tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51047454147780290142024-03-06T04:20:52.876-05:00Anubis BardAndy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.comBlogger749125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-66863937342333536762018-02-01T21:09:00.001-05:002018-02-01T21:09:22.986-05:00Two Thousand Eighteen stretching out before us<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT7p3vWbFTcSulTB7NpEHbZgxnBAS2g6pt4d0HEX8rC6O-oos8KEGV3d8rGdAyZGSk5w6hBVgQE1y7WBa212VD61lBXKNRlQnDYPRieHAvKUd-RF8resd68daqeqQxwAkRElx9P7IvMf8/s1600/IMG_2602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT7p3vWbFTcSulTB7NpEHbZgxnBAS2g6pt4d0HEX8rC6O-oos8KEGV3d8rGdAyZGSk5w6hBVgQE1y7WBa212VD61lBXKNRlQnDYPRieHAvKUd-RF8resd68daqeqQxwAkRElx9P7IvMf8/s320/IMG_2602.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>At some point I came to realize that most of my life's trajectories had little to do with big, conscious decisions that I made, and much more to do with thousands of little micro-decisions. Choices made that each day kept certain options open but that tightened the aperture on others. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>I suspect this future that I'm trying to predict is like that. I can try to predict the big, disruptive things, but in some way they are not only not predictable, but they are also mostly beside the point. Rather, history gets made by all the little consistencies and textures of inertias that lend a topography to change through time. Carved as though by water and gravity - this landscape of flow and predictable diversion is what a discerning eye might notice if we weren't creatures hard-wired for novelty.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif;">So, given the thousands of micro-decisions that we as a nation make, what are some predictions that I can put forward?</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>2018 will be one of the top 3 hottest years on record globally.</b></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>We will still have no driverless cars on the public roads at the beginning of 2019.</b></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The Democrats will re-take control of the House, but lose ground in the Senate.</b></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Over 80,000 Americans will die of drug overdoses in 2018 as the opioid epidemic continues to worsen.</b></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Medical mistakes will be the 3rd leading cause of death in the US, behind cancer and heart disease.</b></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The US Olympic Committee will have its hands full with more sex abuse scandals as the Nassar sentencing inspires athletes in other sports to speak out.</b></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The US budget deficit will exceed a trillion dollars under the new tax code.</b></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>The US will maintain the largest prisoner population in the world and will replace the Seychelles as having the highest <i>rate</i> of incarceration. </b></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>I could troll around for <a href="https://medium.com/future-crunch/99-reasons-2017-was-a-good-year-d119d0c32d19">positive trends</a>, but that's not my beat as a self-styled witness to the decline of an unsustainable civilization. I can hope that positive trends like a revitalization of civic life or re-localization will pick up steam, but I see no reason to expect that. Still, I should add a couple of wild guesses to the mix to round out the dectet. </b></span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>North and South Korea will dissolve the DMZ.</b></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>First signs of extraterrestrial life will be discovered.</b></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>So there we go - my modest exercise in prescience for 2018. Let's see how I do this year . . . .</b></span></div>
</div>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-8981143675429097542018-02-01T17:27:00.001-05:002018-02-01T17:39:32.784-05:00Two Thousand Seventeen in the rearview mirror.<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>It is a new(ish) year and it is time for the annual humiliation of seeing how badly I've predicted the future once again. Is prediction futility? Can one get better at it? Does it only work if you never go back and revisit the specifics of what you actually predicted? (I strongly suspect that that last one is nearest the truth.)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Let's resume this after visiting those last year's predictions . . .</b></span><br />
<ul><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>
<li><i>There will be <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/law-enforcement-community">a crackdown</a> after <a href="http://blacklivesmatter.com/">Black Lives Matter</a> is classified as a terrorist organization.</i></li>
</b></span></ul>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
</span>
</b></span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Half-credit on this one, as the FBI was caught <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/15/opinion/black-identity-extremism-fbi-trump.html">laying the groundwork</a>, by inventing a new kind of terrorism, "black identity extremism". But so far, I haven't heard of any actual crackdown, behind the normal, state-sanctioned terrorism that minority communities face on a day to day basis.</b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>There will be an attempted crackdown against <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/">McClatchy News</a>, which will mostly backfire, giving investigative journalism a much-needed shot in the arm.</b></i></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Nope, the Right's railing against "fake news" has continued, as they try to insulate their supporters from any confusing contact with real journalism, but so far nothing concrete and nothing aimed at McClatchy. More <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/feb/01/coal-mock-reporter-west-virginia-media-bankruptcy">subtle strategies</a> of neutering journalism may be sufficient.</b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>2017 will turn out to be second hottest year on record, right behind <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-noaa-data-show-2016-warmest-year-on-record-globally">2016</a>.</b></i></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Right! And the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/18/climate/hottest-year-2017.html">hottest non El Niño year</a> on record.</b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>The Republican leadership will allow Democrats (and a few Republicans) to impeach Donald Trump on charges of corruption and self-dealing, but he is not removed from office.</b></i></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Trump turned out to have no interest in maintaining his populist bone fides, so he has been a useful - if disruptive - tool for the Republicans to use in their effort to serve their billionaire masters. The low-information base hears rumblings of outrage from liberals and the media and is satisfied with that. (See fake news, above.)</b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>Serious unrest in Turkey enables Russia to intervene militarily.</b></i></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Nope, nothing there. Erdogan's authoritarian moves haven't elicited any widespread unrest, nor has Russia seen fit to pick a fight here.</b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>The <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/seas-rising-but-florida-keeps-building-on-the-coast/">real estate market of south Florida</a> collapses due to the threat of sea level rise.</b></i></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Nope, real estate is <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/12/05/567264841/south-florida-real-estate-boom-not-dampened-by-sea-level-rise">still booming</a>. Head's remain buried in the increasingly damp sand.</b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>Overtly political songs begin to surface more in popular music - but not on the radio.</b></i></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Hmmmm. Nothing leaking into my Spotify playlists anyway, and no "political" category to explore, yet. I'll resist the temptation to play the "everything is political" for partial credit.</b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>Thousands of people will be poisoned by water <a href="http://www.apmreports.org/story/2016/12/13/epa-fracking-contamination-drinking-water">contaminated by fracking</a>.</b></i></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>No one apparently dying yet, not this year anyway. </b></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/dilma-rousseff-and-the-chronic-dysfunction-of-brazils-politics">Brazil's government</a> falls in a coup d'etat.</b></i></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Nope, the previous year's legislative coup was as far as things have gone, and Brazil's <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/12/brazils-political-chaos-explained.html">deathly ill democracy</a> staggers forward toward elections.</b></span></div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><b>For my tenth prediction, I might as well recycle the one from last year that proved most prescient:</b></i></span></li>
</ul>
<ul><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><ul>
<li><i>Americans won't take back their democracy from the wealthy interests that have hijacked it; and corporations will continue to write regulations to suit themselves. </i></li>
<li><i>Assault weapons will remain legal despite more mass shootings. </i></li>
<li><i>Militarization of police forces, systematic use of homicide and excessive force, as well as officers' de facto immunity from prosecution will continue unabated despite the mounting financial and social costs. </i></li>
<li><i>We will not develop a constructive or effective plan for dealing with Islamic fundamentalism.</i></li>
</ul>
</b></span></ul>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">OK,</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">well that one holds up for another year.</span></b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>So to sum up, 2.5 out of 10 - not exactly a stellar showing, and that only because I banked on climate change and our nation's inertia. I will have to reflect upon this, and decide, as I think forward into 2018, what are the kinds of things that I can predict, and what are the kinds of things that I cannot.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Now I turn my thoughts to predictions for the coming year. What shall we see in 2018?</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">-</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-86986758629104728712017-02-26T15:59:00.001-05:002017-02-26T16:01:45.351-05:00Fallow garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zAPlKeJ_6yfpKVRBb7OvNMqWx6qaITRvFpCguHVk71kvbqdlucAEu0CH-rRCO8DH3siRDKtrtgvN5thhTvDcHfGWlGigsIK1gQZ_cVEke1I-Ux6-6h-1PPhA2Lou4GdEiaReeEOoOEY/s1600/IMG_1080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8zAPlKeJ_6yfpKVRBb7OvNMqWx6qaITRvFpCguHVk71kvbqdlucAEu0CH-rRCO8DH3siRDKtrtgvN5thhTvDcHfGWlGigsIK1gQZ_cVEke1I-Ux6-6h-1PPhA2Lou4GdEiaReeEOoOEY/s400/IMG_1080.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I didn't maintain a garden last year. I was doing a great deal of traveling for work, and so the crown vetch had its way with it. I could claim to be practicing the age old practice of leaving one's plot go fallow. The vetch, being a legume, is a nitrogen fixer and could be considered a good green manure and cover crop - and even a <a href="http://extension.psu.edu/plants/crops/soil-management/conservation-tillage/living-mulches/benefits-of-crownvetch">living mulch</a> for those plants that grow up past it (like my asparagus and sun chokes). In any case, I'll have to coexist with it somewhat in that it is thoroughly invasive, and basically impossible to eradicate at this point without resorting to herbicides. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Last year's growth covered the entire garden in a deep dry thatch, and since yesterday was a warm February afternoon Monica and I raked it up as best we could and burned most of it little by little on the main garden bed. We kept an eye on the little flames as they crept around in the rest of the garden turning last year's weeds to this year's fertilizer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The rhubarb is already peeking out, and since the ground isn't frozen I should harvest a bucket of sunchokes for pickling before they start to sprout as well. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE4AOW32KFTsmuqzDX2L_K3tKd-l-M3kIpVnmlLINwDYP0AJc4kPe3FNu0FLgZsJoLIM8vEHI7iaCh8O2KnDCnpP4rJz8BGJZtCRL6Q1pZjzUr6AbMd-UL2EzjJbNHvKGE7S6vkGV9KoA/s1600/IMG_1082.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE4AOW32KFTsmuqzDX2L_K3tKd-l-M3kIpVnmlLINwDYP0AJc4kPe3FNu0FLgZsJoLIM8vEHI7iaCh8O2KnDCnpP4rJz8BGJZtCRL6Q1pZjzUr6AbMd-UL2EzjJbNHvKGE7S6vkGV9KoA/s320/IMG_1082.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nothing but potential</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I've been going to the gym lately, but as the weather warms it looks like my exercise minutes will be better spent preparing the ground for the superfluity of seeds that I've ordered . . . </span><br />
<br />Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-17436495849318974692017-02-20T16:48:00.004-05:002017-02-20T16:48:56.226-05:00Politics: The Bad, Not-So-Bad, and the Almost Good.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSnoOy8fDI88_gC_crs34_JhG-n2_5_5f4l84MleMz-LyXXaHcRSMXQ6_D7DXDwCRF6awtwZNsFzVod1asrz3vDSKQkUAaz4Rwm9w2TaP4nAqNUwVUtqezRludP7CeAW_PX2NPOSdYA64/s1600/IMG_1070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSnoOy8fDI88_gC_crs34_JhG-n2_5_5f4l84MleMz-LyXXaHcRSMXQ6_D7DXDwCRF6awtwZNsFzVod1asrz3vDSKQkUAaz4Rwm9w2TaP4nAqNUwVUtqezRludP7CeAW_PX2NPOSdYA64/s640/IMG_1070.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Moonstone Beach, Rhode Island</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It's now a month since Donald Trump was inaugurated into office. Yet so far, damage has been limited by the administration's inexperience, incompetence and political isolation. The ability of the Republican Party to take advantage has been hampered by its own awkward transition from a voice of wild criticism (insulated from consequence by supine journalism and Obama's veto pen) to a ruling party that has to put its money where its mouth is, so to speak. The stumbling has been compounded by Paul Ryan's miscalculation that he could first and foremost take down the Affordable Care Act before his caucus woke up to the political dangers of stripping health insurance from millions of Americans in order to give millionaires a tax cut. It must make it seem all the more ill-timed that Trump's attacks on the media have shattered the complacency of the courtier press and woken many journalists up to their historical role as check on (and fact-checker of) the powerful. Given how unpopular many of the Party's core priorities are, the last thing they need is an assertive press insisting on truth-telling or accurate math.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Although gerrymandering and the Citizen's United ruling insulate most of the House from any real blowback, they can't be happy to see the body politic getting itself riled up about Republican mis-rule. Even quiescent constituencies like scientists, spies and bureaucrats have bestirred themselves.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In this latest installment about politics in the twilight of American empire, I thought I'd lay out a few of the repercussions that strike me as interesting.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The bad: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The vulnerable: Any political analysis today has to acknowledge that people are going to be hurt. When it comes to the most marginalized, Americans wield their fantasies of meritocracy like a club. We have set up a system that disadvantages certain people and then we blame them for their own lack of success. Women, minorities, the young, the poor, the working class and so on, all swim upstream in the face of active opposition. Now, our nation's worst tendencies of willful blindness, rationalization and cruelty will get free reign. The message from on high - as they shred the safety net and whatever other protections and compensations we've managed to put into place - will be to blame the individual or to blame the Other, but don't blame the system or the powerful people who benefit from it, because that would be whining. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Attacks on immigrants: Families who have emigrated here will be torn apart and made scapegoats for a system that was created and maintained by powerful, wealthy men. These are men who bankroll our politics and who preferred to create and maintain an underworld of vulnerable "illegals" rather than a system of legal immigration. It's a system successfully designed to lower wages and decrease organized labor's influence by creating a politically weak form of second-class citizenship - and drive a wedge into the heart of the working class.