NO MATTER WHERE: WALKING IS GREAT!

No matter where, starting the day with a walk is like opening the pages of a new book.  Outside, depending on the season birds and animals, children, friends and strangers are encountered along the way. The smell of the earth whether pungent or sweet reminds us of earlier attachments to the land.

Recently, the changing weather has curtailed walking outside. Luckily, my new apartment building provides rides to a nearby shopping mall where dozens of  people take walking seriously. The before rush hour "traffic" is as colorful as I find in a park or on the streets of a neighborhood.

Once inside, mothers push their  children in strollers that overflow with heavy coats, sweaters, toys and, of course one or sometimes two children. Walkers, singly or with friends use shops  or indoor fountains as  mile markers.  Older people, some with disabilities, some with athletic physics smile or look grim in their task of keeping "up."

As the morning grows late, coffee shops fill.  Maintenance crews begin their jobs and merchants and sales employees ready shops and kiosks for customers.

The fresh outdoor smells are gone. There is no natural sound of birds and the first sign of crocuses will be in artificial pots instead of pushing their way up amid blankets of moss but walking here sure beats complaining about the weather which keeps us confined and listless.

FINALLY! GOOD SENSE PREVAILS!

I write today as the much feared ice and snow storm begins here in St. Louis. The full force of Nature's erratic storms is a wake-up call for all of us.  Yet, it seems scientific and public concern are still often ridiculed.

As we enter the 21st Century we begin to recognize that our Planet's resources are finite. We are beginning to understand how our actions, or lack of them, impact on our environment.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo of New York is advocating a sensible plan to buy out the owners of property hard hit by monster storms. He wants to declare the State's Coastal Flood Plain Areas as  loff limits for development.

When one studies the fragility of this planet's ecosystem, and the economic and health benefits derived from wetlands, Governor Cuomo's proposal is a huge step forward in planning for the aftermath of natural disasters. Would that other states follow suit.

JUST A WEATHER MAN? NO MORE!

Like a lot of people, I constantly complain about the lack of accuracy of weather predictors, better known as weather men and  women. 

As agreeable a weatherman as Al Roker is, he is no exception.  No doubt about it, Roker withstands whatever storm, flood, or disaster Mother Nature hurls at him, but I have never kept score on the accuracy of his weather predictions. Yet he scored big with me when he was able to get Vice President Biden to break order in the Inaugural Parade and shake hands with him.

This very small gesture by the Vice President and Roker's delight in "scoring big" delighted me and spoke volumes about the good humor and egalitarianism so reflective of our country as we celebrated the swearing in of our second term president.

The incident also secured Rocker's place to provide us with a reason to smile even in lousy weather.

PLAYING POLITICS WITH GUN CONTROL?

I support common sense gun control.  Here is why!

I am encouraged by the state-wide and national discussion about guns.

For too long we have regarded questions about what kind  of guns should be permitted in our communities, much like the quiet whispering we once did about feared diseases.

My sense is that people are scaling the walls of ignorance. It is no longer enough to speak of the reason for everyday killings on our streets as a matter of culture or mental health or violent movies or poverty, or  personal defense.  People know different.

We know there has to be legal and enforceable action taken to curb the business of guns.

In St. Louis one widely read columnist feels people should not get all worked up. His "take" on the situation is, "guns are everywhere and owned by everyone, so get used to the reality."  A host of letters from readers responded by calling for support of gun control.

In an organization of which I am a member, a draft for support of common sense gun control was combined with the great need for mental health funding..  Though the need for support of  mental health is a real one, in this case it appears it was thrown into the draft to placate those who tell us "to stop a bad guy with a gun, it takes a good guy with a gun."

The open discussion about guns is long overdue. We cannot be safe nor feel safe for as long as the manufacturing and selling of guns intended for war are easily purchased  on our streets, in stores, or at county fairs.

It is time for our elected officials to understand who we are.  We are farmers, sportsmen, parents, grandparents, gun owners and those who would not keep a gun.

 We shall no longer be bullied or listen to quick solution suggestions for protecting our children, ourselves or our communities. We want our local police department not a Vigilante committee to protect us.

It is time to enforce common sense gun legislation, regulation and oversight for one of America's largest business markets and for all of us to stop playing politics or speaking in "code."

We need to become serious about gun control.

NEW YEAR GREETING!

When I was packing to move into my new apartment, I came across a New Year Greeting written in 1962.  It was one I had written for the United World Federalists Regional Council. I send it now  as I believe it applies as much to 2013 as it did more than 40 years ago.

Peace, so serene to say
So hard to achieve.

Our hope,
That it comes not as a whisper
But with all the earnest drive
Of men and women hard at work
To construct something better.

A good year for you, valued reader and yours.

SHIFTING TO A NEW PARADIGM?

 As the New Year was waiting in the wings, I met a friend for lunch.  Our conversation turned to an assessment of this past year's events.

We spoke of the advances made in science and technology in 2012; of the incredible fete of people to use and create the instrument known as Marscuriosity that now skips across Mars like a child in a playground.

We spoke of the inability of people and nations to respect each other; of the fears, man- made and real, that seemed to keep us from resolving conflict without doing further damage to people or communities on this Planet.

We spoke of reverence for so much of what we knew as acceptable communal behavior in the past; of whether or not people of all ages and cultures really understood the great, historical shift in paradigm we are a  part of and entering.

Neither of us ventured any answers. But we did seem to think the New Year gives people and nations the opportunity to meet and discuss issues and take actions that may have seemed improbable in the past. Would that will be so!

MOTHER NATURE CONFUSED NO MORE!

Just before solstice, old man Winter blew his way into St. Louis with strong winds, rapidly dropping temperatures and a delicate dusting of snow. After so much warm weather even the birds were confused by the abrupt change.

Starlings which swarm in trees behind my new apartment were hard put to fly straight home. They found themselves suspended in mid air unable to go anywhere. Electric lines snapped by falling trees caused blackouts. On the street, coats, sweaters, gloves and ear muffs were seen everywhere.

Mother Nature is now right with our calendars and the seasons seem to have righted themselves.