A Bird Needs Two Wings.....

A few days ago I caught the end of a TV interview - the story was about two sisters, both running for office somewhere in the US. Two different points of view, perhaps running from opposite sides of the aisle - I didn't catch all the details. What I did hear was the end of the interview when one of the women said "A bird needs two wings to fly." (Or something like that!)

I've been thinking about that simple/profound statement ever since. Technically a bird can probably get along with one wing....but the image would be a bird either in captivity in a sanctuary, or perhaps fluttering on the ground....going round and round in circles and getting no where.

But to fly? Yes....the bird would need two wings. Two wings working in tandem with each other to lift the bird and keep it soaring.

It's an interesting image when "transferred" to the current mood in our Country. Two "sides" who won't work together. Two "sides" who stand and yell at each other. Two "sides" that bring out the worst in each other.

So......what would happen if the two "sides" began to actually communicate, listen, cooperate?

Our bird would fly.......

I Saw It With My Own Eyes....I Heard It With My Own Ears.....

It was August 1974. I was at a friend's house watching television. Our son played with her little boy, his best buddy, and I held five-month-old Megan in my arms. My friend and I sat on the couch in her small den and watched as President Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency.

This was the end of a long two-year process beginning with a break in at an office building in Washington DC. The story unraveled slowly....and painfully....with many denials and lots of accusations. It was the topic of discussion almost every Thursday morning at our local public library "Mom's Discussion Group" (An hour of adult conversation while our pre-schoolers enjoyed story time.) As we watched the news and tried to sift through facts we were using newspapers, radio and I think three major networks. This was years before cable TV and the internet. So the story moved more slowly....perhaps more thoughtfully than it would have in today's media market.  A few reporters just kept digging and digging and asking and asking. One thread lead to another.....one cover-up piled on top of another.....follow the money.....White House staff resigned....the VP left in disgrace.....hundreds of thousands of dollars of hush money changed hands.....week by week it just got more and more unreal. And Watergate changed the way Americans looked at their government.....trust eroded. Faith in our elected and appointed officials was tested.....replaced by doubt and disbelief.

Yesterday I happened across the Rachel Maddow show....we don't have cable but it showed up on my search engine so I listened. And my jaw dropped....and Watergate flooded back in. I'd watched the Putin/45 press conference after the recent unplanned "summit" so I'd heard the words....I'd seen the men....I'd listened to the interpreters. And then I took the time to watch the Rachel Maddow episode on July 24, 2018 called "White House Leaves Putin Support for Trump Out of Transcript."

The entire show took about an hour, and included three knowledgeable governmental officials (serving previous administrations) to add information, background and reaction to what happened to the tape of the real press conference. The White House was re-writing history to leave something out.....In Russia the government re-wrote this recent history even more and left all of one reporter's questions out of the event.

I watched the press conference....I saw it with my eyes....I heard it with my ears....but now the official version was somehow just slightly and importantly different. I invite you to go to her website and just listen. Really listen......watch the real press conference....and then watch the redacted version. Is it important that one part of one question was deleted? Does it really mean anything?

Looking back, here's a brief recounting how Watergate unraveled a Presidency:

A Brief Chronology of Watergate

1968

• November 1968: Richard Milhous Nixon, the 55-year-old former vice president who lost the presidency for the Republicans in 1960, reclaims it by defeating Hubert Humphrey in one of the closest elections in U.S. history.

• July 23, 1970: Nixon approves a plan for greatly expanding domestic intelligence-gathering by the FBI, CIA and other agencies. He has second thoughts a few days later and rescinds his approval.

1971

• June 13, 1971: The New York Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers – the Defense Department’s secret history of the Vietnam War. The Washington Post will begin publishing the papers later in the week.


• September 9, 1971: The White House “plumbers” unit – named for their orders to plug leaks in the administration – burglarizes a psychiatrist’s office to find files on Daniel Ellsberg, the former defense analyst who leaked the Pentagon Papers.

1972

• June 17, 1972: Five men, one of whom says he used to work for the CIA, are arrested at 2:30 a.m. trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate hotel and office complex.


• June 19, 1972: A GOP security aide is among the Watergate burglars, The Washington Post reports. Former attorney general John Mitchell, head of the Nixon reelection campaign, denies any link to the operation.


