Time to welcome February!

The legislature is back in session today. Political party precinct caucuses occur tomorrow, despite the fact that Minnesota's legislative districts haven’t been finalized for this year’s election and you can only vote if you attend in person. So, since politics is making even less sense than usual, let’s consider something else.

February, which begins tomorrow, is often a month when we get to enjoy some awesomely beautiful hoar frost. Some Februarys we get an early thaw and geese and swans are back on local waters by midmonth. Red osier dogwood brightens its color sometime during the month, enhancing the liveliness of our marshes and wetlands. 

We begin February with 9 hours and 46 minutes of daylight and, by month’s end, we’ve gained about an hour and 20 minutes of daylight, enjoying 11 hours and 6 minutes on the 28th. Normal high temperatures start the month at 24℉ and climb to 34℉ as we enter March. Since March 1 is the start of meteorological spring, we can claim that February is truly the month  that usually turns winter into spring.

February: crows watching winter  pass

Photo by J. Harrington

February is also Black History Month, the month we celebrate Lunar New Year on the `1st, Groundhog Day on the 2nd, Valentine’s Day on the 14th,  and President’s Day on the 21st. During the month, we can look for the arrival of some songbird migrants and, if we’re lucky, the arrival of sandhill cranes. The full moon in February occurs on the 16th.

Thaw

Edward Thomas - 1878-1917

Over the land freckled with snow half-thawed
The speculating rooks at their nests cawed
And saw from elm-tops, delicate as flowers of grass,
What we below could not see, Winter pass.

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I thought I saw a thaw!

My sister lives in a suburb south of Boston. She let us know that they got something like two feet of snow from the Nor’easter. By Wednesday they expect temperatures in the 50’s plus some rain. That should help take care of the snow but may make for some flooding problems.

The last place I lived in Massachusetts before moving to Minnesota was on the state’s south shore, about an hour from Boston. Where I lived was within half a mile of the Atlantic Ocean. The main North-South route to Boston was about five miles inland. There was more than one storm where I left home in the rain and drove to the office in snow, or vice versa, left the snow at the highway and pulled into the driveway in the rain.

driveway conditions to be minimized

Photo by J. Harrington

My sister’s report, combined with the above freezing temperatures forecast here for tomorrow and Tuesday, have convinced me it’s time to start cleaning up this winter’s mess. Our drive isn’t paved and I’ve ignored the last few one inch snowfalls. That means it’s time to minimize how much ice we have to deal with as we move toward and through our freeze--thaw season on the way to mud season. I’m going to see if I can psyche myself out by pretending it’s not work but a cure for cabin fever lethargy. This winter I think I’ve come closer to actually hibernating than any other I can remember. Not that there’s anything wrong with hibernating, but I’ve been awake and increasingly bored as winter has worn on.

The Thaw

Henry David Thoreau - 1817-1862

I saw the civil sun drying earth’s tears —
Her tears of joy that only faster flowed,

Fain would I stretch me by the highway side,
To thaw and trickle with the melting snow,
That mingled soul and body with the tide,
I too may through the pores of nature flow.

But I alas nor tinkle can nor fume,
One jot to forward the great work of Time,
‘Tis mine to hearken while these ply the loom,
So shall my silence with their music chime.

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An icy grip eases

Have you noticed that the days’ daylight has lengthened? We could say days are getting more daylightful every day. A week from now, we’ll be enjoying almost 10 hours of daylight.

Yes, Virginia, even in the North Country is can rain in February

Photo by J. Harrington

Today, in honor of impending Imbolc, we started spring cleaning. Regardless of the state of the house, spring cleaning will be finished when nighttime low temperatures remain above freezing. That will be the time of year (early April) when attention is redirected to what’s going on outside our four walls. Birds will be nesting, trees will begin leafing, plants will be flowering, water will be flowing and the North Country will be aliving.

The dogs seem to sense that winter is waning. They’re more interested in exploring, following scents, and zooming about their run or inside the house when back from a walk. There will be more cold spells, and more snow storms before winter finally yields to spring but the change from winter into spring is inevitable, closer by the day, and music to my ears.

Cold Spring

By Lawrence Raab

The last few gray sheets of snow are gone,

winter’s scraps and leavings lowered

to a common level. A sudden jolt

of weather pushed us outside, and now

this larger world once again belongs to us.

I stand at the edge of it, beside the house,

listening to the stream we haven’t heard

since fall, and I imagine one day thinking

back to this hour and blaming myself

for my worries, my foolishness, today’s choices

having become the accomplished

facts of change, accepted

or forgotten. The woods are a mangle

of lines, yet delicate, yet precise,

when I take the time to look closely.

If I’m not happy it must be my own fault.

At the edge of the lawn my wife

bends down to uncover a flower, then another.

The first splurge of crocuses.

And for a moment the sweep and shudder

of the wind seems indistinguishable

from the steady furl of water

just beyond her.

