Monday, September 16, 2024
Tree Poems
Thank you for the excellent tree haiku! We had this from Christine, who is describing the tree I pictured (I think- it is at the foot of the street where we both grew up):
The tree stands alone
symmetrical, with deep roots
Traffic whizzing near.
symmetrical, with deep roots
Traffic whizzing near.
Desiree knows trees, and I can just see this one from her description:
On the street corner,
our neighborhood star- white trunk,
huge leaves…sycamore!
our neighborhood star- white trunk,
huge leaves…sycamore!
The Medievalist has a Texas slant:
My favorite tree
Is the burr oak in backyard,
Plant'd many moons ago.
Is the burr oak in backyard,
Plant'd many moons ago.
And I loved this anonymous entry:
Pink mimosa tree
Perfect backyard kid climbing
I could see the world! 🌍
Perfect backyard kid climbing
I could see the world! 🌍
Sunday, September 15, 2024
Sunday Reflection: "The people on television said..."
Above is a clip of the last presidential debate, in which Donald Trump made the bonkers claim that immigrants in Ohio are eating cats and dogs. What interests me most, though is what you hear at about 1:50 of this clip, where Trump defends the thoroughly debunked claim by asserting that "the people on television" said it was true.
He seemed completely sincere in this, the fact that belief in something is justified because people on TV proclaim it. And, it seems, he is not alone.
The odd thing is that at the same time we have (1) An amazing number of people believing the most outlandish things if someone on television or the internet makes the claim, and (2) a striking reduction in belief in God, which is rooted in millennia of human experience and an entire world full of evidence.
I suppose one dynamic in play is that a belief in God makes us each less important (as there is a higher power), while conspiracy theories seem to make the hearer and proclaimer more important. One leads towards humility, the other goes in another direction.
Saturday, September 14, 2024
This is worth it just for the "Fabulous Baker Boys" scenes....
Friday, September 13, 2024
Haiku Friday: Favorite tree
I took this picture of my favorite tree last winter-- I think it is a good thing to have a favorite tree. Let's haiku about those this week. Here, I will go first:
Lakeside sentinel
Trunks akimbo, leaves dismissed
Bare in your beauty.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
Thursday, September 12, 2024
PMT: The Debate, part 2
[Photo above, oddly enough, was taken at the Republican booth at the MN State Fair]
I'm still a little amazed at how the presidential debate turned out. I'm realizing in full that Harris did exactly what she wanted-- she provoked Trump into being undisciplined and saying crazy stuff, and then just let him go with it. Shockingly effective.
It is odd to hear cries from Trump supporters that Harris isn't articulating enough specific policy, when Trump's plan for health care-- after nine years of engaging with the issue-- is that he is examining "concepts" for a plan now.
There is something on my mind about all this, too.
Yesterday was the 23rd anniversary of 9/11/01. That should be a reminder to us all that leadership, and picking good leadership, isn't a game or way to express our own emotions. There are very real dangers in this world, and a steady hand at the top is important. That disaster reflected a lot of failures by our government, and the cost was horrible. I worry that we treat politics like sports too often; that we are fans of one team or another. Insofar as politics is the form we use to choose leadership, it has to be more than that, or we are all endangered.
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
The Debate
Well at least that was better than two elderly guys yelling about golf.
Some takeaways:
1) Kamala Harris should have just answered the questions, especially the first one (are people better off now than they were four years ago)-- the answer is clearly "yes," if you remember September of 2020.
2) There was a real turning point. Trump was composed and making sense-- and winning the debate-- until Harris made fun of his rallies. After that he lost his composure and went on a weird series of rants, which is exactly what Harris wanted.
3) You could almost see Trump thinking "Don't talk about eating pets... they said don't talk about eating pets..." before blurting out some nonsense about immigrants eating pets.
4) ABC did the best job of fact-checking the most egregious lies. Trump people say that they only fact-checked Trump, but he was the one telling the most egregious lies.
5) In the end, only one of the candidates came off as presidential-- having that gravitas-- and it was not the former president.
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Sounds of the water
The sounds of my childhood were defined largely by the fact that we lived close to Lake St. Clair-- on a dead-end street, which meant to go anywhere you had to go to the lakeshore.
I remember the summer sounds of speedboats (Ruhhh-boom... Ruhhh-boom) and the autumn sound of a freighter's foghorn (O00000h-Ahhhh). Sometimes I still listen for that at night, even though I live far from the water.
Monday, September 09, 2024
Poems of Autumn's arrival
It was a bountiful harvest of haiku last week-- thanks everyone!
Desiree's home state is not ready for Fall:
“Slow your roll, Fall!” says
the Old Dominion. “I am
still bringing the heat!”
the Old Dominion. “I am
still bringing the heat!”
Nor is the Medievalist's (at least his adopted state):
In Central Texas,
It’s ninety-five and sunny,
All the leaves are green.
It’s ninety-five and sunny,
All the leaves are green.
Amy begs to differ:
Wearing it today—
Bark brown brightened with creamed butter—
Color you could eat.
Bark brown brightened with creamed butter—
Color you could eat.
And also has a bug problem:
But fall reverie
Still loses to mosquitoes
Til they’ve had enough.
Still loses to mosquitoes
Til they’ve had enough.
Jill Scoggins is looking forward to it:
Brown leaves in green grass.
Cool mornings. Early apples.
Fall is on the way.
Cool mornings. Early apples.
Fall is on the way.