• August 1, 1972: A $25,000 cashier’s check, apparently earmarked for the Nixon campaign, wound up in the bank account of a Watergate burglar, The Washington Post reports.


• September 29, 1972: John Mitchell, while serving as attorney general, controlled a secret Republican fund used to finance widespread intelligence-gathering operations against the Democrats, The Post reports.


• October 10, 1972: FBI agents establish that the Watergate break-in stems from a massive campaign of political spying and sabotage conducted on behalf of the Nixon reelection effort, The Post reports.


• November 11, 1972: Nixon is reelected in one of the largest landslides in American political history, taking more than 60 percent of the vote and crushing the Democratic nominee, Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota.

1973

• January 30, 1973: Former Nixon aides G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord Jr. are convicted of conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping in the Watergate incident. Five other men plead guilty, but mysteries remain.


• April 30, 1973: Nixon’s top White House staffers, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, and Attorney General Richard Kleindienst resign over the scandal. White House counsel John Dean is fired.


• May 18, 1973: The Senate Watergate committee begins its nationally televised hearings. Attorney General-designate Elliot Richardson taps former solicitor general Archibald Cox as the Justice Department’s special prosecutor for Watergate.


• June 3, 1973: John Dean has told Watergate investigators that he discussed the Watergate cover-up with President Nixon at least 35 times, The Post reports.


• June 13, 1973: Watergate prosecutors find a memo addressed to John Ehrlichman describing in detail the plans to burglarize the office of Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist, The Post reports.


• July 13, 1973: Alexander Butterfield, former presidential appointments secretary, reveals in congressional testimony that since 1971 Nixon had recorded all conversations and telephone calls in his offices.


• July 18, 1973: Nixon reportedly orders the White House taping system disconnected.


• July 23, 1973: Nixon refuses to turn over the presidential tape recordings to the Senate Watergate committee or the special prosecutor.


• October 20, 1973: Saturday Night Massacre: Nixon fires Archibald Cox and abolishes the office of the special prosecutor. Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William D. Ruckelshaus resign. Pressure for impeachment mounts in Congress.


• November 17, 1973: Nixon declares, “I’m not a crook,” maintaining his innocence in the Watergate case.


• December 7, 1973: The White House can’t explain an 18 1/2 -minute gap in one of the subpoenaed tapes. Chief of staff Alexander Haig says one theory is that “some sinister force” erased the segment.

1974

• April 30, 1974: The White House releases more than 1,200 pages of edited transcripts of the Nixon tapes to the House Judiciary Committee, but the committee insists that the tapes themselves must be turned over.


• July 24, 1974: The Supreme Court rules unanimously that Nixon must turn over the tape recordings of 64 White House conversations, rejecting the president’s claims of executive privilege.


• July 27, 1974: House Judiciary Committee passes the first of three articles of impeachment, charging obstruction of justice.


• August 8, 1974: Richard Nixon becomes the first U.S. president to resign. Vice President Gerald R. Ford assumes the country’s highest office. He will later pardon Nixon of all charges related to the Watergate case.

That was then.....this is now.....but do you see any similarities? Any troubling similarities? I listened to the Rachel Maddow episode and as I said, my jaw dropped....In America? Turning real news into fake news......are we really in this twilight zone with this man at the head of our government?

Really.....just where does this go from here? Follow the threads....follow the money.....follow the Kremlin......just follow.....

Bee Balm and Bambi Two.....

Another beautiful walk up our bike path today. Things are changing, new wildflowers in bloom. Dave, Fenway and I walk slowly and look and listen. We've got lavender bee balm blooming now.....and lots of Queen Anne's Lace.....



along with others I can't recall. Butterflies and bees are everywhere!

And then Dave stops as he catches a glimpse of Bambi, once again watching from just off the path. Surrounded by green, but its spots still sweet evidence that this is a fawn born this spring.

And then there is the other side of all this newness.....the end part. Earlier in the spring I noticed that a dead doe was lying right along the side of the creek. I don't know what happened, but there she was.....on the bank at the edge of the water. Sprawled out in her final resting place. I would look at her as we walked by and notice the changes week to week. Today Dave brought his long lense and took a shot.....this is all that's left. She's merging back with the earth.....ashes to ashes.....

....I'll continue to watch until she is dust......

Bambi in the Bushes......

