my Thinking spot: i was going to write something

12 July 2007

i was going to write something

about bush's press conference that i listened to this morning in the car. it was rife with statements that need a rebuttal.

see, i decided to add insult to injury, as i was heading in to renew my tags and driver's license at the dmv when it came on. an adventure to the dmv is notoriously a task that leaves me wanting to gouge my eyes out with a rusty spoon while drinking bleach, then cutting myself a thousand times and bathing in lemon juice instead of waiting hours with my stack of documents i've had to collect (social security card, last pay stub, last utility bill with my name on it, state embossed birth certificate, insurance card, inspection, two years of property tax receipts) to prove that i'm not a terrorist... as if those who choose to blow up shit get identification cards at the dmv!

but i digress.

i've decided instead to do a little guest blogger action, as will rarely posts such things, and for purposes of perspective... i needed this today.

i'm STILL teary. i think will may very well be the bestest daddy and boo in the whole wide world. how did i get so lucky to have these two boys share my life with me?

this is why i do what i do.

THE TETHERED KITE
I watch you boy - springtime's meadow unfolding, thunderously joining in the dance on foal feet. High-kneed stepping to the thrum of moonshadow and the night owl's call even as those of us more familiar with the promenade catch ourselves losing interest. Top-heavy with curiosity, a humming bird blur of fresh inclination. New flowers, new paths, new tastes on the tongue, each guilelessly consumed. Acquiring your sea legs just like all the salts that have come before, with skinned knees and bruised elbows and the shock of beauty's appetite.

I listen as you re-score the songs that underpin pleasure, bend the melodies in ways not even their composers could have dreamed, sew new words to old tunes for the sheer joy of suiting your whims. A voice from the other room, caught up in play, unaware that the old dragon has one eye half open, watching as you call up a new poetry:

Twinkle, twinkle little star,
How I Riley what you are.

A mistake? A confusion? A ridiculous parody? I somehow think not. Much more likely, a premonition from a spirit as yet unbroken.

Unhinge the windows, kick off the shoes and let your feet unfurl each future blade of grass, each stretch of summer-hot asphalt, each pitfall of broken glass. Go! Raindrop run! Race between legs, head back, shrieking amusement's laughter. Gaze up at the faces that hardly notice you – for one day, they will hunger for a glance from you. I am convinced that you will decide to grapple with what will come in ways I have been unable to conceive.
This man - not yet old, but no longer young – finds himself content to sit and let the twine play out on your kite til it no longer matters what I think. But rest assured that I will strike, tear power lines from the skies, hew down any tree that threatens to snag you in its arms. I parry the puckered jealousy of unexamined choices and beg the rain of the fools on my head. They dare not directly confront what they cannot shackle or burry with loam.

Be free to find your footing, to score your own concerto, to paint your own masterpiece. Be free to be what I cannot – your only tether, the memory that your mom and dad love you so.

Labels: family

Name: supergirlest

"if you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito." ~african proverb

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Your Power Bird is an Owl

You are beyond wise. You are so smart, you're almost prophetic. Your inner voice always speaks the truth, and you take the time to listen to it. You are good at seeing who people are... including the darkness of others. As a result, you tend to have a rather dark - yet realistic - outlook on life.

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GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE!

Q: What causes global warming?

A: Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. Coal-burning power plants are the largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide pollution -- they produce 2.5 billion tons every year. Automobiles, the second largest source, create nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually.

Q: Is the earth really getting hotter?

A: Yes. Although local temperatures fluctuate naturally, over the past 50 years the average global temperature has increased at the fastest rate in recorded history. And experts think the trend is accelerating: the 10 hottest years on record have all occurred since 1990. Scientists say that unless we curb global warming emissions, average U.S. temperatures could be 3 to 9 degrees higher by the end of the century.

Q: Are warmer temperatures causing bad things to happen?

A: Global warming is already causing damage in many parts of the United States. In 2002, Colorado, Arizona and Oregon endured their worst wildfire seasons ever. The same year, drought created severe dust storms in Montana, Colorado and Kansas, and floods caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage in Texas, Montana and North Dakota. Since the early 1950s, snow accumulation has declined 60 percent and winter seasons have shortened in some areas of the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington. Of course, the impacts of global warming are not limited to the United States. In 2003, extreme heat waves caused more than 20,000 deaths in Europe and more than 1,500 deaths in India. And in what scientists regard as an alarming sign of events to come, the area of the Arctic's perennial polar ice cap is declining at the rate of 9 percent per decade.

Q: Is global warming making hurricanes worse?

A: Global warming doesn't create hurricanes, but it does make them stronger and more dangerous. Because the ocean is getting warmer, tropical storms can pick up more energy and become more powerful. So global warming could turn, say, a category 3 storm into a much more dangerous category 4 storm. In fact, scientists have found that the destructive potential of hurricanes has greatly increased along with ocean temperature over the past 35 years.

Q: Is there really cause for serious concern?

A: Yes. Global warming is a complex phenomenon, and its full-scale impacts are hard to predict far in advance. But each year scientists learn more about how global warming is affecting the planet, and many agree that certain consequences are likely to occur if current trends continue. Among these: 1. Melting glaciers, early snowmelt and severe droughts will cause more dramatic water shortages in the American West. 2. Rising sea levels will lead to coastal flooding on the Eastern seaboard, in Florida, and in other areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico. 3. Warmer sea surface temperatures will fuel more intense hurricanes in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. 4. Forests, farms and cities will face troublesome new pests and more mosquito-borne diseases. 5. Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine meadows could drive many plant and animal species to extinction.

Q: Could global warming trigger a sudden catastrophe?

A: Recently, researchers -- and even the U.S. Defense Department -- have investigated the possibility of abrupt climate change, in which gradual global warming triggers a sudden shift in the earth's climate, causing parts of the world to dramatically heat up or cool down in the span of a few years.

Q: What country is the largest source of global warming pollution?

A: The United States. Though Americans make up just 4 percent of the world's population, we produce 25 percent of the carbon dioxide pollution from fossil-fuel burning -- by far the largest share of any country. In fact, the United States emits more carbon dioxide than China, India and Japan, combined. Clearly America ought to take a leadership role in solving the problem. And as the world's top developer of new technologies, we are well positioned to do so -- we already have the know-how.

Q: How can we cut global warming pollution?

A: It's simple: By reducing pollution from vehicles and power plants. Right away, we should put existing technologies for building cleaner cars and more modern electricity generators into widespread use. We can increase our reliance on renewable energy sources such as wind, sun and geothermal. And we can manufacture more efficient appliances and conserve energy.

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my Thinking spot

12 July 2007

i was going to write something

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