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Xenophobic Isolationism: From a progressive perspective, creating, nurturing and maintaining connections between cultures, nations, religions makes us a stronger, more resilient society. For a host of reasons, it also keeps us safer in the face of threats like international (or domestic) terrorism. In contrast, xenophobic propaganda, tribalism and withdrawal - which characterizes the Trump administration - does the opposite. They will not only fail to make us safer, but they will use their failure (i.e. the next terror attack by a non-Christian, non-White) to consolidate their power.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The not so bad:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Populism: The pernicious, unspoken consensus among the political class about "free trade," economic globalization and trickle down effects has been broken now that the population has been given the opportunity to weigh in on a rogue candidate. Although Trump is a crony capitalist rather than a populist (while his inner circle is more nationalist), he rode American populist anger to power and that genie will be hard for the parties to put back into the bottle. For better or worse, both are now more open to attack by populists of various stripes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The almost good:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Political Action: Before November, my main concern about political culture was that the American experiment in democracy and middle-class capitalism would die with barely a whimper and fade into idiocratic oligarchy or corporate rule, but it seems democratization and government by the people is back on the table. Grass roots conservatives were already restive obviously, but the threat of unfettered Republican rule has meant an end to a complacent faith among progressives about Progress with a capital P, and activism is suddenly on the upswing. It remains to be seen whether that will be sustainable or effective, given how much effort has already gone into removing the levers of power from democratic reach, but people are paying attention in a way that is new and potentially disruptive. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Re-Localization: There is a tension between local rule and state and federal rule. Liberals embraced federal rule in part in order to overrule local and state preferences for racism, homophobia, patriarchy, environmental despoilment and so on. Conservatives have resented being ruled by outside elites and liberals are waking up to find they like it just as much. The current political flip opens to the door for a push among progressives for greater local control to pursue progressive agendas. Given the fact that the federal government has shown little or no capacity to head off or solve the problems coming down the pipeline (including climate change, the end of cheap oil, economic de-growth, and winding down the US empire) it may be that our only hope of successful adaptation is to rely on a diversity of local approaches - rather than one organized from the top down. I can't help but think that the sooner local democracy emerges from its current atrophied condition, the more likely we are to build more resilient localities.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But as the wise say,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We'll see.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2h7XL_s2ICAinGBiyibzo4izBndxLjTy90YdQY7NfHG4KJ9UUuLE8sk6rwXcmkYDrd6TdjBxCgPKYcyRdCmzU-jfLPDObyFx6qfkum1ZVOQ1RwmkZC6RHy1pqXQn05IQVNFBB3Cmj-O0/s1600/IMG_1060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2h7XL_s2ICAinGBiyibzo4izBndxLjTy90YdQY7NfHG4KJ9UUuLE8sk6rwXcmkYDrd6TdjBxCgPKYcyRdCmzU-jfLPDObyFx6qfkum1ZVOQ1RwmkZC6RHy1pqXQn05IQVNFBB3Cmj-O0/s400/IMG_1060.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-32179081245982420982017-01-21T17:47:00.003-05:002017-01-21T17:47:50.340-05:00Predictions for 2017<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">After proving on this blog once again that prediction can be a sucker's game, I finished up my wandering around central Florida (where I was interviewing people on their attitudes about voting and voter suppression) and made a short trip to Atlanta. I was talking to people about prostitution, sexism and feminism, but also walked in the city's huge and inspiring Martin Luther King Jr. march. This and other research (on race and governance; fuel efficiency; economic security; ageism) kept me busy this fall and winter - circulating from Carbondale, Pennsylvania to Buckley, Washington; Pueblo, Colorado to Apopka, Florida; San Francisco to Chicago; Hickory, North Carolina to Chula Vista, California.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">None of that enabled me to predict the ascension of Donald Trump, however. I had felt the anger and contempt out there for the corrupted leadership of this country, and despair that the political class wanted to offer us nothing but more of the same. But I thought the populace was still too conservative to elect such a transparent charlatan to tip over the apple cart. I fully expected Trump to fail, but to pave the way for a less flawed populist.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwisnwhut8PCQUFpfa4OWlVst31qrRceir1-hhKXGg0sgzU1Dbppra6surjlO1s-hmXBsG41GWmmQMsTLixOm7KqlZT6M6bAIiT_vqMQZjx1VSFHbJmUhJlMsbezpKvR0k6KRrqs7EUM/s1600/TrumpInaguration_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwisnwhut8PCQUFpfa4OWlVst31qrRceir1-hhKXGg0sgzU1Dbppra6surjlO1s-hmXBsG41GWmmQMsTLixOm7KqlZT6M6bAIiT_vqMQZjx1VSFHbJmUhJlMsbezpKvR0k6KRrqs7EUM/s320/TrumpInaguration_large.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But here we are, with a pop-cultural punchline as our head of state and a radical Republican party with few if any of the traditional checks upon it. Their first project - <a href="http://www.politicususa.com/2017/01/11/gop-prohibits-cbo-reporting-aca-repeal-blows-deficit.html">how to get away with</a> stripping <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/17/politics/obamacare-repeal-cbo-republicans/">20-30 million people</a> of their health insurance in order to <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/17/14263918/affordable-care-act-tax-cut">give the wealthy a tax cut</a> - will tell us much about the type of republic we now live in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But I promised predictions. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, for that annual exercise in humility I will go out on a limb and predict a few specifics:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There will be <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/law-enforcement-community">a crackdown</a> after <a href="http://blacklivesmatter.com/">Black Lives Matter</a> is classified as a terrorist organization.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There will be an attempted crackdown against <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/">McClatchy News</a>, which will mostly backfire, giving investigative journalism a much-needed shot in the arm.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">2017 will turn out to be second hottest year on record, right behind <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-noaa-data-show-2016-warmest-year-on-record-globally">2016</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Republican leadership will allow Democrats (and a few Republicans) to impeach Donald Trump on charges of corruption and self-dealing, but he is not removed from office.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Serious unrest in Turkey enables Russia to intervene militarily.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/seas-rising-but-florida-keeps-building-on-the-coast/">real estate market of south Florida</a> collapses due to the threat of sea level rise.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Overtly political songs begin to surface more in popular music - but not on the radio.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thousands of people will be poisoned by water <a href="http://www.apmreports.org/story/2016/12/13/epa-fracking-contamination-drinking-water">contaminated by fracking</a>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/dilma-rousseff-and-the-chronic-dysfunction-of-brazils-politics">Brazil's government</a> falls in a coup d'etat.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For my tenth prediction, I might as well recycle the one from last year that proved most prescient:</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><br />
<ul><ul><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">
<li>Americans won't take back their democracy from the wealthy interests that have hijacked it; and corporations will continue to write regulations to suit themselves. </li>
<li>Assault weapons will remain legal despite more mass shootings. </li>
<li>Militarization of police forces, systematic use of homicide and excessive force, as well as officers' de facto immunity from prosecution will continue unabated despite the mounting financial and social costs. </li>
<li>We will not develop a constructive or effective plan for dealing with Islamic fundamentalism.</li>
</span></ul>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, come January 2018 - if the I and the internet are still standing, we'll see what I got right . . . .</span>Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-37337860029076921232017-01-06T10:10:00.000-05:002017-01-06T10:12:39.612-05:00Looking back at predictions for 2016<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ah.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let's whisper this blog back to life.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I began a tradition of making January predictions - and looking back to see how inaccurate the past year's predictions were (which if nothing else disqualifies me from the ranks of the proper punditariat).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shall we see how I did?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here were my 9 predictions for 2016:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">2016 comes in at the second hottest year on record, just behind 2015.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nope. It was far and away the hottest.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Clinton / O'Malley handily defeats Trump / Rubio in the presidential election, despite months of breathless concern trolling on the part of the punditocracy. </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Yeah, no. I thought the US electorate was too conservative to really bring someone in to tip over the apple cart. I figured the status quo had another election cycle, especially given the flawed nature of the main Republican con artist. But clearly the anything-but-more-Clinton animus won out among enough people.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Obama ushers out his presidency with an unprecedented number of blanket pardons for non-violent drug offenders.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Wishful thinking on my part. Unashamed, America continues to imprison people at a rate that easily outstrips all other countries - no matter how despotic they aspire to be.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A cultural panic ensues when a US community outlaws the playing of football for youths under the age of 18. The state legislature quickly repeals the law.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not yet, though I still like that prediction.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As Iranian oil comes to market OPEC finally ratchets down production to keep oil in the $30-50 range for most of the year.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well, sorta. It was demand destruction more than OPEC that kept oil prices below $50 - except for a couple of months when it flirted with $55.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Domestic terrorism - especially against Blacks, Muslims and liberals - will claim more American lives than Daesh, Al-Quaida and their ilk combined.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_Mateen">Omar Mateen's</a> massacre of gay men at the Pulse nightclub was the splashiest, but even more Black and Hispanic men continue to be incarcerated and murdered by police in a pattern of systematic terrorism.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Vladimir Putin will survive an assassination attempt.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nope.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Internet advertising will be exposed as utterly ineffective, and the business model for internet content suppliers begins to collapse in earnest.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nope. $70 billion is being spent on ads to your computer and cell phone. </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Because representational democracy has gone off the rails at the federal level there are a number of things that won't change:</span></li>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Americans won't take back their democracy from the wealthy interests that have hijacked it; and corporations will continue to write regulations to suit themselves.</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Assault weapons will remain legal despite more mass shootings.</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Militarization of police forces, systematic use of homicide and excessive force, as well as officers' de facto immunity from prosecution will continue unabated despite the mounting financial and social costs.</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<ul><ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We will not develop a constructive or effective plan for dealing with Islamic fundamentalism.</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Well, on the last one - that we basically won't do anything to solve any of our big problems - turned out to be the solidest prediction. And one that can clearly be recycled for the coming year.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />Interestingly, faith in Progress turned out to be one of the year's biggest casualties. Certainly among liberals, the ascension of Trump (and the murder of radicals cawing around his impending presidency) have been a bucket of cold water thrown on progressive assumptions about where this civilization was going. The Trumpenproletariat, of course, had already seen Progress go off the rails as far as they were concerned.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />The hive mind has become more consciously aware that something is amiss.</span></div>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-47116198038306417602016-05-31T01:33:00.000-04:002016-05-31T10:41:34.285-04:00My life experienced as a sequence of cars<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 1981, as soon as I was old enough, I took my
driver’s test in a ‘64 sky blue Ford Falcon – a three-speed column shift. The sedan had belonged to my great aunt
Ann, who never drove it much. I
failed magnificently the first test - mis-releasing the clutch, bunny-hopping
into the driving course’s little fake intersection and stalling out. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The first car I actually owned outright was a red-orange
Ford Maverick that my grandmother had accepted to settle some debt at the
general store. I bought it from
her for something under $300. I
got a year or so’s worth out of it, but when it threatened to start
sucking me dry with repair bills – I sold it to someone I can’t remember
for the same amount I’d paid for it. <i>Caveat emptor</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So the family Falcon served until the fall of 1983, when I
went off to college in Philadelphia, where it made no sense to have a car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">(In fact, the only time I had
wheels in Philly was 1987, when I was the founding field manager for PA PIRG’s
fund-raising canvas, and had a company rental car to tool around in in my free
time, which meant whenever we weren’t canvassing, sleeping or drinking pitchers
of Yuengling porter at McGlintchy’s – which meant pretty much never.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ruined three of those cars – all in the line of duty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the course of a week, the first
car gradually developed an acrid burning smell and fewer and fewer gears, until
it had no gears at all and I had to call a tow truck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A second car I just outright wrecked (possibly running a red
light, though I don’t remember any light at all).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got T-boned by a heavy steel van, which reduced one of my
more fragile canvassers to tears and a week of hypochondria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within the week, the replacement had
the window shot out as we drove through suburban Ardmore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably a BB-gun, since we’d have
noticed a bullet I think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
last one was kind of a relief because I’d destroyed the rubber seals on that
window breaking in with a coat hanger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And since my boss happened to be in the passenger’s seat when all the
shattered glass fell into his lap, it was pretty clear I couldn’t be blamed for
that one . . . )</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Anyhow, by the time the car had been returned with a hundred
unpaid parking tickets, I had left Philadelphia and moved to central
