Tuesday morning 8AM at Starbucks. Outside the rain Is falling in a dense curtain of water. Thunder rolls. If this keeps up there is going to be flooding. Usually a downpour abates in a few minutes. Sometimes it does not.

I find myself thinking in a parallel fashion about the state of our society, particularly about how we practice politics. Politics is about the ebb and the flow of debate about the sharing of power, who gets what, when and how, and how much. At an earlier time in my life, the debate, the argument would reach an end point, a resolution and both sides would agree to an armistice. The resolution consisted of compromise, with all parties satisfied to live with their agreement. There have been times when the intensity of contention did not abate. The intensity growing until hostilities broke out, and violence ran un-contained. The onset of the Civil War comes to mind. Did we miss another precipice in the 60s only due to the leadership of individuals such as M. L. King Jr. and the Kennedys?

I think that we are approaching another fold point in our history. Our President is a man who leverages ignorance, fear, and tribalism to increase his personal power, his ability to dictate the conditions of life for our society, and for other nations.

I read an email from a friend this morning supporting the practice of taking children from their parents coming from Central America to request asylum. Reports of holding camps under construction on military bases in Texas are in the news. The President is advocating the removal of individuals suspected of violating a law, without any due process.

With all of this, the garden in our backyard grows with abandon. And my visit to Kraklauer Park was rewarded by a scene of flowers, insects, wild sunflower plants rapidly approaching maturity along the creek. Nature is reliable in its renewal, the ebb and the flow, the rhythm of life.

I’ve got to hold on to that.

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The American Civil War

April 12, 1861 4:30 AM –War Comes
4 long, murderous , blood years
620,000 American soldiers dead
50,000 Confederate civilians dead
unknown 1000s crippled and maimed