Tag Archives: what to do 😱

Changing of the seasons 🥺

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Photograph by J.L. Munn

I think about climate change all the time. I didn’t need Greta to help me with that, but I applaud her for helping those that do. The more I see, the more I can’t help thinking that it’s funny to think that the collective of the middle and lower classes bought into the idea that we, the individuals, could some how compensate for all the damage that bad acting corporations have been doing, and continue to do, on massive scale.

This ladybug doesn’t really know anything about from where this rusting metal pole has come. It knows nothing of its impact, good or bad, on its environment. It just knows that the wind is cold today. It knows the sun is warm today. And it knows that whatever this is and no matter the chain of events that brought it here, at least for the moment, it is the only thing that can help it warm up enough to try to go about its daily business of trying to stay alive in a less than luxurious environment.

I’m glad Greta and her family have had the courage to embark on their journey. I just wish I knew more how to help them help us.

Thoughts on a photograph

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Official White House Photo by Pete Souza (2011)

These last few months have brought up some very dark perspectives for the future for me.  Even if you haven’t really being paying attention it is easy to understand why.  What is not easy to understand is from where all the hate is coming.  When I stumble upon photographs like this one, I remember the cautious optimism that existed not so long ago.  The beauty of the image and what it represents warms my heart, but to know what is possible yet (hopefully temporarily) beyond our reach inevitably cools the warmth.

Sometimes I wish I could un-know how sick my culture has become.  When I didn’t know how many felt hate over this photograph my world made more sense.  My days, though always full of challenges, made some sense.  Now I know, and the application of the word senseless has never in my lifetime been more appropriate for the times.  The current cultural circus that is playing out is unnecessary and there is not a single player in it that doesn’t know that.  No one anywhere in the world will win from the way we are doing this, but, at least for now, it seems the desire to burn it down is bigger than the desire to build it up.  I only hope when the fire subsides there are still enough materials left for the survivors to start again.  The grand democratic experiment is still worth the efforts.  Humanity is worth it, even if we aren’t showing it right now.