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(Fly) casting bread upon flowing waters?

Wednesday next is Groundhog Day. In Minnesota, unless Groundhog Day is moved to July 4, there will always be six more weeks of winter, regardless of Phil’s shadow.

Next week we start on really organizing tax papers and numbers so we can turn the shoe box over to our tax preparer later in February. Then we focus on cleaning and organizing fly-fishing gear and baking Irish soda bread in honor of the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day in March. On both fronts we have some happy news, at least happy for us.

Northern Minnesota trout stream

Photo by J. Harrington

On the fly-fishing front, several years ago the Daughter Person and Son-In-Law gave me a tankara fly rod and line. I played with it a few times up near the BWCA, and put it aside. Recently, while reorganizing some books, I came across patagonia's book on tankara fishing and started browsing through it. Then I found where I had stashed the rod and other equipment, dug it out, and feel like I have a brand new toy to play with this fishing season coming up.

Irish soda bread

Photo by J. Harrington

On the baking side, King Arthur baking has a new and different Irish-style flour that I want to try, plus a recipe for American-style Irish bread. If I avoid looking out the window and get really bundled up for dog walking, it’s possible I’ll make it to spring thaw. My limit of below zero temperatures was exceeded a week or so ago.

Bread Upon the Waters

D. H. Lawrence - 1885-1930

So you are lost to me!
Ah you, you ear of corn straight lying,
What food is this for the darkly flying
Fowls of the Afterwards!

White bread afloat on the waters,
Cast out by the hand that scatters
Food untowards,

Will you come back when the tide turns?
After many days? My heart yearns
To know.

Will you return after many days
To say your say as a traveller says,
More marvel than woe?

Drift then, for the sightless birds
And the fish in shadow-waved herds
To approach you.

Drift then, bread cast out;
Drift, lest I fall in doubt,
And reproach you.

For you are lost to me!

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There will be “new,” but will there be “normal?"

This morning, for the first time in weeks, goldfinches were seen at the feeder. It’s possible they’ve been arriving at dusk and not noticed, but I don’t think that’s the case. Instead, I’m filing their reappearance under the heading of signs of impending spring. Not so the occasional arrival of a pileated woodpecker at the suet feeder. That’s probably a function of the colder than normal temperatures plus activity at the suet feeder attracting attention from the big bird.

goldfinch at seed feeders

Photo by J. Harrington

We now have established that our complaints about the cold this month are well validated. According to Minnesota Public Radio, “Cryosphere: Coldest January in 8 years for Minnesota.” Meanwhile, the University Extension confirms that “Large fluctuations in temperature continue.” It’s nice to know our grasp on what passes for reality these days is still independently verifiable.

There’s at least one benefit to this month’s aberrant weather. It may have positioned us to be more inclined to ignore rain and breezes when contemplating fly fishing in the days ahead. If all our weather is going to trend progressively crappier due to climate breakdown, it pays less and less to wait for better weather conditions. We’ll see how that plays out in a few months as Minnesota’s 2022 stream trout season opens in mid-April, unless we decide to get a jump on the season with some catch and release fishing in Minnesota or Wisconsin. For today, we’re just going to relax and enjoy some sunshine and above zero temperatures. We know better than to take either for granted as part of a new normal. Carpe diem!

A River

By John Poch

God knows the law of life is death,

and you can feel it in your warbler neck,

your river-quick high stick wrist

at the end of day. But the trophies:

a goldfinch tearing up a pink thistle,

a magpie dipping her wing tips

in a white cloud, an ouzel barreling 

hip-high upstream with a warning.

You wish you had a river. To make

a river, it takes some mountains.

Some rain to watershed. You wish

you had a steady meadow and pink thistles

bobbing at the border for your horizons,

pale robins bouncing their good postures

in the spruce shadows. Instead, the law

of life comes for you like three men 

and a car. In your dreams, you win them over

with your dreams: a goldfinch tearing up 

a pink thistle. A magpie so slow 

she knows how to keep death at bay, 

she takes her time with argument 

and hides her royal blue in black. 

Shy as a blue grouse, nevertheless God

doesn’t forget his green mountains.

You wish you had a river.

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Why have the legislative fox guard the mining henhouse?

The Biden Administration has cancelled the two mineral leases necessary for the Twin Metals project to proceed. In the near  term, that’s good news. But, and it’s a big BUT in our opinion, there are other potential mining projects that may get developed regardless of the laws in place at the time. How can that be? you may well ask. Here’s one possible answer:

Legislative deal would exempt Cohasset project from some environmental review

A bill negotiated between the Republican-led Senate and the DFL-majority House says the plant won’t have to complete an extensive Environmental Impact Statement normally required for projects of its size. 

