When bad things happen, we can usually make something good out of them. I have always believed this. It is Midwestern pragmatism in action. Hail destroyed the crops? Martial your resources for the next growing season, or change from a farmer to something else more profitable. There is always a way forward, even if you have to learn to be tougher and tighten the belt, or next year’s food supply depends on the farmer in the next county. Global warming is threatening to cook us in our own juices? Well, this year our confused roses in the yard are blooming like it was Springtime. The part of the wheel at the bottom, crushed against the pavement, rises to the top again as we move forward on the bicycle of human life.
All of these roses have bloomed during the Christmas holiday this year when temperatures sank no lower than the 50’s and got as high as 77 degrees. It recalls a recent year when dorky daffodils poked their yellow heads out of the ground in January only to be murdered by snowstorm a week later. Will these roses be subjected to the same fate? Robert Herrick says, “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may…” We will pragmatically enjoy them while they are here, no matter what happens. I have been writing a science fiction novel about environmental and political Armageddon. It is set on another planet, but that planet stands in for Earth in my book. But the point is that the universe goes on even if we are dumb enough to destroy ourselves by pillaging the natural world. Yet, I don’t believe that will happen. I see movement towards renewable energy, and political change for the better is in the wind. In the end, I think humanity will dig down deep for that magical force we all possess. We will be able to change for the better when we are forced to. I don’t expect to live to see it. I don’t figure I have another whole decade left to live, and the course we are on won’t be decided before 2050… probably. But, all speculation aside, I am here now to enjoy roses blooming at Christmastime… and to share that rare feeling with you.
I suppose the magical power I am proudest of is my ability to magically make people laugh at me. (Yes, they always say they are laughing with me, not at me… but we all know how humor really works. We laugh because we are really happy that it didn’t happen to us!) I am able to put on the clown nose and people automatically laugh almost as hard as they laugh at me without the clown nose. I am able to say things in weird words that stimulate your brain to shout silently in your head, “That jest ain’t right!”, and you automatically think, “Funny!” So, with all this magical power, I have concluded… I am a wizard!
It is raining again in Texas, and cold enough to make the leaves turn red and yellow and orange. The cracked and useless swimming pool is filled with rain water. The sky is gray. El Niño is here for a visit. And he is not a well-behaved little boy.
Catch a Falling Star 