Massachusetts in pursuit of an Englishwoman I was in love with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got by with my old silver Motebecane
Mirage bicycle – and hitchhiking. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A few months later, after things had blown up with the
Englishwoman, I was in the Poconos helping my grandmother with the store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of the winter, as a
thank you, she sent me off with a ‘78 Chrysler LeBaron that had belonged to her
boyfriend Stan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was maroon and
silver land yacht that drank gas like a sailor and I put a million miles on it
driving around the US and Canada as though it were Belgium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of summer 1990, I sold
it to a fearless guy in Eugene Oregon for $175 because the chassis was
apparently ‘soft’ and the mechanic seemed legitimately concerned for my
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As mentioned earlier, I got by in San Diego with that
Motebecane, but after a year of it I bought a sooty yellow Rabbit diesel with
150,000 miles on it for $500.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
previous owner had welded in a second gas tank and with the full twenty gallons
you could drive 800 miles between fill-ups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the car I was driving in the days when I met
Monica, which demonstrates her shining ability to see past an unpromising first
impression.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(She was getting
around on a red Kawasaki motorcycle at the time.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The car</span> survived to some point in 1995, but I had left it at my
father’s while we were in Kazakhstan for a couple of years and he
got tired of being saddled with a sooty decrepit Rabbit as a driveway ornament and
sent it off to the junkyard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
can’t blame him, since by then one of the doors wouldn't open and I was the
only one who could coax it into life in anything below 50 degree weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(A rolling start always helped, but my
father wasn’t that motivated.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In 1996 my grandfather was upgrading his car and unloaded a
Ford Fairlane on us, behind whose solid steel bumper Monica gained her first
experiences with Pennsylvania black ice – taking out both a stop sign (no harm)
and a pine tree (yeah, some harm).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the old Fairlane took us back to San Diego.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before it could fail its inaugural
emissions test we traded it in, buying a near-new ‘97 Saturn station wagon,
which at $12,000 was 24 times more than either of us had ever paid for a
car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We crossed to the new millennium with two nearly new cars –
the Saturn and a ’95 Jeep Wrangler, which was named Wilhemina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was sold a couple of years later
while we were living in Ireland where for three years I drove an anonymous rented Vauxhall
with the steering wheel on the wrong side.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Saturn persisted through all of this as this time my father didn’t send the
car to the junkyard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we moved to
Rhode Island with our now eight-year old Saturn, I said to myself, we need
to go shopping for a second car – because even though we don’t need a second
car very often, we do need it sometimes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thus began an epic decade of car-shopping
procrastination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think I
can reconstruct all of the machinations that went into me not ever buying a
second car, but I think it started with my sister’s wedding, when they sent us
back across country from California driving my brother-in-law’s grandmother’s
old Dodge Raider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(They were
relocating themselves, but it would be nearly a year before they reclaimed it
from us.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think by then, Monica
had taken a part time job driving an enormous Suburban for the school we’d
enrolled the boys in – and that became our second car for two or three
years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she’d had enough of
carting school kids and turned in the SUV, Monica did actually buy a Saturn
sedan off of Craigslist for two thousand dollars, but within a month or two she
totaled it, getting rear-ended while buying eggs from a local farmer – so that
car hardly counts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At some point
my father off-loaded his Dodge Van on us, but it was never going to pass
inspection in Rhode Island, so I sold it to an old man who seemed down on his
luck and I’m sure that van didn’t help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Friends moved to Japan for a 18 months and needed someone to look after
their zippy little Impreza. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
finally, my mother’s reliable and well-preserved ’96 Honda Accord came our way
when she upgraded to a Lincoln hybrid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The old lady – our once-reliable Saturn gradually became the second car. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But my mother’s old trooper of a ‘96 Honda Accord – is also
showing its age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The odometer
stopped working after it’s last inspection, so the mileage remains a
perpetually spry 264,954. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
radio comes and goes and we need pliers to adjust heating.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>1335</o:Words>
<o:Characters>5876</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Cultural Logic, LLC</o:Company>
<o:Lines>104</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>14</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>9348</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So in December we did the unthinkable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We finally went car shopping and quickly bought a brand new 2016 Toyota hybrid Rav 4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was no bargaining, because only
show models could be found and we had to pry the vehicle away from the dealership.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And so the Saturn was
demoted to third car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> It is still parked just off the driveway by the woodpile, finally looking entirely derelict and forlorn – with a bashed bumper (we spent that long-ago insurance money on something besides fixing the bumper) a roof scraped and scratched from ill-advised snow-shoveling, a speedometer that thinks you’re always driving 40, windshield wipers that spontaneously jump to startling life on cold mornings, and ceiling fabric hanging in drapes and tatters. And since it
failed to start in March – demoted still further to ugly driveway ornament.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I have to jump start it and drive it away to the salvage yard, because I need that spot. Porter's aunt has a '98 Honda to unload and she figures her more or less penniless nephew could make use of it when he goes off to college this fall. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And so the cycle of life continues . . . </span></div>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-44873827995249142442016-05-13T16:39:00.000-04:002016-05-15T16:41:20.533-04:00Gypsy moth infestations<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghulkgOiFAVoDP0RQ2WqcZfFzLmQUG-oZTjmCRi034gOzTo3pUMWDplJd_qrH2C8NvQKiuvLqpcdCgZxxyCuzkoAxQJuYHbvwGQO4EhTXcAr68dDSmMI-_NIq4cLLUe0gJDdIy2Stpb70/s1600/IMG_4656.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghulkgOiFAVoDP0RQ2WqcZfFzLmQUG-oZTjmCRi034gOzTo3pUMWDplJd_qrH2C8NvQKiuvLqpcdCgZxxyCuzkoAxQJuYHbvwGQO4EhTXcAr68dDSmMI-_NIq4cLLUe0gJDdIy2Stpb70/s320/IMG_4656.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">a freshly hatched gypsy moth caterpillar</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Growing up in Pennsylvania in the 1980s I saw years when the leaves came out on the trees in May and were gone by middle of June.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> From a distance, t</span>he rolling, forested hills would look like they had in March – all grays and browns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up close, hiking in the woods you would hear a
constant hiss of frass falling from the gypsy moth caterpillars above - like a dry rain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The first year or two trees would
re-leaf by July, but if the moths persisted trees would begin to die.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Here in Rhode Island, flocks of grackles – accompanied by a few
cuckoos – spent a couple of weeks last summer in our woods at the height of the caterpillar
season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The two species have found ways to deal with spiny caterpillars like the gypsy moth. The yellow-billed cuckoo can discard its stomach lining once it has ruined it with the caterpillar's defensive spines; the
grackles seem to take the more direct approach of trying to beat the spines off by smacking them against a tree branch.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But there is only so much they can do, and at the end
of summer there were hundreds of tawny egg patches - proof that plenty of moths had evaded predation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>169</o:Words>
<o:Characters>968</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Cultural Logic, LLC</o:Company>
<o:Lines>8</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1188</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Now the trees are coming into leaf, and tiny newly hatched caterpillars are on the move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> That's what has me recalling the deforestation of years past. Maybe it will turn out to be a localized outbreak and the cuckoos and grackles will come back with friends to share the bounty. Or maybe it will be like the bad old days, where defoliation stretched mile after mile.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUJXc3dNPoMmCwB5UORp6Ms5clA1LX8n4N9ksLis5zYTeHfAApRI6KRSm8_eXsHvg-6EaduIwhJbWe_Jvg4Y8Bqt8cHtZGMjDxc5Mu4YCi2UQGlXCsuc6wNgo3rt2nA77wL4BoqDVf6eA/s1600/IMG_4656.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUJXc3dNPoMmCwB5UORp6Ms5clA1LX8n4N9ksLis5zYTeHfAApRI6KRSm8_eXsHvg-6EaduIwhJbWe_Jvg4Y8Bqt8cHtZGMjDxc5Mu4YCi2UQGlXCsuc6wNgo3rt2nA77wL4BoqDVf6eA/s400/IMG_4656.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">with ballpoint pen, for scale</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-13919117625471908242016-05-06T18:37:00.000-04:002016-05-08T08:57:52.714-04:00More reminiscing - Tucson to San Diego<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Once, when I was living in San Diego, some old friends were
gathering in Tucson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This must
have been at the beginning of the 90s, because there was a year or so there
when I didn’t have a car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
discarded my ’78 Chrysler LeBaron in Eugene, Oregon for a cool $175, and a year
of bicycling passed before I acquired an old diesel VW rabbit - bought for $500
from someone who was leaving San Diego in a hurry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this trip to Arizona I know I didn’t have a car, because
I took the Greyhound bus from San Diego to Tucson, which is something only a
person without a car would do. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisU0X_tNpZ2P3OC_ceTNK5qBXAEzhgAigFm8KVXtRVSzyMDlH6ae20Lu0n9CPe-jgTygsUNcQCRupPJCsRKmApYSMHVy3hZVz2tr8DH4lLmTBXQWza_PIA-DMEjQp5zQY8PLZHNeu0ZzM/s1600/scan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisU0X_tNpZ2P3OC_ceTNK5qBXAEzhgAigFm8KVXtRVSzyMDlH6ae20Lu0n9CPe-jgTygsUNcQCRupPJCsRKmApYSMHVy3hZVz2tr8DH4lLmTBXQWza_PIA-DMEjQp5zQY8PLZHNeu0ZzM/s320/scan.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo credit: Dan Goldstein</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">My only recollection of that journey is the aftermath,
standing at the fumey bus station, sore from hours in seats designed for very
small people – designed specifically for a ridership shrunken and stunted from
the poverty and desperation that drives one to ride a Greyhound bus between San
Diego and Tucson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Standing in
front of the baggage claim desk – who knew such a thing even existed – being
told that they had somehow lost my luggage, despite the luggage transaction
being pretty simple and straightforward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were just supposed to have put my bag under the damned bus.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So with sore knees and no toothbrush nor change of clothes,
I solemnly swore that the Greyhound corporation would no longer have the custom
of Andrew J. Brown, future Doctor of Anthropology.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisU0X_tNpZ2P3OC_ceTNK5qBXAEzhgAigFm8KVXtRVSzyMDlH6ae20Lu0n9CPe-jgTygsUNcQCRupPJCsRKmApYSMHVy3hZVz2tr8DH4lLmTBXQWza_PIA-DMEjQp5zQY8PLZHNeu0ZzM/s1600/scan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nevertheless, after a successfully pleasant and reviving
visit with old college friends – I went and did reclaim my pack from that bus
company that was dead to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Now I had two toothbrushes – since it turned out such were indeed for
sale even in Arizona.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I was
not prepared to forgive nor was I willing to be ground down – wedged tight from
knee to sacrum - by plasticated seatage and 13 hours of transit purgatory.</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtid_gUbmjGqaL7JRunLjXNARIcQNXKn22zLtoUxRgXDoGQn8R2ZoRb169gq337uBrlp4H0AfJZ5Po9dwf2f7mTyXUrilBmYMCD_oO7Suip9lMMtJUovXEKu1hD_BvTjxNy_Im6yuaqv4/s1600/scan0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tied securely to my pack, I had a light summer sleeping bag.
Whether this was foresight on my part or a loaner from a friend – I don’t
remember.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Importantly, that item
meant that I wasn’t bound to civilization or its abusive transit companies. I
was an autonomous being – with my own portable home, like a tortoise or a Pima.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d hitchhiked plenty before –
navigated the tundra of Finland and escaped the suburbs of DC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was with the optimism of experience
that I hugged my friends goodbye by their desiccated ocotillo hedge, and strode
off to the byways of the desert.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtid_gUbmjGqaL7JRunLjXNARIcQNXKn22zLtoUxRgXDoGQn8R2ZoRb169gq337uBrlp4H0AfJZ5Po9dwf2f7mTyXUrilBmYMCD_oO7Suip9lMMtJUovXEKu1hD_BvTjxNy_Im6yuaqv4/s1600/scan0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtid_gUbmjGqaL7JRunLjXNARIcQNXKn22zLtoUxRgXDoGQn8R2ZoRb169gq337uBrlp4H0AfJZ5Po9dwf2f7mTyXUrilBmYMCD_oO7Suip9lMMtJUovXEKu1hD_BvTjxNy_Im6yuaqv4/s320/scan0001.jpg" width="228" /></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To this point, most of my hitchhiking had been done farther
north.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the northeast, where
people are really too busy to develop elaborate, time-consuming fetishes about
murdering hitchhikers and other vagabonds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or the vast sweep of the Great Lakes and northern plains,
where murderous urges have been pretty much sublimated into church feuds,
school board elections and Rotarian lunches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Certainly nothing to trouble your average hitchhiker over-much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Granted, the Pacific Northwest’s
variety of ride-sharer seemed a bit sketchier and more drug-addled, but still
pretty innocent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But maybe the north is different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any case, it turns out that the Sonoran desert between
Tucson and San Diego is peopled by another breed entirely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it’s that night sky that flips a
billion starry middle fingers to the significance of your ephemeral shuffle
upon the coil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it’s those
unresolved tensions with your next door neighbor, an equally sun-stricken
misanthrope across ten miles of creosote brush.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People driving across the desert did indeed seem to have time
enough on their hands for elaborate hobbies and enthusiasms.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">On the bright side, there’s also a kind of carelessness
about consequence that means they will pick up a skinny, nervous-looking
vagabond in the desert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So there’s
that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">As I entrusted my fragile-seeming body into one battered
truck and sand-scoured car after another, I was mostly quiet and only sometimes
did I ruminate about all of my fellow Greyhound passengers who had dozed away
