In anticipation of next year

Snow is forecast to start between 3 pm and 4 pm in our neck of the North Woods. By that time we hope to be back in the garage or close to it after we've picked up our final Community Supported Agriculture share for the year and the season. Tomorrow will largely be dedicated to clearing the drive and recuperating therefrom. Thursday is getting cleaned up so we look presentable when we head for the Daughter Person and Son-In-Law's for New Year's Eve dinner. It's highly unlikely we'll even try to stay up to see the New Year in. We haven't for quite a few years now. Seen one midnight, seen most of 'em, said the old codger.

late December, moonset

Photo by J. Harrington

Last night and very early this morning the full moon was very bright. The snow-covered fields were shining in moonlight. It was just a little eerie, but beautiful. It's about time to listen for pairs of great horned owls duet hooting as their mating season approaches. We've heard and seen barred owls, but, so far, no great horned owls have inhabited the neighborhood as far as we know.

As we close out 2020 and prepare for 2021, we hope we'll be successful at reframing our goals onto what we want to see happen or accomplish, rather than continuing a defensive battle. That's moving us in some interesting directions, such as those outlined in both the Center for Humans and Nature and emergence magazine. If we want our children and grandchildren to have any assurance of living in a world of clean air, clean water, adequate food and shelter, and any sense of community, we need to ensure there are major changes in what we do, how we do it, and why. The United Nations has Sustainable Development Goals, the Biden-Harris administration is pushing for Build Back Better, which is an improvement of the current regime's scorched earth program, but seems to lack a necessary emphasis of a future orientation. Even the Green New Deal doesn't, in our opinion, focus far enough into the future we want to create but it is an improvement over abandoning the Paris Accord.

What we haven't yet been able to do is find a crystal ball to give US a clear picture of how these grand visions get translated into daily life most will be leading in the next decade or two. Should we plant and tend a subsistence garden or spend more of our time learning our way around a local food system. We have become more and more concerned that too many of US, too often, are repeatedly and intensely focused on what we want to prevent, rather than what we want to achieve. We hope to spend time next year trying to sort that out. Meanwhile, it's now time for us to go get our final CSA share and hurry home before the storm intensifies.

Horses at Midnight Without a Moon

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Jack Gilbert - 1925-2012

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Our heart wanders lost in the dark woods.
Our dream wrestles in the castle of doubt.
But there's music in us. Hope is pushed down
but the angel flies up again taking us with her.
The summer mornings begin inch by inch
while we sleep, and walk with us later
as long-legged beauty through
the dirty streets. It is no surprise 
that danger and suffering surround us.
What astonishes is the singing.
We know the horses are there in the dark
meadow because we can smell them,
can hear them breathing. 
Our spirit persists like a man struggling 
through the frozen valley
who suddenly smells flowers
and realizes the snow is melting
out of sight on top of the mountain,
knows that spring has begun.

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Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.