Late May Gardens #5

container01, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

I'll close this thread with this picture of one of my many container garden: Lush, rusty, lemony...full of verdance.

Late May Gardens #4

stofthedigitalis, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

To look at images from my gardens, you'd practically get the impression that I live in coastal Oregon or Washington and not Washington, D. C.'s suburban Maryland! It's just been a wonderfully wet spring. Everything flourishes today...Foxglove and St. Francis.

Late May Gardens #3

californiapoppy01, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Back when I lived in Kentucky on the crest of a palisade at the edge of the prairie I planted California Poppies. I was enamored with their frilly unconventional foliage and brilliant yellow-orange blossoms. They loved the sun there and rewarded me by reseeding and returning annually to wave in clusters in the summer sun.

And therefore, it was an act of nostolgia that drove me to buy and plant a dozen of them in my moist, humid and shady backyard. Would they bloom? I had no way of knowing.... So, imagine my surprise this afternoon at the advent of this blossom: A peachy, variagated circle of creamy light against a bed of pale blue-green filigree. Will wonders never cease?

Late May Gardens #2

pathwaygarden, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

I have this narrow garden in the backyard that is sandwiched in between the walkway and the back stairs down to the basement. When I first bought this place it was somehow filled with tomato plants full of fruit! Quite a trick, I've never gotten tomatoes to even bare a blossom there for general lack of light.

Each year I plant a trinity of flowers in the bed and this year the combination includes: Pineapple Sage (back row); Choleus var. "Henna" (middle row), and white begonias in the front. It's the most interesting partnership of plants I've every attempted there...time will tell.

Lily Allen Phenomenon: OR, Perhaps FUCK Is JUST A Four Letter Word!

After posting my previous vid of this song I discovered that it--the song, has spawned a host of fan inhabited videos. And I say BRAVO! The GLBT community has a new anthem, and it's no longer somewhere over the rainbow. Thank you, Lily!

Random Quote #106 (Today's Sermon #next!)

abrahamlincoln, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

"Anyone who thinks he knows the mind of god is simply arrogant."

~ Abraham Lincoln, 1809 - 1865

Arthur Erickson, RIP

arthurerickson, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

I didn't know his name until today, but I often witnessed his genius.

Arthur Erickson was the architect of the Canadian Embassy here in Washington, D. C. It's a powerfully amazing and iconic structure. My recent visit there to see the exhibit of documents, paintings, and prints to celebrate the colonization of Canada by Europeans was my first one. It only enhanced my awe of the place. It is a building well designed and well placed. Bravo, Msr. Erickson--may light perpetual shine upon you.

FUCK is not a 4 letter word.

It's a fact of life!

Mid-May Gardens #5

fluer-de-lis, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

A trio of volunteer blue iris', just stunningly indigo.

What I'm Watching #198

AJihadForLove, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Is a documentary by Parvez Sharma that traces the lives and experiences of gays and lesbians in the Arab world. Men and women who love Islam, who love Allah, and who wage a war daily with both because they have the audacity to love themselves, too. This is their personal "Jihad".

The film adroitly opens their individual worlds to you, warts and all. So whether we're witnessing the trials of the only openly gay Imam in South Africa or the triumphant introduction of a lesbian's lover to her mother in the rural highlands of Turkey you feel compassion and empathy and hope. And in some vinettes you wish you could intervene as in the case of the four young men from Iran who escaped certain execution in their homeland to become wards of the United Nations with no control over their future, and no guarantee that they won't be sent back to Iran.

The only shame is that the only people who are likely to see this film are the denizens of independent and glbt film festivals.

It's Our Turn

courtcartoon,jpg, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Or as one Republican noted back in the Bush days, "elections have consequences."

Finally, Republican members of the Senate's judiciary committee are stepping up to the plate and acknowledging this reality. Until now, members of the "so called" liberal press have been acting like some legal views of potential nominees to the Supreme Court would be, nay ARE, controversial. Chief among them the idea of abortion.

Give me a break! Abortion as a concept is as old as man, and as a legal right in the United States the law of the land for nearly 30 years. You don't have to like it, but the clock moves one, the page has been turned: This is NOT a litmus test for membership on the Supreme Court. To harp otherwise only confirms that it is a very SLOW news day on FOX(FAUX)News.com!

