Words Have Consequences

    Senate Chaplain Barry Black spoke a wisdom when he said "...words have consequences..."

     In more than symbolic terms it was the missing piece of the puzzle, like the piece above. It was found on a parking lot. Imagine the reality that imposes on the person trying to work the rest of that puzzle some place.

     What Chaplain Black said is akin to the nose on each face in the US. It is there in front of us.
     The Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer observed that as Adam Schiff was wrapping up a day of making the case for removal, Republican Senators sat in rapt attention, listening to his every word. 
      Schumer said then and many nonpartisans have noted since, it was perhaps the first time these Republican Senators had heard details, the truth, the story and thus the case to remove. Words. They were powerful words. They revealed pieces in an impeachment and political puzzle.

     We live at a time when a particular ilk have weaponized words; in politics, media, social networks and amongst one time friends, now divided by words, often ignored or spoken with malicious intent.

 

    These are challenging times in the US, and the path forward is strewn, our footing is not always certain. Words are the engine and the means of both our divide, and perhaps rapprochement.
     A lasting impression of our travel in Ireland is the inherent value of language and the power of words and all that is constructed on that foundation. Words, and how they are used, and what they say, matter. 

   Wall poster at Dublin Airport

   Donald Trump is not revered, nor is he respected. There are no warm memories of him adorning public spaces in that distant land, home to so many ancestors.

    Something so easy to love in Ireland is the love of words and writers.

   Oscar Wilde 

    Where else might you find such as this, a statue memorial to a writer? 

   Historic St. Patrick's Cathedral has a fascinating literary side story. 

    Jonathan Swift is recognized for his work Gulliver's Travels and to a lesser extent his essay A Modest Proposal.
    Not so well known, perhaps, he was also the Dean of St. Patrick's, a position he was not entirely happy about. 

    He had a long tenure at St. Patrick's though he probably desired a posting to London. 
    He was a cleric who also wrote satire, essays, poetry, political pamphlets.
    He intended to provoke and used satire, sarcasm and wit to prompt the establishment into action. He was especially mocking in pointing out the indifference to the poor and the problems of starvation and poverty.
     His masterful use of words, angered those in power and so he was posted to St. Patrick's in his birthplace of Dublin.
     Earlier he spent years in Trim, in County Meath, observed and noted in previous posts in this series. Swift wrote prolifically in Trim. 
      While he championed the vulnerable, he angered the Queen and people in power. His life story is fascinating and it was marshaled always by words. 
       He wrote his own epitaph, in Latin.

     Jonathan Swift is buried in St. Patrick's.  The glare on the image above makes it a challenge to read. Here is what he wrote:
     Here is the laid the Body
     of Jonathan Swift, Doctor of Sacred Theology
     Dean of this Cathedral Church,
     where fierce indignation
     can no longer
     injure the Heart.
     Go forth, Voyager,
     and copy, if you can
     this vigorous (to the best of his ability)
     Champion of Liberty.
     
      Swift left most of his estate to a hospital for the mentally ill. Once known as St. Patrick's Hospital for Imbeciles, it remains open and the name has changed. Words have consequences. 

   Another Irish master of the word is Seamus Heany, who's words I have used in this series. 

  Through out the nation there is a celebration of words and those who have left them.

     There is a spirit in the use of words, and there is an intentionality. Irish newspapers still purvey significance.

   There is much to learn in a land that tells and hears stories, that takes the time to engage, to dig into meaning and purpose and remember and even celebrate the wordsmith.

    A unique pub is on our horizon.

    In the meantime our word of the day is Removal!

    See you down the trail.

LETTING THE CHIPS FALL...

IN THE ARENA OF THE MIND

     "It may be different elsewhere. But a democratic society-in it the highest duty of the writer, the composer, the artist is to remain true to himself and to let the chips fall where they may."

      John Kennedy said that a little less than a month before he was killed.  He was speaking at Amherst College October 26, 1963.

       "In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation."

       I wonder how many writers today concern themselves with such lofty concerns. Maybe they do in little pieces and then over time, taken in mass, it adds up.
        It's  harder to get your voice heard through the mass of signals that fill the public square. Digital media, social networks, cable, broadcast, the whole universe of film and print are choked with content, much of it simply trying to out pace the others.  In some cases outrage and anger get attention. Those may be genuine, but are they the visions of truth JFK spoke of?

       The more I watch Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom the more convinced I am he is serving his vision of truth. Here's why I think so.  
       The modern media, in all of it's iterations, does more to shape our sense of reality, expectations and vision of government than most people make themselves aware of. As consumers of the din we rarely give ourselves the time to ponder the impact of what we consume.  We think more about what we eat, than consider what we put into our heads though we spend hours a day consuming information flow.

        Sorkin's work cuts to the quick.  Some criticize the "preachiness" of it.  I don't see it that way.  I think he is offering a valuable insight into the media machine that shapes our attitudes and affects our sense of destiny. Yes, it is entertainment, but it also holds a mirror to a powerful element of modern life and Sorkin, as President Kennedy opined, lets the chips fall where they may.

DAY FILE

A FUN "SCHOOL"

     Each year, since our move, we make a point to attend

Coastal Discovery Day up at San Simeon.  The Discovery Center, joined by a host of other nature, environmental, park and educational groups hold a kind of carnival overlooking the Pacific.  It's for kids with lots of hands on activities, but each year we learn something and pick up a few interesting shots.  This year I learned about the hearing chambers and ear drums (bulla) of whales, elephant seals and dolphins.  Amazing technology at work in those sonar sensitive relatives.

  The Falcon expert had a couple of beautiful friends.

    An injured wing has grounded this Pelican, now in the custody of a rehabilitation specialist.  He eats 3 pounds of sardines or smelt each day.  He'd eat more if he were burning calories by flying.

    Here are a couple specimens of Elephant Seal skulls.

     In the frame below is the skull of a Dolphin.  The bottom piece, in the shadow, is the kind of sensor bone that transmits sounds from long, medium or short distances, using a different portion of the bone to do so.  The differing signals are then processed in a sophisticated brain.

      Skulls of native wild life.

  While it was sunny and bright up at the cove, south toward
Cambria, another micro climate existed, in the fog.

See you down the trail.