Waiting, In the Interval

        Between seasons. Between change. Between atmospheric rivers. Between the America we knew and where it goes. We live in the interval.   

        On the California central coast this is the season some call Irish.

    If you know Ireland, you know this is an imposter. It is reminiscent, however. 

    Just being California winter is plenty good. From the perch here, it seems entirely too many citizens are loosing their grip.

    This includes the Alabama Supreme Court and at least 6 activist US Supreme Court Justices, all of those who have surrendered heart and mind to the MAGAban, those who give comfort to Russia and their mad czar, and those want to kill the almost two-and-a-half century experiment in a democratic republic. 

    We are between sanity and them. 

    If the MAGAban sycophants were to gain control, we likely would slip into a struggle that no one deserves. That we need to address these realities is a signal  we are in descent. 

       There is much about this America that is troubling; beliefs that are badges of ignorance gone malignantly arrogant. Uneducated and now unhinged. 

       The hijacking and the weaponizing of faith is misbegotten. Christian Nationalism, the atrocity of Hamas, and Netanyahu's abuse of the history of the Jewish state to conduct a war of genocide are three footmen of hell. There is plenty of evil creeping about.

        Nations respond to attack, but a counter attack that targets civilians, and ignores pleas for restraint is a case of two wrongs do not make a right.

        Authoritarianism, theocracy, and a new feudalism are active threats and sadly too many are poorly educated and/or manipulated to understand how they have become tools. 

        Again Russian agents are manipulating US citizens and attitudes. The MAGAban Republicans are part of the attack. They also put our children and grand children at risk of going to war to stop the aggression of the same Russian czar they support. It is madness.

        We stand between continuing the struggle to realize our aspirational promise or a regressive mania that seeks to discard human rights, freedom of thought, choice, belief and expression. 

        The poisoning of faith is insidious. We have seen it before. Dietrich Bonhoeffer a Lutheran minister was an outspoken critic of German Nationalism and the rise of the fascists. He was executed by the Nazi government. 

        Bonhoeffer asked humanity to think deeply and weigh the consequence of what is said, thought and believed. "Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are."

        Be it a philosophy, faith, or a personal code requires examination, giving respect, and thinking of others. This is more diligent than being a follower, scrolling your screen, posting emojis or rants. It requires getting out of echo chambers and silos.

    Look closely and you will see in Christian nationalism, Christian Trumpism, and MAGAban Nationalism, the seeds of the destructive evil that coopted faith, churches and the German regime.

     Things change. We can make choices. Big decisions are ahead.

       We live in the interval.  

        See you down the trail.

Show Your Colors

 

        It's tartan day in the US, a recognition of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320, a Scots pledge to freedom and independence and the model for the US Declaration of Independence.    

"For me fight not for glory nor riches nor honors, but for Freedom alone which no good man gives up except with his life"

        The Declaration of Arbroath asserted Scotland's independence and warrior spirit.

        "As long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule."

        On this Tartan Day, the strong Ukrainian people come to mind.

        The independent, reformer, outspoken, warrior line runs through my clan's bloodline from its Gaelic/Celtic origins. In 1296 Ancestors were originators of the first set of laws governing boundaries and defense. They spent generations fighting for liberty, law, rights and fairness. 

    

        Generations of Cochrun Cochrane Cochran men have been Admirals. One is listed as one of the 10 Heroes of Scotland, Admiral Thomas Cochrane, member of Parliament, Naval innovator, and later a peer, Lord Cochrane, the Earl of Dundonald. 

        Despite honors and position he remained a pain in the side of the powerful. A radical, reformer, and innovator he is the inspiration for C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower and Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey, from which the Film Master and Commander was made. 

 

        A rebel, he was a brilliant strategist and was awarded honors by the Brazilian, Chilean and Greek Navies as well as the Royal Navy. He was buried with honors in Westminster.

    

        Despite coming from a line of distinguished military and naval officers, the clan was tied to ancestral lands near Glasgow and were hard workers. Thomas, like many of his cousins and some of his 6 siblings enlisted in the navy as teens.

     

        Since the August-September 2019 visit to the homeland, I've been sitting on the Clan story, but thought this Tartan Day was an opportunity to share it. None of us are getting any younger.

        We found the family pile near Renfrew and Paisley, where much of the family centered. Some stayed, some left for the US in a couple of waves, the 1690 and early to mid 1700's. 

        Cochrane land was in Abbey Parish and split in the early 1500's between Easter and Wester. The family castle, small and inelegant was built in the 1580's. It was surrounded by  coal pits in the 1730's. By the late1700's it was owned by a Renfrew family who sold it to the Johnstones.  It was build onto and then wrecked a few times over the years.

        In the 1940's it was part of an Army Camp. It fell into disrepair, was turned into a community center, and eventually it became a personal residence again and sits in the middle of a housing village.

        The entrance was not part of the original building but was considered old enough to be historic. 

