pine creek day 1

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Rickett's Glen waterfalls

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NYBG labor day weekend

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the end of august

The morning weather outside is delightful.

All the windows and doors are open.

We are between the hot and cold seasons

Enjoying our temperate climate.

It’s a good day to be under the open sky

Feeling the breeze and sun on my skin.

The fair weather clouds move overhead

Billows of cumulus below, wisps of cirrus above.

The clouds in the sky are like a facial expression.

You can read the mood if you know how

And know what’s coming next most likely

Later today, tomorrow and the next day.

But who knows how to read the clouds these days?

People get the weather report from the computer

Like needing a calculator to do basic mental arithmetic

Like asking the chance of rain today without looking up.

The afternoon heats up and I turn on the fan.

I’d rather be a little hot than insulated from the day.

A late afternoon thunderstorm brings cool air again

Washing the air that now smells fresh and clean.

On our evening sunset walk in the park by the lake

Admiring the sky new and different every day

We see the migrating terns circling and diving

Splashing as they feast on the surface fish.

We see the specks of starlings flying in flocks

Gathering by the hundreds and thousands.

In autumn they will be like black leaves roosting

Whistling their sing song community calls.

…

We find serenity in the seasons turning in the natural world.

The birds don’t read the newspapers.

The clouds are oblivious to human affairs below.

As Fidel wrote this week about the impending attack…

“Very serious events will be happening very soon.

In our times, our species hardly spends ten or fifteen years

Without facing a true risk of disappearing...

I say this from a realistic perspective,

Since only the truth could offer to us

A little more wellbeing and a breath of hope.

We have come of age when it comes to knowledge.

We have no right to deceive others or ourselves.

The overwhelming majority of the public opinion

Knows enough about the new risk ahead…

Our biggest mistake has been not having been able

To learn much more in much less time.”