Off on a muse...

How to describe last night...A squadron of mosquitoes found a hole in our defensive screens and nets, spending the night making attack runs on various portions of our anatomies. Whatever ammunition they were carrying affected me far more than Deb. My left hand and right foot felt like they had been set on fire. Everywhere they struck felt like a cigarette burn. We started a counterattack, but the little buggers overwhelmed my defenses and after taking what felt like a shower of bug spray, getting fully clothed, and applying even more bug spray, I abandoned the forward berth for the salon couch. That helped a little, but some of the enemy were very determined, ignoring the spray defense and managing to bite through the clothing. Deb mounted an offense, dispatching more than a dozen of the attackers before dawn came. I managed a few minutes of troubled sleep in the salon, but I haven't had a night that bad since the last time my wayward ticker landed me in the ER. I was glad to see the first light of dawn.

By 0630 we were leaving the dock and heading out across Lake Oneida. What little wind there was flowed in from the stern, making for a perfectly comfortable crossing. Once off the lake, we rejoined the Erie Canal for a while, motoring along through a boat MECCA unlike any I have ever seen before. Mile after mile of private docks and marinas packed with boats lined both sides of the canal. Eventually we came to a literal fork in the waterway. To port lay the Erie Canal and a path west; to starboard lay the Oswego River, the path to Lake Ontario and the Thousand Island areas of the US and Canada. First Light swung to starboard and said goodbye to the Erie Canal.

A short time later, and we were tied to the wall in a place called Phoenix. A town that is the exact opposite of what the name “Phoenix” usually invokes. We were met at the free wall by a gaggle of young volunteers called The Bridgehouse Brats, eager to help transient boaters. They helped us secure the lines, and then offered to cater our lunches to us for tip money only. My lunch came complete with a cold beer, so I actually had to walk to the establishment with the volunteers as local ordinances make it illegal for the young ones to tote the evil brew. They walked back carrying the food while I carried the beer.

(Ed note: those easily offended should bail out now. I promised I'd warn you of political musings.)

Americans’ irrational sense of propriety is a constant source of amusement to me. I just love it when “righteousness” turns into foolishness. Something, which (having spent the last part of my aviation career working with foreign pilots), much of the rest of the world also seems to find amusing, though they often find it puzzling and a bit worrisome as well. I gave up worrying about the US a long time ago. Whatever our future holds is beyond anything I have any control over. Perhaps we will survive as a first-world, functioning democracy. Perhaps we will go the way that every elitist empire humankind has ever known has gone. Lost to greed, corruption, and hubris.

I can, and will, vote. We all can, and my guess is that most of those who read this blog, do. But I live in a deep red state so my vote will not mean much. Those who live in deep blue states but whose views of what “democracy” actually means are opposite of mine? Well, their votes don't really count much either, one of the puzzling things that comes with living in a Representative Republic that hides behind the label of “Democracy.” We vote. But then an Electoral Collage, a gerrymandered House, a Senate whose structure means the minority generally rules, and a Supreme Court of lifetime appointees for whom nobody voted, decides who takes office, what laws are written, and who is held accountable to those laws. Most of us are accountable; a few are immune. Power and money determine into which category one falls. This is the tiny bit of human history of which we are a part. Riding it out while trying not to add to the carnage, maybe even making things a little better within our own little sphere, is what we can do. If I was of a religious persuasion (I'm not) I would think any post-life judgment we might endure would focus on the harm or the good we did as individuals within whatever sphere of influence we had. We have no control over anything else. If it turns out there is a god who disagrees with me? One who actually endorses lies, genocide, violence, prejudice, oppression, and hate? Nothing I can do about that.

A few days ago, I was pretty happy about the hundreds of miles that lay between First Light and the American coastlines. Far away from hurricanes makes me happy. Yeah—guess I should have kept that thought to myself. The original plan was to spend a more comfortable night here. Then, tomorrow, reposition to Oswego to stage for the trip across the east end of Lake Ontario.  Current weather forecasts for this area include the remnants of hurricane Beryl spinning its way across the US and arriving here on Thursday as a tropical depression packing stiff winds, heavy rain, and thunderstorms. According to the NHC right now, First Light is tied up just at the edge of the Thursday's forecast impact cone. If we move we will be near smack in the center of the zone come Thursday. So we are going to stay right where we are long enough to see just what Beryl has in mind. 

Nothing I can do about that either. 

Leaving the inlet at Lake Oneida

Lake Oneida

Lock 23, the last lock of the Erie Canal. Also the easiest and the prettiest by far.

Hard to tell in the photo, but the center of the photo is the intersection—turn left to continue on to the western half of the Erie Canal, turn right to head up the Oswego Canal

Time to vote...

So Deb and I voted today via mail. I’m not going to say anything about how we voted, though those who know me can probably guess. I like voting by mail, it allows time to research each person and each item on the ballot as I go down the ballot. Something nearly impossible to do at an actual voting place.

It was possible to look up the resume and political history of each candidate even, (in some cases) to follow the electronic footprints of their social media contributions. It seems the most prudent thing to do is try to find words written by the candidates themselves, though a small dose of skepticism is warranted. What their opponents might say about them also has some merit, but must be taken with a huge helping of skepticism. Often what they say about their opponent says quite a bit about the kind of person they are themselves, and what kind of representative they might be.

In the case of voting to leave judges and justices in office, it helps to see on which side of an argument they often fall. Just who appointed them to the bench in the first place is also a pretty good indication of where their allegiances lie. Finding some of that information takes a bit of digging.

The real benefit of voting by mail comes when considering the list of state constitutional amendments. Those often seem to be deliberately written so as to be as confusing as possible. It is a puzzle why that would be. People voting by “giving it their best guess” would be as likely to get it wrong (according to the authors of the amendment) as to get it right. Wading through the verbiage to get to the real intent of the amendment can be a daunting task.

An additional problem is that many of the amendments bundled several, completely unrelated issues, into one vote. Voting for an issue for which one approves often means also voting for a different issue on which one is vehemently opposed. Balancing the “what I would like to see” from the “what I really don’t want to see” against each other can often lead to a near draw. In at least one case on this last ballot I voted against an amendment just because it was a near draw. First, do no harm. (Or, as in the case of a lot of voting these days, do no MORE harm.)

Of course anyone can do the same amount of research before going to a polling place, and all of us should. But the daily rush of normal living sometimes makes it hard to set aside the time to do so. It helps me to have ballot, black (or blue) pen in hand, access to information, and all the time I need to poke around as much as I want on each issue or candidate. I suspect that is about the only way democracy has much of a chance.

