Easter wish

© harrington

Happy Easter! Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to stop by. I hope you know you're welcome anytime. This year, the field behind the chickadee in the photo is still partially snow covered. Given the extended weather forecast, I expect to be snow free by week's end (at least temporarily). One of the Easter treats I found on this Easter Sunday is an opinion piece in today's Star Tribune by Peter Leschak, a writer I consider indigenous to northern Minnesota. It has to do with the differences between those of us who help turtles across the road and those, thankfully fewer, who go out of their way to drive over them. It doesn't say much about what I assume is the majority of us: those too busy, too indifferent, too inattentive, too ... to care one way or the other. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I think we've reached a point where indifference is a luxury that we can't afford. When I was younger I had a poster on the wall of my office. It was a quotation attributed to Harvey Cox that read: "not to decide is to decide." It seems to me that concept represents one of our major problems with the gridlock and lack of effective leadership currently haunting our representatives in Washington. Think about it, are they representing us? If we have so little agreement about priorities, strategies and tactics, why can't we at least agree to try different approaches to see what works? [Turtle crossings anyone?] Are our ideological disagreements so deep and profound that there's no hope for compromise? Has life in these United States become a "Mexican standoff?" If most of us are neither for nor against the success of turtles crossing roads, who would be harmed by having our representatives prohibit humans in vehicles running down turtles? Maybe big oil companies who make major campaign contributions and might someday want to be able to drill in the wetlands and, if the turtles were gone (accidentally of course) there could be no endangered turtles requiring mitigation. Is this the Gordian knot we've tied ourselves into? Easter is a celebration of the return of life. My Easter wish for all of us is that affirmation of life, not money, become central to our decisions. Stop back anytime to My Minnesota where (sometimes cliché-ridden) rants, raves and reflections are served daily, including Easter.