The Race that Got Away

The Baker's Dozen race has come and gone, and we did not go. The first date was rained out, but the second was ambushed by pollen. Last Thursday, the stars aligned and the oak trees and their autotrophic associates threw the biggest punch I've experienced in recent years. Unfortunately, it downed me just enough to catch some sort of 24-hour illness that made me feel bad enough to lose our entry fees AND one night's worth of cabin reservation. Money was just not enough of a motivating factor to overcome the pounding my head was taking. Besides, they were sort of like taxed contributions to good causes. The trails could stand the maintenance, and the state employees could stand the extra funds.

On that note, I continue to note that any story in the local paper that has anything to do with tax expenditures produces more comments than almost any other kind of story. The only others that receive more are those that highlight crime as it pertains to race. I'm beginning to think that our paper is selecting what stories to publish based on how many comments they predict will result. In one way, this seems a good thing. In another, it seems like a really bad thing. It does lend a democratic element to what is published by reacting to public input. On the other hand, that input is commonly tinged with racism and lack of understanding as regards those social investments also known as taxes. This type of input, while approximating honest portrayal of our local citizenry, is, ultimately, counterproductive. Ninety-nine percent of the time, those making comments offer no practical solutions, even though they prefer to boil down nearly every issue into so few words that a reader may be led to believe that issue is really very simple. If those same comment generators were to take the time to send responses to elected officials every time they felt motivated enough to write, what actual change may occur? Do these desktop quarterbacks REALLY want actual change?

I do, which is why I will, shortly, be sending a one-page summary of my general political opinions to every elected official that is supposedly out there "representing" me. I will post any real responses I receive, though I will not be publishing any platform papers for anybody. If the response looks like cookie cutter, it will not be receiving mention. I may or may not publish my own letter. I am tempted to wait and see what kind of feedback I get from the recipients, first.

The photograph is of a blue jay nest in the back yard. In more than seven years of teaching natural history, I saw hundreds of active bird nests, but never one with blue jays. Weird.

Here's to the Teachers

It has recently occurred to me that to formally teach elementary education well is the most honorable profession in which one can engage. I've been throwing applications and resumes around for a year and a half, and I'm daunted by the diminished, real effect of managing natural resources, working in a laboratory, or teaching those that have already secured careers or that are only along for the ride. Teaching that requires more entertainment than real thought engagement is a dead end. I believe that most of those participating in informal education, such as that I exacted through my former employment as a Natural History Interpretive Specialist, are lost. They may develop their appreciation or heighten their awareness, slightly, but they are not likely to fundamentally change the way they live until they motivate themselves to do so. My own experience is a case in point. It has literally taken me my entire life to get to where I am today, but there are still many ways in which my existence can, and will, become more sustainable. I still own a car, though I only drive it once a week to keep it operational; I still eat too much processed and non-local food; I still buy too many new things that I could probably make or fix; and I still live in a home that is covered in vinyl and very inefficient (among other imperfections). Of course, while I try to change most such things on a daily basis, others take more determination than I am, currently, willing or able to display. This is not to say that I consider perfection attainable or even desirable (there is a fine line between reducing one's impact on the planet and the potential fascism of mandating others to do the same). It is to reiterate that, no matter how sensitive we consider our lives, there is always a better way. There is always more to learn. If we do not become excited about this prospect during our more "formative" years, we will continue circling the social carcass. Yes, home schooling and informal educational avenues have merit and can elevate the value of more traditional ones, but it is the latter that will save us. If public schools are lost, so will be our ability to live sustainably within the great population densities that we have created. We need to socialize with those of other income levels, races, cultures, learning abilities, and ages. We need to gain the understanding that there is progress to be had in respecting some authority. Most importantly, however, in a nation where most parents will interrupt their child's response to a question they, themselves, asked to answer their cell phones, we need the teachers. These people put their entire lives on the line to make up for the failures of the many parents that rest easily when their engagement with their children is minimized. They put in, at least, 50-60 hours a week to prevent children from putting in the same in weekly hours of television watched. They are, unlike most, invested in their jobs to a degree that some might even label pathological. Let us invest in them. Shut up about your property and income taxes, already, and accept that a well-educated populace is a populace that will benefit YOU (if that is the way you must look at things). By funding schools, properly, we will avoid crime spikes and create respectful human beings. We will create arts that will inspire and impress. We will create minds that can deal with our looming energy and health care crises, among other problems. We will enable those with the minimum to become those with enough. We will fix our nation.