Monthly Archives: July 2008

Faith and Spirituality, GeekWorld, Great Work, Weather +Climate

Say a Little Prayer for the Miracle of Mother Earth

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70  bar steep fall 29.80  6mph NW  Dew-point 62   Summer, a thunder storm watch until 6PM.  One’s already rolled through our area.

First Quarter of the Thunder Moon

The Thunder Moon has seen its first storm even before it became gibbous.   When I went downstairs today to shut off and unplug the computer, as I always do before a storm, it made me think.

In cities it is possible to live a life pretty isolated from the natural world.  Yes, you get wet when it rains if you can’t drive from covered parking to covered parking, but it’s usually a short term experience.  Out of the car.  Dash across the parking lot or sidewalk into the shelter of a building.  Yes, up here in the northland you can’t avoid the snow and the cold, but there again, unless you go outside with snowshoes or hiking boots, your exposure does not interrupt your day very much.

Out here in the exurbs, where the cities reach has become tenuous, houses have 2 acres, 5 acres, 10 acres between them.  When the thunderstorm looms, it looms over you.  A lightning strike on or near the house would send a surge throughout our circuitry blowing out sensitive devices.  The computer holds so much of my life and work that I protect it.  But, from what?

Yes.  Mother nature.  She’s whimsical and unpredictable.  No matter what we do somewhere the river rises.  Electricity coming in a storm carries a voltage of 100 million to 1 billion volts.  It can reach 50,000 degrees fahrenheit.   Four times as hot as the sun’s surface.  A hurricane generates unbelievable power and as they intensify they endanger increasing amounts of our wealth and health as a country.

Just think back over the last couple of months.  The cyclone in Burma.  The earthquakes in China.  The worst natural disaster in our history, Katrina, was not long ago.  These events kill and or disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.  The earthquake in Pakistan or the Kobe earthquake in Japan.  Huge, nation altering events.  The tsunami in the Indian Ocean.  We remember these not only for their human suffering and property loss, but because they remind us that we are not in control of the planet.

Our own little apocalypse, death, comes from the evolution of life.  Life comes with a sell-by date.  We are not in control even of our own lives.  This is either frightening or invigorating.

I choose invigoration, so when I head downstairs to shut off the computer I say a little prayer of thanks for the miracle of mother earth and my chance for a brief stay here.

Great Work, Politics

Windows Down and Moon Roof Open

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66  bar steady 29.87  0mph NW dew-point 52   Summer night

First Quarter of the Thunder Moon

First meeting of the Sierra Club political committee is under my belt.  I am delighted to say that there were several things we did that I cannot talk about yet.  It was fun, sitting around the table again, considering political strategy, making decisions.  There was a volunteer opportunity, but, unlike many times in the past, I did not step up.  The Sierra Club has a well conceived and well run political operation; it will require some time to understand.

Margaret Levin is an excellent staffer.  Her presence reminded me of my work with the Presbytery, helping things happen, supporting when necessary, providing guidance, prodding at times.  Josh Davis, the chair, is very knowledgeable about state level politics.  He came tonight with a map of the state house districts color coded by safe seats, 5% margin and 2% margin races.  In addition there were districts Sierra Club allies have targeted in blue.

There were two past chairs of the political committee on the committee which is great.  Continuity and experience.  This will be an educational process and I look forward to it.

Drove home with the windows down and the moon roof open, listening to a lecture on Thomas Hardy.

News of the Strange

Flames near Paradise, Calif.

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 Only in California  could Paradise go down in flames.

AP “Thousands of people were ordered to get out of Paradise on Wednesday as an out-of-control wildfire threatened the Northern California city that also was devastated by flames just weeks ago.

Authorities ordered residents of 3,200 Paradise homes to evacuate after the wind-stoked fire destroyed 40 homes and 10 structures Tuesday in the nearby rural community of Concow. Evacuation orders remained in effect for 1,000 residents of Concow and Yankee Hill, about 85 miles north of Sacramento.

Officials said more than 3,800 homes were threatened by the flames Wednesday. Another wildfire destroyed 74 homes in Paradise last month.”

Faith and Spirituality, Garden, Writing

The Fireworks I Like Best

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79  bar steady 29.90 1mph NW dew-point 53  Summer, warm and sunny

First Quarter of the Thunder Moon

Research this morning on UU history in the Twin Cities.  The liberal religious tradition, as represented by the Unitarians and the Universalists, came here, at least it appears at this point in my reading, with Yankee businesspeople.  Lumber and land were the initial draw.  The Unitarians were an educated group who believed in education.  The Universalists were lumber folk initially.