And I loved this anonymous entry:
Mowing the lawn still
Winter is coming soon stark
Mornings bear new light.
Winter is coming soon stark
Mornings bear new light.
Christine and I share this gratitude:
September arrives
Finally cooler weather
At least for a while.
Finally cooler weather
At least for a while.
Sunday, September 08, 2024
Sunday Reflection: "Tell No One"
In Mark 7, we get this story about Jesus:
They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
It's a pretty simple story, except the parts that aren't. Of course people are amazed that he could heal the man who was deaf. And of course Jesus couldn't help but heal the man who needed help.
But why would Jesus tell those present not to tell anyone about what happened? After all, it didn't work at all-- they proclaimed it even more zealously! So, this seems to be Jesus failing at something, since he did not succeed in silencing those present.
One question (beyond Jesus not succeeding) is why Jesus did not want them to talk about the miracle they witnessed. Was he actually playing the psychology of it; that is, did he know that if he told them not to talk they would do the opposite? Or was he worried about being overwhelmed, and was sincere in his request?
That failure to stop people from talking is so... human. And isn't that part of who Jesus was?
Saturday, September 07, 2024
The Full Interview
Friday, September 06, 2024
Haiku Friday: Signs of Fall
The weather is getting cooler-- time to break out the sweaters (at least in Minnesota). Let's haiku about signs of fall this week. Here, I will go first:
A single red leaf
Silent sidewalk sentinel
Curves upwards to me.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
Thursday, September 05, 2024
PMT: Doomed to a close race
Not so long ago, I didn't think that the 2024 presidential race was going to be close at all-- it appeared that Joe Biden would stumble along, playing into Trump's hands at every turn, until all hope was lost of him.
That changed, of course, with his stepping away. Kamala Harris has managed to pull even with Trump or even a little bit ahead. And I suspect that we will stay right there for the next few months barring any huge development (ie, Kamala Harris saying "Yes, I am a communist," at the debate or Trump driving a monster truck over Taylor Swift several times).
The problem, as several pundits have noted, is that for both sides there is a deep and firm well of committed partisans who could never be convinced to vote for the other side. Trump goes this way and that back and forth on abortion, yet his supporters (even the ones who came to his side because of that issue) don't seem to care anymore. They like him because he is Donald Trump, the person they like.
For Democrats, the common bond is not liking Trump, of course, but what got them close was the fact that Harris will motivate some people to vote who, with Biden in the race, probably wouldn't have voted at all.
It's sad that policy matters so little at this point, but there we are.
Wednesday, September 04, 2024
The BIG Big 10....
The first rankings are out for this college football season, and something shocking is in those numbers: of the top ten ranked teams, nine of them are in either the Big 10 or the SEC. The only team outside of those conferences in the top ten is Notre Dame.
Part of that has to do with expansion of those two leagues. One of the SEC teams (Texas) and one of the Big 10 teams (Oregon) is new to that league. But still...
One thing that happened was that at least one team from outside those two conferences kinda blew it already. Florida State was in the top 10 and expected to excel, but is now 0-2 after losing two ACC games (to Georgia Tech and Boston College, neither of them powerhouses).
I'm not so happy about this consolidation of power... but I am still watching.
Tuesday, September 03, 2024
The End of the Fair
Now that summer is over (at least in Minnesota), it's time for the State Fair to end, as well. It's been a great year for the fair, with record attendance on several days. The fairgrounds will soon be covered with snow and polar bears.
If you aren't from here, it's probably hard to understand the cultural impact of the Fair, where people eat unusual food, act like the Butter Queen (technically, Princess Kay of the Milky Way) is actual royalty, and go to the same attractions that their great-great-grandparents did.
For many people, tomorrow will be the first day of school, which is its own kind of holiday: Such potential! Such vulnerability! Such newness!
So let's go get that....
Monday, September 02, 2024
Storm poems
There were some great poems this week! I was really impressed with this anonymous entry:
Petrichor is the
Scent right after rain. Distinct.
Earth's lovely greeting.
Scent right after rain. Distinct.
Earth's lovely greeting.
Medievalist! Come inside!:
Thunder shook the air,
Lightening flashed in sky,
Hard rain in my face.
Lightening flashed in sky,
Hard rain in my face.
Desiree was a storm victim:
Trapped in school. Waiting
for the storm to end so I
can escape from work
for the storm to end so I
can escape from work
Jill Scoggins had a better experience:
On the deck, watching
two waterspouts dance. Fearful
and fascinated.
two waterspouts dance. Fearful
and fascinated.
And Christine visited twice (thank you!) with this:
Suddenly, big drops,
crashing like water balloons
from the sky, ka-boom.
crashing like water balloons
from the sky, ka-boom.
And this, a familiar scene:
Watching live radar
Ominous orange and red
March across my screen.
Ominous orange and red
March across my screen.
Sunday, September 01, 2024
Sunday Reflection: The Harvest
There is something sacred about this time of year, the time of harvest. Jesus told a lot of stories that involve a harvest, and there is a reason for that-- in a society that depends on agriculture, it is when the payoff happens.
I do love Autumn. It has always seemed like the most spiritual of seasons, as the easy days of summer fade and the challenges of the rest of the year arise. Because most of my life has been on the academic calendar, it is also the time to start anew with new students and new classes, often with new colleagues.
It is, really, the time of the year that I find it easiest to feel close to God and my fellow people. So, let's celebrate the harvest!
