#203 / Possibility #3

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"Possibility" is "my category." That has been my claim throughout the time I have been writing this blog - and for a long time before that, too. 

My first blog posting with the title, "Possibility" was published on July 19, 2010. "Possibility #2" followed on July 20th, the very next day. Almost sixteen years later, I typed out "Possibility" as the title I was proposing to use for today's blog posting, but before I posted my commentary, I searched back into my past blog postings, just to be sure that I hadn't used that "Possibility"  title before. As just noted, I had! 

As I did search back through the sixteen years that I have been writing and publishing one blog posting every day, I also discovered probably a hundred or more blog postings of mine that speak, in some way, to "possibility." As I say, "possibility" is what I consider to be "my category," meaning that I believe that thinking about what is "possible," as opposed to confining ourselves to thinking about what already exists, is the best way to relate to the world. Thinking about "possibility" can open up our thinking to a future about which we can be hopeful, and can help us direct our efforts in ways that will have some kind of positive impact. Thinking about "possibility" can also help us defend ourselves against a future that appears, so often, to be compounded of doom and despair.

I was fortunate, while an undergraduate at Stanford University, to have been enrolled in an Honors Program In Social Thought And Institutions led by Professor Charles Drekmeier. Those enrolled in that honors program, which is described a bit in the obituary linked to Professor Drekmeier's name, studied one word, or one phrase, during the entirety of their two-year enrollment in Dr. Drekmeier's Honors Seminar. Our group (in 1964 and 1965), studied and reflected upon the word, "Utopia." In fact, while officially enrolled as a major in "History," I really believe that I majored in "Utopia" during my time in college. That is undoubtedly where I finally determined that "possibility" is "my category," though I do want to credit my father, too. One of my past blog postings, "Father's Day Stories," provides a guide to how I was already heading in the direction of "possibility" by the time I got to college. 

oooOOOooo

In today's blog posting, I want to highlight a column by Peggy Noonan, published in The Wall Street Journal on May 30, 2026. Noonan's column, which definitely touches directly on possibility, was titled, "Becoming Who You Are Ain’t For Sissies," and clicking that link just provided should let you read it, as a "gift article." Noonan's picture, above, shows her in 1986, when she was 36 years old. The picture was furnished by Wikipedia.

I routinely read Noonan's columns, since I do subscribe to The Wall Street Journal, and Noonan makes a weekly appearance on The Journal's "Opinion" page, published on Saturdays. Noonan was a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan, and her politics and mine are certainly different. Still, she is often on the "right side" of current controversies, in my opinion - though definitely not always!

I consider Noonan's May 30th column to be a stellar introduction to "possibility," and I do hope that anyone reading this blog posting will take the time to read what Noonan has to say. I also hope that the "gift column" link I have provided will, in fact, let non-subscribers access Noonan's compelling story.

In short, Noonan was a kind of F*up and a "failure" during her high school years, and she had no expectations, whatsoever, of going to college, or of having any other kind of significant "success" in life. Her seventh-grade school counselor told her as much. A chance encounter, though, after Noonan had graduated from high school, as she worked as a waitress, convinced her that she did, in fact, have "possibilities" which she should pursue. 

She pursued them! 

I bet Noonan would say that "possibility" is her category, too, just like I say it's mine. Read her story and see if you agree. I hope anyone reading this - and reading Noonan's column - will decide that "possibility" should  be their own category, as well.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggy_Noonan

#202 / Who's His Boss?

 

Vice President J.D. Vance

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A headline in the June 1, 2026, edition of The New York Times (I am referring to the hardcopy edition) did readers, and the nation, a significant disservice. Here's that headline, as it appeared in the paper dropped on my front walkway on Monday, June 1st:

Is Vance Heir Apparent In '28? His Boss Doesn't Seem Sure

So, here's the quiz question: What's wrong with this headline? 

Here's what's wrong: The President of the United States of America is not "the boss" of the Vice-President. The Vice-President is an independently-elected officer of the nation, as provided in Article II of The Constitution. The Vice-President is not a direct "subordinate" whom the president is entitled to boss around. Were that the case, Vice-President Mike Pence should have done what the then-president told him to do, after the 2020 elections, and subverted those elections, keeping in power the then-president, who lost his office in the elections held in 2020.

Citizens of the United States - many of whom do not, routinely, read the Constitution, and who don't, much, research what it says - should not be misled by what is often claimed to be the nation's most important daily newspaper. 

Let's be clear. Our current president believes that his election as the nation's Chief Executive is an entitlement that allows him to boss everyone around (including the Vice-President and including the Congress). That's not what our Constitution says. That is emphatically not what our Constitution says.

Let's not forget it!

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/30/us/politics/is-jd-vance-the-2028-front-runner-trump-has-questions.html

#201 / Social Media Has Its Upsides!

