Monday morning I woke up early and in a mood, and sitting there in the dark I thought: I’m through with writing this blog, I’m going to sign off on the damned thing and give the world a break. I’m a silly person and it is a silly exercise and what’s the point?
I even had a quote from a Cole Porter song to finish up with: It was great fun, but it was just one of those things.
And then I read what was basically an obituary of Alexei Navalny, a man who had extraordinary courage. Who rolled the dice in a very dangerous game, standing in for everyone who believes that autocracy and tyranny must be resisted wherever they spring up.
I thought – is this the time to quit? Do we need fewer voices raised in that struggle or more of them? Please don’t think for a moment that I am comparing myself and what I do with Mr. Navalny and his work. He roared while I pule. He sacrificed all and died in a prison above the Arctic Circle, while I spend a few minutes a day in a warm room with a cup of coffee and a computer.
Nope, I thought, what I do may be trivial but I can see at least two reasons to continue.
- There might be somebody out there who needs encouragement in their own endeavors and can take heart from reading this and say to themselves – By god, I can do better than this guy without even trying – and who will then pick up the banner and carry it higher and better than I ever did.
- There might be some hard-core fascist out there who accidentally stumbles onto this blog and by the time they have read a few lines and realized their error their heartburn has already acted up.
I therefore resolved to continue my whimpering.
******
A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way.
Mark Twain
******
On Monday afternoon the February temperature was 62 degrees. I dug out the trusty bicycle and took off for enough of a ride that I regretted it for the last two miles coming home, as the part of me that was in contact with the saddle was getting quite tender … almost to the point of needing to stand up to pedal. Those first rides in the Spring can be a caution.
Out of town a few miles I spotted a golden eagle at the top of a bare tree, with the late afternoon sun bringing out the gold and red in its feathers. These photos are not my own, as I was not expecting such an opportunity and was without a camera, but that’s how it looked. Magnificent bird.
******
******
******
Liz Cheney has coined a phrase that actually might stick when she refers to the “Putin wing” of the GOP. These people are challenging us to call them out and deal with them, with their behavior having crossed to the wrong side of the line separating out those “giving aid and comfort to the enemy” from the rest of us.
Until her party went rogue, I didn’t like Ms. Cheney very much as her policies put her pretty far out on the right. She had learned the lessons of smugness and callousness very well from her father. But these days she is basically one of the few prominent Republicans whose tongues are not forked.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend
Arabian Proverb
******
Periodically, I feel the need to publish this photograph, taken in 1944, just to show my readers what they are dealing with. The arrow points to myself, standing in the middle of the Second Avenue Gang, who were heavily involved in cod liver oil trafficking and neighborhood espionage.
You deserve to know everything.
******
******
One of the least reassuring news items I’ve come across this week showed up on CNN online early Wednesday morning.
A European Space Agency satellite is expected to reenter and largely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday morning.
CNN Online
This first quotation is only mildly alarming, with only the word “largely” to wonder about.
“As the spacecraft’s reentry is ‘natural’, without the possibility to perform manoeuvers, it is impossible to know exactly where and when it will reenter the atmosphere and begin to burn up,” according to a statement from the agency.
CNN Online
Still no need to panic, I thought.
The ERS-2 satellite has an estimated mass of 5,057 pounds (2,294 kilograms) after depleting its fuel, making it similar in size to other space debris that reenters Earth’s atmosphere every week or so, according to the agency.
CNN Online
Wait … 5,000 pounds? “Largely” burning up? They don’t know when or where it will come to earth? This happens every week?
At around 50 miles (80 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, the satellite is expected to break apart and the majority of the fragments will burn up in the atmosphere. The agency said that some fragments could reach the planet’s surface, but they won’t contain any harmful substances and will most likely fall into the ocean.
CNN Online
“Some fragments could reach the planet’s surface”? “Most likely fall into the ocean”? Does anyone see a pattern of quibbling here? I don’t think that words like “largely” and “could” and “most likely” belong anywhere near a news item about 5,000 pound things falling from the sky. Especially when even a doorknob falling from that height and onto your cranium would at a minimum make you forget where you put your car keys, perhaps forever.
Personally, I think that the people who put that up there should be a bit more responsible. We have seen that when space agencies want to know where something is going to land so they can meet it and get the pilot out, they can do that quite well. What this article is talking about is nothing more than space littering and someone being awfully careless, if you get my drift. In Colorado, if I toss a soda can out the window of my car, I can be fined from $20-$500. If the highway patrol saw me dumping out an ERS-2, the fine would almost surely be even higher.
All I know is that I’m not going outdoors until Thursday, and even then I’m going to start wearing my bicycle helmet on all such occasions. I will do that until someone in authority tells me that all of the large chunks of crap out there in space have already fallen to earth. Can one really be too careful? Really?
******
Little Home In The Valley 
I would like you to keep writing and sharing your thoughts and music (and comics). In an age of so much I used to read several blogs and Substack articles. In a desire to simplify I unsubscribed from most, but kept yours. I have been wondering how I happened upon your blog as I don’t recall. You’re like a wise friend, but I don’t know you except from this blog. I’ve always loved letters and yours are always excellent. Thanks for sharing with us.
LikeLiked by 1 person