Day lily phen(omen)ology

Neighborhood day lilies have started to bloom. That means it’s time to watch (out) for fawns, goslings and wild turkey poults. A couple of days ago we had two does and four spotted fawns scampering around behind the house. Goslings are down the road at the Sunrise River pools along county road 36. The Better Half has seen poults as she drove to the barn where the Daughter Person’s horse is boarded. I’m hoping to see some in the back yard any day now. Signs of any kind of normalcy are very much appreciated and valued these days.

whitetail fawn in flower-dotted field behind our house

Photo by J. Harrington

This month's weather has been almost as bad as the Washington regime's "governing." It's been wickedly rainy or humidly wet and/or windy and either well above or below normal temperatures. The bad news is: the weather has hindered getting out fishing. The good news is it's hindered yard cleanup and mowing. I think I'd prefer to deal with the tradeoffs created by better weather.

I'm not sure if it's a result of the weather or what, but this summer we've had two, maybe three, male Baltimore orioles at the feeders, together with a mob of male rose-breasted grosbeaks and a flock of male goldfinches. All more than I remember from past years. 

All-in-all, it wouldn't take much to make for a major improvement in folks' lives around here. Then, again, there's the old saying that "Things always look darkest just before they go totally black!" but I much prefer a line I wrote years ago: "It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness!"

Praise the Rain

By Joy Harjo

 

Praise the rain; the seagull dive

The curl of plant, the raven talk—

Praise the hurt, the house slack

The stand of trees, the dignity—

Praise the dark, the moon cradle

The sky fall, the bear sleep—

Praise the mist, the warrior name

The earth eclipse, the fired leap—

Praise the backwards, upward sky

The baby cry, the spirit food—

Praise canoe, the fish rush

The hole for frog, the upside-down—

Praise the day, the cloud cup

The mind flat, forget it all—

Praise crazy. Praise sad.

Praise the path on which we're led.

Praise the roads on earth and water.

Praise the eater and the eaten.

Praise beginnings; praise the end.

Praise the song and praise the singer.

Praise the rain; it brings more rain.

Praise the rain; it brings more rain.

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Let's not waste this crisis!!!

 Long, long, ago, in a country far, far, away, I seem to recall lending my young daughter my copy of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. I may need to ask for it back unless one or more of the strongly worded letters from a Democrat actually has an effect. I'm tired of reading extended statements purporting to describe things like "I study the resistance against the Nazis. Here’s what the US left can learn from it," that seem very short on substantive, relevant, strategies and / or tactics.

sunrise, dawn of a new era

Photo by J. Harrington

There's a range of opinion regarding whether the advice "Never let a crisis go to waste" should be attributed to Saul, Winston Churchill, or someone else. Whoever was the source, I think it's advice we should follow these days and do our best to dismantle the neoliberal, global capitalist economy while also establishing the Rights of Nature all over the Earth. Mother Nature seems to have caught on to the ad tag line "You can pay me now or you can pay me later." Meanwhile, governments and regimes in power now are doing their best to toady up to extractive economy corporate donors so owned (or rented) politicians can continue to scam their constituents. (Remember the Howard Beale line from Network: "'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore!'")

We don't want to fix a broken system that needs to be replaced, we want to replace it. Here's some options to consider as you think about what we need next:

• Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE)
  
  
• Schumacher Center For New Economics
  
  
•  Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN)
  
  
• Green Amendments For The Generations

Since I seem to be on a kick of citing old sayings these days, let's also remember this one: "The best defense is a good offense." It fits nicely with Bucky Fuller's observation: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”

On the Fifth Day

By Jane Hirshfield

On the fifth day

the scientists who studied the rivers

were forbidden to speak

or to study the rivers.

The scientists who studied the air

were told not to speak of the air,

and the ones who worked for the farmers

were silenced,

and the ones who worked for the bees.

Someone, from deep in the Badlands,

began posting facts.