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I received a social media message, a week or so ago, which kind of came out of the blue. I am copying that message, in full, below. I am also presenting a social media photo (above) that is associated with the person who sent me the message. 

I liked both the message and the photo, though I really don't have any inkling of what the photo might actually be seeking to convey! All I can say is that the photo above did put me in a pretty good mood - as did the message, too: 

Hello Gary, I only recall meeting you once, I believe it was in Safeway in Felton, many many years ago, but I and many of my fellow Santa Cruz residence will forever owe you a debt of gratitude for all the energy and resistant strength that you put into keeping our beautiful home from turning into a copy of the Santa Clara Valley. Were it not for you places like the lighthouse field, pogonip, the wingspread property and countless others would be lost forever. I wish there was somebody to pick up The baton from this point forward. Looking at what’s becoming a destructive trend to turn Santa Cruz into Los Angeles north. I appreciate your efforts even more. You fought some pretty tough battles against some very determined adversaries, and you won more than your share. You did us a wonderful service and many of us will continue to be grateful for that All the best

As you can see, that is a pretty nice message, and I truly appreciated receiving it - and, of course, I sent my "thank you" back right away. That message did come out of the blue, so it was one of those "made my day" communications! 

In all fairness, let me report that not all the messages that come my way on social media are so positive. For instance, here is an actual (no kidding) exchange dating from a few weeks before I received the laudatory message I have just copied out, above. MY social media posting comes first, with the reaction message next: 

MY SOCIAL MEDIA POSTING:

THE RESPONSE I RECEIVED TO MY SOCIAL MEDIA POSTING:

You are included into a sick fuck crowd that was created during the sixties. You represent a hate group that is far more evil than the Nazis or the KKK. You will never understand this until you die and meet with Satan.

oooOOOooo

Luckily, I don't get too many messages like that one!

As for the nice comment that I have put into this blog posting, I am naturally happy to have my efforts as an elected official recognized in such a positive way. In fact, though, while I played a major part in the land use and social justice policy changes that occurred during my time on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, all the accomplishments were made not by me alone, or by any individual, but by our engaged and active community, working together. I was honored to be an official charged with helping to implement the changes that our community wanted, but when I make a pitch for your personal involvement in politics, it's because I know what dedicated community action can do. 

We, truly, did "change the world," in Santa Cruz County (and in the state and the nation, actually), and I want anyone reading today's blog posting to know that when I put in a pitch for your personal involvement in "politics," and tell you that your involvement requires way more effort than just "voting," I do so because I have lived through a time when members of my local community did make positive things happen, using their government as the mechanism to make those good things happen. 

There's a lot more still to do, just in case you haven't noticed! I'm kidding! I know that we are all painfully aware that's true. Please don't give up on "politics," or think that "politics" is just the same thing as "resistance," or that your political involvement means "voting," pure and simple. 

Getting together, in person, with others who share a vision of what needs to happen positively, and what needs to be prevented from happening, negatively, is the way we can create the kind of world we need, and most ardently desire. 

Together, we can change the world. Check out that nice message I got. Let us remind ourselves of what we can do - and then.... let's get to work doing it!

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# 200 / A New Way Of Living

 

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Here is one of Father Richard Rohr's "Daily Meditations," this one published on June 14, 2026: 

Christianity first emerged not as a new religion, but as a reform and sect of Judaism within Judea and the Mediterranean. Wherever Paul, Peter, and other early missionaries traveled, they formed small communities of believers in “the Way,” a movement that emphasized Jesus’s teachings, death, and resurrection as the path to transformation. Gradually the movement grew and took on a life of its own, welcoming non-Jews as well as Jews, becoming more inclusive and grace-oriented, until it eventually called itself “catholic” or universal. By 80 CE, there were Christians as far away as India and France. 

The early church period (the five hundred or so years following Jesus’s resurrection) was a time of dramatic change in culture, politics, and economy. All these changes affected the development of the fledgling religion, shaping liturgy, rituals, and theology. Historian Diana Butler Bass writes, “For all the complexity of primitive Christianity, a startling idea runs through early records of faith: Christianity seems to have succeeded because it transformed the lives of people in a chaotic world.” During this time, Christianity was not so much about doctrines or eternal salvation, but about how to live a better life here and now, within the “reign of God.” 

From the perspective of occupying Roman powers, the Christian sect was radical because it encouraged alternative behaviors that were both attractive to those at the bottom and threatening to the worldview of empire. Rather than acquiring wealth, this new sect shared possessions equally. Followers of the Way lived together with people of different ethnicities and social classes rather than following classist and cultural norms. 

Much of what Jesus taught seems to have been followed closely during the first several hundred years after his death and resurrection. As long as Jesus’s followers were on the bottom and the edge of empire, as long as they shared the rejected and betrayed status of Jesus, they could grasp his teaching more readily. Values like nonparticipation in war, simple living, inclusivity, and love of enemies could be more easily understood when Christians were gathering secretly in the catacombs. 