Legislatures rarely feel bound to honor decisions made by their predecessors. On political grounds I can understand that. On scientific grounds, I categorically reject it unless the science changes materially. There’s a further problem to which we need to be sensitive if we rely on Minnesota’s “world class mining regulations.” Our regulatory agencies aren’t always world class when it comes to implementing such regulations as we have, those that the legislature hasn’t reclaimed to itself.

According to an article in MinnPost on a recent court ruling regarding a water pollution discharge permit for the PolyMet NorthMet project,

The court also affirmed an earlier district court ruling that the MPCA did not break permitting rules or systematically try to hide evidence of their actions when issuing the NPDES permit, a decision that followed allegations that the agency attempted to suppress EPA concerns.

The court did say, however, that they were not endorsing the actions of state regulators at the MPCA, who pressured the feds to not provide public written criticisms of the PolyMet permit, in part to avoid bad press.

“In other words, the PCA’s efforts to discourage the EPA from providing written comments during the public-comment period had the purpose and effect of avoiding or minimizing 17 public criticism of the proposed permit and, in addition, avoiding the need for the PCA to publicly respond in writing to the EPA’s comments,” the appeals court wrote.

how can we best protect such waters?

Photo by J. Harrington

There may be a better way to protect Minnesota’s clean air, clean water, local communities and governmental integrity. We’re not referring to a “Prove It First” law, such as the one the Wisconsin legislature recently gutted. We suggest instead that Minnesota seriously evaluate becoming involved in the development of and ultimately adopt the standards being developed by the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance. As described in the prospective role for government:

Given the robust process behind IRMA’s creation and governance, governments can use IRMA’s Standard for Responsible Mining as a template for improving laws and regulations, particularly as it represents the views of diverse stakeholders. In this way, governments can be equally responsive to civil society as they are to business.

IRMA is careful to publicly state that its standard and voluntary assessment are meant to complement, not replace, laws and regulations. We agree with several in the civil society sector who correctly point out that voluntary initiatives should not delay or replace the adoption of improved laws. Indeed, strong regulations are critical in order to protect communities, the labor force, and the environment throughout the world.

In addition to multi-stakeholder involvement, the IRMA standards envision compliance auditing of corporate and mining sites.

Some might argue that the cancellation of Twin Metals leases and the gridlock of PolyMet permits demonstrates that Minnesota can manage without something like IRMA standards. I suspect we’d already be faced with at least one operating copper mine were it not for a multitude of environmental organizations and indigenous water protectors who have had the resources to engage in a multitude of court cases over a number of years. Our state agencies, in and of themselves, are not protecting us, plus, they can be overridden by the legislature. A process that involves many represented stakeholders, with mining compliance subject to audit, seems to offer a closer approximation of a transparent, truly world class permitting process than we now have. Mightn’t we be better off putting our efforts where our world class claims are?

North Country Blues

Written by: Bob Dylan 

Come gather ’round friends
And I’ll tell you a tale
Of when the red iron pits ran plenty
But the cardboard filled windows
And old men on the benches
Tell you now that the whole town is empty

In the north end of town
My own children are grown
But I was raised on the other
In the wee hours of youth
My mother took sick
And I was brought up by my brother

The iron ore poured
As the years passed the door
The drag lines an’ the shovels they was a-humming 
’Til one day my brother
Failed to come home
The same as my father before him

Well a long winter’s wait
From the window I watched
My friends they couldn’t have been kinder And my schooling was cut
As I quit in the spring
To marry John Thomas, a miner

Oh the years passed again
And the givin’ was good
With the lunch bucket filled every season
What with three babies born
The work was cut down
To a half a day’s shift with no reason

Then the shaft was soon shut
And more work was cut
And the fire in the air, it felt frozen 
’Til a man come to speak
And he said in one week
That number eleven was closin’

They complained in the East
They are paying too high
They say that your ore ain’t worth digging 
That it’s much cheaper down
In the South American towns
Where the miners work almost for nothing

So the mining gates locked
And the red iron rotted
And the room smelled heavy from drinking 
Where the sad, silent song
Made the hour twice as long
As I waited for the sun to go sinking

I lived by the window
As he talked to himself
This silence of tongues it was building 
Then one morning’s wake
The bed it was bare
And I’s left alone with three children

The summer is gone
The ground’s turning cold
The stores one by one they’re a-foldin’
My children will go
As soon as they grow
Well, there ain’t nothing here now to hold them

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This election is the DFL’s to lose and they’re working hard to do it!

The local precinct caucus is February 1. According to the Chisago-Isanti DFL web site:

DUE TO REDISTRICTING, WE STILL WILL NOT KNOW WHAT U.S. CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CHISAGO OR ISANTI COUNTIES WILL BE IN UNTIL SOMETIME AFTER FEB. 15th.