So our votes are cast and I can go back to not paying a lot of attention to the daily shenanigans of those in power. On the one hand I consider voting to be a near moral imperative. It is about the only way we have to voice an opinion that matters. On the other hand I’m not convinced it actually makes any difference, particularly on the national level. There is nothing about the electoral college, the design of the Senate, or the gerrymandering of the Congress, that is the least bit democratic. The majority opinion as regards those institutions is proving to be utterly inconsequential.  So, though I think we should all vote, and approach the privilege with near reverence, I also ponder the accuracy of the words once shared by the late comedian George Carlin.

“Everybody complains about politicians...”

But where do people think these politicians come from? They don’t fall out of the sky. They don’t pass through a membrane from another reality.

No, they come from American homes, American families, American schools, American churches, American businesses, and they’re elected by American voters. This is the best we can do, folks. It’s what our system produces...”

So I vote, but with huge helping of skepticism thrown in. My deepest suspicion is that riding along on an empire in decline might be a bumpy passage, and there seems little chance that we can change the course of that history at this late date. But a minute chance of changing course is still better than no chance at all. Voting by mail makes it possible to do so as carefully and responsibly as I can.

Better than they deserve

Those who know me, or have followed this blog for a while, know I am not shy of  poking the hornet’s nest of politics on occasion. Of late though, I have gone about my business without paying much attention to political antics. For months, going about my own business has included helping Daughter Eldest and Family on their cruising way, getting Kintala back to cruising after a year on the dock, and working out a way to visit Daughters Middle and Youngest and their families sooner rather than later. Add pushing the weather as hard as one dares, getting needed repairs done, and just the daily effort required to keep a small sailboat moving across the miles, and one comes up with plenty of business to mind.

Of course there are other reasons to pay less attention to "the news".

Two of the walkways on the Buddhist's 8 fold path are "Right mindfulness" and "Right Concentration."

Philippians 4:8 King James Version (KJV) says, (Yes, I am quoting the Bible. No, the world isn’t about to end.) “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

The Stoics taught that one needed to understand the difference between those things that are under one's control, and those things that are not.

In my opinion Donald Trump simply doesn't qualify as anything worth wasting much thought on, so I simply refuse to (as I heard it put once upon a time) give him rent free living space in my head. And he is most certainly outside of my control.

As a result, most of news I hear is that shared by the very few people with Facebook accounts that I follow, a large percentage of that group being friends who live on boats outside of the country. I suspect they are not paying much attention to what goes on inside the borders of the US, so if something is happening here that does get their attention, it is likely something to note. From one of them I heard that it is now Official US Policy to break up families and put the kids in detention centers. That seemed extreme even for Trump and the Republicans. Surely even He/They couldn’t possibly believe such a visual would play well on the public stage. I do understand that Trumpism is a cult, that he could very well,  “…stand in the middle of 5th Avenue, shoot somebody, and (not) lose voters.” But shooting someone is one thing, manhandling crying and terrified toddlers out of the arms of parents who are of no threat to anyone, is another thing entirely. Surely a thing beyond the pale even in Trump’s America. I doubted that any Border Official would do such a thing, even if so commanded.

Clearly I badly underestimated Trump's depravity, and just as badly overestimated the quality of America’s Border Officials. That I underestimated Trump’s willingness to embrace evil was kind of silly. This is the President who made room for Nazis at the table of public opinion, a man apparently devoid of any kind of introspective voice, any hint of conscience, or the smallest bit of care for anyone but himself or anything other than his own grasp of power.

That I just as badly overestimated America’s Border Officials' courage and their willingness to refuse to participate is disturbing. They are, perhaps, even more reprehensible than the current POTUS and his entourage. It is at times like these that I sometimes wish there really was a god about, one who insures that those who pull crying children away from their parents will, eventually, understand the depth of evil into which they have fallen. For I am of the opinion that claiming to be “following orders” or “enforcing the law” is no excuse for cruelty.

And though there is virtually nothing I can do to stay the evil that now prowls our land, on my own little blog and in my own tiny voice, I want to make it clear that these are not my values, this is not my choice, and these are not leaders that I, in any way, shape, or form; follow, endorse, or support. It is my hope that their downfall is imminent, that when it comes it will be totally devastating for them, their political ideology, and their supporters. I hope that they will counted among the despised in human history, that their sons and daughters, grandchildren, and great grandchildren for many generations to come, will be ashamed to carry their name.

 And that will still be better than they deserve.

Which way

A couple weeks ago, we very much enjoyed a visit to nearby marina to partake in a Thanksgiving pot luck dinner. Living in the boat yard has kept us away from the live-aboard / cruiser community so it was good to be back among the tribe. While there, I recognized a person who had been in the boatyard to have his boat launched. We had talked for a few minutes back then and I got the short version of the part of his life that had led our paths to cross. He struck me as a bit eccentric - not unusual among our group - and affable; though more animated than is my normal approach to the world.

I was a little surprised then, while we were in line to fill our plates with goodies (and completely unprovoked by anything I had said since I hadn’t said anything at all) he stated, “I assume you are pretty conservative.”

“No,” I said, unable to suppress a smile. “Not even close.”

“Really?” I guess it was his turn to be surprised. “I hope you don't lean too far left.”

“How far is too far?”

He chewed on that for a moment then said, “Well, I know you are a person of faith.”

“No,” I replied still smiling, “Not even close.”

“I guess we’ll have to work on you.”

“I appreciate the thought, and feel free. Realize you will not be the first who has tried.”

Plates full, we headed off to different parts of the group, which was fine with me. But that short little exchange sparked a muse…

How far is too far?

How far is too far when it comes to seeing that every child has enough food, a roof over their head, access to health care, and a chance at an education? Does raising taxes on billionaires and corporations, or scrutinizing military spending cross some line into being a less caring people than taking care of kids? Single payer health care provides access to millions upon millions of people all across first world societies. Is suggesting the US should at the least seriously consider such an option, leaning so far that it will make our heath care system worse than it already is? Compared to the rest of the civilized world, is that even possible?

How far is too far in supporting universal human and civil rights? Where are those limits that should never be crossed - trying to ensure that our justice system actually dispenses justice, or insisting that law enforcement officials, themselves, operate within the law? If we refuse to incentivize prisoners and prisons as profit centers, is that going too far, somehow leading to the downfall of our society? Is providing medical care for individuals with serious mental health issues rather than locking them up in solitary confinement for months (or years) somehow leaning too far toward being a compassionate, enlightened, society?  It was Benjamin Franklin who said, “That it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer, is a Maxim that has been long and generally approved.” I fear, in the America of today, it is a maxim no longer generally approved.