It was late afternoon and I took another slow walk up our bike path through the woods. This time is was just me and my phone/camera. Fenway and Dave were ensconced in the condo and I just wanted to stretch my legs. As usual, within a few steps, I am 'in" the woods. And I'm never disappointed.

There was a slight breeze and the zillions of green leaves around me moved slowly....birds singing and flying about. And my first sighting was a sweet little rabbit. It let me get pretty close before dashing into the long grass to disappear. Loved its soft grey/brown coloring....and sitting near a bunch of yellow birdsfoot trefoil!

Moving north I spotted dozens and dozens of monarchs. Pairs zipping around and chasing each other....perhaps it's monarch mating season? Lots of stands of milkweed whre they would lite for a moment before fluttering on. I bet I counted fifty but my camera wasn't fast enough to catch a shot.

And then I spotted my first doe....feeding across the stream. She looked at me for a moment, but knew she was safe on her side so just continued to browse. For some reason I just never get tired of spotting "my" deer. I could hear others in the deep green....but unless you're in the right spot at the right time they are impossible to see. This walk rewarded me with four deer along the way.

Then, just before coming back to the condo I heard a small rustle and looked just off the path. Bambi in the bushes. Wow how quickly they grow! We just stood and looked at each other for a moment before I went on home.

My quiet 45 minute walk was a success. And I began to think about my "Claudia Walks", the ones with my cousin down on her farm. How she'd enjoy the quiet moments, the nature around her.....the same morning walk every day for YEARS....no matter what the weather. And that's how I think about my walks....this is my slmost daily "Claudia Walk"......and about as close to the spiritual as I get.......it's my church.

Preparations.....

Fenway and I enjoyed another quiet morning walk up the bike path. We were looking for Bambi (I saw the fawn just off the path yesterday but of course did not have my phone/camera in my pocket). I was prepared today.....but no sightings. Just the sounds of birds in the trees, a zippy little goldfinch crossing our path and the greens....all the different greens.

The next few days promise to be rainy so we took our longer walk across the bridge and back through the woods. Won't be able to do that for awhile because it will be too muddy. As we approached the parking lots leading to our condo we found busy preparations....Port's Annual Fish Day is Saturday and THOUSANDS of people will come to town even if weather is not perfect.

Fen stopped as if to say "Hey....what is THIS on my route?"  You can just see the top of our building at the back, so from our little deck we will have a great view of families enjoying these old fashioned carnival rides. Remember these?

There are more rides going up so the joint will really be rocking on Friday night and Saturday. Fenway, who seems to hate noise, won't like it at all......but then dogs aren't allowed to attend so he'll just hide in the condo!

Meandering Monarchs.....

We took an early morning walk today - Fenway and I wanted to beat the heat and humidity. We discovered a little breeze as we went up the bike path and searched out the shade.....it was still very pleasant.

Our greenery is lush and full...it's very hard now to spot "our" deer as we walk along. They can be just off the side, but unless they move, we walk right on by.  For the first time I heard locust up in the trees, and of course lots of birds zipping here and there. I wish I was better at identifying bird calls, but unless it's a mourning dove, cardinal or crow I am pretty clueless.

And then I began to notice the little white "blobs" flitting up and down in short spurts....the cabbage butterflies. And then the monarchs...purposefully moving north-ish and stopping at blooms along the way. We followed one for quite awhie as it flew ahead of us up the path.

And I love the summer wildflowers we spot - big Queen Anne's lace, day lillies, small buttercups, pink and white crown vetch, asters and bittersweet nightshade. I'm still looking for this year's orange spotted touch-me-nots!





We crossed the stream and walked back through the woods and suddenly there she was - a doe coming down a path in the woods, headed straight for us. She stopped, we stopped. A few moments looking at each other and then Fenway and I moved away....and as we did so I spotted another doe and one mottled fawn a little farther into the woods.

So all in all a good morning walk.....peaceful and pretty....a nice way to start the day.

A Single Root...

I spent a quick few days reading another Lee Child book featuring Jack Reacher. We've read a lot of this series.....they are quick and I like the main character. And about half way through this one I realized "I've read this before!"....but I couldn't remember the ending so I just kept on.