Both groups had the stamp of privilege, what one author calls Old Stock American, early residents of the colonies whose culture bore, for the most part, the stamp of Great Britain.  One article on the Bisbee/Tuttle controversy referred to Minneapolis as a Universalist town.

I enjoy this kind of research, just as I enjoy the art history research.  As I have collected data over the years, each new accrual both gains from and adds to the context, the rich web of history, philosophy, literature, paintings, sculpture, theatre and political analysis that remains from years of study.  This gathering of threads together is one of the chief benefits of aging.

The garden has finally gotten its heat and the vegetables have jumped up in response.  The squash have spread, the beans have climbed, beets have pushed above the surface and the corn has begun to reach for the sky.  The firecracker lilies and other Asian lilies have also opened and the first hemerocallis, too.  Soon the liguria and the clematis.  This is the true independence day celebration, the kind of fireworks I like best.

Faith and Spirituality, Garden, Great Wheel

The Crescent Moon’s Gentle Spell

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61  bar steep rise 29.87  0mph WNW dew-point 52  Summer night, pleasant

Waxing Crescent of the Thunder Moon

I dug up a couple of garlic to see if descaping had any affect.  It has.  Bulbs have begun to form.  I hope if I leave them in a bit longer, I’ll get fully developed bulbs.  This is important because I can then plant the cloves from the best bulbs in the fall and harvest more garlic next year.

The crescent moon casts a gentle spell over human kind.  It ends up on flags, in religious symbols and in children’s books.  The Thunder Moon crescent is in the west, just below the tree line, but visible through some our poplars.  Hidden, it takes on even more allure.

Back in the 80’s I used to practice a form of contemplative prayer; it carried me into many strange places.  One of them was sitting on the cusp of a crescent moon with Jesus on one side and Moses and Abraham on the other.   We spoke, but I don’t recall the conversation.  The crescent moon made that possible because it has that curve.  Could not sit on a quarter or whole moon.  A gibbous moon does not seem right either.

Faith and Spirituality, Writing

Wisdom of the Past Brought Forward

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79  bar steady 29.77 3mph N dew-point 52  Summer, warm and clear

Waxing Crescent of the Thunder Moon

“To a historian libraries are food, shelter, and even muse. They are of two kinds: the library of published material, books, pamphlets, periodicals, and the archive of unpublished papers and documents.” – Barbara Tuchman

Given this definition I must be, ipso facto, an historian.  In fact I consider myself a humanist in the traditional sense, one who searches the literary and artistic and faith traditions of the world for guidance.  In a broad understanding this is a historical work since it relies on the wisdom of the past brought forward, a version of the history of ideas.  It takes me into many libraries and archives and I am most happy there.  The sense of possibility in a place stacked with books or objects of art or the accoutrements of faiths journey is, for me, boundless.

Having had my little car in the shop for so long I found I had a desire to get out during the day, to drive around, go shopping.  I did.  It didn’t amount to much.  So I came home and planted beets and carrots for fall harvest.

After a long nap I have picked up again my research on U-U history in the Twin Cities area.   This project puts me squarely in the historians camp and will find me rummaging in boxes of letters, meeting minutes, newspaper articles and old sermons.

There is a very interesting video on YouTube that highlights a heresy  controversy in late 19th century Minneapolis within the Universalist community.  Here’s the link.

Faith and Spirituality, Travel, Woolly Mammoths

A Houseless Life

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72  bar rises 29.73  0mph WNW dew-point 62    Summer, pleasant

Waxing Crescent of the Thunder Moon

“It is not how old you are, but how you are old.” – Jules Renard

Elizabeth Odegard has West Nile virus.  She’s lethargic, stays in bed.  Not much to do, but support your body and wait it out.  Mark thinks she may have gotten it in Thailand when they stayed on a houseboat.  Mark has the most unusual current lifestyle among the Woollies.  He and Elizabeth, then real estate agents, sold his house in Marine of St. Croix, pooled their retirement funds and began living a houseless life.

He often refers to himself as homeless, but what he actually is houseless.   His home is the Twin Cities and he’s rooted here.  He and Elizabeth went to Hawai’i three years ago and got the Cambridge certification in teaching English as a second language.  With that credential and a cash flow generated from investments (managed by Scott Simpson) they have moved from spot to spot:  Buenos Aires, Peru, Shanghai, Bangkok sprinkled with returns home.  Here they housesit for folks they know.