in that well-lit and public space of a bus and who would have been hard put to
secretly murder me – even if their crushed and small-seated souls had retained such
energy and ambition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But in the end finally, after enough hours of sidelong
glances and crackling, apocalyptic AM radio, as night was falling, I was set
down anti-climactically in the stubble of an alfalfa field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d crossed the desert to the Imperial
Valley – a verdant swale of farming dangling south of the Salton Sea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interstate 8 hummed and sparkled to the
south of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I climbed one of the
huge rectilinear stacks of hay bales – two stories high and the size of a
Mississippi river barge. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Standing
atop you could see for miles into the dusk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sit down, and the land disappeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was just sky above – and no one
would ever know you were there except for the herons who flew hwarking overhead
on their way to the rookeries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
that suited me fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">By then the billion starry middle fingers were pretty and
sparklesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The folks of
the dry washes and creosote brush had done me no harm after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My knees didn’t hurt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, as I unrolled the sleeping bag
and stretched out on the aromatic bales, I very much liked my fragile
body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So yeah, I thought to
myself, once I got myself back to San Diego, I was officially retiring from
hitchhiking in the American Southwest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I hwarked at one of the herons flying past, but it ignored
me.</span></div>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-39898529867003721522016-05-01T16:07:00.000-04:002016-05-01T16:09:10.694-04:00May 1975 - Diary of a fourth-grader<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEKkfWbjdYWYGfaJKvAINQeWnoBrTGkS5PhdSc_-GXw1AbXtqnrbnJrw_x-B3py14yYY4VGGg2Cj0GJE0xma4I8SZR8lxZxzO-hNb6YxdRN6fwEixsrksm2wP6cWxsnBPPeFruIFsT9FU/s1600/IMG_4642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEKkfWbjdYWYGfaJKvAINQeWnoBrTGkS5PhdSc_-GXw1AbXtqnrbnJrw_x-B3py14yYY4VGGg2Cj0GJE0xma4I8SZR8lxZxzO-hNb6YxdRN6fwEixsrksm2wP6cWxsnBPPeFruIFsT9FU/s400/IMG_4642.jpg" width="342" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Mom's poly sci notebook from college, Penn State circa 1960, repurposed</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I was clearing out some old boxes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Getting rid of stuff whose sentimental value had leached slowly
away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ribbons from the Huntingdon
County fair, 1979-80, my old elementary school bookbag, now crumpled and
petrified -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(There
was an odd moment in the mid-70s when the old cloth and leather rucksacks of
our parents generation disappeared, and it would take a few years for nylon
backpacks to replace them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So we
carried our books to school in a drawstring bag with the school’s mascot upon
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that I’m throwing the bag
away, I may never think of it again . . . ); a collapsible binoculars that I
thought was pretty cool back when; college arts mags that I wasn’t in; Mad
Magazines from the 70’s, and so on.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Other
things go back in the box to keep until the rest of their sentimental value leaches away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A stack of letters
from my first girlfriend, when I was 15 and we lived an insurmountable hundred
miles apart; drawings and writings; letters from other friends and
later girlfriends; old photography marred by a poor mastery of the darkroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">And a random collection of journals and notebooks. In one of my first attempts - or at least earliest surviving - I kept a journal for the month of May in 1975 – when I was ten – and
though it has nothing much to say about my inner states – it’s an odd glance
into the habits of daily life that I would otherwise have no consistent recollection of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Here is a </span>trio of entries
from this 4th-grader, of 41 years ago (misspellings and all):</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxdsv2HQehnRHJY5umGSqZ1uTRlqTTjxd2vkIjUzR66RHW2_CbsCCpT0bXC0rKzdHrYRiO-CMeFUI7K_owQuIehO7q3u9ov-qwNhfAWZTAcRqVKAVTez-Xts5rZpbk23gb8plaDYNtavE/s1600/IMG_4642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxdsv2HQehnRHJY5umGSqZ1uTRlqTTjxd2vkIjUzR66RHW2_CbsCCpT0bXC0rKzdHrYRiO-CMeFUI7K_owQuIehO7q3u9ov-qwNhfAWZTAcRqVKAVTez-Xts5rZpbk23gb8plaDYNtavE/s1600/IMG_4642.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thursday, May 1, 1975</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I got up late at about 7:45.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We traded trapping cards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had 5 – now I have 21.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Library I got Cave 4 and Bone People.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bryan Carnathon ate 25 cups of
cranberry sauce at lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
reading I only have one story left until I’m done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I played kickball at recess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By then the rain had stopped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After school I started Dad’s birthday present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a soap carving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I went downstairs and built a
tower of blocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right now I think
my sister is getting sick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right
now she has diaria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Christy is
sleeping with me.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p> </o:p>Friday, May 2, 1975</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I got up in the morning at 6:00. I got trapped to 22.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got 100 on a paper in Social
Studys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I played kickball during
recess. James Ross gave us all a blow pop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finished my last story in Reading today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We played the princapal in gym and the
two teachers and lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we
picked up teams and our team won in volleyball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After school I started the second present – is a pencil
holder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeff Krushinski came home
with Ronnie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We played a few games
of baseball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we spied on the
little kids for a little while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then me and Ronnie played a little badmitten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I came in I noticed Dad’s Birthday Cake that Christy
and Cathy made. It’s iceing was like water and it was running off the
cake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was marshmellow so it
stuck to everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we ate
the cake anyhow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I gave Dad the
soap carving and pencil holder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then we watched Chico and the Man and Hot L Baltimore. Then I went to
bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christy isn’t sleeping with
me tonight because Cathy’s feeling much better.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p> </o:p>Saturday, May 3, 1975</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I got up and watched 1 hour of TV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At about 11:00 I went outside – couldn’t find any.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chucky was down at the shoe store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t find Ronnie, Scott or
Tommy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I came home and tried to
call Neal, but he was in the middle of a baseball game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to go to Staffer’s (a
store).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the way I found Ronnie,
Scott and Tommy working on a go-cart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They went up to ask if they could go too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I got back we worked on the go-cart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I played badmitten – then we had
some batting practice. After that we played some football.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I came in and cleared the table and
went to bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I got up to
watch Mary Tyler Moore.</span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: times, 'times new roman', serif;">Entries like these, and the letters – which are half of a
conversation about events long forgotten – make me feel like I've led multiple lives. That this me - of today - isn't the only me I've gotten to be. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Reincarnation is real - it just happens so gradually that we don't notice it right away.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJeHraxFYYbhaUoAVY_M2d1nJQ9lDTjTWFTXXjkjxM_wfEoUFZ4TgvmuGMlWML6_btPHCozvjbjdG53U25qr54SmaofHaWQPx0RwUHKtBYVLiop3AwzMaNj-l73At9FLzs0QjlEjENN8/s1600/IMG_4646.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIJeHraxFYYbhaUoAVY_M2d1nJQ9lDTjTWFTXXjkjxM_wfEoUFZ4TgvmuGMlWML6_btPHCozvjbjdG53U25qr54SmaofHaWQPx0RwUHKtBYVLiop3AwzMaNj-l73At9FLzs0QjlEjENN8/s320/IMG_4646.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-85855321315146330052016-04-29T11:26:00.000-04:002016-04-30T11:28:27.459-04:00A bluebird's saurian eye<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVERVhU89QCcBKTFT1loFcKKQ936p7WooWysLiHidg4Y1qk2Op8lFQqcWMftndGXYr14EbOOqNx45fYSPEv6wvsVNoXJutkvymKS6_2I1tlGEKqoVOtbGEEFmIWZGZHngyqAFCWnJgi8/s1600/IMG_4637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVERVhU89QCcBKTFT1loFcKKQ936p7WooWysLiHidg4Y1qk2Op8lFQqcWMftndGXYr14EbOOqNx45fYSPEv6wvsVNoXJutkvymKS6_2I1tlGEKqoVOtbGEEFmIWZGZHngyqAFCWnJgi8/s320/IMG_4637.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Cherry leaves unfurl</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>unblemished.</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>A dark-armored bumble</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>rumbles,</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>aground</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>in violets,</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>A saurian eye of bluebird,</b></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>chill obsidian,</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>tracks it</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>and waits for prey</b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>less massy and be-weaponed.</b></span></blockquote>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>27</o:Words>
<o:Characters>158</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Cultural Logic, LLC</o:Company>
<o:Lines>1</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>194</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br /></blockquote>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>27</o:Words>
<o:Characters>155</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Cultural Logic, LLC</o:Company>
<o:Lines>1</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>1</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>190</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-2027758869962084482016-04-23T15:59:00.000-04:002016-04-23T15:59:19.974-04:00Democracy within Plutocracy - Plutocracy within a Democracy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBOV5DmRaAcT7BaWZ_r1AHts5DqmT-4NXJgnd_bvR1jgL10DEXc2yVVig39rcb6BpCpHYr2rAjzcm-4SrIpLcTL8eYTKkz-E-07mZqF9tFX7V7DjmuOzsf8b1UP6sLI-9oO396fce1dI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-04-23+at+3.41.15+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpBOV5DmRaAcT7BaWZ_r1AHts5DqmT-4NXJgnd_bvR1jgL10DEXc2yVVig39rcb6BpCpHYr2rAjzcm-4SrIpLcTL8eYTKkz-E-07mZqF9tFX7V7DjmuOzsf8b1UP6sLI-9oO396fce1dI/s320/Screen+Shot+2016-04-23+at+3.41.15+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="text-align: center;">The greatest cure for pontificating about human culture is to go out and actually talk to people in their fulsome, maddening complexity. I promised an Enoughness Part 3 - to complement my </span><a href="http://anubisbard.blogspot.com/2016/02/enoughness-and-age-of-consumer.html" style="text-align: center;">earlier efforts</a><span style="text-align: center;"> to sum up the current alliance between consumerism and democratic futility.</span><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-sfho2wIcF_vs0Qus4aYVTjZnJ5e32OBMY7F8eyYeBjxhPjxpMbULhVGAfXE_76Al6lGxpvV8W3-Lhp-huzK5wiCDpvXxVjhyphenhyphenmfOo352fvsSuG6xpQdqZetAXTP-h50qK9x_O6M12M88/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-04-23+at+3.49.06+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-sfho2wIcF_vs0Qus4aYVTjZnJ5e32OBMY7F8eyYeBjxhPjxpMbULhVGAfXE_76Al6lGxpvV8W3-Lhp-huzK5wiCDpvXxVjhyphenhyphenmfOo352fvsSuG6xpQdqZetAXTP-h50qK9x_O6M12M88/s200/Screen+Shot+2016-04-23+at+3.49.06+PM.png" width="200" /></a>But then I spoiled all clarity. I had to go to Detroit and Battle Creek and Kalamazoo to actually talk to people about their political philosophies, what they think is possible and impossible, what they think the problems are, what they care about and don't care about when it comes to the state and their lives. <br />
<br />
We needed to find the patterns that our clients could use in their efforts to re-build American democratic citizenship - before our anxieties, frustrations and despair mutate to an acquiesce to plutocracy or people seek the opportunistic demagogue who will promise at least to a return to government for the people, though not by the people.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1hmotEWH5rrErZIDLKFfKI2TzvBJSd-ESwzfVmH86BHdwdxWWHNTXnfYm_EqPqz-swlVoyQkHMpWYOUDxQupZGWSVfdqC8PaDvSrbtAfJsVoW4nv7D1HjUEcfhDeFpSslMsQOMVf-zM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-04-23+at+3.47.27+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="108" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq1hmotEWH5rrErZIDLKFfKI2TzvBJSd-ESwzfVmH86BHdwdxWWHNTXnfYm_EqPqz-swlVoyQkHMpWYOUDxQupZGWSVfdqC8PaDvSrbtAfJsVoW4nv7D1HjUEcfhDeFpSslMsQOMVf-zM/s200/Screen+Shot+2016-04-23+at+3.47.27+PM.png" width="200" /></a>I crafted an interview protocol to get people to talk - and took turns with my assistant - sometimes doing the conversation, sometimes wielding the camera or mic (an over-large White man trying futilely to be the quiet sidekick to a young Black woman). We'd go out and listen to a score of people or so. Then back in my hotel room I'd redraft the questions - and we would go out again. Listening, challenging them, trying out gambits to convince them to take hope again in the possibilities of good self-governance. And listening some more. And then again.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQ79zEEY5_YCK2nBT-zcjpdLb9ad0Z8nBcNN7Bww8p2uX2GB1FIgkgPe9ufIDl7zN2DRTiU5hqAJoi5v9l493vLibvhkCQqsnPOPtqO0PLEGwbgooZLtP02dLuUClInOUvM561D2n3Yg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-04-23+at+3.45.09+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkQ79zEEY5_YCK2nBT-zcjpdLb9ad0Z8nBcNN7Bww8p2uX2GB1FIgkgPe9ufIDl7zN2DRTiU5hqAJoi5v9l493vLibvhkCQqsnPOPtqO0PLEGwbgooZLtP02dLuUClInOUvM561D2n3Yg/s200/Screen+Shot+2016-04-23+at+3.45.09+PM.png" width="200" /></a>And I sent researchers to the Front Range of Colorado - from the university town of Fort Collins to the suburbs of Denver - and up into the mountains to Grand Junction. And each night I would talk with them about what they were hearing and look at the video they'd shot. How people in the mountain west think about their roles and responsibilities in an American democracy.<br />
<br />
<br />
And I sent an anthropologist (African-American this time) into the deep Delta region of eastern Arkansas and another man to the southern reaches of the Ozarks to get glimpses of those stories. And I watched the video and talked with the researchers and listened and advised. And then I sent the man and the videographer into Nebraska - from Omaha to Scottsbluff - and watched video of their conversations amid the small towns of the High Plains. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgztzv-yv7lYKzghD7wuSpkcmXspViZqKNVMEQYBBbahFfL77_ewm-BpzApsAhOwJGXPMwNqx5ySd_oxUaGtFy4IzoqNgw5iG3HY412s1iOec-FkPsCcGsszvUhyphenhyphenPt_DLk02wHjvP8S3KI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-04-23+at+3.34.40+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgztzv-yv7lYKzghD7wuSpkcmXspViZqKNVMEQYBBbahFfL77_ewm-BpzApsAhOwJGXPMwNqx5ySd_oxUaGtFy4IzoqNgw5iG3HY412s1iOec-FkPsCcGsszvUhyphenhyphenPt_DLk02wHjvP8S3KI/s200/Screen+Shot+2016-04-23+at+3.34.40+PM.png" width="200" /></a></div>
