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Showing posts from September, 2020

Firefly

 I'd never seen one before,      up close, or held one in my hand. But that summer of loss,      when I saw you walk away, on that street 3000 miles to the East,      I couldn't know that would be the last time my eyes would see you shine. But that evening, distancing myself from all, I wandered in a deep green backyard and the fireflies emerged. With the inherited awe of a child,  I reached out and they came to me, Fireflies, When our life together ended,      I left behind fireflies.

All Systems Go

 When I see some of the highest officials in the US government deny the existence of systemic racism, I know they have no knowledge of American history.  They are ignorant, there is no other way to say it.  Anyone with any accurate knowledge of the history of this country knows about the institutional attempts to exclude various ethnic groups from all the blessings of liberty.  The documentation is there for all to see.  The primary sources are rich in detail. As a history teacher, I always considered textbooks more as primary sources rather than the secondary sources they are.  That's because textbooks throughout the decades provide a revealing look into both the interpretation and inclusivity of our history.  These days any text worthwhile contains both narrative and primary sources.  In fact, the Advanced Placement history exam usually is based on historical interpretation of various documents. But for the uneducated, history is a narrative....

I've Seen Fire and Rain

 How much more dystopic can it get? We were wondering until the nearby forest fires surrounded us with thick smoke that gave us more reasons to stay inside and wear a proper mask if we have to go outside.  "Greetings from the worst air quality in the world," is the way I started an email to a friend who, bombarded by media images of Portland, was wondering how we are managing in this new reality.  Many of my friends from Florida to the Yukon have checked in lately.  I give them a virtual smile and explain that we are muddling along. This got me thinking about the extremes in weather and the natural disasters I've been through in the years before the pandemic.  Growing up in Southern California there were always forest fires that blocked the sun and sent light ash tumbling down on cars and backyard swimming pools.  Every few years we were sent home from school or treated to a day off by driving rainstorms that flooded local streets where flood control basins...

Things We Keep

We all have some.  Those things we can't seem to throw away.  The things that hang around year after year.  The things we keep.  Most of us that have lived for decades have gone through many downsizes.  As we age, we continue to downsize.  Furniture, books, records and CDs, clothing, photos, recreational gear.  But some things remain.  The things we keep.  The things we can't seem to move along or break free from, or even just toss. Of course, there are reasons some of these objects can't seem to find their way to a Goodwill, classified ad, or even a trash can.  From those objects, I submit, we can learn a good deal about ourselves and why we keep hanging on to some things. One reason might be that some personal objects like letters, journals, and photos just can't be thoroughly destroyed.  Unless we have a fireplace, it's often difficult to find a satisfying way to rid ourselves of these burdens.  We have to talk ourselve...