We Are Better Than...

the long view

      Watching the world is easy out here, close to the edge of the planet. 
      In full disclosure, we're in a retired herd, and free ranging between the poles of Los Angeles and San Francisco. As we watch the world shut down and try to get back to normal, we see things others may not and there are reasons for that.
     The wide open space out here, gives us room to think and time to ponder. Population is sparse, the sky is big and there is room to put things into perspective.
     A lot of us "have been there, done that," doers, players, even power players and movers and shakers from a time before Trump and time before the virus. Experience matters.
     When I broke into a big city newsroom in the late 60's, my mentor was an old newspaperman in his 70's. He'd seen it all. 
     "You'll see everything," he said. "Like the good book says, 'nothing new under the sun' just different names."

      

    I wrote about Bob Hoover in a September 29, 2016 post that you can link to here. Born in 1898 Bob lived through the Spanish Influenza pandemic. He was a musician at the time and became a reporter in 1918. Bob said it was good to listen, especially to the old people, because they had seen and done a lot and had survived. 
    I listened to Bob. There was a time when the culture listened to and even revered "old people." Not sure that is so anymore.
    If you scratch hard enough at the drive to "reopen" the economy, you will find an element that places economic recovery as a higher priority than the well being of those who are most vulnerable; geezers, gray panthers, boomers, old people, seniors, whatever we're called and those with health issues, not all of whom are aged. I suspect it is more an unintended consequence than a malicious act, although there is a lot of "OK Boomer" these days.
     It probably cannot be avoided. Economic collapse does severe harm and we must be about making repairs. If we had been led by a fit, qualified, experienced leader, we would have been better prepared, more proactive and could have moved to isolate the most vulnerable, prevent overwhelming hospitals and still maintain some work and commerce. It is too late for that now and in some of the clamor to reopen there has been a strain of something dangerous.  
     Before we wade into that, we pause for a moment at San Simeon Creek, babbling its way to the Pacific. The visual rhythm of a mountain stream is refreshing. 
    

masks are about health and safety

    The decision to wear a mask, or not, is about health and safety. Masks, social distancing, and isolating at home helped California and other places avoid over loading hospitals as happened in Italy, New York, New Jersey and elsewhere.
     In a twisted and sad way, some try to make mask wearing, or not, a political statement. That is wrong headed and indicative of the toxic and divisive nature of Trump leadership. Masks protect. Everyone!
     Trump supporters are mob thinkers, easily led, blindly loyal, neither encumbered with nuance, nor bothered by efforts at reason. They don't need facts, their leader will tell them what is fake. 
      The leader is arguably the most aggressive liar in history. He takes an unapproved medicine and many follow suit. He does not deign to wear a mask and they've made that a battle line. They are fools, following a fool and they are with in their rights. That's how it works.
      A friend from college days, a successful attorney and historic litigator wrote from his mountain home back east-
     "This Trump stuff is crazy beyond words. The right wingers who won't stay at home and won't wear masks I hope become infected. Since natural selection is the driving engine of evolution, maybe it will all work out and they will be eliminated from the gene pool."
      He went on to say he hopes they hold their convention where they will be self corralled and infecting each other."
     He was never one to mince words.

       

follow the leader

     

 Life teaches. A good leader is always ready to reach down and lend a hand, especially when you are in deep

and struggling.

we need a cure

   We are better than who we have been in the last four years. The US needs a cure. The US needs a vaccine to prevent a second wave of Trumpism. It is a malicious, selfish, divisive, corrupt, fascistic and unAmerican movement that is a virus in the body politic. It is a government of fraud and failure with blood on its hands. Ignorance is the currency and loyalty to a sick man is the tool of survival.

    Firing 4 Inspectors General in just weeks is evidence of a dangerous mindset and a threat to the structure of the United States government.  It is a move by a would be dictator to obstruct constitutional balance of power. He want's unchecked, unchallenged power and that cannot be allowed. 

   It is fitting that in years and decades hence the Trump years will be known as the years of the Virus. As terrible as he is, as historically failed as he has been, he will play second banana to a virus. Covid-19 gets top billing. A century later, Trump may be only an asterisk. 

    By now the only thing that might change that is if he were to set his hair on fire on Fifth Avenue. No one would stop him. At least no one in a mask.

    

for the mask wearers of the world

the Diane rose
from a Cambria magic garden

      John Chancellor, the late NBC journalist said "being a reporter is like being a fire horse, you always want to answer the bell." 

