Adobe bricks, big waves, wild kids and solar roofs

Your weekly stash of stories from The Cleanest Line. [patagonia®]( [The Cleanest Line]( This week, we’re bringing you a new film. It’s about the passage of ancient Puebloan adobe home-building traditions from a mother to her sons, and it’s really lovely. We’ve also got a new piece about raising wild kids in New York City, a deep consideration by Greg Long and his friends on big-wave safety and a changing surf culture, plus the revitalization of an Italian town that made a switch to renewable energy. Enjoy! [A person lays adobe bricks in a wave pattern under the wooden frame of an outdoor structure.]( Workwear, Culture Raised from Earth Under the gaze of southern Arizona’s cinnamon-hued Canelo Hills, a mother passes along an ancient Puebloan tradition of natural adobe building to her three sons. [Watch the Film]( [A surfer on an orange board makes a bottom turn on a large righthand wave.]( Surf The Big-Wave Safety Paradox In recent years, advancements in big-wave safety equipment and rescue protocols have dramatically progressed the sport. “They’ve given big-wave surfers a new confidence to surf waves that were once thought impossible,” pens Greg Long. “But, no matter how altruistic the intention, nothing in life comes without a cost.” [Read the Story]( [An old faded photo shows two teenagers smiling together while standing in a field of wildflowers.]( Culture, Kids From the AT to NYC Britney Caceres was 15 and a little surprised when her parents dropped her off along the Appalachian Trail with her brothers and promised to pick them up three days—and 50 miles—later. She didn’t know it at the time, but this childhood experience would shape the way she now teaches her four children to find nature in the heart of New York City. [Read the Story]( [Looking down on a cluster of buildings in a green valley with foothills in the distance.]( Activism A Town Renewed An Italian town began emptying out. Then its inhabitants turned to renewable energy to save it. [Read the Story]( [The Cleanest Line. See more stories.]( Photos: (Top) “We gathered rocks for the foundation, trees for the roof and dirt for the walls—connecting us to place,” says Benito Steen. The material harvests were conducted following the rules of local jurisdictions. Canelo, Arizona. FOREST WOODWARD (Middle) Greg Long grasps the palm of an old friend off Isla de Todos Santos, Mexico. RYAN “CHACHI” CRAIG (Middle) Britney Caceres and her brother right after breaking camp for the night to prepare for day two on the Appalachian Trail. West Virginia, summer of 1999. COURTESY OF BRITNEY CACERES (Middle) Borutta, an Italian town once doomed to be uninhabited by 2080, is finding a new lease on life with a community-led renewable energy initiative. RICHARD FELDERER (Bottom) Schooling creolefish hover on top of a massive formation of Madracis coral at Stetson Bank in the Gulf of Mexico. JESSE CANCELMO Sign up. Show up. Take action. [Patagonia Action Works]( Patagonia Customer Service 8550 White Fir St, Reno, NV 89523 | [Help Center]( Email Preferences Set your gender, locale and frequency so we can send you emails that matter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Update My Preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} | [View on web]( | © 2021 Patagonia, Inc.