Golden II

The goldenrod (Solidago speciosa) stalks and seed fluff caught the morning light today as the sun rose a new angle between the house across the right-of-way and its decrepit garage. The silhouette of the apple tree I cleared out last spring and shadows on the snow show the sun just over the horizon. This light traveled an amazing distance to perfectly kiss these tufts of plant fiber floating here above the seasonal snow. Across empty space, through the atmosphere, and across a stretch of forest opened by fall and the seasonal retreat of green, this light falls here today. It wasn't there yesterday and it may not be there tomorrow. What happenstance, what curious alignments, what multitude of forces combined over time to make the whole moment possible. The photons have traveled directly, but those plants had to grow last summer just right from the seeds that had fallen from the plant that parented this annual flowering weed to make them grow there. Nevermind the various permutations of seed delivery and protection that resulted in this specific kind of fluff that was struck by light this morning, or the time that went into perfecting these eyes to read those photon reflections just so, or these paths of imagination that find beauty in the very sight. An eternity in an intant, they say, every possibility combined to this, captured digitally here for everyone to see. The links are endless, the time was deep. So must be our ecology.

Bush may have overreached in his greed, and his minions more so in their conviction, but the fall of this house causes mere ripples in the bigger project of empire some see underway. Not just a single party corrupted, but a system. Today's victories of truth over the ravages of George Bush should be pursued further. There are ideals at the root of this place, United States, and traditions. Beyond that, there is a general goodness bound up in most folks. Given the right circumstances, education, and basics like nutrition and shelter, our collective intelligence could steer us a new course. One with future in mind, not futures. A dynamic world without branding or ad campaigns. Truth not spin, life not consumption. Back to the roots, I say. Don't stop now, get this stone up and over, send it down the other side. May the tides be strong as needed and may our own hopeful future find protection in its own tufts of seed casings kissed by a morning star.