So, it was refreshing to learn that the leading Republican on the Judiciary Committee in the Senate gets this, too. In today's New York Times, Senator Jeff Sessions from Alabama stated, "Everyone up here can see the political pieces on the board. No one is talking about the possibility of defeating any nominee, barring something coming out of left field.”

I can only hope that would be something criminal and NOT ideological.....

My Gardens -- Mid-May

foxgloveoffsunporch, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

A quick share of this amazing Foxglove off on my sunporch. Such a fascinating plant!

What I'm Watching #197

drhorriblesingalongblog, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

So given my just completed comments on WIW #196, let's talk funny.

This is some funny shit.

Confession: I hated "Dougie Howser, M.D." and by extension, Neal Patrick Harris. But then Dougie got canceled, and NPHarris disappeared... well, sort of. Little by little he re-emerged and re-invented himself almost just AS himself. And that takes balls.

In this iteration he's amazing. The whole concept is simply delightful. And today, I learned that he will be hosting this year's Tony awards. Well done, and Bravo! -- NPH! I can't wait for your next project.

What I'm Watching #196

superbad, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

I have a new teacher this year who is simply dynamite. She brought this film in for me to watch declaring that it was the "funniest film I've ever seen!" -- OUCH. I watched it. I did!

I reminded myself afterwards that I'm twice her age + 2 years. And it isn't that this movie is bad or unfunny. It's, in fact, charming at times--times after it ceases to be simply vulgar, or utterly predictable in an adolescent way. Like 2 minutes into the thing, I had basically written the rest of it myself. Where's the funny in that? Super Bad? Hardly. More like super sad...

Senate 2010

2010SenatorIndex, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

The senate has just tipped to 60/40 in the dems favor.

Oh my! Honeys, you haven't seen anything yet.

In 2010 there are 35 seats open and here are the battles so far.

FLORIDA - A true toss-up, Thanks to Governor Chris' announcement.
ILLINOIS - A Democratic KEEP, but by WHO?
KENTUCKY - A Democratic TAKE, Bunning is adled, the race will kill him.
MISSOURI - A narrow Democratic TAKE, Non-buyer's remorse....
OHIO - A Democratic TAKE, the purpling of the "Heart of America"
PENNSYLVANIA - A just turned Democratic KEEP, but by WHO? Not betting on Arlen Specter!

Obama will face his second term with 63 or 64 allies in the Senate. Believe it!

My Quilting Ways #13

TN2-morningevening, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

The front TOP and back BOTTOM of my latest quilt are done. Based on a random number sequence, the top is meant to depict the morning sun through a window, and the bottom an evening dusk via the same. The background is meant to enhance the luminosity of light from within a space and without.

Our Latest American Hero #132

jakervelloza, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

It's been awhile since I've shared one of these, and I regret that. The rate of casualties in the War on Terrorism for 2009 is nearly 1 per day. Did you know that? In our name for our protection, for our comfort, a man or woman in the military is dieing every day....

Army Spc. Jake R. Velloza, 22, of Inverness, Calif.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died May 2 in Mosul, Iraq, after being shot by enemy forces. Also killed was Spc. Jeremiah P. McCleery.

These are quotes left with the Los Angeles Times from those who knew Specialist Velloza.

"We talked about college, but he said, 'No, Coach, I want to be a Ranger doing special ops.' He was set on his goals. He was one of those young men who knew what he wanted to do and did it. Service to his country is what appealed to him.
~ LF , high school football coach

"I met Jake when he came to buy his letterman jacket. What a wonderful kid. He reminded me of his father and uncle who I went to school with. He was quite the football player and getting that Letterman jacket was a bid deal for him. And on the back, the school mascot -- also a symbol of what he was -- a BRAVE."
~ TJL

"I was his team chief, his leader, his mentor. We talked about baseball and football on many occasions. He had told me he was a left hand pitcher, and I told him that I was also a pitcher in highschool. It was hard saying bye to Jake. Not only was he a great soldier he was a great friend. To his parents I am deeply sorry for your loss, I can't imagine what you are feeling right now."
~ SSG

"Jake was hilarious. Just a funny guy who had a really hard time being in a bad mood. He was also obsessed with the concept of true love, and love at first sight. I'd like to think he finally found what he was looking for in Danielle, his fiancee. My heart goes out to her."
~ BH

Random Quote #105

uptonsinclair, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it."

