A C. T U. A L. L Y

What do Joni Mitchel and Maya Lin have in common and what does either have to do with climate change?   A lot. Consider the lyrics to Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi from 1970: They paved paradise and put up a parking lot With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone They paved paradise and put up a parking lot They took all the trees, and put ‘em in a tree museum And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them No, no, no Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT I don't care about spots on my apples, Leave me the birds and the bees Please Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone They paved paradise and put up a parking lot Hey now, they paved paradise to put up a pa...

I can’t think about American politics right now. And if I can’t think about it, I can’t write about it. Kind of a reverse take on the old Cartesian saw:  I can’t think. Therefore I can’t write. I can’t think about the American political scene post-January 6, because the State of Affairs scares the crap out of me. So instead of conceptualizing possible nightmare scenarios, each more terrifying than the last—the zombie-like return of The Former Guy, blood flowing and tires burning in the streets, a skilled autocrat conning his/her way into the Oval....  Just can't think about it. So I say the Serenity Prayer instead, recovering political junkie that I am. And I stay on the lookout in my physical environs, iPhone in hand, on the hunt for the quirky, the cool, the weird, and whatever serendipity throws at me. For my comrades in fear out there, here is the Serenity Prayer. As you chant, visualize GOP “leadership.” God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot c...