Is it leaning too far left to recognize that the 47 year "war on drugs" has been a abject failure? Once again, the rest of the civilized world has learned that treating drug addiction as a health care issue works. Treating it as a criminal issue, does not. It is actually something some Americans learned at least a generation ago, which is why there is a 21st Amendment to the Constitution.

How far is too far in the support of democracy? Is insisting that every American citizen of voting age has free and easy access to a polling place, and that their vote will actually be counted, a line that should not be crossed? Will making election day a national holiday, or changing “election day” into  "election week” somehow demote us to being a less democratic people? How about just getting rid of the electoral college, an anachronism that has twice in the last five elections put the loser of a national election  in the White House? Will a "one person - one vote" mandate for the office of President of the United States make us less democratic nation?

How far is too far in keeping the oceans that we sail over and live on healthy, capable of supporting the biodiversity that feeds much of the human population and produces about 70% of the oxygen that we breathe? If there is to be much of a future, is suggesting that we must balance our consumerism against fouling the water that we drink, tainting the air we breathe, and poisoning the food we eat leaning so far that it will - somehow - detract from our chances of survival? If future generations look back on us as wise, careful stewards of the planet, (which, at this rate, they are certainly not going to do) will they think that we “leaned too far" in bequeathing to them a planet they could survive in and enjoy?

It it leaning too far to realize that threatening to start a nuclear war in order to preempt a nuclear war is a horrifyingly stupid idea?

On the other hand, it is pretty easy to point out where leaning toward “law and order” can go too far. Leaning so far as to declare that “money is free speech” crossed some line into delusion. Greed never was a good idea but, as a society, we certainly lean pretty hard on propaganda and advertising trying to make it so. We have taken too much to leaning on war when trying to solve issues best left to diplomacy, and are paying a fearsome price in lives and treasure in support of that obsession.

When it comes to leaning, which way is the thing that matters at last as much as how far.

Imps

I have an Imp in my life. She is the right size, though the bleached blonde hair and dancing blue eyes, instead of bat wings and tiny horns, tend to mask her Impish nature. However, when it comes to mischief and the determination to being the center of attention, no Imp is her better. Which makes perfect sense. Why shouldn’t a near endless flurry of pure joy, boundless curiosity, and fearless adventurism be the center of attention? A touch of the mischief just comes with the territory.

A couple of weeks ago, a small lump appeared in the middle of my Imp’s little tummy. It was coy, sometimes noticeable and sometimes not. Every adult in her life immediately moved right up to the edge of panic and hovered there. Her Doctor insisted there was no real reason to worry. Our Imp was eating and sleeping well, never complaining of feeling bad, or showing any sign of being in pain. Still, he couldn’t say what the lump was was, only what is wasn’t. And what it wasn’t was a (rather common place) hernia. He scheduled an ultrasound for several days later, allowing that it could be canceled depending on what he learned from further research and conferring with other doctors.

Ultrasounds are moderately expensive tests on toddlers, and the Imp is among the many in our country whose family can only afford health insurance that comes with a crippling high deductible. Which puts one in a weird state of mind, hoping that any looming medical bills remain as “out of pocket” expenses. Such could easily drive us into a financial hole so deep that climbing out would take several years, as happened with a cancer scare a few years ago. (One of the contributing factors to us being in Bradenton these last two summers.) But chewing through the deductible to actually get insurance support would mean entering that place from where the panic wells. Perhaps the Doctor would come up with something, and the ultrasound could be canceled.

The several days passed and the Doctor could not find any explanation for the lump that would negate the need for an ultrasound. So the Imp, accompanied by Mom, headed off to the hospital. Apparently ultrasounds are common procedures for those who ended up having reason to fear the worst. My little Imp was the healthiest one in the room. It was a thought that brought a deep ache to the heart and allowed the panic to edge in a bit closer. Why should fate smile upon those I love when so many, so deeply loved by others, dwell in the valley of the Shadow?

At the end of the test, the technician was nothing but encouraging. According to him, had the test shown anything of real concern, the radiologist overseeing the procedure would have admitted the Imp to the hospital forthwith. That she was sent home to await the diagnosis was a a positive omen. But, once again, though they got a bunch of “good” pictures no one would say for sure what this thing was, or even what it wasn’t. The panic edged away a bit, but it didn’t disappear.

Two days later came word, and the panic died. The Imp has a hernia after all, it just isn’t a very common one. Surprisingly, while spreading the good news to family, we found out my Sister was born with the exact same kind of hernia and has had it all of her life. Surgery was never required nor has the condition done her any harm. Good news made even better, but it seems there is still some room for debate. Word has it general anesthesia and invasive surgery have already been broached by the professionals.

When one climbs aboard an airplane the professionalism of those flying is assumed. There is good reason for the assumption since the crew, as the saying goes “will be the first ones in the hole.” They have skin in the game, and those in the back of the plane ride along on the crews determination to end the day in one piece. But it is difficult to make that assumption of the medical profession in the US.

Our medical industry is a profit center, not a health center. It would be far more lucrative for that industry if the Imp undergoes surgery rather than just going about her life. A stay in the hospital, specialists and drugs, doctors and nurses…what do you guess - $10,000 - $20,000? And the thing is, if something goes terribly wrong, no one in the operating room “will be the first one in the hole”. In fact, they will get paid anyway. Will they “feel bad?" Sure. They are human beings after all. But they have likely “felt bad” before, and will “feel bad” again. In the mean time they have student loans to pay off, mortgages to meet, and dinner to put on the table. American’s ratio of health care returned for dollars spent is the worst in the first world. Ours is also the only one based on making a profit rather than making people well. Are the two connected? Many insist not. Indeed, some insist that "market forces" will make for the best health care. I suspect (if you will forgive the pun) they are whistling past the grave yard.

It would be nice to think that we, as a people, have earned better than that. Maybe, much like a chain can be no stronger than its weakest link, a nation can’t rise above the level of its average collective wisdom. It is starting to look like this is the best we can do, the wisest we will ever be. This generation of America is never going to fix its health care system. We have reached the limit of our collective wisdom.

My hope is that such is a generational thing. There is a whole new generation of Imps out there. One of them owns a big part of my heart. She is fine. And my belief is she, and they, are going to be much wiser than we.

Assuming we let them live that long.