The NON-ATTENDEE FORM tells me that:

As a non-attendee you won’t be able to vote (for candidates, delegates, or resolutions), but you will be able to:
• Be nominated and possibly elected as a precinct officer or a delegate or alternate to a higher level convention.
• Submit resolutions for caucus approval by attaching a Resolution Form. (Available at dfl.org/caucuses-conventions)
• Sign up to help in other ways: as an Election Judge, or as a member of a committee setting up for a higher level convention.

I can find no information regarding actual or potential candidates for my House or Senate district, presumably because local district boundaries depend on congressional district boundaries?

All of which makes me wonder

WHY THE HELL THE DFL IS STUPIDLY HOLDING CAUCUSES NOW!

will the number of nuts at a caucus attract squirrels?

Photo by J. Harrington

At least I can save money by not contributing to a political party that’s this disorganized. As for participation under these circumstances? I VOTE NO!

[UPDATE:

Redistricting

Both the DFL-led House and Republican-controlled Senate have released their proposed versions of new legislative and congressional redistricting maps. Neither set of plans makes dramatic changes to the current district lines, but each would bend them in subtle ways to benefit their own party at the polls. Yet neither plan is expected to become law, since it's unlikely the divided chambers will agree before the Feb. 15 deadline to strike a deal. Without a legislative agreement, a five-judge panel will release its own set of maps that day.]

Why I Voted the Socialist Ticket

By Vachel Lindsay

I am unjust, but I can strive for justice.

My life’s unkind, but I can vote for kindness.

I, the unloving, say life should be lovely.

I, that am blind, cry out against my blindness.

Man is a curious brute—he pets his fancies—

Fighting mankind, to win sweet luxury.

So he will be, though law be clear as crystal,

Tho’ all men plan to live in harmony.

Come, let us vote against our human nature,

Crying to God in all the polling places

To heal our everlasting sinfulness

And make us sages with transfigured faces.

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How I spent my morning

Thoughts while in the dentist chair this morning:

• It’s only a week until Imbolc, the Celtic end of winter [end of Celtic winter?]


• I need to refresh my knowledge of fishing with my tenkara rod


• (Hope this visit goes well)


• Valentine’s Day is only three weeks away


• It’ll be wonderful when it’s again warm enough to sit outside and enjoy a coffee at Coffee Talk


• (So far, so good)


• Maybe I should drop by some local fly fishing shops before Valentine’s Day and see what’s new


• St. Paul still hasn’t mastered snow plowing


• (This seems to be going quicker than anticipated)


• Tom Rosenbauer’s Fly Fishing for Trout, The Next Level makes more sense than lots of other books I’ve read on fly fishing, or is it a case of “when the pupil is ready, the master will appear?”


• Time to clean and organize fly fishing stuff


• (Done already? GREAT!)

fly fishing nymphs in a fly box

Photo by J. Harrington

A permanent crown is on the tooth I broke a few weeks ago and a couple of small cavities got drilled and filled. Obviously, I didn’t concentrate on my breathing while meditating in the chair, but anticipatory pleasures of warmer days served the purpose. Soon it will be time to actually go fishing rather than contemplating going fishing. The interim will be spent in yet another futile effort to get organized.

Trout

By Kathryn Starbuck

I do my best 

to keep pointlessness 

at bay. But here, 

wet above my 

knees, I let it fly. 

Here, hot and cold, 

fingers thick with 

thinking, I try to 

tie the fly and look 

for the net, loosening 

the philosophical   

knot of why I came 

here today, not yet 

knowing whether 

I’ll free or fry 

the rainbows 

and browns once 

they’re mine.

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Overlooking the objectively obvious?

Today we barely climbed into the single digits. Also at some point today, the Star Tribune added a story to its online edition: What will best keep Xcel's grid reliable in a pinch: Gas plants or batteries?

With the kinds of cold we get in winter, and heat with humidity in summer. the answer to that question is of significance to quite a few Minnesotans, including our household, for which the monthly energy costs for December increased by $100 between 2020 and last year.

if the wind blows or the sun shines...

Photo by J. Harrington

As a long time fan of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Systems Dynamics section and their work on Limits to Growth, I searched the internet using the phrase “MIT US grid modeling.” I was pleasantly surprised to discover a research report online: “The Future of the Electric Grid.” I was even more pleasantly surprised to learn it’s one of a series.

Other Reports in This Series

• The Future of Nuclear Power (2003)
• The Future of Geothermal Energy (2006)
• The Future of Coal (2007)
• Update to the Future of Nuclear Power (2009)
• The Future of Natural Gas (2011)
• The Future of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle (2011) 

I fear that our state government, including and perhaps especially the Public Utilities Commission, may be overly reliant on testimony from those with “skin in the game” or a “dog in the fight,” depending on which cliche you prefer. Does Minnesota have a legal requirement that state agencies seek and use relevant information from neutral parties in adjudicating contentious issues? If not, why not?