The facts were told not to speak

and were taken away.

The facts, surprised to be taken, were silent.

Now it was only the rivers

that spoke of the rivers,

and only the wind that spoke of its bees,

while the unpausing factual buds of the fruit trees

continued to move toward their fruit.

The silence spoke loudly of silence,

and the rivers kept speaking

of rivers, of boulders and air.

Bound to gravity, earless and tongueless,

the untested rivers kept speaking.

Bus drivers, shelf stockers,

code writers, machinists, accountants,

lab techs, cellists kept speaking.

They spoke, the fifth day,

of silence.

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We're all in/on this together

The world is full of good, or at least better, news, but we won't find it in main stream media's "if it bleeds, it leads" coverage. Try looking in books. I'm just finishing What If We Get It Right, Visions of Climate Futures. It's leaving me feeling encouraged despite yesterday's political assassination and shootings, allegedly by a christian nationalist right-wing police imitator.

For a recent birthday, I received a copy of Robert Macfarlane's Is a River Alive? Reading is underway and, so far, it's as good as I hoped it could be. If Ecuador can incorporate the rights of nature in its constitution, why not US?

Blue Marble
Image Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

There's a couple or three old sayings you should be aware of: as a recovering planner, I learned quite well that "more of the same never solved a problem." That fits rather well, I think, with “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” And let's not forget, now that we find ourselves at the bottom of a deep hole, to stop digging.

When I was growing up, the future was presented as something objective out there that, over time, we entered. During the past few years I've learned that the future is actually like a garden. It's something we ourselves grow. If we do a good job and work together, we'll have stores to get US through the winter and early spring. If not, we're in serious, perhaps deadly, trouble. Too many of US seem too think going it alone is the solution. Survival and thriving are shared results unless you're the Donner party.

We have become hyper-individualistic to the point of selfdestruction. Let me share an example from the past week or so that, I think, helps make my case. My email inbox has been repeatedly filled by conservation organizations asking me to "Take Action" to change or eliminate one provision or another off the Reconciliation bill in the Senate. None of the requests suggested killing the whole damn POS. I responded that I would ask the members of Congress representing me to Kill the Bill, but not individual provisions. I remain deeply disappointed that there isn't a coalition of conservation interests working to totally defeat the House's crappy work.

Without

Joy Harjo    1951 –

 

The world will keep trudging through time without us

When we lift from the story contest to fly home

We will be as falling stars to those watching from the edge

Of grief and heartbreak

Maybe then we will see the design of the two-minded creature 

And know why half the world fights righteously for greedy masters 

And the other half is nailing it all back together

Through the smoke of cooking fires, lovers’ trysts, and endless 

Human industry—

Maybe then, beloved rascal

We will find each other again in the timeless weave of breathing

We will sit under the trees in the shadow of earth sorrows 

Watch hyenas drink rain, and laugh.

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How b b b bad is it? Let's "Build back better!"

Yes, I'm aware of the current clashes between the American Gestapo [ICE] and local governments and/or protestors. Been there, done that back in the days of the Vietnam war protest days. Watched similar actions on tv during the earlier confrontations at desegregation os southern schools. Have you not seen Santayana's quote: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." It seems our country has a memory as short as it's fuse. Meanwhile, we're doing little to nothing about the dangers of our burning planet and the disruption (by US and others) of the natural life support systems on which we depend for fresh air, clean water and food. If we end up with no future, that will certainly solve the problem of studying history.

One of the advantages we had during civi rights and Vietnam protests is our national leaders were at least semi-rational. Not this time. I wouldn't be surprised to see our situation follow the pattern of England's Charles 1. That seems preferable to a third world war. But enough....