Today, interviewers are setting out in Charlotte, North Carolina and Portland, Oregon as we work on finishing up these conversations - this talking and listening. I have more transcripts to read and video to watch - because it is soon time to return to pontificating. <br />
<br />
Patterns are there, but it won't be as easy as armchair analysis about the state of the American mind, because real people don't fit the caricatures that pundits and commentators want to use. <br />
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-78217491915859758762016-02-18T21:52:00.005-05:002016-02-18T21:53:28.993-05:00Wintery interlude<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-nxYIPnIFd1QX6IAJVX9JYz5_N2uUKzbkEeqaxLSLwtr6PuYRa91Vmf258BG047pxQgShsOY7GV8xVT-u_rfF1UoxgVLXNUzrfN6iLdXTp59UsDwuYDFTSSZyATd3tgKz8EEV4uiV3ZU/s1600/IMG_4619.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-nxYIPnIFd1QX6IAJVX9JYz5_N2uUKzbkEeqaxLSLwtr6PuYRa91Vmf258BG047pxQgShsOY7GV8xVT-u_rfF1UoxgVLXNUzrfN6iLdXTp59UsDwuYDFTSSZyATd3tgKz8EEV4uiV3ZU/s320/IMG_4619.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Midway through a too-mild February </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(coaxed-up shoots of daffodil and snowdrop)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> a pair of snowstorms and arctic blast return us brutally to winter:</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17NokOAQjjPGg00pLR_1wBXN6x92Sn06ceNethzvKpYg19zzsO4CTPdQYtAP-zl4yQUVUM2XnFj1F5MwyjEONTjZbK49fWQ2HNP1c0ytVDnppGXSQfcVDsP7f6uiz1BPxT5FHAdq5RGk/s1600/IMG_4597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17NokOAQjjPGg00pLR_1wBXN6x92Sn06ceNethzvKpYg19zzsO4CTPdQYtAP-zl4yQUVUM2XnFj1F5MwyjEONTjZbK49fWQ2HNP1c0ytVDnppGXSQfcVDsP7f6uiz1BPxT5FHAdq5RGk/s400/IMG_4597.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">16 below zero, then to 10 above in breezy daylight, </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">and back to 12 below. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Wind chills range the minus thirties.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> I feed the birds when these blasts come</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(juncos, cardinals, sparrows, titmice, chickadees, jays, doves, finches, and woodpeckers)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">and regret the thick beard I shaved away.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF6_1V4XtlPnbxIvNYq9RlvldP_UGJhG7_i59K27FwTCz0r4RHNIGljPIdYwMabDzMFze2Jyn0Xopbefd0FGweOcnSfVuwv8B812gYBpmeZT1MiDE6kMERkO2j_87RqZypXarwqox3Puw/s1600/IMG_4611.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF6_1V4XtlPnbxIvNYq9RlvldP_UGJhG7_i59K27FwTCz0r4RHNIGljPIdYwMabDzMFze2Jyn0Xopbefd0FGweOcnSfVuwv8B812gYBpmeZT1MiDE6kMERkO2j_87RqZypXarwqox3Puw/s640/IMG_4611.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The old beekeepers say the stronger colonies will survive 10 below.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-92037530811825298922016-02-14T17:40:00.001-05:002016-02-14T17:48:32.901-05:00Enoughness and the Age of Consumer Capitalism, part 2<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is the continuation of my earlier post on <a href="http://anubisbard.blogspot.com/2016/01/enoughness-and-age-of-consumer.html">Enoughness</a> . . .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NeIicOUhmFOSuTn00oPAOGphgIixKzx5KQjDD7c_TcheeG_fzjBIMZUF30zYsIM0SJNCt5HH6i147iwlDyOQJtLtJMTx9KAMXiO0leFNB9B_bCcSFMDBGUWndzAuOKAjV-BBlD4EVgs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-02-14+at+5.23.41+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NeIicOUhmFOSuTn00oPAOGphgIixKzx5KQjDD7c_TcheeG_fzjBIMZUF30zYsIM0SJNCt5HH6i147iwlDyOQJtLtJMTx9KAMXiO0leFNB9B_bCcSFMDBGUWndzAuOKAjV-BBlD4EVgs/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-02-14+at+5.23.41+PM.png" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Consumerism lies at the heart of our current civilization. I don't mean we like shopping. I mean that buying stuff stands at the very heart of our way of life. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A culture can include for its people a vision of a larger project beyond themselves. Our own civilization has dabbled in grand projects - from Christian missions to the Space Race - from nation-building and modernization - to Manifest Destiny and America as beacon of democracy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfr0uLrPRPXHk6-EWsefQ194ZHiSZ6vxWcj33vhTy3ZPhx465NCvvBP76dI1mnUi1uTMWz41jh82uT5pJsYR726UIrHlVGrbOZWYNsxMC0uswqbqjmJhuJPnzXs31SfIFnpyS710d1rXQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-02-14+at+5.18.10+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfr0uLrPRPXHk6-EWsefQ194ZHiSZ6vxWcj33vhTy3ZPhx465NCvvBP76dI1mnUi1uTMWz41jh82uT5pJsYR726UIrHlVGrbOZWYNsxMC0uswqbqjmJhuJPnzXs31SfIFnpyS710d1rXQ/s200/Screen+Shot+2016-02-14+at+5.18.10+PM.png" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When you look around today, you'll find little in the way of grand visions. Progress has been variously imagined, but today it has been pruned down to little more than the incremental tweaks of a smart phone obsolescence cycle - or at best, imaginary self-driving cars. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You might well argue that it's not such a bad thing that we set aside grand visions. Not only have they proven dangerous, they also have rarely been the concern of the average person, who generally prefers to be left in peace to invest their energies into the mundane concerns of working and wooing and raising their offspring.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But no one really escapes the assumptions and demands of their culture, and here in the mundane is where consumerism truly permeates. In a thousand subtle ways, our society tells us that the very point of our existence is to consume. If you are poor you have failed in every important way. You ought to have the wherewithal to buy those things that demonstrate your ambition and commitment to success. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVGasHbo7TI5CEgSXkYsSOfg7AFCKW03f1XG7tI7KfQuWPaWlV1rUYpKH9_c_bxQXGzpdxfXTuKU7SRo91d4hP6Uued0ftAOgUYeC8tGF3GzN2mHeFeUlN1aCg91Wx6XoFozbtoLTZmk/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-02-14+at+5.12.52+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjVGasHbo7TI5CEgSXkYsSOfg7AFCKW03f1XG7tI7KfQuWPaWlV1rUYpKH9_c_bxQXGzpdxfXTuKU7SRo91d4hP6Uued0ftAOgUYeC8tGF3GzN2mHeFeUlN1aCg91Wx6XoFozbtoLTZmk/s200/Screen+Shot+2016-02-14+at+5.12.52+PM.png" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But of course there is no ultimate success - there is only more striving. Consumerism is not something that has a conclusion. On the contrary, there is no level you can reach where you will be safe from an army of marketers that is taking aim squarely at whatever potential inklings of satisfaction or satiety or enoughness you might achieve. Once the needs of life have been met, then production and advertising becomes all about irritation - trying to create an itch that only this product can scratch and soothe. To distract you from any budding sense that you might actually already have what you need.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent each year creating that itch and that lure. It's commonplace to complain about the oppressive ubiquity of advertising around us - and the way it uglifies and degrades the spaces around us. But we don't often think about how much of the world we inhabit is designed and built as a stupendous architecture for fueling and enforcing consumerism. Enoughness must not be allowed to take root.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Ki9w7GxZtzstg_KYlSnYqybPfLC_ozK_erLfYd4UZ_oFyKYzbPL65WJ661vicybWTqqSbAUfqOwpEUjtW6W_B3bpfkfJkHOB1x-DhTKicnwtCXzwJ3SeMUOi5ruKVk-i1Vgf5foBXMQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-02-14+at+5.20.32+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Ki9w7GxZtzstg_KYlSnYqybPfLC_ozK_erLfYd4UZ_oFyKYzbPL65WJ661vicybWTqqSbAUfqOwpEUjtW6W_B3bpfkfJkHOB1x-DhTKicnwtCXzwJ3SeMUOi5ruKVk-i1Vgf5foBXMQ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-02-14+at+5.20.32+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Ki9w7GxZtzstg_KYlSnYqybPfLC_ozK_erLfYd4UZ_oFyKYzbPL65WJ661vicybWTqqSbAUfqOwpEUjtW6W_B3bpfkfJkHOB1x-DhTKicnwtCXzwJ3SeMUOi5ruKVk-i1Vgf5foBXMQ/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-02-14+at+5.20.32+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Human culture is a dynamic inter-reaction between the actual practices of everyday life and a set of guiding ideas, motifs, myths and grand narratives. What are the implications when our myths are no longer stories that we tell each other, but stories sold to us by vast profit-making corporations? When we don't sing our own songs to our children and our lovers, but consume them from a music industry? What does it mean when all of our information about our communities, our political leaders, our collective realities is processed for us by media companies whose sole and overriding goal is to sell our attention to other companies who need us to buy their stuff?</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Many of the largest, most familiar, most sophisticated and most profitable corporations in the world don't make their enormous profits from the products they create. They make their profits by selling us, our attention, our vulnerability and our consumerist potentials to their actual, fee-paying clients. For Google and Facebook, you are not a customer, but the product they sell to advertisers. CNN, Fox News, the networks, Clear Channel Radio don't sell their media productions to you. Those concoctions exist for the sole purpose of luring you away from a life you might be leading in order to keep you in front of that screen absorbing a paid advertisement. The NBA, NFL, Major League baseball would wither away if they had to rely on ticket sales. The big money comes from selling all the eyeballs that an entertaining game secures for the sponsors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I began this essay, by saying that consumerism lies at the heart of the matter. The powers that be will tell us that this is just our natural, inevitable state, but clearly there is a vast amount of creative and economic energy devoted to molding us into consumers - consumers who just can't get enough. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Next week, I'll continue with some thoughts about the limits and exits from consumerism . . .</span><br />
<br />Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-51744015732213697122016-01-31T17:05:00.000-05:002016-01-31T17:18:52.334-05:00Enoughness and the Age of Consumer Capitalism, part 1<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThBii57cMr5dfiR8t1qVXPlYp1nZ5Y6W0mcNiwM8LXSvAAOsDVD8ZKcfotqzxJPUhbLU9kHFOeHQ9J3ZEf7Kw9Rfpo0TotyVdqLwNjF4FvEo4sNs2ceUdOvNt8K4bgWQRsU8HogqZOas/s1600/IMG_0059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThBii57cMr5dfiR8t1qVXPlYp1nZ5Y6W0mcNiwM8LXSvAAOsDVD8ZKcfotqzxJPUhbLU9kHFOeHQ9J3ZEf7Kw9Rfpo0TotyVdqLwNjF4FvEo4sNs2ceUdOvNt8K4bgWQRsU8HogqZOas/s640/IMG_0059.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">trees reflected in a winter pool</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">There is nothing more destructive to capitalism than the satisfied customer.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Lately, much of my work professionally is focused on reviving American practices of democratic citizenship, as well as reforming our economic culture and our public policies in ways that are less destructive to ourselves and our world. There are various dynamics at work, but when I look around at all the various problems and <a href="http://anubisbard.blogspot.com/2013_11_09_archive.html">potentials</a> of our era, I've long maintained that consumerism is at the <a href="http://anubisbard.blogspot.com/2014/05/consuming-our-problems.html">heart of the matter</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I thought I'd make use of this blog to try to flesh out my thinking on the topic, so bear with me . . .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">--------------------</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Depending on your priorities, market capitalism can be an efficient way to organize your economic affairs. Those who possess wealth set up enterprises, and those who don't have wealth must exchange hours of work for a wage. The desire for a good wage motivates the have-nots to be diligent and ambitious workers and the desire for profits motivates the haves to create goods for their customers in a cost-effective way. When government is strong enough and democratic enough to set ground rules and make sure the common good is protected to some degree, it's not a terrible system.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For millennia the grunt-work of civilization was done with human and animal bodies, supplemented with the power of falling water and bustling wind, but now coal, oil and gas do the work and ask for no wage other than the effort it takes to get them out of the ground. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">It's probably more accurate to call our current system "consumer capitalism," because the energy subsidy from fossil fuels enables a new variant, in which wage earners don't just occupy themselves with subsistence - the reproduction of the workforce - but they secure enough wealth to become key customers in their own right. And they become a necessary and vital market for the goods being produced.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">By the time we got a ways into the 20th century, there was actually enough wealth being produced to ensure material security for everyone, arguably even to a degree of comfort and luxury that would have satisfied an upper middle class burgher from a few generations past. Leisure and time - freedom from labor and drudgery - had been the privilege of the few, but was now within the grasp of the many.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I ponder what might have happened if we had developed "enoughness" as a core cultural value- if our system had been oriented toward ensuring that people found satisfaction and self-actualization in a materially modest, cozy existence where there was less work and more leisure, more fellowship and edification and less competitive consumption. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">But that is clearly not where we've ended up. Today, instead of free time we have workers putting in 60-hour weeks to pay the rent or rise up the ladder, and mothers dropping their 3-week old babies at daycare. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We have millions of young people medicated and self-medicating to endure a ruthless culture of striving, in which the ability to stay focussed on working and spending are the parameters of life's success.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-PtfHE70LvgnQbjyGQ3njIRbkGTc_5pcbRiQNMPdQuPXO_BNG0HDpGRvN1Vn2s65O-bqVwKCabWWTgCCrD8xtBGvnRp4NwLP-HNQsMhGFfsJZFijNj6Sl_ss5JwE8-BpefmRwq3VSEw/s1600/IMG_0053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-PtfHE70LvgnQbjyGQ3njIRbkGTc_5pcbRiQNMPdQuPXO_BNG0HDpGRvN1Vn2s65O-bqVwKCabWWTgCCrD8xtBGvnRp4NwLP-HNQsMhGFfsJZFijNj6Sl_ss5JwE8-BpefmRwq3VSEw/s320/IMG_0053.jpg" width="311" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Our time away from work is no longer "free", but instead an effort of consumerist leisure - whether passively consuming media products or actively - and expensively - constructing our identities as golfers or runners, backpackers or Caribbean vacationers, video gamers or stadium tailgaters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">We work long hours for our wages and forget how to do a thousand things our great grandparents could do for themselves. </span><span style="font-family: "\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif;">We've had our crafts and callings taken from us and replaced with things and services that we can buy from our direct-deposit paychecks.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif;"><span style="font-family: "\22 times\22 " , "\22 times new roman\22 " , serif;">We bring the global poor into our orbit as factory drones, but with the promise that they can soon join us under the bright lights of our consumerism.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Along a different trajectory, within a culture of enoughness, we might have been the beneficiaries of a golden age of prosperity and civilization - or at least achieved some sort of sustainable global existence. Is it so hard to imagine?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Next week, I'll continue my effort to sketch out this predicament - and the ways that our unhappy system is enforced and evaded . . .</span><br />