       All of those years of assignments and deadlines have driven how I have attacked and consumed information, data, reporting and science over these last weeks. I've been keen to watch how governors, communities, medical groups and others have reacted. 

       The virus and the shutdown has revealed how fractured we are. Singularly it exposes how broken this version of capitalism is, and how wealth distribution is abusively wrong and incomprehensibly unfair. 

        We are better than this. The notions of fairness, equality, compassion, and greatness have been in us historically. It is time to be guided by better angels, those same angels Abraham Lincoln invoked in his first inaugural

   "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it, must not break out bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." 

     See you down the trail.

A LINCOLN LEGACY

      We've celebrated Thanksgiving as a national holiday of praise and thanksgiving since President Lincoln declared the day in 1863.

     As an odd year begins its exit we pause in our family to take note: Family, friends, faith, health, healing, memories, dreams & goals, kindness, love, courage, creativity and hope.

     History recounts the first American Thanksgiving as 1621 when 50 Pilgrims and 90 members of the Wampanoag tribe celebrated a harvest festival.

     In the beginning those English men and women, unhappy with the Church of England and English society and seeking a new life on this continent, treated their hosts with civility and appreciation. The immigrants and the first citizens celebrated for 3 days. History records those early accords were changed in time.

     Perhaps this year we can reflect on why and how those first good intentions were lost and why so much of this nation's history is built on an illegitimacy and a forced occupation. It is a not a weakness, rather it is a sign of integrity and greatness to examine our faults and ask where did we go wrong, how could we have done it more wisely and with honor, and how can and should we adapt, change and make better choices going forward?

     Is there also a further lesson? The first national Thanksgiving came midst the civil war, but Lincoln had the wisdom to ask for praise, prayers and thanksgiving. In our 2016 divide, should we do no less?

     I'm also grateful we live where we can acknowledge our wrongs, chastise inequality and pray for better ways, in our diverse ways.

     See you down the trail.

     

    

IMMORTALITY and THE GREAT CRUSADE

FROM JUNE TO HISTORY

    Time records extraordinary courage and human insight on two June 6ths.  

     Most recently, 70 years ago General Dwight Eisenhower called it "the Great Crusade," the D-Day invasion immortalized by the bravery of warriors, so many of whom ended their own mortal journey on the beaches of Northern France. A personal D-Day beach reflection follows below.

    75 years before that a single man, venturing into the unknown pondered human existence and the infinite.

EVERY NERVE QUIVERS

    John Muir made his first visit to Yosemite in the summer of 1869. On June 6th he wrote-

                     "We are now in the mountains and they are

                       in us...making every nerve quiver."    

       It seems that it has always been such for Yosemite.
     In 1851 an ongoing battle between gold miners and the native inhabitants, American Indians, reached a point where the famous Mariposa Battalion was sent in. Probably from the moment the Battalion saw the place, word about its beauty began to spread.

          On June 30,1864 President Abraham Lincoln set aside a grove of sequoias in the valley.  That marked the creation of the first state park in the US. 
        Naturalist John Muir, who spent years exploring the wilderness, campaigned for federal park status. It took 26 years and in 1890 Yosemite became a national park.

   Later on June 6, 1869 Muir wrote-

         "Our flesh and bone tabernacle seems transparent

         as glass to the beauty about us, as if truly an 

         inseparable part of it, thrilling with the air and trees

         streams and rocks, in the waves of the sun-a part of 

         all nature, neither old nor young, sick nor well, but

         immortal."

       Two rivers, the Merced and the Tuolumne flow through the park. There are 196 miles of road and 800 miles of trails. 

        The waterfalls are a signature, always spectacular, and even more so after a winter with lots of snow.

 Do you see the sprite or spirit dancing out of this falls in this frame?

      The land is described as "colossal."  Indeed it is.  It ranges from 2,000 feet to 13,000 and most of it is true wilderness.

    As Muir said on his first summer in Yosemite "How wonderful the power of its beauty."

    WHERE FICTION CARRIES TRUTH

    A scene from my novel The Sanibel Arcanum has the protagonist, Tim Calvin visit Utah Beach, a D-Day invasion sight with Stroutsel a Jewish survivor who had been part of the French underground resistance.