Several writings illustrate this early commitment to Jesus’s teachings on simplicity and generosity. For example, the Didache, compiled around 90 CE, says: “Share all things with your brother, and do not say that they are your own. For if you are sharers in what is imperishable, how much more in things which perish!” At the time, Christianity was still pure, simple, and loving, relatively untouched by empire, rationalization, and compromise (emphasis added).

I find a lot to like in downplaying a definition of religion understood as doctrine and dogma, and identifying religion, instead, with a "new way of living," a life of "simple living," with "generosity" and "nonparticipation in war" being a couple of the main features. 

 

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https://jenhatmaker.com/podcasts/series-16/live-yourself-into-a-new-way-of-thinking-richard-rohr/

#199 / From The Left

 

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That's Bill Press pictured. At the bottom right hand corner of the photo, you will see a copy of his book, From The Left. I just got through reading that book, and here is my one word review: RECOMMENDED!

I have known Bill for a long time, but I hadn't really seen him for many years. Quite recently, right around the Fourth of July, and on almost no notice, I had the pleasure of getting together with Bill for coffee, as he was vacationing with an eleven-member family group, right here where I live, in Santa Cruz County, California. Normally, Bill hangs out in Washington, D.C., with his wife Carol, and that is not a town I normally visit - especially under its current management. 

I did specifically ask Bill, and I'm sure it's on your mind, too: Bill absolutely swears that he had nothing to do, whatsoever, with the obvious sabotage of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. Was Bill fleeing D.C. to avoid being pulled in for questioning? I put that right to him. No. This visit to Santa Cruz really was a vacation! And.... (I hope I'm not giving away any family secrets) a couple of Bill's grandkids, soon heading off to college, wanted to check out UCSC. Good idea, grandkids!!

If you read Bill's book - and again, it's recommended - you will encounter references to Bill's connections with almost everyone who has been involved in American politics over the last fifty years or so. That specifically includes those on both sides of the great political divide that has now come to characterize our political life - Red v. Blue, MAGA v. Progressives (those "progressives" sometimes known as Democratic Socialists), Republicans v. [Regular] Democrats. Oh yeah, and "Right" versus "Left." Bill, as the title of his book proclaims, is coming "From The Left."

Here's one more Santa Cruz and UCSC reference and story before I provide a little more information on what you'll find when you read Bill's book. A couple of Bill's friends, in a life that includes hundreds of friends, were Page Smith, the first Provost of Cowell College at UCSC and the author of some wonderful books on American History - and, equally impressively, Eloise Smith, Page Smith's wife and an independent star in her own right. Eloise was, among other things, the first Director of the California Arts Council. 

Well, my wife Marilyn and I, like Bill and Carol, count our friendships with Page and Eloise as a highlight of our lives, so Bill and I did get into a little bit of "Page and Eloise" storytelling during Bill's recent visit. I was happy to find that I had a tie to Page that Bill did not. We have both read, and possess, virtually all of Page's wonderful books on American History, and Page's The Chicken Book. Bill did not, however, possess a copy of A Letter From My Father. I am proud to say that I turned Bill on to that book (I use this terminology advisedly), and Bill has since reported back to me that he, now, also possesses a copy of that classic work, which he found "quite stimulating." Again, do your own research with the links I have provided and you will see that Bill's description of his enjoyment in reading that book is a description chosen for a reason.

Well.... on to a quick review of Bill's book, From The Left. This book is the story of Bill's life, which started out in Delaware City, Delaware, and went from there to nine years preparing for entry into the clergy of the Catholic Church, and then came around to politics (particularly centered on politics in California), which then led Bill to his current role as a (or maybe as "the") leading "progressive" or "left" commentator on the fraught politics of our nation. Bill started out on "Crossfire," and is now producing his own political commentaries. These include timely podcast presentations, as well as weekly written commentaries, which are something you can "read," as differentiated from something that you either "watch" or "listen to." 

I am definitely of the "I like to read" cohort, and I confess that I never saw even one episode of "Crossfire," back when it was, I believe, the most significant political commentary on television. I realize that this probably distinguishes me from almost everyone else who might be reading this blog posting. 

I ended up with this take away from Bill's book, which is one of the reasons that I recommend it to you: Despite the dramatic polarity of our contemporary politics, Bill has been able to be (and is) friendly with those on all sides of our politics, and he clearly believes (as I do) that "We Live In A Political World," and that our personal involvement in politics needs to survive our various reluctances to get involved, as well as the divisive polarization that seems to indicate that the aim of politics must be to destroy, entirely, the "other side." 

Whether you are, like Bill (and me), "From The Left," or whether you are "From The Right," we are all "in this together," and the joy and fulfillment that comes from a deep and sustained involvement in our politics is something we need, especially right now. Bill's life and work is convincing that this is possible.

