thrust of The Latitude Movement is that specific latitude, a direct east west line coursing through communities around the world which share the same daylight each and every day, can be as effective a thread in connecting international local places, as any.
Mural, Camariñas, Galicia. Directly east of Manchester, Vermont (43.10 N)
Latitude can become a practical framework for connecting local communities globally for conversation and sustained connection, the kind of bridge building that seems to perennially foil governments, and often stalls in the bureaucracy and complexity of larger organizations.
Latitude is simple. It’s a line. As such, latitude can be an effective tool for students of all ages and interests to follow a line of inquiry into the world. How does climate impact a specific set of local communities internationally? How are local places navigating the complex terrain of economy, ecology, and cultural vitality?
April 24 can be Latitude Day. A time for local communities to explore and connect along latitude line, and the common platform they already share- same latitude, same light, each and every day, for all people and places directly east and west.
When we contemplate the whole of the earth on Earth Day, and the magnitude of the challenges we face, it is easy to get overwhelmed. We need focus, we need line. We also need latitude in the sense of the creative processes where we forge new pathways into a sustaining future.
When I have an idea, like Latitude Day, I look for clues I am on the right path. So via wikipedia’s entry regarding the day that is April 24- on April 24, 1895-
- 1895 – Joshua Slocum, the first person to sail single-handedly around the world, sets sail from Boston, Massachusetts aboard the sloop “Spray”.
Let’s set sail along our latitude lines. Let’s find a way to make the world smaller, and to connect our local community in real ways with the rest of the world. Go East, Go West. Go.