That’s it for today from a taxpayer who doesn’t mind paying taxes but hates to see them wasted on poor decision-making systems crafted, and often run, by undereducated and untrained amateurs such as those regularly elected to office in this state.

Statement on Energy Policy

By Carter Revard

It’s true we have invented quark-extraction,

and this allows our aiming gravity at will;

it’s true also that time

can now be made to flow

backward or forward by

the same process. It may be true as well that

what is happening at the focal point,

the meristem of this process,

creates a future kind of space,

a tiny universe that has

quite different rules. In this, it seems,

whatever one may choose to do or be becomes

at once the case. In short,

we have discovered heaven and

it’s in our grasp. However,

the Patent Office has not yet approved and cites

less positive aspects of this invention. First, it

does not generate profit, and

it does make obsolete all present

delivery systems for our nukes. Then,

it will let private citizens do things that only

a chosen few, that is, OUR sort, should be allowed—

fly freely from one country

to any other, spreading diseases

and bankrupting transportation.

Home-heating, auto-making industries will be trashed,

employment shelled, depressions spread worldwide,

sheer anarchy descend.

For these and other reasons,

no one must know of this. . . .

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We need all WIN--WIN candidates

If you look off to the right hand side of this page, you’ll notice a new announcement and an invitation to “take action.” The MN House Climate Action Caucus has a plan for the 2022 legislative session. It’s phrased in broad, general terms, sort of similar to the way the Green New Deal lays out its goals and objectives. In general, we concur with the overall approach. It wouldn’t be prominently displayed if we hadn’t looked at it and thought, at least briefly, about it.

We are a bit troubled that the strategy to “Create state and local climate adaptation plans that support tribal, county and municipal governments while prioritizing the needs of communities burdened by pollution and cumulative climate impacts.” doesn’t also specifically mention townships. But we suspect many townships have a hard time picturing what they can do. We would suggest each level of government, and each citizen of Minnesota, take a careful look at each of the strategies and look for ways to adapt the strategy to their daily life. [Here’s a list of 100 things you can do to help in the climate  crises.] We can and will effectively respond to climate breakdown and COVID pandemics if we take much, much more of a BOTH -- AND approach and get rid of the EITHER -- OR attitude.

I Voted for the Climate

Photo by J. Harrington

If you’re curious about whether climate change/breakdown is affecting your county, you can take a look at the USA Facts Climate in Minnesota web site. Play with it a bit and you can check on your own county (even outside Minnesota). Why is this important?

In 2007, Minnesota’s legislature passed ambitious statutory goals for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with bipartisan support through the Next Generation Energy Act (NGEA); however, we have not made sufficient progress to date. The executive order noted that Minnesota failed to meet its 2015 goal of reducing emissions by 15 percent, and the state is not on track to meet our future goals, either.

In fact, we strongly recommend approaching the upcoming caucuses with the idea of only supporting candidates who agree that it takes all of US, in all of our roles, to tackle the challenges we’re facing. It’s a variation of Senator Wellstone’s great concept: We all succeed when we all succeed. Can you say “WIN--WIN?”

Let Them Not Say

Jane Hirshfield - 1953-

Let them not say:   we did not see it.
We saw.

Let them not say:   we did not hear it.
We heard.

Let them not say:     they did not taste it.
We ate, we trembled.

Let them not say:   it was not spoken, not written.
We spoke,
we witnessed with voices and hands.

Let them not say:     they did nothing.
We did not-enough.

Let them say, as they must say something: 

A kerosene beauty.
It burned.

Let them say we warmed ourselves by it,
read by its light, praised,
and it burned.

—2014

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Preparation for “occasions of hope"

The picture below is of a print hanging on a wall in our family room. It highlights this phrase: “The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.”

The charm of fishing

Photo by J. Harrington

After scanning today’s headlines and a social media timeline, I have concluded that my life needs more charm and to be focused on occasions for hope, which are rarely found in main stream media, although they do occur from time to time on social media. There are lots of good folks and organizations that are accomplishing much good in our world. They just too often seem to be outnumbered by the other kinds, you know, like Republicans and most global corporations.

I believe we acquired the print at a silent auction during a local Trout Unlimited fundraiser quite a few years back. Once upon a time we were much more active in the local TU chapters than we’ve been for a long time. Maybe it’s time to consider re-upping our level of volunteerism, if we can do so without increasing the risk of contracting COVID.

The point that I’m floundering around, trying to line up, is that restoring hope is a key aspect of my self-care. If you check the posts over the last week or so, it will be clear that I’m not likely to get out and enjoy the restorative powers of Nature when the temperature is much below 20℉ and the wind chill is even worse. So, the time has come to start fiddling with  the fly-fishing gear, making plans for pre-season scouting trips, and spending less (no?) time doom scrolling. We will now do our best to emulate the wonderful children’s book Spring is a New Beginning. Imbolc is but ten days away!