  The beach was windswept, large and angry.  The gray sky hung low over the rough choppy water, and the surf pounded the beach with an intensity that bordered on animosity. Old enforcements and battle walls, pill boxes and even strands of barbed wire were visible, while cattle grazed over the dunes in fields where one of the decisive engagements of mankind's warfare had been played out in blood.

    "You can sense the terrible loss just standing here," Tim said more to the wind than Stroutsel, whose face was turned toward the beach.  "Doesn't this bring back the anger, the hatred?"

     Stroutsel cut the misty wind of the beach with his gravel-like voice.  "Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools. That's from Solomon in Ecclesiastes, Calvin, it would do well for all of us to remember it."

     They stood, wrapped in silence and reflection as in a place of prayer as sand, wind and salt spray assaulted them.  Stroutsel faced squarely into the wind."Baruch, atah- Adonai-Blessed are though, O Lord, my rock who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.  My loving kindness and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and He in whom I take refuge.

      Tim stood transfixed by the moment and the sweeping emotions which girded them against the ghosts of this killing beach.

      "We are a mere breath, our days are like passing shadows," Stroutsel's voice faded as he walked north his eyes cast on the sand and looking out to the sea.  Tim let him go.  He walked to the memorials and read the names of those young men who had fallen on this strip of sand and sea."

    On Utah Beach alone some 2,500 US troops and 1,900 allied troops were killed. Thousands of others were killed on the other landing beaches as well as glider pilots and Naval support troops.  The Germans lost between 4 and 9 thousand  on D-Day.

    There is an almost palpable presence that remains on those Norman beaches.

    See you down the trail.

MENTORS AND LEADERS-ON THE GRATITUDE TRAIL

OF THE REASONS WE COUNT

    Hasn't there been someone in your life who provided a special motivation or guidance?  A parent, teacher, coach, pastor, counselor, boss, or someone in a position to mentor you who left an imprint? 

    I've been lucky to have several. I think the first time I realized it was as a High School kid attending a statewide journalism workshop when a young teacher got through to me.  His advice was to read, a lot. Then he said pay attention to the pros.  If you read them, try to act like them, try to think like them, then you'll become one of them.  It happened.

    I wrote a letter to David Brinkley in my senior year of high school, asking his advice about a course of study in college.  He suggested history, economics, science, political science and said read, a lot.  He said you also need to learn to write, well. Years later over a lunch with Brinkley we laughed about how seriously I took his word. In an exquisite irony, just a few years before our lunch, Brinkley was on a panel of judges that awarded me a national Emmy Award. At the time his comment was that I had written "one of television's finest programs."  The award was for an investigative documentary on the Ku Klux Klan. 

     An early boss demonstrated a tireless pursuit of a story and a dedication to absolute honesty and an attempt at fairness and balance. 
     Bruce and Judy who demonstrated that a passion for
life and matters of the mind can and will lead you on a life long adventure.

     Earlier, a junior high school basketball coach taught me the power of drilling, over and over to improve a skill. And long before Phil Jackson got accolades for his "zen" coaching, my coach had us do"imaging," picturing or seeing ourselves perform well in individual skills and as a team.

     A little later I was taken into a group that some considered old fashioned or anachronistic. It was dedicated to teaching young men the skills of knighthood-chivalry, fidelity, courage, brotherly love, respect and devotion to learning. Older men, accomplished in many skills, guided us. One of those men, his name was Buddy, had a profound impact on all of us.

     Howard Stone and William Enright, two tall, powerful, intellectual, extraordinarily gifted theologians and pastors demonstrated how to weave intellect, faith, humor and humility into living a life of good.

     As an adult I met, read and studied John Wooden, the extraordinary coach and motivator. Wooden was more than a "Wizard of Westwood," he was a gentleman and teacher for the ages.

     Another true mentor was my father who showed me an absolute dedication to the principles of this democratic republic and fair play. I cannot tell you how many times I heard him invoke the Voltaire line, "I may disagree with what you say but will defend to death your right to say it."

     He was a true egalitarian and a man of a deep and guiding faith. "Make the most of each day," he said so many times, I hear myself saying that to my daughters.

     Mentors, in their own way, shaped, molded and guided.

     And there are others

HE SAVED THE UNION 

IT IS MORE THAN STONE

   Serious historians and just average Americans, in large measure, say Abraham Lincoln was the greatest American President. 

    Dad made sure that on our first trip to Washington, when I was a school boy, we got here after dark. There is a power that is beyond words when you behold this temple setting, washed in light. 

    There is a solemnity and greatness that is palpable.  