<br />Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-16622810889299048832016-01-23T16:34:00.000-05:002016-01-23T16:35:31.529-05:00Down to the future<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYxmLLYCD_g-UPDke9aQS5UPlC1Pm_KSC1cMiR3bMUWbLz72ItCUIjbhU1yz7UkgWNK4Y4mfo4Ul3eqOAoyVdYALmZix5Cv4X2HRZoTV-12IAzwsrpfKTqxveVYiLTMWLiQic9X3VtH8Q/s1600/IMG_0015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYxmLLYCD_g-UPDke9aQS5UPlC1Pm_KSC1cMiR3bMUWbLz72ItCUIjbhU1yz7UkgWNK4Y4mfo4Ul3eqOAoyVdYALmZix5Cv4X2HRZoTV-12IAzwsrpfKTqxveVYiLTMWLiQic9X3VtH8Q/s400/IMG_0015.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is an old chart that my father drew up over 30 years ago, around the time I was starting in college, and the global population was 4.7 billion. The brown line at the top represents available natural resources. The red line represents population, and the green line, available food. It makes a simple, straightforward and true point - that natural resources don't increase in the way population and food production have, and at some point in the future declining resources meet ascending demands and so population stops increasing. Depending on the choices we make it could stabilize or crash catastrophically.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6OiN4bZTTELDLtviVYUHba1jtjdLhNosy2FFOn4uArI9v5NrrZvp5t6Gyl9R-qB1c2NEbSZn79UGdMGaZfT6HtAs_piR5clTlYcCMX_BzVErX5eIWgazMaNI3Y4HiJ4sLSxb9SWPtgAQ/s1600/IMG_0020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6OiN4bZTTELDLtviVYUHba1jtjdLhNosy2FFOn4uArI9v5NrrZvp5t6Gyl9R-qB1c2NEbSZn79UGdMGaZfT6HtAs_piR5clTlYcCMX_BzVErX5eIWgazMaNI3Y4HiJ4sLSxb9SWPtgAQ/s200/IMG_0020.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This was true then and true today - as global economic growth starts shuddering to a halt; as soil and water resources degrade; as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropocene">anthropocene</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocene_extinction">extinction event</a> continues inexorably; and as climate change inserts itself as a destabilizing wild card.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Nevertheless, after drawing up this chart, my father went on to complete his career and settle into retirement without ever seeing the elbow in this graph. He didn't join a commune or build a bunker. He worked and paid his taxes - sent his kids off to colleges and graduate schools, watched them get jobs and found families of their own. He worked as an educator, activist and community leader to create smarter and more resilient communities around himself, but he didn't or couldn't extricate himself from our doomed and destructive way of living.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I study this yellowed and dog-eared piece of posterboard, as I prepare to usher my own son off to college. I wonder whether I will retire into a society that continues to tread water despite it's unsustainability - or whether I'll come to regret not joining a commune or building a bunker. I wonder whether I've given my sons enough resilience to deal with what is coming - the elbow in that chart that we still refuse to prepare for.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the end, I do much as my father did - work to create more resilient people, environments and communities, keep alive a handful of useful skills including gardening, storytelling, and ecology, and engage with the world we have as best I can. It's even possible my sons will do the same. The human ability to muddle along is not to be underestimated . . .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For a complementary rumination upon this dilemma I recommend <a href="http://restoringmayberry.blogspot.com/2016/01/fumbling-toward-independence.html">Brian Kaller's eloquent blog</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-83048538696898108182016-01-07T21:06:00.002-05:002016-01-07T21:08:38.297-05:00Nine predictions for 2016<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the spirit of making this an annual exercise in humility, here are my 9 predictions for 2016:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">2016 comes in at the second hottest year on record, just behind 2015.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Clinton / O'Malley handily defeats Trump / Rubio in the presidential election, despite months of breathless concern trolling on the part of the punditocracy. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Obama ushers out his presidency with an unprecedented number of blanket pardons for non-violent drug offenders.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">A cultural panic ensues when a US community outlaws the playing of football for youths under the age of 18. The state legislature quickly repeals the law.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">As Iranian oil comes to market OPEC finally ratchets down production to keep oil in the $30-50 range for most of the year.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Domestic terrorism - especially against Blacks, Muslims and liberals - will claim more American lives than Daesh, Al-Quaida and their ilk combined.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Vladimir Putin will survive an assassination attempt.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Internet advertising will be exposed as utterly ineffective, and the business model for internet content suppliers begins to collapse in earnest.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Then of course, it is easier to predict the many things that could change, but probably won't. So folded into prediction #9:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Because representational democracy has gone off the rails at the federal level there are a number of things that won't change:</span></li>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Americans won't take back their democracy from the wealthy interests that have hijacked it; and corporations will continue to write regulations to suit themselves.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Assault weapons will remain legal despite more mass shootings.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Militarization of police forces, systematic use of homicide and excessive force, as well as officers' de facto immunity from prosecution will continue unabated despite the mounting financial and social costs.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We will not develop a constructive or effective plan for dealing with Islamic fundamentalism.</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">And now is when I note that all of my predictions seem awfully gloomy or pessimistic. When it comes to optimistic predictions that could be concrete enough to be judged right or wrong a year from now, it's hard to see important trends that are looking positive. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">I asked Nico, who just turned 14, what progress he saw being made in 2015. What were the things that showed us humans moving forward? For him, the acceptance of gay marriage, improvements in prosthetics and the successes in robotic space exploration (Mars, Pluto, Asteroids) were the main ones that came to mind. And maybe something would come out of the Paris accords on climate change. Not exactly a landslide of positivity.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">For 2016, it seems likely that Black Lives Matter will successfully bend the trend away from ever more lethal policing against minorities. It's possible that the Republican party's current experiment with extremism, will scare it back toward sanity and toward an engagement in governance once again. I hold out hope that young people will increasingly seek creative ways out of the consumerist cul de sac they've been led into.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But for the most part, I foresee another year in which we muddle along and fail to solve the problems which are rumbling beneath us like <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/04/02/exploding_methane_holes_in_siberia_linked_to_climate_change_is_alaska_next.html">methane bubbles</a> in a melting permafrost. </span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-12452060364570392772015-12-31T16:25:00.001-05:002015-12-31T16:25:21.589-05:00Looking back at my predictions for 2015I'll emerge from my blogging hiatus to revisit last year's predictions to see if I can improve on my <a href="http://anubisbard.blogspot.com/2015/01/looking-back-at-my-predictions-for-2014.html">2 out of 9</a> from last year. In terms of the big picture, my <a href="http://anubisbard.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-year-to-be-nine-predictions-for-2014.html" target="_blank">over-arching prediction</a> from the beginning of 2014 has remained accurate. We mostly muddled along with the status quo and we neither made progress on solving our problems nor did we bring our civilization finally crashing down upon our collective heads.<br />
<br />
But I did go out on a limb with 9 predictions for 2015 - Let's see how I fared. I predicted that:<br />
<ul>
<li>It will be one of the three hottest years ever recorded globally.</li>
</ul>
<div>
1 for 1. Global temperatures began a leap upwards this year, and 2015 will go down as the hottest on record.</div>
<ul>
<li>Obama attempts to put ending mass incarceration onto the public agenda. In particular, the incarceration of non-violent drug offenders. The possibility of blanket pardons cause the Republicans to go ballistic and half of the Democratic party runs for cover.</li>
</ul>
<div>
1.5 for 2. Half credit. Obama actually did make the effort, but a distracted media and a dysfunctional Congress ensured that it never took center stage. Instead, Black Lives Matter emerged as a powerful civil rights movement protesting the slaughter of African Americans by police.</div>
<ul>
<li>Ebola flares up in Asia. These several thousand deaths rattle the global economy much more than the African outbreak did.</li>
</ul>
<div>
1.5 for 3. No credit. Ebola slowly burned itself out in West Africa and fortunately gained no foothold elsewhere.</div>
<ul>
<li>Americans are shocked when police officers in a major metropolitan area are found to have intentionally singled out and assassinated several critics of police brutality.</li>
</ul>
<div>
1.5 for 4. No credit. The atrocities perpetrated by bad cops continue to mount, but this one doesn't seem to be in the tally.</div>
<ul>
<li>Globally, disgust with their political elites continues to bolster support for radical, anti-establishment parties, and in more than one European country they win power, if not for long.</li>
</ul>
<div>
2 for 5. Half credit. Syriza in Greece and the recent up-ending of the status quo by Podemos and Ciudadanos in Spain fall into the spirit of this prediction, but for the most part Europeans didn't rise up to throw the bums out. </div>
<ul>
<li>Occupy re-emerges as a political force among the younger generation - organized around its "debt jubilee" and other efforts to disentangle young people from participation in an economic and political system that is rigged against them. The Establishment derides them as naive and disengaged.</li>
</ul>
<div>
2 for 6. No credit. The mantle of youthful discontent and economic critique was picked up by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren instead. </div>
<ul>
<li>(Carried over from last year) One of the world's great monoculture crops will mostly fail this year. Although this will be blamed on a new pest or blight, the failure will actually be due to a combination of narrow genetics, unstable climate and the decline in agricultural research.</li>
</ul>
<div>
2 for 7. No credit. Agriculture plugged along despite its unsustainable and fragile state.</div>
<ul>
<li>Kitchen gardens, backyard chickens and other small animal husbandry continue to increase dramatically in popularity and practice in the US. Grassroots pressure to change zoning and regulatory restrictions continue to find success.</li>
</ul>
<div>
2 for 7. No idea. I haven't researched it. Certainly the media isn't talking about it.</div>
<ul>
<li>Oil stays below $70 per barrel. Low gas and oil prices drive several mid-sized energy companies in the US to loan defaults and bankruptcy. The government organizes a multi-billion dollar bailout of loan guarantees and subsidies to keep drilling operations going, and to keep dreams of Saudi America alive.</li>
</ul>
<div>
2.5 for 8. Half credit. Oil did indeed stay below $70 (and is currently under $40 a barrel), and energy companies have been bankrupting themselves, but it hasn't gotten to a crisis stage yet, nor has the government had to intervene.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So, compliments of some slightly generous grading I give myself a 31% accuracy rate, which is a significant improvement over last year's 22%. We'll see if I can improve on that for 2016.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0dWWtz5gDxinNmWmii9SefP1MlluZiOVeSP7EDsWljxvziY7o-ZnolG2woepQsyW5ubjqOqgz4vebIQ8BFu6Y_Ye4IJLjCSmRRisR_GwlZfkz6rtt1hmhv7BsCwb9vGQ_UuyLMGEhuI/s1600/IMG_3779.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0dWWtz5gDxinNmWmii9SefP1MlluZiOVeSP7EDsWljxvziY7o-ZnolG2woepQsyW5ubjqOqgz4vebIQ8BFu6Y_Ye4IJLjCSmRRisR_GwlZfkz6rtt1hmhv7BsCwb9vGQ_UuyLMGEhuI/s320/IMG_3779.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-45468944364988800322015-09-07T20:06:00.000-04:002015-09-10T20:08:54.719-04:00August Travels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
August flew.</div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtYYeLTuN0MNjUFL1m1TAsokYlWCALLa5Jgy_6WsKjmBu6VSFTx6cKeAjUGxt6aoxSVOdQIR80KhkKcUwh3Z41xMYT5IXU8T2400M3xETJOxYZxwkL8kYKrjJdb1NKty5ngWMx0lCgA-4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-30+at+9.04.46+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtYYeLTuN0MNjUFL1m1TAsokYlWCALLa5Jgy_6WsKjmBu6VSFTx6cKeAjUGxt6aoxSVOdQIR80KhkKcUwh3Z41xMYT5IXU8T2400M3xETJOxYZxwkL8kYKrjJdb1NKty5ngWMx0lCgA-4/s200/Screen+Shot+2015-08-30+at+9.04.46+PM.png" width="200" /></a>On the second of the month I flew out to Denver. A research question had arisen about how people respond to the idea of raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3HQmhmLEIfqUrSRWgCA6uN6YNnSxZh8te2pbYi7TOGBJ6-lrmvpXDE-AICX1maXC_BmaxXOqNOiDg6bZAOmCxcoRuUP8_zMtqAP6rAbk_HCwCXxTQOMp1TPVwjsQEpNPthML2qEHPVM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-30+at+8.48.05+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3HQmhmLEIfqUrSRWgCA6uN6YNnSxZh8te2pbYi7TOGBJ6-lrmvpXDE-AICX1maXC_BmaxXOqNOiDg6bZAOmCxcoRuUP8_zMtqAP6rAbk_HCwCXxTQOMp1TPVwjsQEpNPthML2qEHPVM/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-08-30+at+8.48.05+PM.png" width="320" /></a>I had wanted to go back to Colorado in any case, and there were some good reasons to select it as a field site. So my videographer and I met there and spent a few days button-holing people in Denver and out in the blasted parts of Aurora - getting folks to talk about the good things and the bad things of raising the minimum wage. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ch1U8gPJ7nBPUzfidB2-BxH8yFow-UejslzxtZr5AYJF38XbMiHwMkBmvVQ_T1LmE2oD9pcBhkuKpBK1RVD_6ML60krQij8LOkwda482Yp2zwOUjCMOZaxWxS2_TWLIZjnEJRO0DLSo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-30+at+8.49.39+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Ch1U8gPJ7nBPUzfidB2-BxH8yFow-UejslzxtZr5AYJF38XbMiHwMkBmvVQ_T1LmE2oD9pcBhkuKpBK1RVD_6ML60krQij8LOkwda482Yp2zwOUjCMOZaxWxS2_TWLIZjnEJRO0DLSo/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-08-30+at+8.49.39+PM.png" width="320" /></a>Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. We'd start early so we could wrap up our interviewing before the day would finish its relentless climb into the upper 90's. Then we'd deal with the data we had and figure out where to get ourselves some dinner and some beer.<br />
<br />
We had about 50 interviews done, which what we'd promised, by the time I settled him at his hotel on Wednesday afternoon.<br />
<br />
<br />
From there it was off to pick up the travel-weary Monica and the boys at the airport. <br />
<br />
After day or so's interlude in Colorado Springs - where I did some more interviewing, and Porter visited a college - we tooled on up through Boulder - (another college) - and onto the lap of the Rocky Mountains.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpWYLgsJZDRSh2zQYUug-ECTseB5GacoIA5Cm5GNTbVdUybkP1zT4jUFsQgTV4ONhT0prRPKmvZhHzC200nlR1ME8ifKd_GcJtmqFkzn6TfMOIYXrB7fWIZvM5ah8tvfDYxWMI3zdmgYI/s1600/IMG_4081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpWYLgsJZDRSh2zQYUug-ECTseB5GacoIA5Cm5GNTbVdUybkP1zT4jUFsQgTV4ONhT0prRPKmvZhHzC200nlR1ME8ifKd_GcJtmqFkzn6TfMOIYXrB7fWIZvM5ah8tvfDYxWMI3zdmgYI/s400/IMG_4081.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
And joined Mark, Sarah and their kids in Estes Park, </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
where the meadows are still in bloom, even in arid August.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX79p4J17hHR9FeqmHny9wDqgDR524UbrQpyXszhfPsuLRDHY5hM5p2BjWV4rtDHd1w8X3COxQdJzdpvL9tQDfo-F-bkX0IGVcNd51M7Dyr4ZObcAyQQ-dUnH_NA9vAbnpQpzAqCDSbTw/s1600/IMG_4099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX79p4J17hHR9FeqmHny9wDqgDR524UbrQpyXszhfPsuLRDHY5hM5p2BjWV4rtDHd1w8X3COxQdJzdpvL9tQDfo-F-bkX0IGVcNd51M7Dyr4ZObcAyQQ-dUnH_NA9vAbnpQpzAqCDSbTw/s400/IMG_4099.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
My sister, Christine, flew in to join us and by Sunday morning we'd strapped on our backpacks.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uY2kIMeYimN1c7yt-voNotynx5TxFSpdalMawyP10g08ECo7Vr4kRWKvzCJkjzcdtYsM4UlNSc_Ae0CjyrO3hvOSsIFhvUCOdieeTfgDZgTk7eRDshV1Z7Qh7jhFS3BawzOmwpWn1SA/s1600/IMG_4123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uY2kIMeYimN1c7yt-voNotynx5TxFSpdalMawyP10g08ECo7Vr4kRWKvzCJkjzcdtYsM4UlNSc_Ae0CjyrO3hvOSsIFhvUCOdieeTfgDZgTk7eRDshV1Z7Qh7jhFS3BawzOmwpWn1SA/s640/IMG_4123.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We all hiked up from Bear Lake to Lake Helene,</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaHtSeIB-ROZPnXaMxBZf1NIDbJqhtPukEWxsSbZ41nBFkHVUMdHSTNBEkPlX-y3HyLiFKKUoZfWm8FWrlHcGnRTWYfhspoCDVEg4Pm42_unij4GUcaFKHsB6VMnSOMCWeWlgNKTUGVY/s1600/IMG_4155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNaHtSeIB-ROZPnXaMxBZf1NIDbJqhtPukEWxsSbZ41nBFkHVUMdHSTNBEkPlX-y3HyLiFKKUoZfWm8FWrlHcGnRTWYfhspoCDVEg4Pm42_unij4GUcaFKHsB6VMnSOMCWeWlgNKTUGVY/s400/IMG_4155.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