The Trout

Amy Lowell - 1874-1925

          Naughty little speckled trout,
          Can't I coax you to come out?
          Is it such great fun to play
          In the water every day?

          Do you pull the Naiads' hair
          Hiding in the lilies there?
          Do you hunt for fishes' eggs,
          Or watch tadpoles grow their legs?

          Do the little trouts have school
          In some deep sun-glinted pool,
          And in recess play at tag
          Round that bed of purple flag?

          I have tried so hard to catch you,
          Hours and hours I've sat to watch you;
          But you never will come out,
          Naughty little speckled trout!

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Is constant change a balance?

In about a month or so, with luck, maybe less, dogwood stems will brighten to a warmer red. I’m looking forward to that. Then it will be time to collect a handful of stems and put them in water at home and watch leaves emerge. Extended weather forecasts claim next month may be warmer than average and March may be very much warmer than average for our region. As one who has lived in this North Country for most of his adult life, I can only reply “We’ll see!” If nothing else, the prospect of a warmer spring raises hopes that can get us through Valentine's even if the ultimate result is disappointment in the accuracy of long range weather forecasts.

late February, dogwood stems bright red

Photo by J. Harrington

The view of the fields behind the house hasn’t changed much for weeks, other than some days are cloudy and others full of blue skies. The snow shows a few tracks left by wandering whitetail deer and the scampering footprints of a cottontail or two. Getting an inch or three of snow once or twice a week keeps filling in last week’s tracks so it all looks pretty constant. I’ve found that, no matter how pretty or beautiful a scene may be, after awhile I want it to change. Just as I really like red beans and rice, I wouldn’t want to eat it every day, week after week.

Then again, the temperature roller coaster ride we’ve been on this month is hard to adapt to. A day or two above freezing followed by three or four days of below zero, coupled with widely varying humidity levels, can make for too much change too often.

I wonder if anyone has found the Goldilocks equivalent of a beneficial balance to change in our daily and weekly lives, not too much, not too little, but just right to keep us satisfied and content for a season or two. If you’ve any thoughts on this theme, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

from constant change figures

By Lyn Hejinian

constant change figures

the time we sense

passing on its effect

surpassing things we've known before

since memory

of many things is called

experience

but what of what

we call nature's picture

surpassing things we call

since memory

we call nature's picture

surpassing things we've known before

constant change figures

experience

passing on its effect

but what of what

constant change figures

since memory

of many things is called

the time we sense

called nature's picture

but what of what

in the time we sense

surpassing things we've known before

passing on its effect

is experience

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Without trust, we have ...

Moonset was beautiful this morning, very cold, but beautiful. It looked a lot like the photo below, which was taken in December several years ago.

winter moonset

Photo by J. Harrington

I wish I could train myself to spend more time enjoying the good things in life and less time focused on what’s wrong. That would mean I’d spend more time enjoying life instead of fretting about what I want but don’t have at the moment. In the current example, that would be spring and warmer weather. If I were more accepting of what is, in winter I would not complain about walking dogs in bitter cold weather, nor spring’s rain and ice and mud, nor about summer’s flies and mosquitoes. Instead, I’ve limited the potential enjoyment of much of three seasons, not because of pain but because of discomfort, irritation or aggravation. I don’t believe this kind of dissatisfaction is what Robert Browning had in mind when he wrote 

“Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a heaven for?”

Alternatively, Jane Hirshfield has said:

I have been given this existence, these years on this Earth, to accept what has come into my lifetime — wars, loves, trucks, betrayals, kindness. I must take them. I must find a way to live in this world. You can’t refuse it. And along with the difficult is the radiant, the beautiful, the intimacy with which each one of us enters the life of all of us and figures out, what is our conversation? What is my responsibility? What must be suffered? What can be changed? How can I meet this in a way which both lets me open my eyes the next day and also, perhaps, if I’m lucky, can be of service?

Rarely, if ever, do I do well with acceptance. Not because I don’t try but because it does not seem to be in my nature to be zen-like. My focus has been much more on the questions “What is my responsibility? What must be suffered? What can be changed?” Perhaps the issue is one of balance rather than absolutes. 

If your email inbox is like mine, it daily fills with please to help alleviate one crisis after another. Rarely is there an acknowledgement than any given crisis has been abated, even for the moment. Such beleaguerment feeds guilt but rarely accomplishment. But then there’s the story of saving starfish.

If, come November of this year, democracy is extinguished in the US by US, due to indifference and/or incompetence, it will be tragic but, at least for awhile, the world will continue. Chile lost and then restored its democracy under political conditions that seem quite similar to those of our current time and place: a loss of trust between the two major political parties. In our case, compounded by a loss of trust between the each of the parties and many of its proponents.

