Not Yet Ready to Let Go
Yearly Archives: 2014
Snow. Snow. Then, Some More Snow.
Imbolc Valentine Moon
The snow has come down steadily, earlier it reminded me of the whiteout we mushed 
through in the Boundary Waters all those years ago. We may not get a lot of snow compared to some places, but when we have a winter like this one, it’s all still on the ground. After the storm, cold again. Not the deep bone chillers, but cold.
Right now the projection is for around 12 inches. That’s a lot of snow. And it’s heavy.
I know it seems improbable but there is a climate change explanation for this winter. As the polar ice melts in the Arctic, it changes the direction and intensity of the jet stream. The sag that has polar vortexed us for much of the winter might well be a direct result.
Tomorrow morning I have a meeting at 10 am in St. Paul. We’ll see whether that’s possible. I’m representing the Sierra Club, Margaret Levin in particular, at the America Votes monthly gathering. This is an interesting group focused on building a progressive America. Me, too.
Imbolc Valentine Moon
Took Kate up to Rogers, the Hampton Inn there. She’s in her room, napping as the snow falls. Her sister, Annie, will be coming up later. It’s a quilting retreat. Which, literally, is what it is. That is, the quilters come together, bring all their own stuff-sewing machines, stash, other projects, food-and sew on things they would do at home. It’s a group mentoring experience where problems get worked out, praise is given and a sense that you’re not in this quilting thing alone is nurtured. (The Quilting Frolic 1813 John Lewis Krimmel)
The Agent Persona
Imbolc Valentine Moon
OK. Today I push myself past the barriers, past the fear and write a query letter for Missing. I’ll get a bit of feedback on it, then I’m going to start sending it out.
(Bruno Liljefors-Portrait of Father)
Read an interesting article about the creative process and it applies to me. This woman said you need three different personas to be an artist. The first is the creative who writes the book, blocking out self-censors and shoulds to get at the story. The second is the editor, who takes the creatives work and shapes it into a polished work. The third is the agent who handles the business side of the enterprise, writing query letters, submitting work, negotiating contracts.
With Missing I’ve gotten through the creative and editor personas and now I have to take on the persona of the agent. I will represent Missing to the fast changing world of publishing. Starting now.
Ear Horse
Went back to exercising after a week’s rest to let my pecs heal from the fall I took a week ago Saturday. Got to use my new Studbar (see below), a pull up bar mounted securely to studs in the ceiling.
This mantra often goes through my head: get back on the horse. It comes in response to the usual inertia that notices how pleasant it is to have the time from 5 pm to 6:30 free. Or, that not doing Latin frees up time for other matters. You get the idea. Doing pullups after the fall (so to speak) fits in here, too. No concrete under me now and the bar is secure.
Merchants of Doubt
Imbolc Valentine Moon
Spent yesterday doing the Climate Change course. A fascinating series of lectures titled Merchants of Doubt. Primary author of the book, Naomi Oreskes, is a historian of science at U. Cal. San Diego and a lecturer in this course. This book and her lectures make a compelling and important case that climate change denial has its roots in the work of a small group of distinguished scientists, three initially: Robert Jastrow, Frederick Seitz, and William Nierenberg. All three were cold war physicists working on nuclear arms. All three distinguished themselves. Jastrow became head of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Seitz was president of the National Academy of Science and Rockefeller University, Nierenberg headed the Scripps Institute for almost two decades.
Read Great Wheel for the expanded story. The three of them worked on an advisory panel for Reagan’s Star Wars Defense Initiative. When 6,500 scientists refused to take SDI money or work on it in any way by signing a petition stating their intentions, it caused great concern among these three cold war physicists.
The three created the George C. Marshall Institute to challenge the scientific consensus against Star Wars. Seitz also worked for RJ Reynolds as a consultant. In 1989 the cold war ended. The U.S. had won the cold war. This deflated the rationale for the Institute; but, using the strategies developed by the tobacco industry, “doubt mongering”, the Institute went on to attack the science behind acid rain, ozone holes and eventually, global warming.
This methodology, honed in tobacco wars and practiced against acid rain and ozone (unsuccessfully, as it turned out), has been blisteringly effective against climate change science and its policy implications. Why? Read the rest of the story on Great Wheel later today or early tomorrow.
Every Two Weeks
Imbolc Valentine Moon
Read the other day that the average connection between close friends is every two weeks. The Woollies have been getting together every two weeks for over twenty five years. Builds a lot of trust. A lot of shared memories. A lot of support given and received.
Woolly Frank Broderick turns 81 next week. Jim Johnson 72 today. I was 67 on Valentine’s Day. Even our group puer, Stefan, will turn 60 on April 1st, finally bringing us all beyond that mark. A lot of white hair, a few bald spots, the occasional creak in the bend and much laughter. And, too, grandchildren come up more and more often.