Penstemon grandiflorus with pink blooms

Photo by J. Harrington

The blooms are coming off the lilacs. The deer haven't yet eaten all of my "deer resistant" serviceberries. Penstemon's in bloom. Goslings are growing up. Slowly but surely I'm pacing myself to clean up llast winter and spring's messes, although these days that makes me wonder if I'm rearranging deck chairs on an "unsinkable" ship. Fishing licenses are in our pockets, Father's Day is coming up. The Better Half made a wonderful rhubarb / apple crumble. I'm reading some books that give me some hope and am, once again, determined to find a way to be happy more much of the time.

Once The World Was Perfect

by Joy Harjo

Once the world was perfect, and we were happy in that world.
Then we took it for granted.
Discontent began a small rumble in the earthly mind.
Then Doubt pushed through with its spiked head.
And once Doubt ruptured the web,
All manner of demon thoughts
Jumped through—
We destroyed the world we had been given
For inspiration, for life—
Each stone of jealousy, each stone
Of fear, greed, envy, and hatred, put out the light.
No one was without a stone in his or her hand.
There we were,
Right back where we had started.
We were bumping into each other
In the dark.
And now we had no place to live, since we didn’t know
How to live with each other.
Then one of the stumbling ones took pity on another
And shared a blanket.
A spark of kindness made a light.
The light made an opening in the darkness.
Everyone worked together to make a ladder.
A Wind Clan person climbed out first into the next world,
And then the other clans, the children of those clans, their children,
And their children, all the way through time—
To now, into this morning light to you.

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Welcome, June

Last night, in honor of the summery weather and the turning of the month, we enjoyed slices of the first ice cream cake of the season. It hit the spot. Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been switching back and forth between turning on the heat and the air conditioning. The outside heat is back, accompanied by smoke streams from Canadian wildfires to our north.

The neighborhood deer have been nipping at my freshly planted, “deer resistant” serviceberry bushes. I suppose deer “resistance" is to deer proof as water resistant is to water proof in rain jackets. I have now sprayed the bushes with deer and rabbit repellant and hung a mesh bag of the Better Half’s hair clippings on each bush. One of these days I may remember to not believe everything I read or think.

Chalk-fronted Corporal (on left) Common Whitetail [female] (on right)

Photo by J. Harrington

Columbine are now blooming, joining hoary puccoon, lilacs, and wild strawberries. Dame’s rocket started flowering the past day or so. The cloud of lilac aroma in front of the house is heady and delightful. I’d spend more time standing around outside sniffing but the bugs are getting worse by the hour.

A few dragonflies are flitting about. The mole population seems worse than ever it’s been since we moved in. This week I’ll spray encroaching poison ivy if we get a dry spell with temperatures under 80℉. Thunderstorms are forecast tomorrow night after highs near or at 90℉. Dogs will probably need their THC treats.

We finally picked up this year’s fishing licenses and Wisconsin trout stamp. Minnesota doesn’t require a stamp for those over 65. No, I won’t mention how much over 65 I am but this isn’t the first year I didn’t need a Minnesota trout stamp. Now that we’ve made a little progress tidying the yard, if I don’t get out fishing this week, I will manage to do some practice casting in the back yard (he wrote hopefully). These are times to enjoy simple, basic pleasures.

Thankful for Now

BY TODD DAVIS

Walking the river back home at the end

of May, locust in bloom, an oriole flitting

through dusky crowns, and the early night sky

going peach, day's late glow the color of that fruit's

flesh, dribbling down over everything, christening

my sons, the two of them walking before me

after a day of fishing, one of them placing a hand

on the other's shoulder, pointing toward a planet

that's just appeared, or the swift movement

of that yellow and black bird disappearing

into the growing dark, and now the light, pink

as a crabapple's flower, and my legs tired

from wading the higher water, and the rocks

that keep turning over, nearly spilling me

into the river, but still thankful for now

when I have enough strength to stay

a few yards behind them, loving this time

of day that shows me the breadth

of their backs, their lean, strong legs

striding, how we all go on in this cold water,

heading home to the sound of the last few

trout splashing, as mayflies float

through the shadowed riffles.

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