As a recovvering planner, I well remember the old dictum “More of the same never solved a problem.” We continue to elect people who believe their side is always right, the other side is always wrong and gridlock is preferable to letting the other side look good or a problem get solved. Until we cease repeating that mistake (those mistakes?), nothing we do is likely to improve things very much. If politics is the art of the  possible, then we’ve elected too many politicians who’ve made art impossible. Can we do better?

Trust

By Susan Kinsolving

Trust that there is a tiger, muscular 

Tasmanian, and sly, which has never been 

seen and never will be seen by any human 

eye. Trust that thirty thousand sword- 

fish will never near a ship, that far 

from cameras or cars elephant herds live 

long elephant lives. Believe that bees 

by the billions find unidentified flowers 

on unmapped marshes and mountains. Safe 

in caves of contentment, bears sleep. 

Through vast canyons, horses run while slowly 

snakes stretch beyond their skins in the sun. 

I must trust all this to be true, though 

the few birds at my feeder watch the window 

with small flutters of fear, so like my own.

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A day for hope

The sun is shining; temperatures are above freezing; snow is melting! Eternal springs the hope that spring may return. To realize that, in the nadir of winter, bear cubs are being born while the mother is in hibernation; that many animals and birds are in the beginnings of mating and nesting season; that life is in preparation to continue, is more than enough reason to hope.

Maria Popova has shared a wonderful quotation by Rebecca Solnit on the idea of hope:

Hope locates itself in the premises that we don’t know what will happen and that in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act. When you recognize uncertainty, you recognize that you may be able to influence the outcomes — you alone or you in concert with a few dozen or several million others. Hope is an embrace of the unknown and the unknowable, an alternative to the certainty of both optimists and pessimists. Optimists think it will all be fine without our involvement; pessimists take the opposite position; both excuse themselves from acting. It’s the belief that what we do matters even though how and when it may matter, who and what it may impact, are not things we can know beforehand. We may not, in fact, know them afterward either, but they matter all the same, and history is full of people whose influence was most powerful after they were gone.

sunshine brings hope of melting frost

Photo by J. Harrington

The quotation above also captures something I learned late in life about meaning and the future. Once I believed that meaning was something out there that we needed to find. Instead, I now believe the meaning is something we create through what we do and how we do it. I no longer accept that what the future holds  is some independent given but something we create through each action we take each moment we live.

Tomorrow may bring the return of cold, cloudy, snowy, dreary weather that makes the return of spring seem hopeless. It won’t, however, cause the bear sow to abandon her cubs; the great horned owl to abandon her eggs and nest; just as it shouldn’t cause us to abandon our efforts to make a better life for ourselves and those who will come after US.

An Old Story

By Tracy K. Smith

We were made to understand it would be

Terrible. Every small want, every niggling urge,

Every hate swollen to a kind of epic wind. 

 

Livid, the land, and ravaged, like a rageful 

Dream. The worst in us having taken over 

And broken the rest utterly down. 

 

                                                                 A long age 

Passed. When at last we knew how little 

Would survive us—how little we had mended 

 

Or built that was not now lost—something 

Large and old awoke. And then our singing 

Brought on a different manner of weather. 

 

Then animals long believed gone crept down 

From trees. We took new stock of one another. 

We wept to be reminded of such color. 

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Republicans aren’t the only ones suppressing voter participation

 Six years (3 elections?) ago, the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor party’s Environmental Caucus agreed to defer action on a contentious, but popular, resolution that opposed copper mining such as that envisioned by the PolyMet and Twin Metals projects. According to a 2016 article in the Star Tribune,

“It’s kicking the can down the road, but I think they’re starting to realize with this election that Democrats fighting among ourselves is not a good thing, and we need to find a better resolution to these issues than taking potshots.”

Twin Metals offices, Ely MN

Photo by J. Harrington

We now have two former Democrat state senators from mining country who have declared themselves Independents and now caucus with the Republicans. Neither mining project is operating yet. PolyMet has four of its required permits embroiled in court cases and reissuance. Twin Metals is facing a potential twenty year prohibition on copper mining in the watershed in which it’s located. Meanwhile, Minnesota’s Congressional District 8 is again represented by a Republican.

Democratic Party precinct caucuses are coming up on February 1, 2022. I’m debating with myself, and discussing with the Better Half, the pros and cons of participating, even remotely, in a process that’s deeply flawed because, in 2016, “The resolution was the most popular among all resolutions passed up through local DFL organizing units to the state convention’s platform committee, indicating grass roots DFL opposition to copper-nickel mining, Kanitz said.” 

I grew up in a neighborhood that lived by the slogan (among others): “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Since it’s not clear who, if any, might be local DFL candidates I’d want to endorse, or if the DFL has learned that ignoring grass roots issues can be counterproductive. it may be awhile before I’ve decided if I’m again a Democrat or intend to remain an Independent.