Uncle

Good morning from Snead Island

I was thinking back over the last week’s worth of work, searching for something that might be of interest to write about, but the week went by void of those “you have to be kidding me” moments. I did stumble across a fat black wire that, instead of being a ground, was connected directly to the battery switch. No circuit breakers or fuses; select “1” or “2” or “BOTH” and it would be ready to add a little sizzle to your day.  But this is the “classic” boat getting a new instrument panel so finding such things isn’t really a surprise. More of a surprise would be not finding such things. In any case the offending wire went away, along with another fat black wire that carried power to the bus side of the circuit breaker panel. That one was changed to a fat red wire since I was poking around in that area anyway. The only real issue at work lately has been the relentless heat. It has been brutal enough that even the “old hands", people who have been working through Florida summers for decades, were struggling.


On the other hand, the current social and political maelstrom pummeling the US is chock full of “you have to kidding me moments.” Indeed, there have been so many since January 20th that, honestly, I stopped paying much attention. I mean, really, once you know there is a crazy uncle living upstairs in your parents house, what more is there to know?

“How’s Uncle Chester doing these days?”

“I fear he has been a bit crazier that normal lately.”
“Really, how can you tell?”

“Well, yesterday he decided that Nazis can be “good people” And that people who stand up against Nazis are "bad people".

“Yep, that is crazy alright, even for Chester. What do the doctors say?

“Uncle Chester doesn’t go to see doctors anymore. He thinks he is smarter and knows more about medicine than every doctor who has ever lived. He is also sure all the doctors are out to get him and that they are telling us nothing but lies to make him look bad. He is medicating himself on ego and hubris."

“Damn, don’t know what can be done about that.”

“Not much. We put a buzzer on the back door so we know when he goes out, and hid the ‘nukes over in the neighbor’s garage.”

“Good idea. Would you pass the salt please?”

At some point, of course, Chester is going to be a danger to himself and everyone around. Sooner or later someone is going to have to step up and move him out of the house and into a facility where he can get some help. That, or someone is going to get hurt and Chester will end up in a different kind of facility. (The US is pretty far behind the rest of the civilized world when it comes to dealing with the mentally ill.)

For now the family has no choice but to bumble along wondering just how much worse Chester can get before something just has to be done. But, like families everywhere, we will put off doing anything until the last possible moment.

Hopefully it will not be a moment too late.

Going in circles

There is a lot of talk of “America First” these days. Oddly enough, it comes from both ends of the political spectrum currently allowed in the US. It is the rally cry for the Trump / Republican / Religious Right coalition. Their view of the “America” that should be “first” is restricted to, well, just themselves. But it still has that hint of patriotic, Red, White, and Blue, apple pie smell about it. Somehow it sounds good, playing to that tribal part of each of us, and a lot of people who think of themselves as the “true” patriots are signing on without reservation.

Via Giphy

The Democratic rally cry for “America First” is that Republicans should count the good of the country as more important than what might be (temporarily) good according to Republican ideology. As such, it would seem that the Democrats have concluded that they are the “true” patriots, that Trump and the Religious Right are simply incapable of caring about anything but themselves, and are hoping that the Republican part of the coalition is large enough to thwart the worst excesses of Trump and his believers.

What the Democrats don't say out loud is that their version of “America First” helps bring them back from the wilderness of political power; thus allowing their particular views of corporate, military, and religious power to rule, as opposed to the Republican version of corporate, military, and religious power.

“America First” does mean slightly different things to each, but the general sentiment is much the same. To each, “America” is the only thing that matters. Both agree that “first” includes the largest and most fearsome military. It means an economic system that dominates the world, while being dominated by corporate interests. Both are big supporters of a surveillance state for common citizens and top secret status for any of their own activities. This is not to suggest that the two groups are identical. Clearly, if one is a minority, female, gay, trapped in poverty, or struggling to manage a life-threatening physical issue, one side's talk is less hostile than the other. “Less hostile” though, isn't really much of a choice.

Both Right and Left also claim to be “forward” (while insisting the opposition is “back”) which has, in effect, reduced American politics to a single dimension. Both parties and all of our media are dedicated to making sure none of us starts to wonder if a single dimension is all there is to work with. After all, “left” or “right” is not the same as forward. Go left or right and all that one gets is a circle. And really, women's rights, civil rights, white supremacy, fascism, dictatorships, war, poverty, pollution...haven't we done this already?

And “forward” is not the same as “up”.

Maybe the only real hope we have is for someone with some influence to come along and get us all to stop talking about “America First”. We could put “first” some of the things we keep walking around in circles; democracy, human/civil/women's rights, maybe the environment. At least we would be moving forward, even if that isn't really up. After all, treating all human beings as human beings is barely moving forward, with not much “up”. Nor is caring for the only environment we have ever known (or seen) that can support human life and civilization. “Gee, we didn't kill ourselves off completely,” is pretty much admitting that the best we have been able to do is not go backward.

I think the cosmos has left us an open door for going up as well, by putting facts, knowledge, understanding, or (my favorite) wisdom first. That looks to be a bridge too far for America. We can't even stop walking in circles. But there are a few indications that some of the rest of the human family is starting to understand. Nearly 95% of the world's population is part of the Paris Climate accord, with the 20% living in China now the acknowledged leader of those efforts. No matter what one might think of the details of that agreement, 95% of the planet cooperating on anything is remarkable. One might even hope – just a little maybe – such cooperation becomes more common, encompassing things like trade disagreements and boarder disputes. It might even lessen, even if only slightly, the chances of nations tossing nukes at each other.

“America First”... What it really means is the more we look inward, only to ourselves, the less we matter to the history of the whole human family. And, in a way, the less we matter to ourselves. Already “America First”, regardless of who is using the words, includes only some small slice of Americans, and never includes Americans who tend to see themselves as “humans first” or citizens of the world.

Which, in my experience, includes a pretty large slice of the cruiser community. Not a surprise given that a lot of us spend months, if not years, at a time living in the world at large. One need not get too far from these shores to get far, far away from the idea that America is the only country that really matters. It is actually a bit startling, and enjoyable, to spend time in a nation that isn't full of itself, that doesn't expect, demand, or assume that the world rotates around its borders. Even those who think that they live in the “best” place (a pretty common view of the Bahamians I've met) don't reflect the hubris and self centered attitude that is so much a part of America's media and government. I am still clinging to the hope that Americans, as a group, are better people than we look at the moment. Unfortunately, I have had to concede to the idea that a people don't get the best government they deserve, but the worst government they will tolerate.

