Why are we here?

© harrington

Driving to work this past week, I've been able to notice the beginning of sunrise. Have you realized how much longer the days have grown? Before we know it, snow covered fields will be transformed into something that looks like the photo above. That's if the drought begins to ease. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources warning about the potential for an explosive grass fire season this Spring caught my attention. Although there are locations possibly more vulnerable, we live in grass fire country. Have you noticed that so far I've jumped from Winter to Summer and back to Spring? It's been that kind of week, hard to focus on one thing at a time. In fact, one of the biggest challenges of living in My Minnesota is deciding which, among many, outdoor pleasures to enjoy. I can hear you thinking that that's the kind of problem we all should have. I think we all have it whether we admit it or not. There's gleaning seasonal wild foods; there's fishing (preferably in open water) for both cold and warm water species; there's photography; cross-country skiing; hiking; biking; surfing (Superior); dog training; hunting; just kicking back and watching what's going on; gardening; cooking what just arrived from the CSA; picnicing... Clearly, I could go on for awhile because I left out boating and canoing and flying kites and.... Now, the question I have for you is are any of these activities improved by sand mining? Is sulfide mining likely to make fishing for brook trout a better experience? Could we create more jobs if we tried harder to reclaim minerals from electronic waste? Are we, as Minnesotans, doing the best we can to create a sustainable Minnesota? Have we yet started to learn to take a view that stretches beyond this quarter's profits? If the comments are working, feel free to share your thoughts. Please stop by again to share mine. Thanks for stopping by.