A Short Note to My Very Critical and Well-Beloved Friends and Comrades

June Jordan - 1936-2002

First they said I was too light
Then they said I was too dark
Then they said I was too different
Then they said I was too much the same
Then they said I was too young
Then they said I was too old
Then they said I was too interracial
Then they said I was too much a nationalist
Then they said I was too silly
Then they said I was too angry
Then they said I was too idealistic
Then they said I was too confusing altogether:
Make up your mind! They said. Are you militant
or sweet? Are you vegetarian or meat? Are you straight
or are you gay?

And I said, Hey! It’s not about my mind

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Does MN need Bioregional Learning Centers

As it becomes more and more obvious that our political systems aren’t adequate to help US respond to the crises we face, I keep thinking about the possibility of a bioregional alternative. This morning, after some poking and prodding, the interwebs coughed up some prospects I’d not come across before, Bioregional Learning Centers. The linked source relates the concept to Donella Meadows work as she was co-founding the Balaton Group.

Of more immediate interest, there’s a current version of a BLC functioning in South Devon, England. As described on the group’s home page:

Today we are a seedbed of innovation in soil restoration, organic farming, community-supported fishing, rewilding, the circular economy, social enterprise, re-localising procurement, community action and leveraging systems change with small-scale interventions. We are, together, growing a learning region for a climate resilient future.

As I skimmed my way through several of the pages on the web site, I couldn’t help but wonder if areas in Minnesota might benefit from the creation of BLCs. In particular, the St. Croix River watershed and the northern Minnesota Iron Range/ Boundary Waters complex.

can the St. Croix be protected from CAFOs?

Photo by J. Harrington

Minnesota has already enjoyed an effort somewhat comparable to the Devon’s river charter. In 2016, the Institute for the Environment sponsored a lecture series, one of which was “River Journey: Exploring the Value of the Mississippi River.”

I raise these prospects because, it seems to me, Minnesota has a number of groups that focus well on fragments of our socioecological systems, but lacks the type of umbrella organization that cuts across functions and issues and builds needed networks to get new concepts and best practices implemented in a timely fashion. Instead, we have come to rely on on increasingly dysfunction and combative legislature where too many of us are represented by those more interested in holding power than solving problems. Having several Bioregional Learning Centers (similar to, but distinct from, the University’s Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships?) could help provide the resources, frameworks and interdependence we need for effective regional solutions.

In Response to a Question

The earth says have a place, be what that place
requires; hear the sound the birds imply
and see as deep as ridges go behind
each other. (Some people call their scenery flat,
their only picture framed by what they know:
I think around them rise a riches and a loss
too equal for their chart – but absolutely tall.)

The earth says every summer have a ranch
that’s minimum: one tree, one well, a landscape
that proclaims a universe – sermon
of the hills, hallelujah mountain,
highway guided by the way the world is tilted,
reduplication of mirage, flat evening:
a kind of ritual for the wavering.

The earth says where you live wear the kind
of color that your life is (gray shirt for me)
and by listening with the same bowed head that sings
draw all into one song, joining
the sparrow on the lawn, and row that easy
way, the rage without met by the wings
within that guide you anywhere the wind blows.

Listening, I think that’s what the earth says.

– William Stafford

(from Stories That Could Be True, for educational purposes only)

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Near the Ides of January

Monday is Martin Luther King Day. It’s also January’s full moon, known as the Great Spirit Moon by the Ojibwe and the Hard Times Moon by the Lakota according to our Minnesota Weatherguide. But the name Wolf Moon “... is thought to have a Celtic and Old English origin, brought over to North America by European settlers. Other Celtic names of the Full Moon include Stay Home Moon and Quiet Moon...”

January’s full moon has several names

Photo by J. Harrington

Have you noticed that the days are getting longer. Later sunsets have become obvious. It’s but a little more than two weeks until Imbolc, the first of three spring festivals. Although snowdrops are a seasonal sign associated with Imbolc, in Minnesota we look for blooming snowdrops some six weeks after Imbolc.

Today we’ve decided to spare you another political rant but will observe that, thanks to politics and related factors in the human condition, such as stupidity and cupidity, we are now looking at the situation where Minneapolis is mandating that clientele in its restaurants show proof of vaccination but the staff thereof (restaurants, not the city) aren’t required to be vaccinated. This, as we enter the pandemic’s third year.

Back to Druidry. It makes lots more sense these days.

Imbolc by Damh the Bard
As the dark, cold morning gives way to light,
And the world shows its face dazzling in her nakedness,
So the twigs and leaf-bare branches,
Bow to the passing dance
Of old Jack Frost.
His crystal breath on the earth,
And the corners of houses weep icicles of joy.
But where is the Sun’s warmth?
Where is life?
A small flower, delicate and pure-white,
Looks to the earth,
As if talking to the waiting green,
“Not yet,” it seems to whisper.
“When I fall, then you can return.”
And she nods her head,
as the Lady passes by,
Leaving more flowers in Her wake.

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