Perhaps reading From The Left will inspire your own involvement in our politics - as a participant, not just as a spectator. 

I bet Bill would join me in saying that he hopes so!

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#198 / If You Don't Shoot....

 

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Pictured above is Justin Cummings. Justin is currently representing the Third Supervisorial District on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors. That District includes most of the City of Santa Cruz, Bonny Doon, Davenport, and the Santa Cruz County North Coast. 

I was the Third District County Supervisor, in Santa Cruz County, for twenty years, from 1975 to 1995, and I still live in the Third District. Naturally, I pay attention to our County Board of Supervisors, and I keep my eye on Justin (whom I have endorsed both times he ran for the office). Justin has done a great job in what I know, from personal experience, is an important and consequential assignment. 

Recently, based on Justin's social media postings, I have become aware that Justin is massively interested in and invested in the World Cup soccer matches being played, this year, in the United States. This, for instance, is how Justin is currently heading up his personal profile page on Facebook: 

That picture above, so prominently associated with Justin's self-presentation on social media, indicates to me that Justin is definitely deep "into" the World Cup. I cannot match Justin's knowledge, involvement, or enthusiasm, but I have been happy to have been exposed to his ongoing commentaries as the various World Cup contests have proceeded. In fact, one of Justin's most recent commentaries presents some wisdom, in my view, that goes far beyond World Cup rivalries (emphasis added): 

England was looking good until after they scored, they changed up their game and decided to not attack. Argentina lived by my golden rule; if you don’t shoot you can’t score and that’s exactly what they did during the end of the second half. I was pulling for England, but they blew it by not trying to score second half and succumbed to the late game Argentina has been playing this entire cup.

Saturday 3rd & 4th: France v England 

Sunday World Cup FINAL: Spain v Argentina

Justin's "Golden Rule" (if you don't shoot you can't score) makes sense for those playing soccer (or "football," if you prefer to be "international" about it). However, that observation has relevance far beyond the soccer pitch. 

If we don't TRY, we will never succeed. Trying doesn't guarantee success, but Justin's "Golden Rule" is absolutely on target. If you don't "shoot" you will never "score." 

So, my message today is to follow Justin's guidance. Justin's "Golden Rule" provides some very good advice for those involved in the upcoming final World Cup matches. 

But Justin's "Golden Rule" is even better advice as a rule for living in general, and for politics in particular! For politics, though, we do need to remember that we're not "spectators," sitting in the bleachers and voting for the team we like best. We're on the field!

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#197 / Global Warming Is Bugging Me (And You)

  

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Shayla Love has written an article that appeared in the June 1, 2026, edition of The New Yorker. In the hardcopy version of the magazine, Love's article was assigned to the "Brave New World Dept." It was titled, "Breeding Ground." Online, the title provided for Love's article is a lot more explanatory: "Our Warming Planet Is a Petri Dish for New and Deadly Microbes."

I am suggesting that you read Love's article, which is truly eye-opening. I think that the link I have provided will let you do that, but I do subscribe to the magazine, so it may be that non-subscribers will be stymied. I hope not! 

What Shayla Love tells us is that hot temperatures are leading to rapid and massively significant evolutionary changes in the various "bugs" to which we have, over millennia, built up resistance. 

We are unprepared to deal with the "modified" microorganisms that are now evolving to protect themselves from the ever-hotter temperatures being experienced virtually everywhere on Planet Earth. I have previously written about Ministry For The Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson, a work of "fiction" that is based on real facts. It paints a pretty horrible picture of what increasing temperatures, like the ones being charted all over the world this summer, can do to us. We are in pretty deep trouble already, without taking into account the phenomenon that Love is writing about. If her article doesn't alarm you, you are not paying attention. 

Here is a link to an article in Grist, which I picked out pretty much at random. Its title is, "Western Europe just set the record for its hottest June ever." Love's article makes clear that the dangers of increasing heat are much greater than the fact that heat can kill us directly, as temperatures get too high. The record-breaking temperatures we are experiencing are probably going to get to us indirectly, by way of deadly microbes, long before we get start having to deal with conditions like those described in Kim Stanley Robinson's novel. 

No time for further delay! We need to modify everything, and make fighting against global warming our top priority - worldwide! See if the Shayla Love article doesn't convince you that I am right about that. 

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https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/06/01/our-warming-planet-is-a-petri-dish-for-new-and-deadly-microbes

#196 / Who's To Blame?

  

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Presumably, I do not have to go into a great deal of detail, for anyone who reads this blog posting, as I provide a comment on the sad story of Graham Platner, who is pictured above. 