    It is fitting that this stone version of a giant of a man

looks toward the monument for another human who seemed to ascend to greatness by his acts to service and devotion to our national cause.  George Washington is paid tribute in another post.
     Count those who have guided you.  It will make you smile.
      See you down the trail.

INSPIRED

A DOSE OF GOOD MEDICINE

    Being personal now- our fall trip to Washington was a much needed medication.

    Time with our dear friends Frank and Sandy was part of a cure. The other "tonic" was to touch history, art and culture as an antidote to a bruising and almost unfathomable battle.

    I sense some of you are saying, "What the...?  Washington as a place to go for peace and inspiration?  Yes!  Yes indeed!

   Frequent readers remember I'm a First Amendment fanatic. I'm the kind of goof who reads the Declaration of Independence each Fourth of July, and who is adamant about protecting our liberties and who holds dear the extraordinary set of bones upon which this republic hangs-the Constitution.

   I believe that all of us are entitled the full extension of  rights, privileges and responsibilities laid out for us by the founders, protected by sacrifices through generations and increased by our perpetually growing enlightenment. 

   So Washington DC is the touchstone, in so many ways.

   Ingrained in the raison d'être of these monuments and memorials are intellects, sacrifices, leadership, vision and a devotion to an ideal-a nation where all live in equality. 
   Personalities who have risen to lead are honored, beyond their days, as a challenge to us in our time.  These stone reminders are a tonic. We are humbled and inspired by what we see and remember.

    Service personnel and journalists have given much, including their all so that we may know and live free. They inspire me.
   Politicians who rise above petty politics to move the arc of history as statesmen inspire me.

    Temples that celebrate the best of our creative dreams,  reaching and artistic output, inspire and offer a healing balm.

    And so our divided and dysfunctional Congress, beleaguered Presidency and questionable Supreme Court do not detract from the wide and long sweep of the true greatness that can and has emerged in and from this Capitol of human longings and achievement. It is not perfect.  None of the heroes who are memorialized were perfect. Like all of us, they had feet of clay and were made of the same star matter. 
   We have eras of which to be proud and periods of shame and embarrassment but it is always on a human scale, moving toward an ideal, an inch, a day, a moment at a time.

    So I take from all of it an inspiration and renewed zeal to stay stalwart in my belief that all of us, regardless of birthright, are children under the same heaven, brothers and sisters of planet earth. I may not like you, I may not agree with you, but neither that, nor how and who you were born should stand between you and full equality, even in a church.

    Your color, your gender, your ethnic heritage, your sexual orientation, your physical or mental challenges simply make you a human being, entitled to the full privileges of life.

    I thank the good Lord for a vision that it is so, and for a nation where we get better at making it so and for a place where we build monuments and temples to remind us to make sure it is always so and to recall those who have said so.

    See you down the trail.

MAGNIFICENT YOSEMITE

AS GOOD AS IT GETS

        My friend Maura is planning a California jaunt for her Irish cousins and I've been helping with logistics.  Yosemite is a center piece of their visit.

       In 1851 an ongoing battle between gold miners and the native inhabitants, American Indians, reached a point where the famous Mariposa Battalion was sent in.  Probably from the moment the Battalion saw the place, word about it's beauty began to spread.

          On June 30, 1864 President Abraham Lincoln set aside a grove of sequoias in the valley.  That marked the creation of the first state park in the US.  Naturalist John Muir, who explored this wilderness, campaigned for federal park status.  It took 26 years and in 1890 Yosemite became a national park.

       Two rivers, the Merced and the Tuolumne flow through the park.  There are 196 miles of road and 800 miles of trails. 

        The waterfalls are a signature, always spectacular, and even more so after a winter with lots of snow.

 Do you see the sprite or spirit dancing out of this falls in this frame?

      The land is described as "colossal."  Indeed it is.  It ranges from 2,000 feet to 13,000 and most of it is true wilderness.

I wish every American could see Yosemite.  It is more than sheer beauty,

it is an attitude and sense of being.  We have made repeated visits and will 

continue to do so.


THERE IS AN INCREDIBLE DRAMA PLAYING OUT AT YOSEMITE AS THEY TRY TO BLAST AWAY 17 FEET OF SNOW BLOCKING THE FAMED TIOGA PASS. LINK HERE FOR A GREAT PIECE BY MIKE ANTON IN THE LA TIMES.

See you down the trail.