~ Upton Sinclair, 1878 - 1968

My Quilting Ways #10.1

morning, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Finished the first half of my new quilt. It's entitled "Morning" and it's made up of the pattern formed by the random serial numbers on the test booklets of 3 of the 6 second grade teachers at my school.

When recording the numbers, I became more and more fascinated by their random, yet un-chaotic arrangements. The patterns seemed to favor certain numbers and the "favoritism" shifted from one class roster to another.

I took the rosters and created a random set of Tryptichs. This one favors warm colors and is entitled "Morning". The other favors cool colors and it entitled "Evening". Together they form one day. Morning is framed with a dark nuetral gray, Evening with a light nuetral gray.

Numbers are beautiful. n'est pas?

My Quilting Ways #10.2

eveningfragment, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Here's a fragment of the first column of the back of the quilt. It's the "Evening" side of the duo tryptich. I've placed it against the background fabric to emphasis the contrast with the other side.

The best part about the back? All of the fabrics where already part of my stash.

Today's Sermon #15

waltwhitman, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Comes from a protest held at a local High school and the student led response:

"At Whitman, A Protest Over Poet's Lifestyle"

A group of seven congregants from Topeka, Kan., set up outside Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda yesterday to protest the sexual orientation of the poet for whom the school was named. The police presence -- 40 officers, five horses, blocked-off streets and a football field's length of yellow tape -- seemed comically disproportionate until the counter-protest arrived.

At the 2:10 p.m. dismissal, 500 students issued forth from the campus and lined up, several students deep, along the police tape, across Whittier Boulevard from the congregants. They alternately chanted the school name and "Go home!" -- drowning out voices from across the street.

Whitman, a 19th-century poet with major influence on American literature, is generally regarded as having been gay or bisexual, but his sexual identity remains enigmatic.

The Westboro Baptist Church has gained national notoriety for its anti-homosexuality demonstrations, staged provocatively outside military funerals and at schools that are putting on the musical "Rent." Before heading to Whitman, they showed up at the funeral of the Middletown, Md., family killed in a murder-suicide last week, claiming that those deaths, like the military casualties, were God's wrath toward a godless people. Police asked them to leave.

But at Whitman, the protesters arrived to palpable excitement. Faculty had spun the event into an interdisciplinary lesson. English teachers spent the day on Whitman's verse. Social studies teachers led a unit on tolerance. Math teachers fanned through the crowd, attempting a head count.

It was the first taste of protest for many Whitman students, and perhaps the first time they had paid much mind to their namesake.

"This is my school, and this is where I live, and that makes it personal to me," said Maddie Oliver, 18, a senior. Along with others, she wore a blue T-shirt emblazoned with the Whitman passage "Let your soul stand cool and composed." Principal Alan Goodwin helped choose the slogan, hoping students would see its wisdom, he said.

Indeed, no one was injured, and no property was damaged.
Rebekah Phelps-Davis, daughter of Westboro pastor Fred Phelps, said it was "the duty of the servants of God to go where the message needs to be heard."

Susan Russell, 17, a junior, said she hoped the publicity would
"highlight how ridiculous they are. I mean, that sign -- 'You will eat
your babies' -- that doesn't even mean anything."

And from the poet himself:

from LEAVES OF GRASS

I have perceiv’d that to be with those I like is enough,
To stop in company with the rest at evening is enough,  
To be surrounded by beautiful, curious, breathing,
laughing flesh is enough,  
To pass among them, or touch any one, or rest my arm ever so lightly
round his or her neck for a moment—what is this, then?  
I do not ask any more delight—I swim in it, as in a sea.  
  
There is something in staying close to men and women,
and looking on them,
and in the contact and odor of them, that pleases the soul well;
All things please the soul—but these please the soul well.

~ Walt Whitman, 1819 - 1892

May Day Garden Thoughts

mydeckdeckedwazaleas, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

This view of deck is taken from an angle of my backyard not often included in images of gardens. Here the azaleas appear to break like some ocean wave encountering a retaining wall. My deck is a place of respite and a mission control center were plants just purchased first land before being parcelled out.

This whole first weekend of May promises to be gray and cool and moist with rain on and off. These gloomy days are not uncommon in this region hugging the Chesapeake Bay. To combat their dreary motifs, I turn to a plant from South Central Asia: the Choleus.