To have ten close friends is a rare and special gift, one I chanced into and I’m grateful.
Thanks, guys.
Men Being Men
Imbolc Valentine Moon
(Arnold Bocklin – War)
This on a drive home from Wayzata, after a wonderful meeting discussing maleness and maleness in our time. Tom suggested we bring images or other art work. Tom chose three black and white photographs: a D-day landing, men working on the high steel with wheel-barrows and silhouetted couple dancing on a brick street. He also chose three Symbolist pieces, two by Caspar Friedrich and one by Munch. (and the Norman Rockwell Boy Scouts) Frank brought a photograph of Standing Bear, a Ponca chief, Michael Collins, a key mover in the fight for Irish independence and a painting of the spirit world by an Ojibwe painter.
Scott had a world tree with people and technology boiling up toward the sky, a wonderful mandala from Tibet done in gold leaf. Stefan brought a Rothko and a Rilke poem about the ancient tower. Bill Schmidt brought a Lonnie portrait of Regina, a selfie he drew some time ago and a new piano piece composed by a friend in Regina’s honor. Warren had a coat of arms made by his sister when she was 14, his paperweight from the glass blowing evening (Bill brought his, too.) and a ceramic piece of old man smoking his pipe, hand clasping his head.
“Liebesfrühling” (Franz von Stuck)
Mark Odegard, Jimmy Johnson and Paul Strickland all contributed through e-mail: Jim’s piece is a little hard to describe but it involved a yak or a Highland steer with a snake above it and some birds. Mark sent a page of journal with drawings of gold panning equipment among other things and a self-portrait. Paul sent a photograph of himself in a mask, himself with his grandson and son, himself and Sarah in Maine and a photograph of his grandfather’s grave.
Tom’s nephew-in-law by marriage once removed and sunny side up, Jordan, a newly minted nurse and a nurse-anesthetist to be, attended as well.
Conveying the conversation would be too difficult for easy summary. We touched on sweet honey in the heart, a strong sword arm. Of spreading our long-winged feathers in widening orbits around the ancient tower. Of man the spiritual being and the man the relational being. Of men to some extent set free from past constraints and expectations. And most of all of the men we are, we Woolly Mammoths, who gather twice each month and see each other, man to man
(Franz von Stuck)
P.S. Forgot to mention the birthday cake. Thanks, guys.
Ta Dah
Imbolc Valentine Moon
Missing, the 5.5 version, is now in the machine and backed up. Wow.
About a year ago I attended a very good marketing class taught by local agent and author Steve Edelstein. It’s time to review those notes and start putting them into practice.
Oh. My.
The Week Ahead
Imbolc Valentine Moon
Weather has warmed up over 40 degrees from the last few weeks and it’s still cold. That’s about where we live. No volcanoes erupting to interfere with our lives though.
Today or tomorrow I’ll finish reviewing the edits made by Bob Klein to Missing. Then it’s off to the agents. I’ve probably taken more time getting to this point than a novel of this type warrants, but I’ve wanted to produce as good a book as I can. The first two or three books sold can determine success over all (that is, being allowed to continue publishing) and I want to present clean, focused stories.
Also tomorrow I’m going to resume my P90X workouts. I’ve taken a week + off to allow my chest to heal and it seems mostly calmed down now. Dave Scott, the handy-man I mentioned a bit ago, has installed the new pull-up bar, the Stud Bar (Tm). It will not pull out of the ceiling studs (aka Stud Bar) and I will not drop unceremoniously onto the concrete anymore. This last makes me happy.
When Kate and I discussed my attendance at an Ira Progoff workshop, I initially wanted to go to an event in early May. It was in Asheville, N.C. and the thought of contemplative work in the Blue Ridge mountains appealed to me. But, she rightly observed, this was soon after our Colorado trip for Gabe’s birthday and at the beginning of the growing season. Other dates and places I liked were either in the middle of the growing season or at the time of the honey harvest. That’s how we chose the end of March. No planting, no bees. And I can make Denver on the way home, wishing an early birthday to granddaughter Ruth.
Another way of saying Tucson was not on the top of my list for places to go.
The polishing begins on the story of Deucalion and Pyrrha this week. Back to the beginning with careful attention to commentaries, dictionaries and other English translations. The goal: as well spoken a translation as I can muster plus commentary notes.
(st. jerome, patron saint of translators. and yet another great beard model)
It’s also week 7 of the Climate Change course. This course has proved as influential for me as a weekend Kate and I spent in Iowa City with PSR, Physicians for Social Responsibility, a conference on climate change. That one propelled me into my work with the Sierra Club. Just where I’m headed now is not yet clear to me, but I’m for sure going to increase my activity level on adaptation.