Platner, a Maine oysterman, just recently won the Democratic Party nomination for the United States Senate, in the State of Maine, and Platner was set to take on Maine's incumbent Senator, Republican Susan Collins, this Fall. Maine tends to vote Democratic, and there was a lot of enthusiasm for Platner, and it looked like Platner would probably win in November, giving Maine a Democratic Senator, and perhaps giving the Democratic Party a majority in the United States Senate. Obviously, as is always true in politics, there were no guarantees, but that what lots of people were predicting.

Alas (at least for Platner, and possibly for the politics of Maine, and possibly for the politics of the entire United States of America), the scenario just outlined has collapsed. Shortly after he won his primary victory, a former girlfriend accused Platner of rape, and although Platner denies the truth of that charge, the accusation seems to be pretty credible, and many of Platner's supporters (including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren) promptly withdrew their support for Platner's campaign. Platner has now removed himself from the Senate race in Maine. 

So, who is to blame in this sad story - other than Platner, of course? Well, Bruce Neuman, a resident of New York State, not Maine, fired off a letter to The New York Times, which The Times printed on July 9, 2026. Here is Neuman's analysis (emphasis added):

To the Editor: 

The issue is not what lessons can be learned from the rank candidacy of Graham Platner for the Senate but the sheer incompetence of the Democratic Party in allowing him to get this far. With so much at stake and with the signals of a problem candidate apparent, how did this guy even get through the process? 

We are at a dangerous point in American politics. Corruption abounds, as do moral issues that are seriously testing what kind of nation we are. Our aspirations have unfortunately often been vastly exceeded by the reality of our actions since our founding; what was a steady trajectory upward in our more recent history has all but evaporated. Comparisons can now be drawn to other failed states. 

The Platner candidacy was the most recent example of where we now stand. We look pathetic.

Bruce Neuman
Water Mill, N.Y.

Here's my comment on Neuman's assignment of blame. It appears, from the way that Neuman has phrased his letter, that Neuman is suggesting that "The Party" should pick candidates, instead of "the people" picking the candidates. 

If politics is held in significant disrepute, nowadays (as I think it really is, and as Neuman suggests that it is), one big factor, in my view, is the dominance of our politics by our political parties, which appear, all too often, to be largely funded by, and largely to represent, those who have a lot of money. In fact, "The Party," whichever "Party" it may be, is really in charge of our politics. That is the premise that underlies Neuman's letter. The editorial that appeared in the July 10th edition of The Times, and particularly the headline - "The Democrats Can't Go On Like This" - also seems to confirm that voters should expect to be given the choice of candidates that "The Party" approves and has presented to them. This is not, in my view, how best to achieve genuine "self-government."

In case that phrase, "self-government" isn't self-explanatory, "self-government" means a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people," as Abraham Lincoln so wonderfully phrased it. That "by the people" part is actually the most important. "Self-government" means something quite different from having the ability to vote (even acknowledging how truly important that is). "Self-government" means that many of us (ideally all of us) are personally involved in politics and government, in some way - and that we are involved ourselves. We, the people, should be picking the candidates whom we believe will best represent us. A potential candidate's party designation is often relevant, but we should be picking the candidate, not "The Party."

Our political parties are supposed to take direction, not give directions. At least, that's the way I see it, and I think that ceding authority to "The Party" to decide who is going to represent us in our governmental bodies is to sacrifice, ultimately, the possibility of a self-government that can accomplish what that phrase promises. Instead of blaming some others, those with "authority," we need to move on from that and take a look in the mirror, and then do just what Michael Jackson says: "Change."

If mistakes were made, as in Platner's case it seems that such mistakes were made, WE, the people, the voters in Maine, made those mistakes. Instead of trying to blame "The Party," let's all take a hint from Michael Jackson, and look in the mirror! Click the link to hear him sing the song!

We've got a big November coming up. 

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/opinion/graham-platner-maine-senate.html

#195 / Hermon Husband, Revolutionary Hero

  

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Which image best tells us what Hermon (or Herman) Husband actually looked like? And who the heck is Hermon (or Herman) Husband, anyway? Wikipedia says Husband's first name is spelled "Herman." The New York Times Magazine, and author Woody Holton, says it's "Hermon." 

Well, let me return to this more important question: Spelling issues aside, "who the heck is (or was) Hermon (or Herman) Husband?"

Though our Fourth of July holiday has passed, I am still reading and thinking about that 250th anniversary of the signing of The Declaration of Independence. July moves on, but I'm still stuck on July 4th. As someone who majored in American History in college, this only seems natural. 

For those who weren't aware of this, virtually the entirety of the July 5, 2026, issue of The New York Times Magazine was devoted to a series of articles that The Times called, "Visions of America." I am making my way through that special edition of the magazine, and I am also still reading another special section of the July 5th edition of The Times that was focused on "six sentences that have shaped the American story." Clicking those links I have provided should give you access, even if you're not a subscriber to The New York Times. [And for those who aren't, but who might like to read The Times, from time to time, let me remind you that anyone who possesses a Santa Cruz City-County library card - free to County residents - gets free online access to The New York Times].

