Time to reset how the pieces fit?

We've been reading Ted Kooser's Kindest Regards: new and selected poems. Last night we reached the section entitled "The Blizzard Voices" [1986]. The first poem begins "Eighteen eighty-eight, a Thursday / the twelfth of January:" Out of curiosity about whether Mr. Kooser had taken poetic license with his selection of a date, we looked it up. We should have known better than to question Mr. Kooser's authenticity to place and time, especially in Nebraska. We read:

... The blizzard of January 12, 1888 had an immense impact on the lives of all who remembered it. This blizzard was one of the most destructive and devastating in Nebraska history for a number of reasons: its unexpected arrival on what had been a relatively warm winter’s day; the timing, striking Nebraska and the Dakota territories when children were at school and farmers were out working in the fields; and the fierceness of the winds that swirled the snow around so much that visibility was near zero for hours....

This Spring, Nebraska and Iowa are the center of a major flooding event due to a late Winter--early Spring storm. Some claim to have never seen anything like it. Back in Minnesota and North Dakota, the mayors of Fargo and Moorhead are declaring emergencies in anticipation of Red River flooding. The lower Mississippi River hasn't yet been hit by Minnnesota's snow melt, but it's flooding now. And still, we keep electing "leaders" who refuse to acknowledge that Mother Nature bats last, always.

a mosaic needs a variety of pieces for one picture

Photo by J. Harrington

We believe it was Bill McKibben, some time ago, who noted that "The laws of Congress and the laws of physics have grown increasingly divergent, and the laws of physics are not likely to yield." We hope that one day soon we'll be wise enough to elect those whose approach is to work with Mother Nature, rather than on her. That would be great training for us to then relearn how to work with each other instead of trying to take our balls and go home every time we don't like the result of a play we called ourselves.

Humans have made contemporary climate less stable and weather events more volatile. Corporations have fed us disinformation (a charitable description) on smoking and fossil fuels and green house gases. Our culture continues to debate cause and effect rather than perform an all hands on deck to respond to an earth-wide conflagration. Adults have forced children and teenagers to lead the way. No matter how biblically correct [Isaiah 11:6], that should, politically, be a kiss of death. We've become convinced that it is unlikely the world would be in much worse shape if lead by women and children. It may actually be time to put women and children first to help us avoid the need for life boats. The male leadership we've had for eons has not served us well, for the most part. Remember those "weapons of mass destruction?"

whose family were not once immigrants?

Photo by J. Harrington

As a species, we seem to have both a memory and a fuse that's too short. We have come to focus too much on self-serving, self-aggrandizing, behaviors. We would ask you to find a copy of Kooser's "Blizzard" poems and read them all. Those who survived did so largely because they helped, and/or had help from, neighbors and community members, not because of how much money they had in the bank. Is that the world we've maintained until this day? How many neighbors can you name? How many do you help? Do walks and driveways get shoveled, blown or plowed? When was the last time you helped fill sandbags? What message would it send if the Minnesota legislature adjourned for a couple of days and filled sandbags in Moorhead, and even Fargo? I, for one, would have a lot more respect for most of them if they did. After all, many of our families ended up here because we came from someplace less friendly, right?

from I.C.E. AGE

David Buuck

The removal of aliens who pose  
[        ] shall be ICE’s high [        ]
 
These aliens include  [        ]
engaged in or suspected of
[        ] or who otherwise pose
 
[        ] aliens convicted of [        ]
particular emphasis [        ] and repeat
 
aliens [        ] who participated [        ]
[        ] subject to outstanding [        ]
who otherwise pose [        ]  to public safety.
 
 
Aliens who are [        ]  otherwise
obstruct [        ]  fugitive aliens,
in descending priority as [        ]
aliens who pose [        ]  security;

[        ]  or who otherwise pose [        ]         
the community; [        ] other than [        ];
and [        ] who have not been [        ];
 
aliens who reenter [        ]  in descending
priority as [        ]  aliens who pose [        ]  
previously removed [        ] who other-
wise pose [        ]  to the community;

previously removed [        ] who have not been
convicted of [        ] who obtain
admission or status by [        ] ;
otherwise  [  

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