And down into Odessa Gorge,</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrBWrxGtRx3pNuB0vRfWPVtoVeJSEJE2F0KiIc0sEojR8Cv4Um3BTAvoI23Q6e4m4-0MrK1pYEvpKQj6hFprLffte_dHqhxaJT7OWc_vjCtZGFabp1Gt2Me0X48lr09RRnWkungI_nqE/s1600/IMG_4197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrBWrxGtRx3pNuB0vRfWPVtoVeJSEJE2F0KiIc0sEojR8Cv4Um3BTAvoI23Q6e4m4-0MrK1pYEvpKQj6hFprLffte_dHqhxaJT7OWc_vjCtZGFabp1Gt2Me0X48lr09RRnWkungI_nqE/s640/IMG_4197.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
To a ranger cabin on Fern Lake.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Mark is a park ranger. He and the kids fished for trout. As did an osprey.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Pine martens hunted the lakeside and the cabin's stone foundation, </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
and I saw one make off with a ground squirrel.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8O2TDE0pShDJF1fEXrKjpRIChyphenhyphen6OT8x8KQa03iaOuo8PpJXrMH-jP_GqV4-kOvHb4aEf89rpcU4Gwcfn5YHQiRbpz_wnDzqBrQDrYukn7xVzsbExJQ8R-rh58w_iiU2G4LvyY4yyIMok/s1600/IMG_4242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8O2TDE0pShDJF1fEXrKjpRIChyphenhyphen6OT8x8KQa03iaOuo8PpJXrMH-jP_GqV4-kOvHb4aEf89rpcU4Gwcfn5YHQiRbpz_wnDzqBrQDrYukn7xVzsbExJQ8R-rh58w_iiU2G4LvyY4yyIMok/s320/IMG_4242.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
On Monday we hiked to Spruce Lake and further up to Loomis Lake, in its snow-streaked cirque. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Where we ate lunch.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNM2w8u_MZfGvmFNnRzxBWYQwJgFyWfomf1xBHauwVNqvFd4n0dbBmr0yUM8gMRS9eoJMIVYiC2UDj0D6Kt6kOt4q6VqgtVuZdLzoxwjeCMJRqMvDCY15c8lv1KTFxih8qcmdHvaipN2g/s1600/IMG_4250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNM2w8u_MZfGvmFNnRzxBWYQwJgFyWfomf1xBHauwVNqvFd4n0dbBmr0yUM8gMRS9eoJMIVYiC2UDj0D6Kt6kOt4q6VqgtVuZdLzoxwjeCMJRqMvDCY15c8lv1KTFxih8qcmdHvaipN2g/s640/IMG_4250.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
But only Chris and I were lunatic enough to swim with the trout in the green, frigid water.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Pikas mocked us from the talus.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv7z3bxSmpVrIox906OHMFh4fxbsKGkIcmaGE9fbtXc2mLhSv5HkDNky8dswCOdBCfDr_uprfEHMIpR-LLf9C6sqzmPgkYAdQTuipU1Kvm4Ky0xlHDl0f3bFJBos7n-xP5MdqYA-1zTMU/s1600/IMG_4268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv7z3bxSmpVrIox906OHMFh4fxbsKGkIcmaGE9fbtXc2mLhSv5HkDNky8dswCOdBCfDr_uprfEHMIpR-LLf9C6sqzmPgkYAdQTuipU1Kvm4Ky0xlHDl0f3bFJBos7n-xP5MdqYA-1zTMU/s320/IMG_4268.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
On Tuesday it was time to hike back out - our packs lightened by a couple days of eating.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
On Wednesday - by now we're to the 12th - we said our fond farewells,</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
headed up the Fall River road, and over the pass.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJvUYnnD54qzcy6Uf48fiyp4ggqWjaJa8oJ5tvJiLqJfMjSbexpv6N1SDnWYw_kdABJiS0Arpe5tIxmy2lgAtjO9Oc8TqijLKuVCJkuOu4DF0S0IlWEpkHEoOe3Ndmk0WWwThJe4ZOM0/s1600/IMG_1413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJvUYnnD54qzcy6Uf48fiyp4ggqWjaJa8oJ5tvJiLqJfMjSbexpv6N1SDnWYw_kdABJiS0Arpe5tIxmy2lgAtjO9Oc8TqijLKuVCJkuOu4DF0S0IlWEpkHEoOe3Ndmk0WWwThJe4ZOM0/s640/IMG_1413.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Saying so long to the marmots and the ptarmigan.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
And we drove out along the creekish headwaters of the Colorado river </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
and all the way to Utah, </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
to pitch out tents along the Green River at Dinosaur National Monument.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntFyBpytvB1GfIZFVHBvRZZ5mXIYCEvMa337c0w83V2RXgYKvurtd_WYBwkLdJRmrpKV94tseyqI7yQmSXyPvqM5n-ZTCALZGDdSwDh4F6YSV8CbUrhyphenhyphen5sOMRAf2M7OeoUm-VUsRAFGM/s1600/IMG_4370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgntFyBpytvB1GfIZFVHBvRZZ5mXIYCEvMa337c0w83V2RXgYKvurtd_WYBwkLdJRmrpKV94tseyqI7yQmSXyPvqM5n-ZTCALZGDdSwDh4F6YSV8CbUrhyphenhyphen5sOMRAf2M7OeoUm-VUsRAFGM/s640/IMG_4370.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Where we looked at petroglyphs and dinosaur bones.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzW9vAO2o6eHyVbKSiE6rwYwPOPDMPwggWhHPbGYhEuHJ21SdaxjVRov80asYbZoHcXxI2MAkcbbFXggSgCfqX31b0X2Ob1uk1haIKgTc8MuE8TgRcEx408hK_4MxGEnVEEXJwThEVTU8/s1600/IMG_4378.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzW9vAO2o6eHyVbKSiE6rwYwPOPDMPwggWhHPbGYhEuHJ21SdaxjVRov80asYbZoHcXxI2MAkcbbFXggSgCfqX31b0X2Ob1uk1haIKgTc8MuE8TgRcEx408hK_4MxGEnVEEXJwThEVTU8/s320/IMG_4378.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
and hiked</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zWpqf1as8j-5w_0OAMm1A6yNeip6r8Qc08lVpUbPtLLLWI75vZvgKzVXvrlANImWhMB24Qewf6DWMYCSx0nLwcHuxMxO_iHt9G-IWa4PXGdRz02c8AoCoJhhQhQ0nuka5GgbR1OWDws/s1600/IMG_4401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zWpqf1as8j-5w_0OAMm1A6yNeip6r8Qc08lVpUbPtLLLWI75vZvgKzVXvrlANImWhMB24Qewf6DWMYCSx0nLwcHuxMxO_iHt9G-IWa4PXGdRz02c8AoCoJhhQhQ0nuka5GgbR1OWDws/s400/IMG_4401.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
for a day.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Y7yu4Lj6OWpYQ8eFzl4Gsc6Y0CkYbRngLd-gTvKAjO-R0EKhecYH2wB9rKr3IKMl6iBQV2g6FX66Z-mYp3poQrOlIWTVO1bhbGNrrLqf0_AAZV6bdfdbmwEPjY7bwRxlf7Z20VVE_-8/s1600/IMG_4448.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8Y7yu4Lj6OWpYQ8eFzl4Gsc6Y0CkYbRngLd-gTvKAjO-R0EKhecYH2wB9rKr3IKMl6iBQV2g6FX66Z-mYp3poQrOlIWTVO1bhbGNrrLqf0_AAZV6bdfdbmwEPjY7bwRxlf7Z20VVE_-8/s400/IMG_4448.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
And then drove north through Wyoming</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg12-HQQTsGjqtbGhGm_svIYz3-qHZ43xvkzQ5m4Wvdxma3Pwxi97aEZRTquoQqkFgwO8CrtAfNTAqE430jx41_rfa6huQs6NdgDxXDCnlTKW27SgTq7aTP3POnLPFiQlSiN56mwvHmb3Q/s1600/IMG_4442.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg12-HQQTsGjqtbGhGm_svIYz3-qHZ43xvkzQ5m4Wvdxma3Pwxi97aEZRTquoQqkFgwO8CrtAfNTAqE430jx41_rfa6huQs6NdgDxXDCnlTKW27SgTq7aTP3POnLPFiQlSiN56mwvHmb3Q/s320/IMG_4442.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Looking for bighorn sheep, but they eluded us.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We camped in the sagebrush under vast and star-gritted skies,</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
and watched the Perseid meteors streak along the Milky Way.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
On Friday we stopped in Jackson to buy supplies </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
and skirted the Grand Tetons which were dark purple and flickering with lightning.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMe61SzmLHDiaLTfYJnFmvTW5fbNqlm-KT5-VKArfeJJoMJKhQEi0efYMUGecdTCsvLtjkYi_RNihSW4_k7aak1gywy7qv91048YDJJ2MRZ2BYB4_xHaMBgsNF3f64_yYbfrWJmF1C9GY/s1600/IMG_4455.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMe61SzmLHDiaLTfYJnFmvTW5fbNqlm-KT5-VKArfeJJoMJKhQEi0efYMUGecdTCsvLtjkYi_RNihSW4_k7aak1gywy7qv91048YDJJ2MRZ2BYB4_xHaMBgsNF3f64_yYbfrWJmF1C9GY/s320/IMG_4455.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
To visit the geyser basins</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPdJyQ2J8wdoi8WDwkWvy8HCfeKaSfM0Fm00fOTECfN_GnJaGMr5xUbpxUTRpRowiKbwCypVrOh-M7WPeOGdSEgZ1mYtL3SXCywSEzH_OcwO7k3id2vGtRa8_d591ScyGuoVH2hbdU3g/s1600/IMG_4458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPdJyQ2J8wdoi8WDwkWvy8HCfeKaSfM0Fm00fOTECfN_GnJaGMr5xUbpxUTRpRowiKbwCypVrOh-M7WPeOGdSEgZ1mYtL3SXCywSEzH_OcwO7k3id2vGtRa8_d591ScyGuoVH2hbdU3g/s320/IMG_4458.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
and the wildlife</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqI8T4jBPIA8IS1LADjYM4On78B8TJcACZru4w95V2_ku3SYicR7PRrFxHfVQKVXUwpoZTuucjAyJElniwjo4-G8xSpZTxgWJId9M4hl_HvHzXrpsLIVD_KE7BCBsyuYVO6wwAln0Q9nQ/s1600/IMG_4472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqI8T4jBPIA8IS1LADjYM4On78B8TJcACZru4w95V2_ku3SYicR7PRrFxHfVQKVXUwpoZTuucjAyJElniwjo4-G8xSpZTxgWJId9M4hl_HvHzXrpsLIVD_KE7BCBsyuYVO6wwAln0Q9nQ/s400/IMG_4472.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
of Yellowstone National Park.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg157bLDLrUuRsAz7VsMJlm0i7GDVhZQgzoOB2dYktrFcROJ26wIiBZviPiua_WqO-D_MiGaPDgw_9H7rqXQay6Qw-b9_WD2j5xvoExgWjo1XaQwt9egKzsOV4N97N9eyeX6ElULez_jxQ/s1600/IMG_4486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg157bLDLrUuRsAz7VsMJlm0i7GDVhZQgzoOB2dYktrFcROJ26wIiBZviPiua_WqO-D_MiGaPDgw_9H7rqXQay6Qw-b9_WD2j5xvoExgWjo1XaQwt9egKzsOV4N97N9eyeX6ElULez_jxQ/s320/IMG_4486.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We camped at Lewis Lake for Friday and Saturday nights,</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitWgBnxqbdLm3QaxdRgjxmKy_YnxaWo7lcwfA1A0xyAcBi4ZdjJdH5oNQzGfaYwCDAIcImbDMGesN-B7TDmt8mnpZQ-rRQoX2AHeXQ_Pv6J5lB0Vqwl9qnXFld1HA89cEtrCD3149quxE/s1600/IMG_4483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitWgBnxqbdLm3QaxdRgjxmKy_YnxaWo7lcwfA1A0xyAcBi4ZdjJdH5oNQzGfaYwCDAIcImbDMGesN-B7TDmt8mnpZQ-rRQoX2AHeXQ_Pv6J5lB0Vqwl9qnXFld1HA89cEtrCD3149quxE/s640/IMG_4483.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
and spent the days around the park.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTOfZBpJzTW0AUdxgc1COS9TmYwefTJCyRujVk_usEgh5pGV8fnQK7ITYhvCR3f79_X05NM3zeYCWmugLGITTGKKui0GXzyixi-Us039VnxqLCSv1K3eQhqgRgHUKwjhDzB7jq0sOA8s/s1600/IMG_4509.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqTOfZBpJzTW0AUdxgc1COS9TmYwefTJCyRujVk_usEgh5pGV8fnQK7ITYhvCR3f79_X05NM3zeYCWmugLGITTGKKui0GXzyixi-Us039VnxqLCSv1K3eQhqgRgHUKwjhDzB7jq0sOA8s/s640/IMG_4509.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA-tmmCf7wz52kt7XCnNKlNPKZ6lkqnQ0unRe4EPqD5iPAItiQeh5JlYvxyUeUPMdLV2T6qnRZSpjMGyjgLPLmPvsAl6zSQm3-3Q9HYVbNHJOvgC7_whAhAYP37FVRbujgH4JhNPRI7-k/s1600/IMG_4557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA-tmmCf7wz52kt7XCnNKlNPKZ6lkqnQ0unRe4EPqD5iPAItiQeh5JlYvxyUeUPMdLV2T6qnRZSpjMGyjgLPLmPvsAl6zSQm3-3Q9HYVbNHJOvgC7_whAhAYP37FVRbujgH4JhNPRI7-k/s400/IMG_4557.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
On Sunday afternoon (by now the 16th) we drove northwards to Coeur d'Alene.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Porter, at 17, has a learners permit and we gave him the wheel.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
And then on to Seattle across the smokey plains of Eastern Washington, </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
where we visited with an old friend just out of surgery.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVEOaDq9Xxx2Y-mddtXPV5bAWAO0mEZRZxh3Yrys2G1Y3tk93Vhb73wyiV-9bmbMlJ0qd5JpPSfC7SCK4uYfakeUt-cleAF51ACTO5gpWYmp7_jdIYRtQzx0oNrWKR_Mm26Oj0bu-A6v4/s1600/IMG_1237.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVEOaDq9Xxx2Y-mddtXPV5bAWAO0mEZRZxh3Yrys2G1Y3tk93Vhb73wyiV-9bmbMlJ0qd5JpPSfC7SCK4uYfakeUt-cleAF51ACTO5gpWYmp7_jdIYRtQzx0oNrWKR_Mm26Oj0bu-A6v4/s320/IMG_1237.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Into the Cascades, weaving a bit to avoid the fires that filled the skies sometimes with acrid haze.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxrQL2z-xdMfv2OMvFE1dNN2Cxmd82BSolzG0RYyOZoT9UXvmvSTMhPUsRyGvMNz3n98Vf22w60AT9RzdSVOG7qLVw_t9dAVgwtDmJT4XLULOQ6YZgYGniJIXwz3OuSqkh5iFF8AyFXNE/s1600/IMG_0159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxrQL2z-xdMfv2OMvFE1dNN2Cxmd82BSolzG0RYyOZoT9UXvmvSTMhPUsRyGvMNz3n98Vf22w60AT9RzdSVOG7qLVw_t9dAVgwtDmJT4XLULOQ6YZgYGniJIXwz3OuSqkh5iFF8AyFXNE/s320/IMG_0159.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Out and down along the Columbia river gorge to Portland, </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
where it was a withering hundred degrees, buying books and seeing friends.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
And back again into the Cascades.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjm72hn74sdCjc23S_4hlthozAGbKM8FHLqp62DyT9gGKPCrfW7C6_IIWWfLAt5t_s06U0VRiwsS3QEP8KnbuGMfziTva86TQNmHd5Kt8bdjB1FsIQRh_9hsIwcrisQlOC3ZJsQPGMcQ/s1600/IMG_1268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQjm72hn74sdCjc23S_4hlthozAGbKM8FHLqp62DyT9gGKPCrfW7C6_IIWWfLAt5t_s06U0VRiwsS3QEP8KnbuGMfziTva86TQNmHd5Kt8bdjB1FsIQRh_9hsIwcrisQlOC3ZJsQPGMcQ/s320/IMG_1268.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
To chill morning hot springs along the Umpqua river</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBUIBgL9nMGjkkZvPIKWSdNSYwSGPRA-QhjVgHLXFgZx6I4vlyq64CjjpkaDuXIAj4Jv6hEP1sSc0W6op4UdAuSuQ6QoX7jA9n_7CVhE2Wf4GUc90l-3iYdLQOMYADQ0Atn3YV_NVLoDE/s1600/IMG_1296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBUIBgL9nMGjkkZvPIKWSdNSYwSGPRA-QhjVgHLXFgZx6I4vlyq64CjjpkaDuXIAj4Jv6hEP1sSc0W6op4UdAuSuQ6QoX7jA9n_7CVhE2Wf4GUc90l-3iYdLQOMYADQ0Atn3YV_NVLoDE/s400/IMG_1296.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
and famous volcanic lakes</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizUP5UxkGqXoxPkoEsuRkppVtktSUgQGJdL-M4bzRIUc8IXyO2OmD7hS3Zkl3tKvV5cdEEMF8Xx6WT4tvQqtBr8BluwF0LJF9KzBW7Mj38FMMx88Ul3QNz0Wdjd6-Gu5zJiQvsGHlgRc8/s1600/IMG_1291.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizUP5UxkGqXoxPkoEsuRkppVtktSUgQGJdL-M4bzRIUc8IXyO2OmD7hS3Zkl3tKvV5cdEEMF8Xx6WT4tvQqtBr8BluwF0LJF9KzBW7Mj38FMMx88Ul3QNz0Wdjd6-Gu5zJiQvsGHlgRc8/s320/IMG_1291.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
until we got to old friends in Sacramento and Davis.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
And delivered Porter to his school in Carpinteria,</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxegAil00x1V2HIMDUgIUYCrxnY2TYnHpKiQukmFQZCdyfnm3kZWgr0_4Z3zx21lvlb2O3rmzKsYOKZTA3upW4svHZvSG-xyj_qsipF7chV9HDCwxKl9SMshXpUccDt2EmTFCQAonF1kc/s1600/IMG_0386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxegAil00x1V2HIMDUgIUYCrxnY2TYnHpKiQukmFQZCdyfnm3kZWgr0_4Z3zx21lvlb2O3rmzKsYOKZTA3upW4svHZvSG-xyj_qsipF7chV9HDCwxKl9SMshXpUccDt2EmTFCQAonF1kc/s320/IMG_0386.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
and his view down mesa to the Pacific ocean.</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_pY5lpeyg4XbmPm7J9y7vrZl5xyUm6RgFEr2YGhbPOBQ1e9s4Bhn70Pfh7AwCzKcDdWzEiKWrBVGHjTWo_WPFSsdMuO8JRwV4YeqELd5ffOc4w9ZsPLjMTPMkEhxoNHeVQEUOozkGn6g/s1600/Porter%2527s+view+-+Version+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_pY5lpeyg4XbmPm7J9y7vrZl5xyUm6RgFEr2YGhbPOBQ1e9s4Bhn70Pfh7AwCzKcDdWzEiKWrBVGHjTWo_WPFSsdMuO8JRwV4YeqELd5ffOc4w9ZsPLjMTPMkEhxoNHeVQEUOozkGn6g/s400/Porter%2527s+view+-+Version+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
By the time we flew home I'd been gone three and a half weeks and August had flown.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-54963127794942593462015-07-18T21:00:00.000-04:002015-07-18T21:00:26.835-04:00A Summer Honey Harvest<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisuwjmBRYkknQlIVlO5ohOsgiGlPEyqRG1PJ7T3rLChDw5PuyVuPIY9sQDazZbzKjj0zoL30hG7sL2W7xFg9-TjTvr-DRJ6LjdE8RVpnqOcFBSYpyyNb-0mGYTNXKigmEl-yJwnJUItyk/s1600/IMG_3824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisuwjmBRYkknQlIVlO5ohOsgiGlPEyqRG1PJ7T3rLChDw5PuyVuPIY9sQDazZbzKjj0zoL30hG7sL2W7xFg9-TjTvr-DRJ6LjdE8RVpnqOcFBSYpyyNb-0mGYTNXKigmEl-yJwnJUItyk/s400/IMG_3824.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the girls on butterfly weed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I took some summer honey off the high hive today. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihiq5q-M5NQNyuCFGuQFE3uCIOju_LfKHOlsfoqhMQVSH18pqZ9OzEdJ8DVdeLP_iXdDQbcd2-VDggaUM7LSe5r63X4ke4ofEwefu0OCezJ2xb8Ng1Qjk_97xf-k3MQwj3T5fbuD3mDjQ/s1600/IMG_3768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihiq5q-M5NQNyuCFGuQFE3uCIOju_LfKHOlsfoqhMQVSH18pqZ9OzEdJ8DVdeLP_iXdDQbcd2-VDggaUM7LSe5r63X4ke4ofEwefu0OCezJ2xb8Ng1Qjk_97xf-k3MQwj3T5fbuD3mDjQ/s200/IMG_3768.jpg" width="133" /></a><br />
They'll keep two deep boxes and a medium for their winter lodgings, but that leaves another three boxes on top. One was full of capped honey, one was mostly full of nectar and uncapped honey, and in one they are drawing comb - though in no rush about it yet.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBK5mM6WLeAl_WEU3EL1O3ZHjDFIafHOjIPsfJcgvRMMi9pldsr4Ua6kQtUIej-CN8fc9loQt6e-XgoShUcqmHZcd7FDxR8gm0j2LmpkM5q6Va9kbbuHvvp60MwkvyFZjORLLVwYsMF-g/s1600/IMG_3899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBK5mM6WLeAl_WEU3EL1O3ZHjDFIafHOjIPsfJcgvRMMi9pldsr4Ua6kQtUIej-CN8fc9loQt6e-XgoShUcqmHZcd7FDxR8gm0j2LmpkM5q6Va9kbbuHvvp60MwkvyFZjORLLVwYsMF-g/s320/IMG_3899.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a frame of capped honey</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I took off the heaviest box and removed the frames - gently brushing off the bees. It was a cloudy, breezy day, but the bees were placid - except for a few gung-ho guards, who resented the disruption.<br />
<br />
I placed the frames into an old Coleman ice chest that I pilfered from my father long ago - and lugged them inside.<br />
<br />
The last time we harvested, two years ago, was during the dearth and bees besieged the house, drawn by the scent of honey. Today, with flowers still in bloom, they had other places to be.<br />
<br />