America will never be first (or, depending on your view of history, first again) until being either American or first isn't that important. After all, being American (for most of us anyway) is simply a matter of birth. We have always been Americans and likely (hopefully) always will be. This is the community we know, the land we have traveled, and where we have family and friends. Like all nations, America has a checkered history. We share that history, good and bad. It is also one, for the most part, for which none of us bears any responsibility. America, with all of its flaws and all of its glories, was gifted to us. We pass the gift along, adding our little bit as it passes through our hands.

The best chance of making it a good bit comes from looking out, not in; forward, not left or right. And if we want to make it a really good bit, we need to look up.

What we decide is “first” will make (or unmake) the America we pass along to the next generation.

Yin and Yang

The end of the second week of being on a clock. Like pretty much everything, the second time around goes easier than the first. It is still a hot, brute force type of labor; the kind that leads to sore bones and shredded hands. But there are people here pleased to see me back for another season, people that I am happy to see again as well. I know my way around the yard, we know our way around the town, and the habits formed from last year still fit. Daughter Eldest and family are with us for an extended stay, building on the month that they spent with us last year. Most people gasp at the thought of having four adults and three kids ages 8, 5, and 2 all living on a 42 foot sailboat. But we are at a dock with a bath house close and room for the kids to run, ride bicycles, explore, and play. And there are few pleasures that compare with walking around the corner and having a 2 year old grand daughter run your way calling “T's home!” at the top of her little voice. How does one balance sore bones and shredded hands to a moment that all-encompassing good? Yin and yang.

In some ways we are back to living pretty much like most people do in America. The day of the week matters again, and weekends are a brief couple of days to be enjoyed. To some degree it doesn't matter how I feel or what the weather is doing, the work has to get done so the paycheck arrives. I get a 10 minute break at 1000, a half hour for lunch at 1200, and another 10 minute break at 1430. There are things I am allowed to do, (climb ladders, run wires, fix boats) and things I am not allowed to do (drive the fork truck, start a travel lift, walk in the "customer's" door of the office.) It is a very regulated life, one in which I participate by doing what I'm told.

Pretty much the polar opposite of living a cruiser's life.

But we are still on a boat. My "home" moves gently to light winds, bobs agreeably in gentle waves. I can sit in my cockpit in the evening, look out over the water, watch the pelicans fish, and enjoy the occasional visit from a manatee family or a couple of dolphins.

Weather is still an every day check and possible concern, and the hurricane season will soon be upon us. Preliminary plans have already been laid since three little ones have no business on a boat during a tropical storm of any name, tied to dock or no. Even a day of heavy thunder is a day to be careful. Cars no longer rank among my favorite things, but having one around takes some of the worry out of having to beat a hasty retreat.

Pretty much the opposite of living a suburban or city, work-a-day, life.

Things are settling down nicely, but I have to admit to being a bit envious of friends who are south of the hurricane zone, far from these shores. Content as I may be with life at the moment, living deep in Trump territory requires that I be even more circumspect around my fellow human beings than usual. There is nothing this guy can do that his followers will criticize in any way, marking him as the leader of a cult rather than a nation. Which isn't to say that his cult hasn't taken over the nation, something that is proving to be a bit of a problem. As a general rule, cultists are people I try to avoid, particularly ones whose cult includes a fondness for violence, guns, and greed.

It is often said that the Chinese have a curse which goes, “May you live in interesting times” which, I thought, was pretty apropos to living in the US this summer. I was curious as to the background behind such a curse, and so poked around the Internet bit, just out of curiosity. It turns out the “Chinese curse” is mostly an invention of western thought. In 1836 (less than three years before the first "Opium War between China and the British Empire started) John Francis Davis, a British diplomat, published something titled “The Chinese; A general Description of the Empire of China and Its Inhabitants." In it he stated:

"The Chinese have lived so much in peace, that they have acquired by habit and education a more than common horror of political disorder. 'Better be a dog in peace than a man in anarchy,' is common maxim. ' It is a general rule,' they say, 'that the worst of men are fondest of change and commotion, hoping that they may thereby benefit themselves; but by adherence to a steady, quiet system, affairs proceed without confusion, and bad men have nothing to gain.'"

Interesting. A bit of wisdom articulated by a culture far older than ours. 

Of course, change is inevitable. Confucius himself is quoted as teaching, "They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.” So, perhaps, there is a bit of a yin and yang thing to consider here as well. The Opium Wars were a result of the British East India Company using bribery and smuggling to pump tons of opium into China. As might be expected the Chinese Dynasty at the time took offense at millions of its citizens being turned into junkies for the profit of a foreign corporate entity. The British response to China's attempt at curtailing the opium trade resulted in the first application of “gunboat diplomacy”; where a nation's military power was openly used to protect a corporation's “bottom line.” When is “change” a servant of wisdom, and when is it a tool of evil?

I found that all a kind of fascinating reflection on today's American politics. Is what we see American leadership (apart from our cultist President and his worshipers) people seeking to lead a society constant in happiness or wisdom”? Or are they the worst of men...hoping that they may thereby benefit themselves?

No yin and yang here. If the former, they are allies and working toward the best possible future for a two year old. If the later...well, they are the enemy, and the sooner their downfall, the better.

Massive magic purple puffballs...

Cruising blogs, including this one, are filled with pictures of sunsets and sunrises. There are pictures of sailboats riding quietly in anchorages of clear water, tropical islands, white sand beaches, amazing flowers, and trees that overwhelm. There are stories of gazing across a star-filled cosmos from a cockpit far out of sight of land, of festivals and costumes, and of kids laughing. All testimony to one of the most attractive things about this cruising life; it is one filled with beauty.

Not always of course. There are also the occasional pictures of trashed v-drives, leaking holding tanks, boats run aground, and hulls long abandoned. But for the most part much of the cruising tribe spends days on end gazing at some of the prettiest places on earth. Still, and truth to tell, catching sight of the beautiful places has been a challenge for me for these last few months. We sailed to them alright, but often arrived tired and worn, having struggled with weather and sails and ham-fisted deck monkey antics. It seemed much more time was spent listening to the wind howl through the rigging while the boat bounced to its rode, than was spent watching the sun set over a placid sea of emerald blue. We pushed hard to get around the Abacos to the Berry Islands. Then we pushed again to get back to the States and around the Keys to Tampa Bay in time for the flight inland and the summer of work. Pushing hard will build callouses on the hands - a good thing. But it can also build callouses that make it hard to see beauty or feel the brush of the magic.