As someone whose favorite book is titled, On Revolution, I like to think that I am pretty well-versed in the history of the American Revolution. However, until I read those "Visions of America" articles (seven articles, by seven leading historians, focused on little-known revolutionary leaders), I was not really aware of how little I actually did know. I commend the series to you!

Hermon Husband (I'll use The Times' spelling) is described by author Woody Holton and The Times as a "radical pacifist who inspired the first armed rebellion of the founding era." I was most struck by Holton's description of how Husband worked to make sure that actual power would be available to "ordinary Americans." He was, in other words, someone who worked to provide the kind of real political power to ordinary people that would allow the nation actually to be governed by "we, the people," not just by "the elites." 

In case you haven't been reading the news, this is a real problem today. Elites of various kinds, from the billionaires on down, are actually the people who are "running the place." In the United States of America, that is not the way it's supposed to go. Hermon Husband knew that, right after the American Revolution disposed of British rule, and we've still got the same problem today. I identify with Hermon!

Read up. Maybe you'll identify with Hermon, too.

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(1) - https://thewayofimprovement.blog/2012/12/17/herman-husband/

(2) - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/06/22/magazine/american-revolution-hermon-husband-william-tryon.html

#194 / Three Flags, Coffee, And A Poem

 

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On Sunday mornings, I walk from my house to the Santa Cruz Quaker Meeting; it's about a mile. Quakers are known, officially, as "The Religious Society of Friends." At the end of the Meeting, I walk back home. Before I do walk back home, I always get myself a cup of coffee, which the Quaker Meeting kindly provides. 

Yesterday, as I walked along, I encountered a couple of flags, and they put me in mind of another flag, from somewhere else (some pictures are below). Those flags tell a kind of story about our community, or so it seems to me. 

As for the poem, by Danusha Laméris, formerly the Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County, someone had placed a copy of that poem on every seat in the Friends Meeting, before the Meeting began. Her poem stimulated quite a few lovely comments during that Friends Meeting yesterday.

A Flag From My Neighborhood

A Flag From A Nearby Neighborhood

A Flag From Somewhere Else

Small Kindnesses

Danusha Laméris

I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk
down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs
to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you”
when someone sneezes, a leftover
from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying.
And sometimes, when you spill lemons
from your grocery bag, someone else will help you
pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.
We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,
and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile
at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress
to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,
and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.
We have so little of each other, now. So far
from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange.
What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these
fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here,
have my seat,” “Go ahead—you first,” “I like your hat.”

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Image Credits:

(1) - https://grateful.org/resource/small-kindnesses/
(2) - (4) - Gary A. Patton, personal photos

(5) - https://danusha-lameris.mykajabi.com/

#193 / Intimations Of Immortality

 

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"Intimations Of Immortality" is a famous poem, by William Wordsworth (pictured above). The full text is at the bottom. You are invited to sing out this poem, to get into the flow of the cascading words, and to hear the poet find in the remembered visions of his early life an intimation of what may be coming on, as this life gives way to whatever it is that follows - whatever may await you, too. And me.

Candidly, though, not everyone provides a testimony equivalent to that which Wordsworth shares with us in his famous ode. Intimations of immorality, maybe, as opposed to "immortality," appear much more likely to abound: Public servants, for instance,  who use their office to make money for themselves - and for their families - are all too commonly found, in even our most important offices. And cheaters, too, of various kinds - those who cheat on their lovers and partners, or those who cheat on academic tests. There is such an abundance of opportunity to cheat, isn't there? That is another familiar category in which our intimations all too often ripen into the certainty of "immorality," as opposed to "immortality." There are many more examples of how this life provides intimations of immorality. Feel free to add them in the comments!

Wordsworth, though, is not the only one who has had the transforming intimations of immortality he reports in his famous poem. Feel free to add your own experience in the comments, should you have shared any experience like his. While our material selves, by themselves, seem to proclaim that "this is all there is" - and I have friends who tell me that this is their strong conviction - others may be more like me, one whom the poet's words have swept along, bringing me into both remembrance and vision, too - just as he says: 

Though inland far we be,
Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither,
Can in a moment travel thither,
And see the Children sport upon the shore,
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore.

I hope such visions do come to you, from time to time, as I can report they have come to me. But whether or not such visions come, or have come, and whether or not they be illusions, or the true and reliable report of realities beyond our common sight, let us celebrate this life while we are here and while we live. 

And as for what comes next, whatever intimations we may have had (or haven't had - or will have yet): Fear Not!

oooOOOooo

Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood

BY: William Wordsworth

The child is father of the man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
(Wordsworth, "My Heart Leaps Up")

There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.
It is not now as it hath been of yore;—
Turn wheresoe'er I may,
By night or day.
The things which I have seen I now can see no more.

