REFLECTIONS ON LIFE – AUGUST 2019

ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED

For Liz’ most recent program on Howard Community Colleges Dragon Radio, go to the end of this issue of Reflections

REFLECTIONS ON HOME IN COLUMBIA

The number of lightning bugs twinkling in the night air has dwindled considerably in recent weeks.  I love these little creatures.  I can recall so clearly, as a little girl of roughly five years, collecting them in a jar with a lid that had been punctured by my mom.  She told me those little holes would enable these critters to breathe more easily.  We had a nightly competition among neighborhood kids as to who would catch the most. Now, at the age of 75, I can occasionally see a few in the dark night air still flickering outside the window by my side of our bed while I’m falling asleep.  What a lovely way to enter dreamland.

Two hummingbirds have taken up residence, we believe, very near our home.  We only see them as they approach one of their special feeders attached to window glass by a suction cup– one over the kitchen sink and the other by our kitchen table where Lloyd and I eat most of our meals.  Watching them is so much preferable to watching the evening news.  It’s hard to believe that such beautiful creature can be so aggressive.  Yes.  They are.

All one need do to believe this is to observe one trying to move in while the other is feeding.  Several years ago, Lloyd and I had an up-close and large-scale lesson in the aggressive behavior of these birds in a controlled setting in Costa Rica where they were screened in for observation.

* * *

One evening we went with friends to sit on the lawn at Merriweather Post Pavilion to watch the film of the 1969 concert held in Woodstock in New York State.   50 years ago!!!!  How can that be possible?   Millions of young people camping out on farmland for three days!  Joan Baez, Santana, Jimi Hendrix and others performed round the clock.  I was 25 at the time, and I believe sad to say, was totally oblivious to this happening.  Whatever we may think now, I found their message to be a good one.

REFLECTIONS ON ZACH

I have written in previous “Reflections” about how Zach loved to walk.  He would tell his friends “look, we’re so lucky we can walk” and then lead them on a long route to a restaurant for lunch or to a friend’s house to visit.

This month Zach’s dad and sister, John and Julia, are heading for a long “walk” with two friends who also knew Zach well.  It will take about five days and entail carrying about 25 pounds of supplies for Julia, and I don’t know how much for John.  They will be hiking in Yosemite Park in California and sleeping in tents. What a great and courageous way to honor Zach’s spirit!

REFLECTIONS ON BALTIMORE, MY HOME TOWN

The Baltimore Sun                                                         August 31, 2019

“A new chapter at the H.L. Mencken House”               by Jacques Kelly

Writer’s Hollins Street home undergoing $1.5M restoration

My mom was very proud that this renowned  journalist lived in Baltimore.  There is so much great history in his former home.  Mencken was indeed widely respected, and he also had a sharp tongue that he did not hesitate to use.  My favorite quote of Mencken:  “For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” As Jacques Kelly says, “this will be a place for an exchange of ideas about the man who wrote so much within the four walls where he lived and died.”

This is just what my birthplace city needs.

REFLECTIONS ON PUBLIC POLICY

HOWARD COUNTY

Those of you who have followed any of my 33 years in public elected office or my social activism during my now five years as an unelected activist, both prior to or after those years, cannot possibly miss my oft repeated use of the phrase “social, economic, and environmental justice.  Virtually every government action falls into at least one of those categories.  Currently we in Howard County are engaging, whether or not we are aware, in a major social justice legislative issue.  Kudos to the Superintendent of Schools and members of the County Council for proposing legislation to reflect greater economic equality throughout all of the county’s schools. 

STATE OF MARYLAND

The Baltimore Sun                                                          August 26, 2019

“Plight of monarchs here and elsewhere”                     by Ellen Knickmeyer 

“Trump order weakens protections for butterflies”

Although it dwindles a bit more each spring, on the banks of the ponds beyond our home we still have milkweed that attracts monarch butterflies. “With its count falling 99% to the low tens of thousands, the monarch is now under government consideration for listing under the Endangered Species Act.”

Each summer, the beauty of these magnificent little creatures becomes more apparent as our realization of the truth that we may not see them next year.

U.S.A

I found the two juxtaposed op-eds in the August 29 issue of The Washington Post very well worded, as we would expect from the authors.  Having said that, I certainly hope that Dionne is correct in his forecast about the democratically unjust Electoral College, despite the fact that I had the honor of casting the vote for Obama for those in the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the 2008 presidential election.

The Washington Post                                                        August 29, 2019

“The electoral college is here to stay”                              by George F. Will\

Some states support abolishing the Electoral College.  Others do not.

“No, it’s on its last legs”                                                     by E, J. Dionne Jr.

“Our founders admitted that the Electoral College system they created in the original Constitution was defective by altering it with the 12^th Amendment in 1804.  It’s time we followed their lead in showing the same willingness to scrap a system that is sending us headlong into a national crisis.”

The Washington Post                                                         August 7, 2019

“Nobel laureate transfigured American literature"         by Emily Langer

 Toni Morrison 1931-2019

Although I had to pay my own way through college at the University of Maryland, it never occurred to me to choose a major that would guarantee me an economically upscale cost of living.  I chose Literature.  To this day I am so grateful that I made that choice.  One of the main factors to which I attribute that choice was my observation of my mom’s extensive reading. Although she left high school in Baltimore before her senior year, I recall her reading prolifically.  She would talk with me about her favorite authors – Alcott, Austen, Blake, Carroll, Tennyson, Whitman – and the impact they had on her.  When I was in college, I recall her talking with me about a new favorite – Toni Morrison.