Here follows 3 views of choleus that I have planted in my gardens/planters this year. For those living in the metro-Maryland region, Potomac Nursery on route 28 at Quince Orchard has the most amazing varieties of these foliage rich plants I've ever seen. They love the planter as much as the good earth and clippings can be easily rooted in a glass of water.

Choleus View #1

choleus01, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Choleus View #2

choleus02, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Choleus View #3

choleus03, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

What I'm Reading #14

tangomakes3, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Is this delightful and endearing children's book about the famous "gay" penguins of the Central Park Zoo. It tells how two male penguins, Silo & Roy, bonded and then raised a little female penguin, Tango, from abandoned egg to adulthood with all the penache and parenting skills of their opposite sex coupled enclosure mates.

The actor, John Lithgow's jacket quote says it all, "A little miracle for children. Funny, tender, and true, the story of Tango will delight young readers and open their minds." If only, if only......

When Do The Gifts Cease?

justiceswitch, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Obama has accomplished the most amazing acts in just 100 days.

Now, he may appoint the first Hispanic female justice to the Supreme Court, God willing!

Art I'm Owning #3

blackcrownaples, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Recently became interested in the movement of Daily Painters on blogspot. From there I began to follow the art of Michael Naples of Wheaton, Illinois. And after loosing a couple of ebay auctions for his works, I won this one: "Black Crow". It's so a pro pos on various levels. Michael is a published artist and I am happy to add this work to my collection.

My Quilting Ways #09

newquilt, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

With a return to the hot weather, I am again inspired to quilt--go figure. This latest creation is based on a random set of serial numbers used to track test booklets at my school for the annual 2nd grade assessments. Bazaar? Clearly! Interesting? Absolutely.

I'm using batiks and that adds even another layer to the design.

Recipe #01 - Red Soup!

redsoup, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

I love cooking. I believe anybody can cook and cook well. And one of the easiest things to make is soup. Soup is the quintessential "comfort food" for any circumstance.

This one I call "Red Soup" and here's how to make it.

#1 ~ Start a large pot with a gallon of water and add a teaspoon of Kosher salt, a heaping teaspoon of canned or fresh minced garlic, a dozen churns on a pepper mill of fresh ground black pepper, and 3 cubes of beef boullion. Let it boil gently while you complete step 2.

#2 ~ Chop up the Following vegetables:

- A medium head of red cabbage
- A bundle of scallions
- 2 medium large Jalepeno Peppers
- 1 lb of organic peeled carrots
- 2 medium sixed beets, peeled and then cubed
- 2 8 oz cans of fire-roasted tomatos

Add them to the boiling broth and simmer for 2-3 hours.

#3 You can also add browned stir fried cuts of beef if you want a meet component, but it's yummy as just vegies.

You can serve it hot as is, or with a dollop of sour cream a la Borsch style. Either way, it's robust, healthy and full of nutrients.

Bon Apetite!

My Quilting Ways #08

roadtotherainbow, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

In sharing some of my quilts with a friend through this blog, I realized that I'd never uploaded one of my favorites. The pattern is tradiitonal and is thraditionally called "The Road To...." ergo my version is called: "The Road To Rainbow."

Bea Arthur RIP

beaarthur, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Just learned that "Maude" has died.... The actress Bea Arthur was an icon of my growing up years; as the acerbic matriarch on the TV sitcom "Maude." Not simply for her feminism, but also the way in which that persona advanced gay issues.

Maude was real. Maude was now. Maude took no prisoners. She was one of my few adolescent heroes.

Bea, may all you did for kids like me illumine your crown in the here-after!

What I'm Watching #195

straightboysgayboys2, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

I can't imagine why I purchased this DVD, it must have been on the dime Sale table....a waste of 10 cents. I got better, more compelling home movies of 9 and 10 year olds performing plays at my elementary school. Would that I were a tri-pedal being, so I could All-on-my-own rate it with 3 thumbs down!

Ornamental Trees #1

cerciscanadensis, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

cercis canadensis - "Eastern Redbud" is a weed tree really. They grow fast and tend to dye at a relatively young age for trees. This one grew from a twig that I got from the city of Takoma Park one Earth Day some years back now-- 2000? I fear the picture does it no justice as it positively glows in the back light from the late afternoon sun.