The Rainbow comes and goes,
And lovely is the Rose,
The Moon doth with delight
Look round her when the heavens are bare,
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair;
The sunshine is a glorious birth;
But yet I know, where'er I go,
That there hath past away a glory from the earth.

Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song,
And while the young lambs bound
As to the tabor's sound,
To me alone there came a thought of grief:
A timely utterance gave that thought relief,
And I again am strong:
The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep;
No more shall grief of mine the season wrong;
I hear the Echoes through the mountains throng,
The Winds come to me from the fields of sleep,
And all the earth is gay;
Land and sea
Give themselves up to jollity,
And with the heart of May
Doth every Beast keep holiday;—
Thou Child of Joy,
Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy Shepherd-boy.

Ye blessèd creatures, I have heard the call
Ye to each other make; I see
The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee;
My heart is at your festival,
My head hath its coronal,
The fulness of your bliss, I feel—I feel it all.
Oh evil day! if I were sullen
While Earth herself is adorning,
This sweet May-morning,
And the Children are culling
On every side,
In a thousand valleys far and wide,
Fresh flowers; while the sun shines warm,
And the Babe leaps up on his Mother's arm:—
I hear, I hear, with joy I hear!
—But there's a Tree, of many, one,
A single field which I have looked upon,
Both of them speak of something that is gone;
The Pansy at my feet
Doth the same tale repeat:
Whither is fled the visionary gleam?
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
Upon the growing Boy,
But he beholds the light, and whence it flows,
He sees it in his joy;
The Youth, who daily farther from the east
Must travel, still is Nature's Priest,
And by the vision splendid
Is on his way attended;
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day.

Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own;
Yearnings she hath in her own natural kind,
And, even with something of a Mother's mind,
And no unworthy aim,
The homely Nurse doth all she can
To make her Foster-child, her Inmate Man,
Forget the glories he hath known,
And that imperial palace whence he came.

Behold the Child among his new-born blisses,
A six years' Darling of a pigmy size!
See, where 'mid work of his own hand he lies,
Fretted by sallies of his mother's kisses,
With light upon him from his father's eyes!
See, at his feet, some little plan or chart,
Some fragment from his dream of human life,
Shaped by himself with newly-learn{e}d art
A wedding or a festival,
A mourning or a funeral;
And this hath now his heart,
And unto this he frames his song:
Then will he fit his tongue
To dialogues of business, love, or strife;
But it will not be long
Ere this be thrown aside,
And with new joy and pride
The little Actor cons another part;
Filling from time to time his "humorous stage"
With all the Persons, down to palsied Age,
That Life brings with her in her equipage;
As if his whole vocation
Were endless imitation.

Thou, whose exterior semblance doth belie
Thy Soul's immensity;
Thou best Philosopher, who yet dost keep
Thy heritage, thou Eye among the blind,
That, deaf and silent, read'st the eternal deep,
Haunted for ever by the eternal mind,—
Mighty Prophet! Seer blest!
On whom those truths do rest,
Which we are toiling all our lives to find,
In darkness lost, the darkness of the grave;
Thou, over whom thy Immortality
Broods like the Day, a Master o'er a Slave,
A Presence which is not to be put by;
Thou little Child, yet glorious in the might
Of heaven-born freedom on thy being's height,
Why with such earnest pains dost thou provoke
The years to bring the inevitable yoke,
Thus blindly with thy blessedness at strife?
Full soon thy Soul shall have her earthly freight,
And custom lie upon thee with a weight,
Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life!

O joy! that in our embers
Is something that doth live,
That Nature yet remembers
What was so fugitive!
The thought of our past years in me doth breed
Perpetual benediction: not indeed
For that which is most worthy to be blest;
Delight and liberty, the simple creed
Of Childhood, whether busy or at rest,
With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast:—
Not for these I raise
The song of thanks and praise
But for those obstinate questionings
Of sense and outward things,
Fallings from us, vanishings;
Blank misgivings of a Creature
Moving about in worlds not realised,
High instincts before which our mortal Nature
Did tremble like a guilty thing surprised:
But for those first affections,
Those shadowy recollections,
Which, be they what they may
Are yet the fountain-light of all our day,
Are yet a master-light of all our seeing;
Uphold us, cherish, and have power to make
Our noisy years seem moments in the being
Of the eternal Silence: truths that wake,
To perish never;
Which neither listlessness, nor mad endeavour,
Nor Man nor Boy,
Nor all that is at enmity with joy,
Can utterly abolish or destroy!
Hence in a season of calm weather
Though inland far we be,
Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither,
Can in a moment travel thither,
And see the Children sport upon the shore,
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore.