There are other beautiful places of course, places that one can't reach in a boat, places that are not even wild. One of them is a stretch of land that was once the home of a Mr. Henry Shaw. In 1819, just in from England, Mr. Shaw ventured west of a small French village laid out along the west back of the Mississippi River. He fell in love with that stretch of land and made it his home. The little village grew. Mr. Shaw's fortunes grew. Now, nearly 200 years later, that stretch of land is known as the Missouri Botanical Garden, is the oldest of its kind in the nation, lies deep in the heart of the metropolis of St. Louis, and is located just a few block's walk from Daughter Middle's home. (To give you some hint as to Mr. Shaw's influence on St. Louis, his Garden is located on Shaw Blvd.)

Daughter Middle, being a connoisseur of all things beautiful, has a Family Membership Card and makes visiting the Garden a regular family adventure. This time DeMa and Grampy T joined She and Grand Kids (5) for a day's visit. A day can't do justice to the 79 acre sight. There is the Chinese Garden, English Woodland Garden, Ottoman Garden, Victorian District, and the Japanese Garden (where one can go to feed a lake full of huge, sometimes colorful, catfish. Fish so tame that little ones can reach out and pet them as they feed.) There is a Temperate House that protects Mediterranean plant species, a Climatron conservatory for science and study, and a Butterfly House. There is a bee hive made of glass, a Center for Home Gardening, and a Grandpa's Garden that includes rope bridges, caves, a climbing boulder, elevated walkways, slides, and a tree house. (Okay, its official name is the “Children's Garden,” and Grampy T didn't really climb the boulder or use any of the slides. Rope bridges, elevated walkways, caves, and the tree house were fair game though.)

We weren't too far into the day when the laughter of little ones folding into the quiet of the nature all around started to soften some of the callouses built up over the winter. When we stepped through the gateway into the Ottoman Garden, reportedly the last example of such gardens which date from the 16th century, I was stopped dead in my tracks. Standing tall over the other flowers were hundreds of massive purple puffballs. Think of the dandelion puff balls you used to wave around as a kid writ giant-sized, glowing with a brilliant purple magic. It was an unexpectedly amazing sight, standing out even though surrounded by acres of carefully cultivated beauty.

It isn't likely that many of the people around me were struck in exactly the same way. Beauty and magic are nearly universal, yet stubbornly individual. What strikes me as magic purple puffballs might look to someone else like giant purple dandelions. Maybe they were struck by the manicured precision of the Japanese Garden. Surely someone was taking advantage of the Botanical Garden's dedication to science and education, learning some new technique for working their personal garden. (A well known place to find beauty and feel a brush of the magic.)

There were many groups of school kids there as well. Some of the younger ones were in the Children's Garden with us. This being the city, “minority” kids were so well represented that they were not in the minority at all. No one cared. Kids of all sizes and skin tones clambered around the climbing boulder, some encouraged to stretch their skills after watching one of my grandsons, who is an excellent climber and fearless to boot. Following his lead left some of the younger ones higher off the ground than they liked, and they needed a little help getting down. Grampy T suddenly had a dozen or so grandkids, and no one minded if I laughed with the new ones and helped them find their way to the ground. In the middle of all the laughter and fun it occurred to me that, not only was this a place of beauty where one could feel a brush of the magic, it was also a place of quiet rebellion.

For this was public place, in the middle of a metropolis, where science and the pursuit of understanding ruled alongside beauty and magic. It was a place of tolerance and fun, with generations, nationalities, and histories mixing without rancor, arrogance, or hate. It is a strange world we find ourselves in when simply going to a Garden and acting like a decent human being flies full in the face of the ideology that drives those in power. It is an even stranger world when one realizes that many of those who claim to support that ideology often act in rebellion to it. I wonder how long it will take them to figure that out? (How ironic is it that Donald Trump, who hates science, tries to rule by Tweet?)

It is possible that quiet rebellions will be enough to stem the tide of ignorance and hate flowing over our shores. My suspicion is that most Americans are simply not that deeply racist, don't really hate gay people with much enthusiasm, have only a slight tolerance for authoritarianism, and deeply value education, learning, exploration, and science. (Which, odd as it may sound, is exactly what my Trump supporting friends claim.)

I don't know that we really love war all that much. We just haven't seen any up close and personal for a while, and have forgotten just how inhuman and evil it is. (Something likely to change pretty soon. It will be a hard and costly lesson, much to the detriment of those currently in power.)

It is more likely that, eventually, those who are pushing us into decline will have to be removed from power. There is some hope that they will prove so incompetent as to soon stumble into oblivion of their own accord. Such may well be the way forward with the least potential for chaos, destruction, and violence, but I think it unlikely. Many currently worship incompetency, and will likely do so right up until it kills them off. (Nothing blinds like worship.)

Perhaps they will find themselves voted out of power by numbers so large that claims of fraud will be both laughable and utterly ignored. Given that America's forms of democracy were never very strong and are now, additionally, badly compromised by propaganda and corruption, this seems unlikely. Still, stranger things have happened. And, again, such a defeat would also deeply discredit the ideology of those so defeated; just as the last election deeply wounded the neo-liberal ideology of the Democrats, hopefully hastening its ultimate demise. Unfortunately neo-con ideology, which is arguably much worse, took its place.

Perhaps something entirely new and unexpected is just around the corner. Maybe the next generation, having learned some very hard lessons about ignorance, greed, hate, and war, will value peace and justice above all things. Maybe they will be the generation that elevates ideas over ideology, facts over faiths, understanding over dogma, and wisdom over wishful thinking.

As unlikely as that sounds, such a world lives deep in the human imagination. Virtually all religion claims such a place and calls it “heaven”. Many other forms of human fiction and story telling are filled with similar images. Indeed, nearly every human being I have ever known can imagine a world better than this. All we need do is move toward a world that most of us already know, deep in our own dreams, can exist. It is one of the reasons I don't put faith in any god. Given unlimited power, divine knowledge, and the ultimate in benevolence, pretty much any one of us could create a better world than the one we find ourselves in.

What ever happens, quiet rebellions are a good place to start. Maybe massive magic purple puff balls (otherwise known as ornamental onions) will become the new symbol of the rebellion. Stately, beautiful, and non-threatening, yet going about the task of spreading the seeds of renewal on every breeze and in every direction, as far as the eye can see.

All may yet be well...

I didn't pay much attention to the news while we were in the islands, and have been slow getting back into the habit since returning to the States. What news I do follow tends to do with advances in technology, cognitive science, and space exploration, which is how I ran across last week's “March for Science” protests. One picture I saw was of a protester carrying a sign that read, “I can't believe I am marching for facts.” That seemed kind of funny at first, but the more I thought of it the more it seemed to sum up the current dilemma / failure facing the US.