And here's a fun fact: you can eat the flowers. They are tart and sweet with a mild aromatic quality. They really bring magic to a salad of mixed field greens.

Ornamental Trees #2

prunusserrulata-kwanzan, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Prunus serrulata - "Kwanzan" is one of the lovely Japanese Cherry Trees that tends to bloom late. There are several in the neighborhood and this one in my back yard was planted at the grave of my dear cat, "Buster, the Usurper" may her feline soul and canine heart blossom in whatever heaven her tender energies now inhabit.

Random Quote #104

frandrescher, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

"No one leaves this planet unscathed. What we do with it, how we work through it, and what becomes of us as a result makes all the difference."

~ Fran Drescher, 1957 -

4 Early Spring Favorites, #1 dicentra spectablilis

dicentraspectablilis, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

#2 mertensia virginica

mertensiavirginica, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

#3 stylophorum diphyllum

stylophorumdiphyllum, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

#4 epimedium sulphureum

epimediumsulphureum, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Easter Ressurection

joanncastleandboblido, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Easter is a time for families and Church and children, but when you're on your own, don't believe in Christianity, and have no progeny, how do you weather the Holiday?

Well, while folding my 5th load of laundry, I stumbled upon Lawrence Welk on PBS and became almost immediately transfixed. A staple of my childhood Saturday evenings, Lawrence Welk has been dead to me for many years now. And then there he was again. Stilted with his German-lilted English, flat effect, eyes glued to some invisible young man holding up the cue cards and introducing one after another of the performers in his unique, kitchy, campy circus of "Americana Plasticata": The world we were all told that we ought to believe in in the 1960's & 70's.

A world of hope, sunshine, tom-foolery, and silly-innocence. A world that no one living actually inhabited, and even those being used in his company to offer it's effect to the rest of us seemed at times quietly, efficiently, pained to portray.

Then enter into this Jo Ann Castle (nee Zering)!--and OMG!--she's like the embodiment of sunshine on crack! A big boned gal with all the power to play any tune on the piano ragtime with any other member of the cast for a "drop of the hat" reason. Here she bellows out a version of "Put on Your Gray Bonnet" with Bob Lido. You can watch it for yourself at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eiA4jqOPec

Jo Ann, many THANKS!

Today's Sermon #14

rowanlecompte, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Yesterday, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday, host Paul Simon interviewed one of the most amazing, gracious, and generous people you’ve never heard of. His name is Rowan Lecompte; and for lifetime now he has been the creator of the stainglassed windows at the National Cathedral here in Washington. The entire interview is utterly amazing, and here’s one example.

Paul Simon asked, “Do you believe in God?”

And Rowan LeCompte replied: “I believe in kindness and love. And there are those who say that those are God. I don’t know, but I respect and love kindness and love, and worship them. And if I am worshipping God; I am delighted.

“And I want very much for all of us to have another chance of life, at life after we die. I don’t know that that’s possible. And I don’t know that I’ll ever find out. But I hope I will. And rejoice totally because there are a number of people that I have loved so much in my life that have died.

“I’d love to see my dear, dear, scientific professor brother. I loved to see my mother again. She was so kind, she was the embodiment of kindness, goodness, and love. And they both of them died long before their time: mother from cancer, and Stuart from dispair.

“...enough of my private life. But I love love, and I love kindness. I wish churches would emphasis more kindness -- kindness to everybody.”

You can hear the entire interview at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102977788

Art I'm Seeing #37

moranditpc, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

I went to The Phillips Collection today to tour the current exhibition: "Morandi: Master of Modern Still Life". Morandi is an italian artist who was active from the early 1910's through his death in 1964. He made the bulk of his career out of painting the same set of bottles, jars, vases, pots, bowls, and other domestic elements for about 40 years. Over than span the quality and complexity of the paintings gradually waned; they flattened, the colors fleshed out, the number of objects lessened. And while earlier times included a few landscapes and organic components like flowers, for the most part the latter work grew more and more stark.

As it happened, I toured this modest exhibit in reverse chronological order.

This....inspite of some Dutch women who would not SHUT UP and her boyfriend who egged her on with a flurry of "uh hughs" and "okays" while all the time manuevring her to allow him a better view at the art on the walls.....proved very interesting.