They leave for France later on this summer, where they will spend time with Mark’s brother and his family before heading off Morocco or Turkey or Chile.  Sometimes they work, sometimes one does and the other doesn’t.  It’s been all ESL.  Mark worked on a healthy sexuality exhibit in Thailand, for example.  They ponder a commitment in Japan, where the English language jobs require a year contract.  Most of their stints have been four months or less.

We talk about travel often at the Woollies.  We are a well-traveled group.  Paul and Sarah made a round the world trip early in their marriage.  Paul jets off to Africa, Syria and Cuba now and then.  Frank is in Ireland right now for the eight or ninth time.  Bill spent over a year in Japan building a nuclear power plant.  Tom travels the US every week.  Charlie Haislet and Barbara cruise in Europe, go to Africa now and again.  Stefan has been many places.

Last night Stefan talked about a childhood trip to Egypt.  “It made me want to be an architect.  Karnak.  With those great pillars shaved back and sloping upward.  And the details on the gate.”

We are atypical as a group in so many ways:  level of education, diversity of employment, life paths dominated by values, intimacy among men that has lasted over two decades.  Our level of income is high.  We lead lives of privilege in the most powerful country the world has ever seen.

Faith and Spirituality

Unitarians in the Upper Midwest

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81  bar steep drop  29.62  0mph E dew-point 69  Summer, warm and sunny

Waxing Crescent of the Thunder Moon

A lot of online research today about UU history.  The UUA (Unitarian-Universalist Association) keeps its congregational data close to the vest.  I wanted to hunt out the location and size of the largest congregations in the US, but they make it really hard.  To get the info I have to wade through 1067 different files.  Yikes.  Maybe I don’t want to know.

My goal is to create a history of Unitarianism and Universalism in and around the Twin City’s metro area.  Not a full blown book-length deal, but more than the one page historical summaries available on congregational websites.  I want to discover why liberal religion took such firm root here.  We have three large and two mid-size congregations, a remarkable number when you look at the maps in the rest of the US.

Unitarianism has the nickname, the Boston Religion and it’s not much of a joke.   Outside New England the UU movement is thinly dispersed.  We even have as strong or stronger group of congregations than the Chicago area.  It intrigues me and I want to figure out the why of it.  That’s always what interests me, the why.

The Mammoth herd stops tonight at the outdoor cafe of the Black Forest, an urban oasis.  I look forward to seeing the guys, catching up.

Kate had lunch with a friend today.  Not notable in many lives, but Kate has had her head down for so long she’s almost forgotten lunch, nights out.  I’m glad she’s venturing out.

Faith and Spirituality, Family

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

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79  bar falls 29.73 4mph NE  dew-point 65  Summer, hot and cloudy

Waxing Crescent of the Thunder Moon

Good thing I checked the Minnesota History Center hours before I drove all the way to St. Paul.  Closed.  Closed tomorrow until noon.  Had to shift my research hours, so I spent some time outside today putting down the last of the mulch, the third tier.  It’s much larger and much less closely planted than the bottom two tiers.  I’ve gone to either straw or leaves, no cedar or other store bought mulch.

Mary writes that she is in suspension now, waiting for the critique of outside reviewers for her dissertation.  Tough place, that.  Waiting is difficult for us humans.  We prize agency and anything that diminishes our ability to act makes us feel uneasy.  It highlights the underlying truth of the human condition, that is, we are never in control of our lives; our agency, no matter how powerful, is always transient.  Sic transit gloria mundi. 

To counter punch that though we have ars longa, vita brevis.  Art is long, life brief.

Faith and Spirituality, Great Work, Weather +Climate

A Sabbath

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87  bar rises 29.71 0mph NW dew-point 63  Summer, hot and sticky.  Clouds forming.

Waxing Crescent of the Thunder Moon

Unless I miss my guess, the Thunder Moon will have a namesake event to celebrate its waxing phase.  The day was hot, the dew point high and clouds have begun to build.  In fact, I’ve come downstairs to see if I need to unplug the computer.

After the picture printing in the AM, I have focused the afternoon on reading Sierra Club political committee material.  It’s a well thought out approach, developed at the national level.  It’s primary aim is to influence electoral politics on behalf of an environmentally sensitive agenda.  As such, it works at the retail political level and at the election atmosphere level, too.  Don’t know yet what my role will be since there has been only one meeting and I couldn’t make it, but I’m looking forward to rolling my sleeves up and getting back in the fray.

Otherwise a laid back day, a non-workout day.  A Sabbath.