There is a portion of the population who looks upon current affairs with a dismay bordering on horror (hence the protests). But a larger portion appears to have little regard for facts, and therefore no regard for knowledge, understanding, truth, or wisdom. Many people are openly hostile to any facts that challenge their greed, ego, and grasp of power. Most of the nation's, and world's political, corporate, and religious leaders appear to be members of that group.

Perhaps is has always been so. We, as a species, have a need to be ruled, to be told what to think, how to act, and what to do. It is a characteristic bred from of our evolutionary path from tribal apes to modern humans. Born helpless and hapless, we are a species physically bred in dependency and submission. Virtually all of our social constructs are steeped in this deep seated, authoritarian history. Religious people accept the authority of their religion's prophets and holy writings, and no fact that might undermine that authority structure is readily accepted. It took the Pope more than 350 years to admit that Galileo was correct. There are Christians still today who reject evolution. Many of those who admit that evolution is how biology works, still insist that human kind is a special creation and the focus of attention for the entire universe. Followers of more secular ideologies are no less reluctant to accept inconvenient facts if they challenge the claim to having the right to rule. Tax cuts have never paid for themselves or led to job growth, communism has never been a viable economic model, regardless of the ideologies of right and left.

It gets even more muddled since people tend to mash incompatible ideologies together in odd ways, so long as the outcome supports the claim to power. In the US there are those who embrace both the authoritarianism of Donald Trump and that of Christianity as being one and the same thing. Others cling to the authority of their god while rejecting Donald Trump for his racism, misogyny, and love of violence. Some loath the economic ideology of “socialism” while crying for a bigger and more aggressive military, smooth roads, stout bridges, clean water, and a quality education. Others loath the economic ideology of consumer capitalism while insisting that they, personally, should be allowed to burn through all the resources they can afford.

This cognitive dissonance, this fundamental tendency to dismiss facts out of hand if we don't happen to care for the implications that come with them, has not mattered that much for most of our history. The cosmos is such a mystery that no human being has ever had much of a grasp of the facts of our existence. For all of our discoveries, we don't really understand how it is that we understand anything at all. A not-so-close approximation of what might really be happening may be the best that the evolution of  approximately 3 pounds worth of biologically supported quantum interactions will ever manage.

Be that as it may, our species has evolved to the point where we have overwhelmed the planet. Any individual or tribe that did manage to get themselves too unattached to the facts and understanding that formed the physical basis of their lives got themselves killed off rather quickly. Build a city at the base of a volcano, cut down all the trees on an isolated island, eat all of the mastodons... poof, gone. But no matter, there were other individuals and other tribes around to carry on. The children of those survivors, us, are now members of a deeply intertwined and co-dependent global society.

Thus evolution has brought human society to a cross roads, a turning point, a place in history from which there is no retreat and, perhaps, no way into the future. That sounds horrible but is likely a fundamental characteristic of evolution itself. For, in the space of just a few tens of thousands of years, we now stand at a place where facts, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, form the only doorway into the future. Oddly enough, much of human religion teaches a similar theme of a dividing line, a break point, where heaven is one choice, and hell the other.  Unfortunately much of religion also implies that it is an individual choice, that I can chose one while you chose the other. Maybe that works in an afterlife. But in this life it appears to be, almost, an all or nothing deal. History has unfolded to the point where everyone gets on board in the pursuit of wisdom, or no one survives. (More on that in a minute.)

But, perhaps, that ultimate fate has not yet arrived. We, as a global society, can begin to question our own authoritarian instincts, can couple what we have learned of the cosmos with our imagination, and look at ourselves from a different perspective. “Authority” can be shaped as cooperation and community. More importantly (and imperatively) ideology can be dismissed, replaced by knowledge gathered in the pursuit of wisdom.

We can, for example, replace our ideology of war. Right now many political and religious ideologies insists that war is inevitable and, even worse, winnable. But if we ignore the ideology and look, instead, to understanding and wisdom, it may prove that it is neither. Wars are, first and foremost, a failure; an exercise of the very worst of what evolution has bequeathed us, a twisted expression of the instinct to survive. Uncounted millions have died to defend religious ideologies that have long since faded and empires that have long since crumbled into dust. Today thousands are killed, maimed, and rendered homeless in orgies of destruction that have no goal and no purpose. Violence piled upon violence by shear force of habit.

An honest reflection will also, and easily, lead to the conclusion that any of these “local” wars could well erupt into an all out war between major nuclear armed nations.  Such would likely lead to the end of modern civilization. It is an important bit of wisdom that appears to be beyond the grasp of some, including five in particular; Trump, Putin, Assad, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong-un. Five people fanning the flames of war for their own ego, their lust for power. Five people whose failure to look to wisdom and understanding could portend the deaths of billions.

Evolution has, indeed, brought us to the very edge, where the seeking of wisdom by every individual is the dividing line between having a future or being forgotten.

Photo courtesy of Amber Rennier Photography

That just five deluded men in a world of billions could bring down the curtain on human history would seem rather grim odds but, then again, it hasn't happened yet. Maybe, having survived since August 6, 1945, human kind has learned how to live with its nuclear arsenal locked and loaded. Maybe environmental degradation and resource depletion will be evolution's way of breeding a desire for wisdom into us. They are longer term disasters that will unfold at a much slower pace than the 30 minute flight of a ballistic missile and a flash of nuclear fire. Slow enough, perhaps, for knowledge and wisdom to prevail. For, though evolution of the cosmos has brought us to the cross roads of cherishing wisdom or being cast aside, it may be that we can linger here for a few more lifetimes, a few more generations. Long enough, maybe, that our kids or grand kids get to be the ones who make the call.


In which case all may yet be well.

The Winds of Change

We are waiting out a minor blow anchored on the west side of Great Harbor Cay. As I type, the cold front is just overhead, big fat drops of rain are bouncing off the deck, and the wind is moaning through the rigging with gusts estimated in the 25 to 30 knot range. Since the bulk of Great Harbor Cay lies between us and the wind, it is a pretty stable ride. It is what we expected, though this whole weather set-up is a little odd. This cold front is the leading edge of a high pressure area passing to the north, so all of the associated winds have been from the north and east.

This would be an ugly place to be if the incoming weather was the more common, cold front related to a low pressure area moving in from the west. If that were the case, one would expect significant west winds and the chance of even higher gusts in possible thunderstorms and down bursts. If there was any real possibility of sustained west winds over the next few days Kintala would be sitting at a dock at Great Harbor Marina, in spite of the $2 / foot / night fee.

