Upawn consideration

© harrington

Hi! Have you noticed that Summer's sultry seduction works on many of us, maybe most, but not all? Apparently, I am married to the "woman who hated Summer." Classic case of it's both the heat and the humidity. When it's hot enough, or humid enough, or both, even a Summer breeze doesn't do much to cool us off. The dogs spend most of their time flopped out, belly up, tongue hanging and breath panting. (Reminds me of the old joke about the fat man who hikes to the top of the steep hill in Summer and takes off his hat and pants.) The moth and butterfly field guides arrived today. I'll see if I can figure out "what's the creature on the kitchen screen." I think I'm going to see if I can cheat a little today. The Terrain blog (not directly or specifically related to Minnesota, that's the cheat) has three recommendations on poetry and one on prose. I've read My Green Manifesto (Milkweed Editions, a Minnesota publisher, saved from cheating), the prose recommendation. If the poetry recommendations contain writing as good, they're all worth reading. (I need to see if my local library has any kind of worthwhile contemporary poetry selection.) There's been quite a tumult about a certain "Not Guilty" verdict delivered recently. Those of us who remember when a Hibbing kid named Zimmerman was starting out under the name Dylan, he delivered The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll [another not guilty verdict] and Only A Pawn In Their Game, both from "The Times They Are A-Changin'." You might want to listen to these two masterpieces, or at least read the lyrics, and think about how little the times have changed. I think we need to remember one of the messages from the Lorax:

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

I wasn't there to see what happened in Florida. I do believe that "stand your ground" laws are little more than an invitation to vigilantism  brought to us by the same kind of folks opposing immigration reform and dropping nutrition programs from agriculture legislation. In case you want to call me on what this has to do with nature and Minnesota (and I hope you care enough to ask), one of the basic legs of sustainable society is social equity. I care too much about living in and leaving a sustainable Minnesota to my children to be willing to take an "I've got mine, lock the gate" attitude. How about you? Thanks for listening. Rants, raves and reflections served here daily.