Earth Day

                                     April is the Cruelest month,

                                      Breeding lilacs out of the dead land,

                                      Mixing memory and desire, stirring

                                              Dull roots with spring rain.

                                                
                                       T. S. Eliot – The Wasteland                                         

As I sit here looking out my window upon the third day of intermittent, then heavy, then dry, then fluffy and by any measure – beautiful snow, I cannot blame the time of year on my uneasiness.  

But I am beginning to feel that “I” am the “dull root” being stirred – not with a sense of renewal, but with dread and suspicion. My elegant, bright daffodils are still maintaining their valiant stance even as the spring snow tries to bury them.  What beauty!  What courage, I think! And, I am a part of this rhythm of earth’s renewal. Will my courage wane?

Now we are threatened with a plague and many of us remain strong, even while meekly peeping our mask-covered heads now and then out of our self-imposed quarantine. We respect Nature; we even respect the virus because it is new and stronger than any of us. But it is part of Nature – like the asteroid’s that took out the dinosaurs all those millions of years ago. Like the Black Plague centuries ago. It is a sign that Nature is in charge and we are all part of it. We can battle the virus and will survive it. It is part of Nature as are we.

But there is something else that we may not survive. And this is what is now stirring my dull roots. Does it stir yours? 

I worry.  I worry about our Wildlife reserves.  Our parks and our wilderness areas. 

Did you know that our current president has rolled back  some 95 different laws and initiatives to protect our earth, our water, our wildlife, initiated by previous administrations (mainly Obama’s) and some national forest lands which had been set aside way back in the twenties to protect those lands from development.  

See: https://e360.yale.edu/features/open-for-business-the-trump-revolution-on-public-lands   

We as Americans need to wake up before we lose what we’ve fought to retain all these years.  Our earth and our natural environment are under attack but that is not all.  We are in danger of losing our Democracy.  This man wants to be King. We must not allow it. 

It is Spring and the earth is awakening. So must we. 

A Profile in Courage

Senator Mitt Romney has just restored my faith in government, in truth and in the decency of our politicians.

Today he gave a speech only an hour or so before the Senate is to vote to acquit our president from impeachment and the removal from office which he so readily deserves. Romney appears to be the only Republican who is living up to the oath they all must take:  Conscience first, County second and Party last.  He is the only Republican who had the grace and the conscience to stray from the long vindictive arm of Mitch McConnell and therefore will invite a lot of vituperative comment and retribution from Trump. Still, in his speech, he acknowledged that; indeed, he expects it.

As we all have been reminded ad infinitum over the past couple of months, our constitution warns no one is above the law.  This president, however, is too ignorant and too arrogant to care. And with his staff of sycophants including Barr and Pompeo, he doesn’t have to. And once this acquittal takes place, this president will feel he can do anything with impunity, as the Senate which is supposed to be the check on the Executive Branch, will allow him to do whatever he wants.

JFK, may we include Mitt Romney in your pantheon of Profiles in Courage?  And may we award him the Medal of Freedom.

He deserves it. Not Rush Limbaugh.