My initial reaction to the later paintings was disdain. They're really poorly executed. I found myself asking whether or not Morandi drank. Especially, as the earlier works grew more complex and aesthetically appealing.

And then I did a time check and toured the exhibit in the correct chronological order. His early works are clearly derivative of the Impressionists, and from there you see influences leading all of the way up to a pre-minimalist sensibility. The works offer more than the casual eye can see, and much for me to ponder.

At The Phillips Collection through May 24, 2009

What I'm Watching #194

japanjapan, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

"Japan Japan" is an Israeli film that beggars description. More a serious of vignettes featuring mostly pedestrian characters than an actual film. It's not tightly contrived and has no real point except perhaps dreams are sometimes only dreams.

It is also not a film that you like or dislike....it was simply interesting.

5 Views of a Good Friday Ritual, View #1

goodfriday1, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Every year on Good Friday the parishners from Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic church on New Hampshire Avenue in Takoma Park put on processional commemorating Christ's march to the Golgotha and crucifixtion. They walk in solome procession from the church to a location about a mile and half away, where the crucifixtion will be re-enacted, too.

View #2, Good Friday Ritual

goodfriday2, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

The focal point is the actor playing Jesus who is taunted and jerked back and forth by the actors playing the Roman soldiers, while children keep pace on a drum and women sing lamentations in a wobbly, slightly flat Spanish.

View #3, Good Friday Ritual

goodfriday3, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

The crowd of hundreds stretched half a mile or more up New Hampshire Avenue.

View #4, Good Friday Ritual

goodfriday4, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

As in times of yore, the money changers are in the crowd. Ice cream has replaced doves and goats and unblemished lambs....

View #5, Good Friday Ritual

goodfriday5, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

The procession turns off of New Hampshire Avenue at Gardenside and disappears into the neighborhood. Eventually it will stop on the far end of the neighborhood and Christ will be "crucified" on the back of a flatbed truck.

Spring Again

ginger, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Been a weekend/early week full of yardwork. I'm digging, weeding, planting, etc.. And discovering. Here my ginger arrives again and blesses the wild garden.

My present project is to recapture this area of the yard. I'm digging, weeding, and have planted one River Birch cluster. I have plans for ferns and am on the verge of even ripping out the hellaborous that dominate that part of the yard...they are wild and without semblence.

More pictures to come.

A Room With A View of Spring!

tulipmagnolia, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

The blossoms from my tulip magnolia sing and sway, bob and applaude the present Spring on this most windy day. What great companions as I work at my desk!

Who Are We?

missliberty, originally uploaded by Randuwa.

The news out of Binghamton, New York today stated: "A gunman invaded an immigration services center in Binghamton, N.Y., on Friday, fatally shooting 13 people to death and critically wounding four others before killing himself in a paroxysm of violence, the police said." after an act of xenophobic violence both tragic and despicable.

Whatever happened to?:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Have we forgotten that that is how our ancestors arrived? Have we succumbed so utterly to the idea that we are entitled to our largesse and privilege that it can only be sustained by denying it to others? It makes me so fucking sick. Those who deny opportunity to others do not deserve it for themselves. That's my bottom line.

My progenitors arrived in this nation in waves. Thomas S. (my Gx11 grandsire) left a London destitute to join with the migration of settlers under John Winthrope in 1637, Both Richard P. and Samuel M. found themselves living in or near to the original Jamestown settlement in 1622; and both came for a future that would be better than their past only to die in the Native American revolt of that same year--and their lineage continued through their infant children who survived to meet, marry and procreate. And there's James M. who fled the famines and oppressions of 19th century Ireland.

My ancestors came to this nation in a time span from 1619 to 1884. They came here form town and villages now scattered across the nations and kingdoms of Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany and France.

How are they any more ambitious, daring, creative, conniving, ignorant, needy or hopeful than those who today risk life and limb to become Americans from Mexico, China, Guatemala, Cuba, Ireland, Croatia, Viet Nam, Pakistan, etc. etc. etc.....?

We can no more stop this phenomenon than we can stop the tides. It's time that we revamped the process and imagined what and why and how to the degree that our embrace of immigrants becomes an invitation to emigrants to leave and return and spread the ideals of democracy to the rest of the world. Just saying.....