Instead, we are tucked up close to a windward shore so it should be comfortable enough. The Mantus anchor is sunk deep into the bottom, only its hoop showing, with 80+ feet of chain laid down. (I love being in clear water. There is a certain amount of comfort to be found when one can look at the anchor and see how well it is set.)

There are at least eight other boats anchored around us. The assumption is that they have made the same assumptions about the weather that we have. It is always reassuring when a bunch of boats anchor up around you when weather is inbound. It isn't a matter of having any control over what the weather is doing, only an indication that one has chosen wisely in response to the motions of sky and ocean.

That is close to the bottom line of what it means to be a cruiser. The only thing we really control is how we respond to completely indifferent winds and seas. There is no malevolence involved. There is no benevolence involved. This bit of ocean and island were here millions of years before the first human sailboat dropped a hook nearby to hide from an east wind. They will likely be around millions of years after the constituent molecules of the last human sailboat (or the last human for that matter) have dissolved back into the water, air, and earth.

After this weather passes, Kintala will be headed west once again, sailing into the waters of the US within just a couple of weeks. By that time I suspect I will have started checking the news again, at least once in a while. I don't expect there to be anything new since the last time I looked. Word of anything major, say the current POTUS acting like a rational, adult human being, would have certainly trickled down to us somehow.

The feeling among all of the people we have chatted with in the Islands, and most of the cruisers we have run across (including one from the great dysfunctional state of Texas) is that the current administration is a kind of monstrous anomaly. “How could this have happened?” being a common refrain. It is not a view I happen to share.

The current administration may be a particularly crass and clownish expression of American politics, but it is still consistent with much of American mythology and ideology. Both political parties see consumerism as a valid economic policy. Both see crony capitalism, deeply influenced by corruption and influence peddling, as a perfectly acceptable means of managing a nation. The Republican partly and the controlling wing of the Democratic party both act as if running a nation as a business is the only proper approach to government.

With that idea, our government works based on the view that most Americans (and virtually every other human being on the planet) are nothing more than a resource to be ruthlessly exploited for the benefit of the few. Benefits like healthcare, education, clean water, and retirement income, are exclusively for those who rule, rewards for clutching the levers of corporate or political power. The current administration is particularly adept at highlighting this belief, making even the deranged kings and sociopathic potentates of by-gone ages look like humble and caring public servants.
The crony capitalism of America doesn't work anymore. Corruption is rapidly undermining any legitimacy government claims for itself. Even “normal” capitalism doesn't work when most of a nation's labor is automated. Put millions of truck drivers out of a job, have the vast majority of their wages concentrated in the hands of the individual who invented the auto-truck, and repeat for clerks, accountants, doctors, factory workers, technical advisers...incomes once distributed over millions upon millions of households now concentrated in the hands of a few. Capitalism is being twisted into outright oppression before our very eyes, and many of us are victims. But such a corrupted capitalism serves the purposes of an insular and fossilized government/corporate elite quite well. They could choose a different path, but it would mean surrendering power and treasure. Neither of which they will be inclined to do, at least, not of their own volition.

War does not work as war once did. Nearly every war since WWII has been an open-ended conflict, resolving nothing, settling nothing, defeating no one, just sort of petering out leaving open wounds that soon fester into some new war. Yet war is now American government's single most defining characteristic. In America, spending on human issues is curtailed in order to fund the war machine. Threatening war is the only diplomatic policy, engaging in war the last throw of the dice to keep a faltering economic system barely functioning.

In spite of decades of continuous failures both parties continue to subscribe to the politics of capitalism, imperialism, authoritarianism, and militarism. Everyone in government insists that what is good for them is good for the rest of the world, that what is good for (some) Americans is good for all of humanity.

Those illusions, those policies, are at the root of American's fading from the leading edge of history, its loss of place in the family of nations. But anyone who dares suggest such a thing, particularly on a national stage, is instantly and relentlessly attacked by the most efficient and effective propaganda machine the world has ever seen. Anyone who refuses to toe the line of “American Exceptionalism” finds it nearly impossible to get elected to the office of Dog Catcher of Podunksville, Boondocks; let alone any national office. There are a very, very few exceptions. Party wonks and corporate media ensure that they are feeble voices echoing in mostly empty rooms.

Only a radical change of world view, a near complete rejection of the politics that have ruled America for the past half century or more, will mark any chance of the US once again being on the leading edge of progress toward a future that holds some promise. An American government that sees itself as one part of a complex web of human interaction, that values wisdom and understanding, and knows that compromise and capitulation are not the same thing, could help fulfill such promise. It would also be the only approach that would help the nation safely navigate the changes of a radically evolving, global human society. For, whatever is around the corner, none of the economic, political, or militaristic forms of the past will suffice.

That radical evolution, much like the movement of the sky and the sea, is beyond the influence of any single nation, and certainly any individual. In a way it, also, is neither malevolent nor benevolent. It is simply the way things are unfolding in this tiny corner of the universe, like a incoming cold front or a building high pressure area. Navigating safely through takes accepting that such an evolution is inevitable, and making wise choices in response. This is not to say that governments, including that of the US at the moment, can't be malevolent. Only that the overall evolution of human kind is ongoing with no particular guidance other than what we provide for ourselves.

Completely fading from the picture, as a nation, is also an option - just like any individual sailor could chose to anchor on the other side of the cay, close to a lee shore, and risk loosing everything should the anchor slip in the dark hours of the night. The earth, like the rest of the cosmos, is utterly indifferent to the existence of the entire human family, let alone any single group living inside a set of contrived and temporary boarders, walls notwithstanding. Should we make the unfortunate choices that land us on the rocks, the rest of the cosmos will not even shrug.

Clearly American government isn't up to the challenge of making wise choices at the moment. Maybe it never will be again. Maybe, after years of self-indulgent hubris, arrogance, and self-imposed ignorance, America's political machine is too badly broken to be repaired. That is also just a part of the unfolding world that is beyond the influence of any individual. Something each of us needs to take into account as we make our own, personal, choices.

 The cut into the Great Harbour Cay Marina

 Very cool retro loaner bikes from the marina

Love this Tings Necessary sign

 The calm before the storm

 The Beach Club restaurant on one of the prettiest beaches in GHC

 The view from the Beach Club Restaurant table

The channel into GHC Marina is in the background

 Top of the cliff at the caves

Not a very good picture, but this is the first hamburger bean I've ever found after looking for 4 years