What went wrong

What went wrong at the dam happened long before it was built. What went wrong occured before the dam was even conceived by a starry-eyed man needing water in the desert. What went wrong began when civilization began.

As Native American, Ohiyesa is quoted in the book Touch the Earth, "As a child I understood how to give, I have forgotten this grace since I became civilized."

Civilization--we know now is neither in sync with our instincts nor does it hold the promise of something better. Even in 1930 the promise of civilization was questioned, liberally by those who did not have to struggle or stand in line for a meal and a place to sleep. And ultimately by those who did struggle and did go hungry and homeless.

Conceptually and realistically what we have created for ourselves on planet earth is tragic. We find beauty within this tragedy, and thus we tell our stories to remind us of this beauty.

One story is of the Apache that came to do the high scalers job at the Hoover Dam. They were fearless of the canyon, familiar with the terrain, yet faceless to the bosses who wanted their expertise for the job not their intuition as human beings. The Apache were not familiar with the idea of hope or the promise of something better. But this is what they were given, a due reward from civilization itself.

Yet they did not give back, for they were part of civilization themselves. They took their due, spent the idea of hope the promise of something better, carried it around, not knowing what to do with ideals that had no worth to them.

Spread the Word | International Rivers

Spread the Word | International Rivers

dam flooding

Over time, the Hoover Dam has seen a diminished supply of water in its resevoir of Lake Mead. However, in places where hurricanes occur, massive storms cause resevoirs to overflow, water is not contained, as dams can't release water fast enough. Currently, downriver of the Rio Grande floods are keeping 40.000 people from their homes, until the storms have passed...


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heart and soul

Here again is the beautiful Hoover Dam in all it's glory. Indicative of the way I feel writing this blog, that it is the beauty of this dam and the people that worked to build it that are its heart and soul.

I am going to try to add more newsworthy information from here on out about dams around the world.

I will continue to add the notes regarding the story HARD LUCK and incorporate the intelligence of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey.

I will also keep being inspired by what I find valuable to write about and hope I share this inspiration with you, dear reader.

So, thanks for reading. Your comments are oh so wonderful. Here's to the heart and soul!

Hope and tomorrow's wealth

If hope is believing in possibility then the dam offered hope in the 1930s. Hope was needed in these times, since these times were harder than anyone had expected them to be. And maybe that's the thing about hope that makes it something we need. When we are faced with the unexpected, when our expectations are not met, we must believe in the possibility that things will be okay when we are scared or unsure about the future. We must believe in the possibility that although our expectations haven't been met, that things will be okay. Hope keeps us standing, keeps us working, helps us endure. Hope leads us into action to obtain what we need, what we will work for, hone skills for, be patient for whatever it is that will help us get what we believe we need.
Is Need also Desire? How related is Need to Want? The workers building the dam needed and wanted the jobs in the beginning because of the money needed to buy what they desired. However the job paid little, though they supposedly got what they desired, food and shelter. Yet after awhile, their needs so met, they began to want better quality. However, once a need is met, the desire for more begins. Believing in the possibility that what one already has can be more and better is the downside of hope.

The men who designed the dam to be built in Black Canyon had a vision of how it was to be done. They needed it to be built in a way that met this vision. They didn't desire to have a vision, they desired that vision to unfold. They were men whose needs of food and shelter had for the most part always been met, their "more" and "better" wasn't just for immediate living needs. The vision was beyond that immediacy, rather it looked to tomorrow's wealth. Yet even the designers needed hope that it would be a successful project, that the workers would do the work to build the envisioned dam.

As the dam was built ahead of schedule, it was because of every man's hope, a production of belief in possibility.

David Byrne: How architecture helped music evolve

Architecture is on my mind...how the frame also frames, such as the architecture of the dam frames a time, indicative of the people of that time, open, hoping, inspired by modernism, fueled by the idea that what was being made would last. David Byrne comments on the topic of architecture and music and how they shape each other...

Architecture

The architecture for the Hoover Dam incorporates an art deco theme, utilizing an artistic vision, a structure that comments on a period in time.

During the 1930s the investment in art was made for appearance sake, to demonstrate that no matter how "poor" a people were, art was not only alive but thriving. The building of the dam was a good place to demonstrate this, with its art deco appearance, as well as the interior of the dam, where the tours were planned to take place. The floors are marble using Italian design and Native American symbols to represent a culture that depended on outside traditions to complete it.

On a day every year that people come together to celebrate the American holiday of Independence, it is a good time to remember the interdependence of life, demonstrated graphically at Hoover Dam, through the people that helped build it to the art that represents a time in culture that continues because of its art.

What we recognize as beauty is not ever one man's sole vision though it may be credited as so. That one man is duly interdependent on so many other things---which the architecture of the Hoover Dam and its interior spaces mark the visions of many. A dam which serves many. An icon of American beauty.