Celebrate Women's History Month, Vote tomorrow!

An overnight refreeze made the driveway treacherous walking this morning. We (SiSi and I) navigated the slipping and sliding successfully, albeit with cursing and muttering on my part.  The road and the shoulder are clear and dry, so once we've left the driveway behind, yak trax are counterproductive. Maybe Santa will bring me a flame thrower for Christmas this year. All we need is a path a couple of feet wide free of ice.

Our objective for the day, other than not slipping and falling and breaking something, has been attained. New fishing licenses for both Minnesota and Wisconsin are now in the possession of the two anglers in this household. Next on the Agenda is a new state park sticker for the Jeep's windshield.

two bald eagles perched at Kelley Land and Cattle Co.

Photo by J. Harrington

We covered much of the Northern half of Washington County getting our licenses. On the way to Cabela's and back we saw one small flock of turkeys, plus a pair, or two single, bald eagles in a different location. Forty plus years ago, when I first moved to Minnesota, eagle sightings were rare. Now, at least in our general area, they're pretty common. Once we stopped poisoning raptors with DDT, and put some of them on the endangered species list, they recovered nicely, for the most part. Seeing eagles weekly, if not daily, makes me feel better about the part of the country in which I live. The number of urban eagle nests has been increasing for awhile and there have been recent reports of golden eagles in the  St. Croix valley. We'll remember to keep our eyes open and see if we can spot any of the latter as we head toward some of our favorite trout streams.

bald eagle perched near new St. Croix bridge at Stillwater

Photo by J. Harrington

We missed it yesterday so today we want to acknowledge that March is Women's History Month. Of the women poets with whom I'm familiar, and the  list is long and growing, Maya Angelou offers a poem I think is a great way to celebrate this second day of the month.

Still I Rise

Maya Angelou - 1928-2014

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

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