There was one paragraph, early on, that made me stop and re-read it several times....and made me wonder. "Fourteen miles. Aspen groves blazed like flares on the slopes. Whole copses of hundreds of separate trees, but all joined together underground by a single root" An aspen wood was all one organism. The largest living thing on earth." Really??? How did I now know this??? How is this possible??

It made me start thinking about inter-connectedness....and how one tree supports the next and the copse just keeps growing. I found a drawing on the internet.....and began remembering our trips west and all of the aspen trees we've seen. Never knowing that they were so closely related.

And then my imagination spun off from there....and I looked at the drawing and thought about family. My little family....spread out all over the country but connected by heart strings and in spirit. And the larger family of man. Wishing the world population could see it self as an aspen grove.....individuals but connected. By blood lines, heritage, culture.....and if you trace history back far enough, we all came from one small "aspen grove".....and spread from continent to continent.

Wondering why it is so hard for us to see the similarities....instead we focus on the differences and let those drive us apart. An aspen wood = all one organism, but not the largest living thing on earth....that would be man. So shake hands with a neighbor, smile at a stranger as you walk down the street, contribute some school supplies to a child who needs them.....we're connected....just below the surface....

A Good List.....

During the past few years we've seen news coverage about people caught in mass-shooting episodes....and the lists of names of those involved. The stories appear over and over. The injured, the dead. Pictures are featured in newspapers and magazines...and for a moment the faces and names are front page news. Until they aren't.

For the past two weeks much of the world's attention has been focused on a cave in Thailand and the young people trapped inside. Any rescue attempts were complicated by weather, the spaces in the cave itself, the young boys inside with little or no ability to swim and certainly no scuba diving experience. The world watched and we all held our breath....how would the experts ever get these children out? Could they beat the threat of more heavy rains to come that would re-flood areas of the cave now dry?

And the community came together, and experts arrived, and equipment....and every day the news presented us with an update. First the good news of actually finding all of the kids and their coach still alive. And then the planning and the equipment needed to even begin to get them out. Day after day....with their parents gathered and praying outside the entrance to the cave.

Day after day.....until the first few boys emerged, and then the next day a few more, and finally today the announcement that all the young boys and their coach were out of the cave and receiving medical care. There was a collective sigh of relief....there would be another list of names, and more pictures of smiling faces.

But this time there was a reason to smile....and no memorial services for grieving families to endure. Another list....thank you for this one.....

Celebration Two.....

So it's the 5th of July - the fireworks are over, the picnics in the parks and family gatherings done....well maybe not quite.

I took Fenway for an early morning walk today because the heat and humidity are roaring back. We walked around the water treatment plant along the pathway next to Lake Michigan. This is one of our favorite mid-size rambles.

The route takes us behind the band shell - a center of activity all day yesterday at the end of our town's parade. Kids proudly displayed bicycles decorated with red, white and blue, bands took the stage one after another for an almost all-day concert. There was a bouncy castle set up and other games....and families, lots of families.

Fenway and I continue around past the playground.....another center of activity for the younger set yesterday. And there was the picnic table.....

....how nice. A group gathered for a holiday meal....shared a delicious watermelon and left the whole damn thing for someone else to clean up. Keep in mind....this is about 20 feet from the nearest garbage can.

Happy 4th of July to the crew who left this behind.....

Celebrating.....

It's the 4th of July......celebrations taking place all over America. I must admit I have a few "mixed feelings" about this particular holiday this particular year.  I was curious so I googled the history of the holiday and the information I found was pretty much what I learned in my history classes way back in grade school....

The Fourth of July – also known as Independence Day or July 4th – has been a federal holiday in the United States since 1941, but the tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution. On July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 to the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues.

So this holiday celebrates American colonists gaining their independence from English rule.... standing up to a tyrant and saying "No more!".....but this holiday doesn't celebrate independence for everyone.

And, for me, this year has been one of continued and every increasing frustration about some of what is happening here in my America. The anger, the division, the "uncivility" on display between strangers, friends, family. While there is much to celebrate and be proud of here in the United States, there is also much to cause concern.

The Statue of Liberty raises her torch......but her torch is tarnished. The words to some of our American anthems ring hollow to me.

We have our American flag hanging from our balcony, as we do each year, but this year we display it to state that yes....we are proud Americans, but no....we do not support much of what is currently American.

It's sort of a half-celebration this year......