Then sing, ye Birds, sing, sing a joyous song!
And let the young Lambs bound
As to the tabor's sound!
We in thought will join your throng,
Ye that pipe and ye that play,
Ye that through your hearts to-day
Feel the gladness of the May!
What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.
And O, ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves,
Forebode not any severing of our loves!
Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might;
I only have relinquished one delight
To live beneath your more habitual sway.
I love the Brooks which down their channels fret,
Even more than when I tripped lightly as they;
The innocent brightness of a new-born Day
Is lovely yet;
The Clouds that gather round the setting sun
Do take a sober colouring from an eye
That hath kept watch o'er man's mortality;
Another race hath been, and other palms are won.
Thanks to the human heart by which we live,
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.oooOOOoooTo Subscribe, Please Click This Link

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wordsworth

#192 / Slow Down... [What CEQA Requires]

 

Click Here For The Blog In The Original

This blog posting is about the California Environmental Quality Act - better known as CEQA. Simon & Garfunkel, and one of their most famous songs, have a direct bearing on this topic (but you might have to be a little patient to get to that part of what I want to say). 

Serious lawyers read the "Advance Sheets." Click this link to be directed to published and citable opinions of the California courts, right after those opinions have been published, and before they have been bound together in the kind of lawbooks you can consult in the local law library. What you will find if you do check out that website link is a set of recently published decisions of California appellate courts (from all over the state) - decisions that determine the constitutionality and establish the judicially-approved meaning of the laws passed by the legislature, among other things. Like I said, serious lawyers read those decisions!

Not everyone really understands how our legal system works in actual practice. Our laws, for the most part, are legislatively-enacted - but that's often only a first step. While laws are legislatively-enacted, initially, they are judicially-established in the end. Anyone wanting to know "the law," needs to read the statutory statements found in the codes that classify legislative enactments and group them together to make it (relatively) easy to know what the Legislature has said about a particular topic. As an example, you can click here for a link to the California statutes. If you do, and look into the "Government Code," you'll find that it outlines the powers and duties of our governmental bodies, including local City Councils and Boards of Supervisors. Want to know something about our traffic laws? Try consulting the "Vehicle Code." Etc.

However, as I said earlier, looking through the Codes will only get you so far. If you want to know with any certainty how various code provisions have been interpreted - and thus how they are actually applied to real life situations - you will need to search through the various court decisions that have adjudicated how the codified laws are applied to real-world activities.

As an environmental attorney, I am particularly interested in any court decisions that construe the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. You can find CEQA in the California Public Resources Code. Just click this link to get to those code provisions. I started thinking about CEQA back in early June, when I read a court decision that outlined some limitations on who could bring a successful "CEQA lawsuit," challenging a governmental action based on the requirements of CEQA. In fact, you pretty much have to act promptly, if you want to use CEQA to challenge some government activity that might have an adverse impact on the environment. Here's a link to the case that got me thinking about today's blog posting (and about how one of Simon and Garfunkel's most famous songs really captures one of the important tasks of CEQA). 

Those reading this blog posting probably know Simon and Garfunkel's famous 59th Street Bridge Song. Click the link at the end of this blog posting and you can hear them sing it. As far as I am concerned, the very first line of the song is what CEQA is all about: 

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

It is my opinion that "slowing down," fully to evaluate the possible environmental impacts of proposed governmental actions, is good for us! That is exactly what CEQA requires. 

CEQA also requires a governmental body that proposes to do something that might adversely affect the environment, to respond, directly, to any public comment raising a concern about the proposed action, as part of a legally-required environmental impact review. Again, I, personally, think that's a good thing! 

Just in case you haven't had this experience yourself, let me tell you that elected officials often fail to address concerns expressed by members of the public, or comments made by members of the public. Sometimes they do address those comments, of course (that's good politics), but they don't have to. There is no such legal requirement - unless CEQA has kicked in and requires that an EIR be prepared, before project approval. If a development is proposed in your city neighborhood, for instance, and you believe that the proposed project would create a traffic danger, you and a hundred other neighbors can raise that concern by letter, email, and public comment, and the City Council Members hearing your concerns do not have to respond and address those concerns at all, EXCEPT... if the proposed project is subject to CEQA. If it is, then the law will require that comments made in the environmental review process must be addressed and responded to, substantively. If they're not, the courts will reverse any approval of the project. 

People are impatient. They don't want to "slow down." They don't want to take the time to require that demonstrable environmental impacts be reviewed (and that they be eliminated, or mitigated to the greatest extent possible, if found to exist). Developers are impatient. Elected officials can be that way, too. 

But what's best for the "long run"? I'm with Simon & Garfunkel. What is so often true, as our government starts making decisions, often at the behest of those with a big financial stake in "getting something done," is that we make mistakes, or fail to do our best, because we don't take the time to make sure that we have thought it all through. 

There's a remedy for that (in general), as Simon & Garfunkel remind us with their song: 

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QwxTXGSLWQ