Good Things

My wish for you all is the peace, love and joy of this Season.

This quote from Dr. King seems particularly apt as we head into an election year..

Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy’s point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.

–Martin Luther King, Jr., “Beyond Vietnam”, 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

I’ll be back Monday.

The theme of this season for me is “running late”. So here we are on Christmas Eve and I am only getting around to writing a “blog break” post.

There is no more true desire in the hearts of humankind, in my mind, than Peace on Earth and Good Will toward Folks.

In previous years, we have had images of Christmas trees and Yule logs. This year, I’ll honor another tree, the holly.

As in the Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, in the words of Ebenezer Scrooge:

Every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”

And the hymn, The Holly and The Ivy that begins

The holly and the ivy, when they are both full grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood, the holly bears the crown.

Refrain:
Oh, the rising of the sun and the running of the deer,
The playing of the merry organ, sweet singing in the choir.

Or the Youtube version here.

Prior to Christianity, in England, apparently there were village traditions that involved the holly and the ivy as well,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holly_and_the_Ivy

And from here:
Holly trees were traditionally known for protection from lightning strikes, to which end they were planted near a house. In European mythology, holly was associated with thunder gods such as Thor and Taranis. We now know that the spines on the distinctively-shaped holly leaves can act as miniature lightning conductors, thereby protecting the tree and other nearby objects. Modern science occasionally catches up with an explanation for what may previously have been dismissed as
superstitious lore!

“But the hue of his every feature
Stunned them: as could be seen,
Not only was this creature
Colossal, he was bright green
No spear to thrust, no shield against the shock of battle,
But in one hand a solitary branch of holly
That shows greenest when all the groves are leafless;”
from ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ ca 1370 – 1390, author unknown

“Heigh ho! sing heigh ho! unto the green holly:
Most friendship is feigning, most loving mere folly:
Then, heigh ho, the holly!
This life is most jolly.”
from ‘As You Like It’ by William Shakespeare

Well, that’s English Holly.. here’s the link to the silvics of American Holly. Here’s a photo of how it appears in the understory of various eastern hardwood forests.

Happy Hollydays, everyone!
I’ll be back to blogging on January 6.

The above photo is from the National Wild Turkey Federation website here.

In terms of the blog, I thank Gaia for a more or less successful transition to the new host. I thank those of you who contribute through posts and comments, and for those who keep up the blog when I take vacation. I am thankful for Larry’s photos, that brighten my days and remind me what it’s about. I am thankful for for those who challenge me, helping me to grow in patience and to be a better thinker and writer.

I just found out earlier this week that one of my colleagues from my time at the Forest Service crossed over recently, Randy Karstaedt. He was the Director of Lands and Minerals for the seven years I was Planning Director in Region 2. He was an amazing writer and thinker, and a fun fellow beer-hoister and raconteur.

He could make the incomprehensibly complicated (federal coal regulations) make sense in a business letter. He would dream up great policy ideas (IMHO) and also assist me in tilting at windmills (like finding an agency to regulate coal mine methane). When I look at my life at the Forest Service, there were folks like Randy who were a joy to work with, even on the most otherwise boring things (pipeline litigation). Sometimes I wish I had told him these nice things, but I’m not sure that’s OK in Forest Service culture. It’s easy to say “hey, that letter you drafted was great” but not so much “when I share the burden of work with you, you not only do more than pull your own weight, and entertain me with your mental acuity, somehow your spirit brings joy to my heart.”

That’s not to say that we didn’t end up, at the tail end of our adventures, on different sides of some serious internal/external politics. But today, looking back, the political stuff doesn’t seem real or Real. The many field trips, reviews, meetings, long bus trips and associated beer-filled hours are what I remember. And I can say it now (and I believe he hears). Here’s to you, and thank you, Randy!

It’s a long story, but I have a soft spot in my heart for CIEL (and have supported them for a number of years). It’s one of those personal trumps philosophical kinds of things.I received this email today and donated; thought I would share this opportunity.

From CIEL: In the catastrophic wake of Typhoon Haiyan, all of us are searching for ways to show our solidarity and offer our aid to the people of the Philippines.

This morning, we received the message below from Filipino lawyer and renowned environmental activist Antonio Oposa. Tony received CIEL’s International Environmental Law Award in 2008 for his precedent-setting work to protect the environmental rights of future generations. For all of us at CIEL, he remains a close partner, a good friend and–as his message below makes clear–a continuing source of inspiration and hope.

Dear Carroll and CIEL friends:

Thank you very much for your concern for me and my family. We are all safe.

I just returned from Bantayan Island yesterday. The devastation is beyond belief. Miraculously, casualties in the Island have been very low. We are helping arrange for the sending of immediate-relief goods and of a medical team. In the School of the SEA (Sea and Earth Advocates), my trusted co-worker (Dodoy Marabi) and his immediate and extended family are all safe. However, their entire village in the island across was wiped out.

Out of the seven structures of the School of the SEA, only two remain standing: the White House (and conference hall) which suffered damage, and the Climate Change House (CCH). The latter suffered very minor damage as it was designed to be climate resilient and to be sufficient in food and water even during an emergency. The Climate Change House is the product of the 2008 Typhoon Frank that totally destroyed the original structure of the School. Yes, we learned the lessons of climate resilience.

The rest of the structures of the School of the SEA are all gone… with the wind. (I try to laugh because it is too painful to cry).

We will rebuild, one way or another, sooner or later.

What is more painful is to see my neighbors and surrounding communities, people who have much less, and yet lost even the little that they had. In my own little way, I immediately started a jobs-generation activity just for people to get out of their daze and back on their feet — clearing the debris, chopping wood, making fish condos and urban edible gardens, etc. Giving people livelihood activities (of only about 200 pesos or 5 dollars a day) will give them a source of income to start rebuilding their lives and restore their sense of self-worth. Hopefully soon, we will start the repair and reconstruction of model climate-resilient structures of the School of the SEA. That should create more jobs.

Many have inquired how they can help. Thank you very much for the thought. More than the resources you share is the moral support you give for our shared dream.

For those who wish to help rebuild the School and with the job-generation activities, CIEL will channel 100% of donations made here to immediate relief.

From our hearts, thank you very much for the kind thoughts, prayers, and for your sincere concern for my family and for our people. It gives us great strength in this time of great crisis.

You have my word: We will rise again … stronger and better than ever.

Tony

This has been a glum week for all my Federal friends, as well as the rest of us who depend on Congress to do their own work. Here in Colorado, it was also the first snow of the season. Bob Berwyn has had two posts this week of amazing photos. A gift to all us.. posted here in honor of Federal employees.

Here are some great photos he posted today.

And here are some equally great ones, from earlier this week.

And thanks to Bob for sharing these on his blog.