We scratched off the caps and placed the frames into the extractor - a hand crank centrifuge that lets you spin the honey out of three frames at a time. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuYGcAKZ70Ey2DeTX_IFTzYMfLWUTC4-I9tHSOslNPvs1DZ1VsS0zFtrp9iyla2x1IB1h6aG3TPvi05kpZH_Bc7QLU-EH4xu2V1orlaTpYhPpE-soz5r6X0agP-2HWB84N4PrdI8oYGsk/s1600/IMG_3878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuYGcAKZ70Ey2DeTX_IFTzYMfLWUTC4-I9tHSOslNPvs1DZ1VsS0zFtrp9iyla2x1IB1h6aG3TPvi05kpZH_Bc7QLU-EH4xu2V1orlaTpYhPpE-soz5r6X0agP-2HWB84N4PrdI8oYGsk/s320/IMG_3878.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Into the extractor.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg73MQ63GMzSj9cSqDBC0cdJvGWWpPVi6LNKAJuUfGyKn2c_SgRKH6NRAbAHQ0DSbhiqMZ3xRd2_h6Uu00_3-d5JUV3zFgkRr866ajKKJsw2ZcZ-NeNnHvyu6Mor_iaZxc640Tl20awog4/s1600/IMG_3882.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg73MQ63GMzSj9cSqDBC0cdJvGWWpPVi6LNKAJuUfGyKn2c_SgRKH6NRAbAHQ0DSbhiqMZ3xRd2_h6Uu00_3-d5JUV3zFgkRr866ajKKJsw2ZcZ-NeNnHvyu6Mor_iaZxc640Tl20awog4/s320/IMG_3882.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Porter turns the crank.</div>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYMsraD_WwS7MTaOWCp65sFz4mzfll2cgO73LVIrd9LYiS5qF_m9C72XOIyFZgUscuMXQtKHoRugsgN3G7CZmbskPz6XNwVQS0YnOBGW2iwgtHK5QAW9LS20WBYd8ISR_gjz7vFGMNOY/s1600/IMG_3887.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCYMsraD_WwS7MTaOWCp65sFz4mzfll2cgO73LVIrd9LYiS5qF_m9C72XOIyFZgUscuMXQtKHoRugsgN3G7CZmbskPz6XNwVQS0YnOBGW2iwgtHK5QAW9LS20WBYd8ISR_gjz7vFGMNOY/s320/IMG_3887.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
Straining out the beeswax,</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYY9x0g3BFQ8VI0hDb5NBN693uXwgp5AiKjfJ19i4hIHtkAfuJMEnLfGiHKqCiVQyKIblmnPbLy6mwOiN9Jf3ZJ7IhUq2nEShVzW97p__rd6sHIRk1Rt5QM0W-ml-PgVT6b__IHj7EOM/s1600/IMG_3904.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYY9x0g3BFQ8VI0hDb5NBN693uXwgp5AiKjfJ19i4hIHtkAfuJMEnLfGiHKqCiVQyKIblmnPbLy6mwOiN9Jf3ZJ7IhUq2nEShVzW97p__rd6sHIRk1Rt5QM0W-ml-PgVT6b__IHj7EOM/s640/IMG_3904.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
and 30 pounds of honey sits in the jar. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-90531827044141286522015-07-05T17:17:00.001-04:002015-07-05T17:18:01.370-04:00Disgorging books<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZ7ywgOHnf-Se6WhocAv1Off1bvMIAN-B_ywU1HWInceAgzN1S741BZZqmy7_FT4stgaV19XSZiLE0a7waXIgvp2wJumhtDOvcc_7iSUUpxqyu01xMOyAhrrC3c35WmEdNzCE4zGj9bk/s1600/IMG_3756.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZ7ywgOHnf-Se6WhocAv1Off1bvMIAN-B_ywU1HWInceAgzN1S741BZZqmy7_FT4stgaV19XSZiLE0a7waXIgvp2wJumhtDOvcc_7iSUUpxqyu01xMOyAhrrC3c35WmEdNzCE4zGj9bk/s320/IMG_3756.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The ceiling of our bedroom slants downward with the pitch of the roof, and creates a triangle of de facto storage space behind the bed's high headboard. I'm clearing out some of the stuff, including boxes of books.<br />
<br />
When you're an academic, you keep a great many books, not because they have something to teach you, but because they offer up analyses that you can argue with or they represent people you can cite in your bibliography - whether or not they were useful to you in the end. Now that I'm not in academia, those books are easy to let go.<br />
<br />
I also have too many anthropology books - the publishers give them to you when you're teaching in hopes that you'll assign them in your classes. Some I've read or skimmed - many more I haven't. I've hung onto them, but come to realize that I simply don't read much if any anthropology anymore. I came to feel that anthropology wasn't trying to teach me anything that I didn't already know - that it had fallen into a rut in which myriad richness of detail was mustered toward the same old arguments:<br />
<br />
The argument is some variation on the notion that power acts on people's lives - in that people's lives are circumscribed the actions of the more powerful. Equally true is that power is creatively <i>evaded</i> in that people are actively managing the system to do some approximation of what they want to do. And the official stories (ideologies, histories, sciences, journalisms, myths) of the powerful never tell the full tale of what is actually happening in this collision. Anthropologists for the most part step in to tell this underlying, untold story. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7OjSICRHrKY-pccqMRqJ_8ZBfOtncbKREvxJJQdsnNy7TNXOkm1qRyZwaq4B5rSBiAFOzx6tkXcwHgbhEbww1h7niTz-GjIdWdY_J-PUvbSySWBZFgwLtQksnO3D3gFjtJ03EGGRwa5Y/s1600/IMG_3779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7OjSICRHrKY-pccqMRqJ_8ZBfOtncbKREvxJJQdsnNy7TNXOkm1qRyZwaq4B5rSBiAFOzx6tkXcwHgbhEbww1h7niTz-GjIdWdY_J-PUvbSySWBZFgwLtQksnO3D3gFjtJ03EGGRwa5Y/s320/IMG_3779.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
But anthropologists mostly translate their important insights into an academical jargon - a language of the powerful. That is, after all, the coin of the academy.<br />
<br />
I still think anthropology has a more accurate understanding of human beings than other disciplines, but I'm no longer so interested in fitting those insights into academic writing and reading. First of all, it seems a way to avoid helping the people you are supposedly listening to and speaking for. (Though in fact, every anthropologist I know does help the people they work with - though it often has little to do with what they publish.)<br />
<br />
Second of all, if we were to come up with another truly useful concept - like Gramsci's hegemony, Goffman's total institution, or Freire's banking model of education - what use would that be put to? It's customary to complain that anthropologists are ignored when it comes to policy, but the goals of much policy making these days is to suit the powerful. In fact, people wonder why Americans haven't taken to the streets. In my more paranoid moments, I think it is entirely possible that an increasing subtlety and sophistication of "soft power" is in part a result of our academic studies of power - being used toward ends opposite of what ethnographers and others hoped.<br />
<br />
In my less paranoid moments, I see a spectacle of bread and circus and fear-mongering that would be familiar to despots throughout the ages - and I know there's no real mystery about our complacency.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-31991772013929742262015-06-26T11:03:00.000-04:002015-06-26T11:03:25.006-04:00Finding empathy - when abuse victims don't leave<br />
I enjoy following the blog <a href="http://plowingthroughlife.blogspot.com/">Plowing through Life</a>, as the author, Martha, in her charming, easy and life-affirming way relates her various musings and experiences, shares the photos she takes on her bike rides around her Canadian town, and posts the jokes and cartoons that amuse her. Her blog is a welcome eddy of positivity in my internet feed.<br />
<br />
Which makes it all the more significant that she's recently been relating <a href="http://plowingthroughlife.blogspot.ca/2015/04/our-story-1-it-begins-here.html">how she found her way</a> to this positive place by way of an abusive marriage and the near total collapse and reconstruction of her sense of herself.<br />
<br />
Like a lot of
people, I grew up in an extended family where men and women treated each other
more or less with casual respect. For a long time it was impossible for me to
really understand - or even feel empathy for - people who stayed in abusive
relationships. I didn't get why a woman would stay with a man who hit her or
treated her with manipulative cruelty.<br />
<br />
Obviously there was something despicably
wrong with the abuser, but it seemed like the woman (or man) who stayed was to
blame as well. This makes it so, so easy to give up on them. It's only from
hearing stories like Martha's - stories where the victim is frank about their
own participation, the damage it's done and the intricacies of the traps that
keep one stuck - that have enabled me to find the empathy that I should have
felt all along.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I feel bad that the indifference and blame I once directed
at abuse victims - and which I know others still direct at them - serves as one
more bar in the cage that keeps people from escaping. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
"Yes, he's right, my
friends are right, people are right -- there IS something twisted and damaged about me -
something in me that must like this, or deserve this, or be too weak to escape
this."</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
<o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template>
<o:Revision>0</o:Revision>
<o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime>
<o:Pages>1</o:Pages>
<o:Words>217</o:Words>
<o:Characters>1241</o:Characters>
<o:Company>Cultural Logic, LLC</o:Company>
<o:Lines>10</o:Lines>
<o:Paragraphs>2</o:Paragraphs>
<o:CharactersWithSpaces>1524</o:CharactersWithSpaces>
<o:Version>12.0</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>
<w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>
<w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/>
<w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/>
</w:Compatibility>
</w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276">
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I want to say that sharing this kind of story is really,
really important if it can change the way we think about abuse. If more
escapees are willing to challenge the embarrassment and the glare of ignorant
judgement, it can help people find their way out of these relationships. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anyway, it's <a href="http://plowingthroughlife.blogspot.ca/2015/04/our-story-1-it-begins-here.html">a good story</a> - on a lot of levels.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-81320990546948872802015-06-25T10:58:00.000-04:002015-06-26T15:18:04.608-04:00Northern Black Widow<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Here's a shiny visitor.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMJX_pExrASewCf-eQTwsOQbQxcBpLkF7zh69O-nJzVjhyphenhyphen6U_HIS3Zo-muSvNclzGhkOFWPHPrfgJi9ve08Yz8oM8SH6wVIcwasfcBH3J2MNy7cQ8bwY94soTeTMg_czFSKsnTI0HGnU/s1600/IMG_3762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpMJX_pExrASewCf-eQTwsOQbQxcBpLkF7zh69O-nJzVjhyphenhyphen6U_HIS3Zo-muSvNclzGhkOFWPHPrfgJi9ve08Yz8oM8SH6wVIcwasfcBH3J2MNy7cQ8bwY94soTeTMg_czFSKsnTI0HGnU/s400/IMG_3762.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
In the yard, upon a tarp I meant to fold.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
No belly hourglass, but a tiny row of dorsal hearts upon her.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgycquElNmQEA9L6iUgsADBkaNnm3iMjXQYDD2_5olo5qCcbTaZDa7VENY6Du7YjGhakzSi9hexrkhW2DJBvplEvQcQ3q2hoNL_qqNOh5eVT4QKAl1ybYLGBLADnuN2lIZIEh6iQOgj6iA/s1600/IMG_3759+-+Version+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgycquElNmQEA9L6iUgsADBkaNnm3iMjXQYDD2_5olo5qCcbTaZDa7VENY6Du7YjGhakzSi9hexrkhW2DJBvplEvQcQ3q2hoNL_qqNOh5eVT4QKAl1ybYLGBLADnuN2lIZIEh6iQOgj6iA/s320/IMG_3759+-+Version+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Not a good neighbor, really, </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
when I have cats who might choose to use her as a plaything </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
and die for that mistake.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I placed her in a jar and Porter loosed her in the woods.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Stay in banishment, please, Black Widow.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-2224100129913728832015-06-19T07:55:00.000-04:002015-06-20T07:57:31.506-04:00Durable Mechanics<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The other day, I asked my 17 year old son to fix one of our
double hung sash windows. Both of the counter-weight ropes had broken. The whole
process of taking apart the casing, replacing the rope, knotting things up -
and really just appreciating the simple, elegant mechanics of a durable design
solution - quietly taught him more than a month of surfing the internet
could. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our civilization shows no signs of putting itself onto a
sustainable footing - and on the contrary seems to be doubling down on
the devourous destruction of our underlying generative foundations.
The coming decline is going to mean (eventually) a retrenchment to more
sustainable designs and approaches to life. It would save energy to replace
these windows and the removable storm windows with whatever high-tech
double-paned construct is currently on the market, but I've stuck with the less
efficient windows, because I can repair and understand them.<br />
<br />
I believe in "fate", but not as an external,
inevitable force - rather as the culmination of the hundreds of micro-decisions
we make every day, based on our habits and inclinations. I'm not ready yet to
make an abrupt leap to "<a href="http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2012/06/collapse-now-and-avoid-rush.html">collapse
now and avoid the rush</a>", but I'm trying to re-orient my fate toward
decline. There is no brighter future ahead.</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #202020; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.200000762939453px;"><br /></span>Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5104745414778029014.post-53166733172672357492015-06-13T19:21:00.001-04:002015-06-14T17:58:51.845-04:00Garden alliesIt's been a dry early summer, and so far - knock on wood - slugs have been scarce. I've seen more toads in the garden than slugs, which could be a contributing factor, of course.<br />
<br />
Garter snakes and other creatures have occupied the high hugel that I built out of deadwood, which is probably another reason I'm not seeing slugs.<br />
<br />
I like to think this big old matriarch has eaten her share.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsyyt3ygh4zoy4nKNrAcf1_mO8uBXukKG1PLPLXwUDD7buWuzHq4Lgw3fDNSEaxxgKdOw39MT_zOfMNVXGRH7UtqXtZKCu9NRakeIKllfwAMMbdLEmQzmusNMmprzxNZGnp1p2pJn47ZM/s1600/IMG_3736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsyyt3ygh4zoy4nKNrAcf1_mO8uBXukKG1PLPLXwUDD7buWuzHq4Lgw3fDNSEaxxgKdOw39MT_zOfMNVXGRH7UtqXtZKCu9NRakeIKllfwAMMbdLEmQzmusNMmprzxNZGnp1p2pJn47ZM/s400/IMG_3736.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
This second attempt at <a href="http://anubisbard.blogspot.com/2013/03/it-was-warm-and-sunny-sunday-and-though.html">hugelkultur</a> turned out to be too high and awkward to cover up with dirt, so it's served as the place I toss weeds, hoping it would eventually collapse into something useful. No sign of that yet and so this year I did put some wooden frames up top and filled them with soil. Why stake tomatoes when I can just let them drape. And I planted some squash plants there as well.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DMYzk2OBM1Ne1db3xTSgSJHiAh4UzZVnnPI9pXohFCK9Hdzagk27QIHJ3ghjfY0rU4oJySyvmRT11Nf_1qWF8rbljeQa9e0r3wXmIwNsDMFVXk7tbgcRej62mIno9Xhid2fyEautZbQ/s1600/IMG_3730.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_DMYzk2OBM1Ne1db3xTSgSJHiAh4UzZVnnPI9pXohFCK9Hdzagk27QIHJ3ghjfY0rU4oJySyvmRT11Nf_1qWF8rbljeQa9e0r3wXmIwNsDMFVXk7tbgcRej62mIno9Xhid2fyEautZbQ/s400/IMG_3730.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
And resident garter snakes are just a bonus. The great advantage of organic gardening is enabling predators to get established. Poisons and other disruptions can wipe out pests, but they also wipe out the predators of pests, a gardener's natural allies.<br />
<br />
And it's a fact of nature that prey species reproduce faster, adapt faster and establish themselves quicker than predators can. Once you've used poisons, then you are committed, because the moment you let up, pests will invade with no predatory check on them at all. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHRp9MwdZS_5TvqHocp0nVVAxXxNjIGEdm7XuaWzHALaWvIK3bHsmxbwGF2dSKGgz8-4MeCHcZEg9hQ8RZ7Ifb6Ou2Y8DxCYSd1e5zPCKa17MMxEAo9KFAXu5_xLGEpT8w0HNUHW11Do0/s1600/IMG_3738.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHRp9MwdZS_5TvqHocp0nVVAxXxNjIGEdm7XuaWzHALaWvIK3bHsmxbwGF2dSKGgz8-4MeCHcZEg9hQ8RZ7Ifb6Ou2Y8DxCYSd1e5zPCKa17MMxEAo9KFAXu5_xLGEpT8w0HNUHW11Do0/s400/IMG_3738.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Damsel flies will not only eat aphids but mosquitos as well</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It seems smarter to pick the pests off your plants and put up with some depredations, because soon enough <a href="http://anubisbard.blogspot.com/2011/07/garden-blogging-heres-beautiful-thing.html">their predators</a> will pick up their part of the alliance, and things get manageable. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Some allies are more reliable than others, however. The <a href="http://anubisbard.blogspot.com/2011/07/tortoise-beetle-larvae-have-been.html">blister beetle larvae</a> may have spent their days helpfully devouring the subterranean egg-stashes of crickets and grasshoppers, but soon enough they'll be adults chewing on the leaves of my potatoes and beets.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
At the moment I'm only finding a few <a href="http://anubisbard.blogspot.com/2011/05/garden-blogging-clavate-tortoise-beetle.html">tortoise beetles</a> and some three-lined potato beetles. </div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZagUQvrm7n6IATZushCuPThWUhOaEUs7OVBMlWLumaZV6-APWdmD47LBJnpRmUmqpANR5bv7IXzVwdS_PoH0WwZThOsf0QiGfoS5w2C6Q5lpfdO0ayoM60jRTlhzNyz2h3B1r-R911w/s1600/IMG_3742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZagUQvrm7n6IATZushCuPThWUhOaEUs7OVBMlWLumaZV6-APWdmD47LBJnpRmUmqpANR5bv7IXzVwdS_PoH0WwZThOsf0QiGfoS5w2C6Q5lpfdO0ayoM60jRTlhzNyz2h3B1r-R911w/s400/IMG_3742.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sunchokes plot are plotting expansion and conquest.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Andy Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03820201752437230985noreply@blogger.com0