Winter \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Moon of the Winter Solstice<\/p>\n
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Tomorrow the legislature goes into session and for the first time in three years I’m on the sideline. \u00a0A bit wistful. \u00a0A bit chagrined at getting out just when the getting might get good. \u00a0Yes. Yes. \u00a0Doubtful about the decision? \u00a0No.<\/p>\n
It’s midwinter, the time for pruning in the orchard. \u00a0Fruit trees need space for air to circulate, fewer branches so they can focus their growth on less fruit with more vigor, and space, too, in which a harvester can reach. \u00a0Plus, if possible they need to be kept shorter. \u00a0Easier to harvest and less prone to damage during wind storms and heavy wet snow.<\/p>\n
Just so my life of a year ago. \u00a0I’d allowed branches to grow every which way. \u00a0Too many branches. \u00a0The fruit might be greater in quantity but not as good a quality. \u00a0There was little space to reach inside the tree, watch an idea blossom, nurture it, then pluck it. \u00a0My tree had become overgrown and needed pruning.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t easy. \u00a0The people at the Sierra Club are fellow travelers. \u00a0Folks who see a world and want it better. \u00a0Folks willing to do what it takes. \u00a0I admire that stance and have made it my own for much of my life. \u00a0I miss that sense of agency and I miss the\u00a0camaraderie.<\/p>\n
Yet. \u00a0The hours of driving, of having attention pulled away time and time again. \u00a0And the writing. \u00a0Peaking now, for some reason. \u00a0At this late stage of life. \u00a0It was the tree I had not nourished. \u00a0So I made the decision and pulled away.<\/p>\n
I’ve pulled back from everything but Latin, art and writing now. \u00a0The art temporarily, till July 1st, but all else, at least for now, permanently.<\/p>\n
And so the gavel will go down, the great sausage grinder start up its rusty gears and I will sit at home and think of Odin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Winter \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Moon of the Winter Solstice Tomorrow the legislature goes into session and for the first time in three years I’m on the sideline. … Continue reading Pruning<\/span>