When I learned of Morrison’s recent death, I pulled down some of her books from the bookcase in our bedroom.  “Beloved” had been the most impactful on me, and I reread a few pages.  A very small book in that bookcase called to me most loudly – “ Lecture and speech of acceptance upon the award of the Nobel Prize” for Literature, delivered in Stockholm on the seventh of December, nineteen hundred and ninety-three.” Following is the acceptance portion of that program in its entirety.

“Your Majesties, your Highnesses’ Ladies and Gentlemen, I entered this hall pleasantly haunted by those who have entered it before me.  That company of laureates is both daunting and welcoming, for among its lists are names of persons whose work has made whole worlds available to me.  The sweep and specificity of their art have sometimes broken my heart with the courage and clarity of its vision.  The astonishing brilliance with which they practiced their craft has challenged and nurtured my own.  My debt to them rivals the profound one I owe to the Swedish Academy for having selected me to join that distinguished alumni.

Early in October an artist friend left a message that I left on the answering service for weeks and played back every once in a while just to hear the trembling pleasure in her voice and the faith in her words.  “My dear sister,” she said, “the prize that is your is also ours and could not have been placed in better hands.” The spirit of her message with its earned optimism and sublime trust marks this day for me.

I will leave this hall, however, with a new and much more delightful haunting than the one I felt upon entering:  that is the company of the laureates yet to come.  Those who, even as I speak, are mining, sifting, and polishing languages from illuminations none of us has dreamed of.  But whether or not any one of them secures a place in this pantheon, the gathering of these writers is unmistakable and mounting.  Their voices bespeak civilizations gone and yet to be; the precipice from which their imaginations gaze will rivet us; they do not blink or turn away.

It is, therefore, mindful of the gifts of my predecessors, the blessing of my sisters, in joyful anticipation of writers to come that I accept the honor the Swedish Academy has done me, and ask you to share what is for me a moment of grace.”

Reading those words of Toni Morrison is “a moment of grace” for me.

(One evening this week, Lloyd and I drove with a couple who have been our close friends almost from the inception of Columbia.  I brought up Toni Morrison and was thrilled to learn that one of them had her as a literature teacher in college.)

PUERTO RICO (A Commonwealth of the U.S.A.)

Finally, some good news for this beautiful island! Hurricane Dorian generally missed the main island and was actually helpful in providing some rain for the southwest part. Additionally, last month the very corrupt governor was forced to resign by the public protests of the local population.

Puerto Rico has hosted us for cold-weather vacations a dozen times over the past 30 years. We have just made reservations to make another trip this fall.  We usually end up on the small island of Culebra, about 15 miles from the P. R.’s northeast coast. The eye of Hurricane Dorian now bearing down on the Carolinas as I compose these “Reflections” just missed Culebra by about 20 miles. Whew!

The economy of P.R. is in shambles, recently a result of the major hurricane two years ago. But the economic downfall had its roots in a U.S. congressional decision 20 years back.

In 1975, the Feds decided to help P.R.’s economic struggle by granting large tax benefits to pharmaceutical companies that were willing to move/enlarge their manufacturing operations to/in the island. It was wildly successful. As many as 50 thousand new jobs were created and the economy boomed. Then congress decided to phase out those breaks over ten years. In response, Big Pharma phased out those 50,000 jobs between 1998 and 2007 – just as our nation went into the ‘87/’88 recession that was ignited by the banking industry collapse. Bang-bang went the P.R. economy and it continues a downward spiral, helped along by that 2017 hurricane. Weekly wage today is half of the U.S. average – about $525/week.

As many as 200 thousand, mostly young people have left and come to the U.S. mainland over the last ten years leaving an aging population to fend for themselves (although many send money back, I’m sure.) It’s a sad story. But maybe we can help this fall, even if it is only a few dollars.

Beautiful Island!  Beautiful people!  Beautiful memories!

REFLECTIONS ON OUR PLANET BEYOND THE UNITED STATES

UGANDA

The Washington Post  (Editorial)                                                  August 7, 2019

“The power of poetry in Uganda”

“Even from prison, a firebrand activist continues to denounce – and irk – the country’s dictator.”

I can’t help but wonder whether Ugandan activist, Stella Nyanzi, a “champion for women’s, girls’ and LGBTQ rights” ever read Toni Morrison’s poetry.  I would bet strongly that the answer is “yes.”

PLANET EARTH

Tricycle – The Buddhist Review                                                 Fall 2019

Lloyd subscribed to this quarterly publication for me during the ten years when I attended a weeklong silent retreat. Though I have not gone on one of those retreats for about five years now, I have attended briefer ones with Jack Kornfield and Pema Chodron in New England and New York.  The following article, “On Not Losing Heart – When we’re tempted to give up, a simple shift in perspective can remind us that everything we do matters,” struck a chord with me.  I hope it will do the same for you.

REFLECTIONS ON OUR UNIVERSE

Ever feel like time is passing too quickly?

GOOGLE:  Einstein’s theory of relativity says that time slows down or speeds up depending on how fast you move relative to something else.  Approaching the speed of light, a person inside a spaceship would age much slower than his twin at home.

I’m perfectly happy with and grateful for my speed of aging.

Across the Universe

“Pools of sorrow, waves of joy

Are drifting through my open mind

Possessing and caressing me

Across the Universe

~Lennon and McCartney

Be well and love life.

~ Liz

PS - My monthly Reflections episodes, the Dragon radio show I record at Howard Community College, can be found at http://dragondigitalradio.podbean.com/category/reflections-on-life/.