    

        I wasn't sure what to expect. At the train station we hired a taxi and I started to give the driver the GPS coordinates, he looked at me quizzically and said, "Ya mean Cochrun Castle? I know right where it is, not far from here."

        Given Scottish weather, I suspect the old pile has taken some updating to remain inhabitable, though I thought for a 440 year old home it's looking pretty good. 

        I figured my dad, was probably smiling because near by was...

        Back in the day when I was frequently wearing my Tux I sported the colors with cummerbund and bow tie

        

        Well worn, because there was a time when we were frequently at Gala's, dinners, and such. I still have my tux but that seems like another and even more gentle time.

        

        I'm happy that my blood runs with as much Scots and Irish as it does. Thinkers, fighters, independent souls, lovers of life, believers in human dignity, speakers of the heart.

            There is a wretchedness afoot. It is good to remember those who pioneered declarations of independence, boundaries, who gave no brief to those who did not deserve it, despite rank or threat. 

        On a day when I sport my Tartan, my admiration and my prayers go to the brave souls of Ukraine, to the journalists, the medical volunteers. 

        It's time for the world to deal with the atrocities and to punish the masterminds and agents of evil acting on his behalf. 

        Be well.  See you down the trail.

         

Wishing you....

 

Wishing you a life that is green...

...a comfy spot...

...a good story...

...a place to quench a thirst...

...friends...

...music...

...a timeless mystery...

...something to love...

...spirit and commitment...

...something to believe ....

...memories...

...friends with which to share...

...wit and wisdom and the soul of a poet....

...and a life that breathes an ageless story.

Slainte'

See you down the trail.

Cover Up---Open Up---What's Up---Rise Up

warp speed

the mascot of the US testing program

   And now we are to understand we've become further divided. Wearing masks, or not. Opening up, even beyond recommendations or not. 

    I've drawn my line in the sand. This virus will not end, we must learn to live with it, wisely. 

    Until and if there is a vaccine or treatment we must pursue testing and contact tracing to give us the tools to keep people healthy and alive while also bringing a global economy back to life. They go hand in hand. To act otherwise is foolish, and dangerous. 

    There is no solution without a cost. Contact tracing runs us close to boundaries of privacy and personal security, so it must be handled wisely. But it must be done if we want to resurrect a way of life and earning that resembles what we've come to know as normal. Tracing is predicated on testing. It is embarrassing, humiliating and revealing how the US has failed at implementing testing. Even with both, we cannot expect a quick return to a vibrant economy. 
    The executive branch has failed miserably, ignoring warnings, firing key personnel, having not a clue about strategic reserve, and acting like amateurs. Because of that a total shutdown was a panic button response. It will take a lot to reignite the economy and even more to repair the damage.

second looks

creativity rocks

   Musicians, visual artists, performance artists, journalists and writers have been a shinning light in the pandemic darkness. Their efforts, while not as heroic as medical workers, are up there with grocery personnel, first responders, mail and delivery drivers and have provided immense service.
    Show hosts, news reporters and entourage casts have found a way to work around the logistic nightmare of not being in studios or being able to work together. 
    Saturday Night Live has delivered 3 at home programs that have been increasingly more sophisticated, tight and entertaining. Sam Bee and Bill Maher, working from their homes have continued their cutting edge satire. John Oliver has continued his deep dive into absurdity, corruption and failure. Seth Myers, Stephen Colbert, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon have continued to find ways to make lock down fatigued citizens laugh. 
      Musical artists have been extraordinary, working sans studio and bandmates. 
      There has been much to be immensely disturbed and worried about, but the artistic soul, expressed in myriad ways, should give us all a lot of hope.

aspirational behavior

     The same can be said of church and faith groups as well. They've found ways via Zoom, Facebook, Youtube and other streaming technologies to tend to the human soul, and provide pastoral care and succor.

      Teachers and parents have done admirable work in continuing education against extraordinary challenge.

      Millions of us have found a way through this historic passage. It is only human to long for "the way it used to be," but we've bucked up. Now is not a time to let impatience, idiocy, or selfishness set us back.

       There was a classic photo and commentary making the rounds. Protestors clamoring for a full reopening, not observing social distance, not wearing masks facing medical professionals, who have seen the worst of it, wearing masks and calling for reason. Someone noted the unmasked angry, some even with guns, cared only about themself, the masked, and socially distanced, cared about everyone.

       We deserve better than the selfish. We deserve better than their role model. 

rocks of ages

      

   Last year's visit to Scotland and Ireland put us in places that have withstood all life has to give, and have done so for centuries. Some even took over a century to build. 
    They've withstood plagues, fires, wars, including World Wars with bombing attacks, revolutionary change in culture, and attitude. Future changing history occurred in some of them. Generations have come and gone. They remain, like rocks for the ages.
     Regardless of your belief, these frames offer a sense of permanence, and the ability to endure and survive. They represent the heights of human skill, creativity, imagination and a sense of connection to the sacredness of life.
   

    Humankind can endure. We have it within us to be wise, and capable. It is ours to choose.

     Take care of each other.

      See you down the trail.