It’s Me Again (Part 19)

August 31

When you are living in relentless heat, you become easily distracted, irritable. The fans, swamp coolers, and heat pumps we have in our homes can only take you so far out of the malaise. You become limp, despondent, and slow-moving like a lizard at high noon. Many throughout our desert communities are confronting the possibility that this untenable sustained heat and drought will force us to leave. ~ Terry Tempest Williams

[I was subsequently released under a $200k bond, all the while claiming (strongly) my innocence and that it was a political witch hunt . . . ]

Do not go gentle into that good night but rage, rage against the dying of the light. ~ Dylan Thomas

A man’s character is his fate. ~ Heraclitus

May 30

I’ve searched all the parks in all the cities and found no statues of committees. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

[A relatively new local area park. Just a drive through to see the improvements . . . ]

We’ve got to get people out of their cars, out of those drive-thru windows, get them walking, get them in parks and get them more active. ~ Mick Cornett

The making of the far-famed New York Central Park was opposed by even good men, with misguided pluck, perseverance, and ingenuity, but straight right won its way, and now that park is appreciated. So we confidently believe it will be with our great national parks and forest reservations. ~ John Muir

[Well, this looks nice . . . ]

Child welfare ought really to cover all sorts of topics, such as better water and sanitation and good roads, and clean streets and public parks and playgrounds. ~ Marjorie Stoneman Douglas

[Restrooms at the beach . . . ]

Conservation of any endangered species must begin with stringent efforts to protect its natural habitat by the enforcement of rigid legislation against human encroachment into parks and other game sanctuaries. ~ Dian Fossey

A society – any society – is defined as a set of mutual benefits and duties embodied most visibly in public institutions: public schools, public libraries, public transportation, public hospitals, public parks, public museums, public recreation, public universities, and so on. ~ Robert Reich

Objects in a park suggest static repose rather than any ongoing dialectic. Parks are finished landscapes for finished art . ~ Robert Smithson

[There were subsequently three substantial music events here (2,000 – 3,000 attendees) this summer. Those crowds were a little too big for our tastes . . . ]

June 20

If you’re old, don’t try to change yourself, change your environment. ~ B. F. Skinner

[Because what could be more exciting than the construction of a roundabout at the Y. It has since been completed and is working marvelously . . . ]

June 21

All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child. ~ Marie Curie

[The proposed Alexandria Nature Trail . . . ]

Nature is my church. The wind in the trees and the bugs and the frogs. All those things are comfort to me. ~ Sissy Spacek

[You may recall Barb Benson from the previous post as a leading Friend of the Alexandria Nature Trail . . . ]

The purpose of education is to make good human beings with skill and expertise… Enlightened human beings can be created by teachers. ~ A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

[From Barb Benson: Tim Schoonhoven (red shirt), Alexandria City Engineer, will start us off with a brief informational presentation in Discovery. Lukas Gotto (gray shirt), Discovery Middle School (DMS) teacher, will lead us on a 1.5 mile trail walk. Following the walk…we will meet back at DMS to determine interest in a Friends of the Nature Trail.]

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. ~ John Muir

[An osprey nest at DMS . . . ]

Joys come from simple and natural things: mists over meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of the moon over water. ~ Sigurd F. Olson

I am glad I will not be young in a future without wilderness. ~ Aldo Leopold

[The hike through the DMS part of the trail begins (the osprey nest in the background) . . . ]

Wilderness to the people of America is a spiritual necessity, an antidote to the high pressure of modern life, a means of regaining serenity and equilibrium. ~ Sigurd F. Olson

[Looking back at DMS . . . ]

Conservation is getting nowhere because it is incompatible with our Abrahamic concept of land. We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. ~ Aldo Leopold

In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks. ~ John Muir

Nature’s beauty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude. ~ Louie Schwartzberg

A conservationist is one who is humbly aware that with each stroke [of the axe] he is writing his signature on the face of the land. ~ Aldo Leopold

I care to live only to entice people to look at Nature’s loveliness. ~ John Muir

[The students named the ponds after area lakes . . . ]

To explain all nature is too difficult a task for any one man or even for any one age. ‘Tis much better to do a little with certainty & leave the rest for others that come after you. ~ Isaac Newton

To those devoid of imagination a blank place on the map is a useless waste; to others, the most valuable part. ~ Aldo Leopold

[Hiking back toward DMS . . . ]

I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains. ~ Anne Frank

We learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean… and we were taught to value everyone’s contribution and treat everyone with respect. ~ Michelle Obama

[DMS . . . ]

Simplicity in all things is the secret of the wilderness and one of its most valuable lessons. ~ Sigurd F. Olson

[But still more trail to go . . . ]

Beauty is composed of many things and never stands alone. It is part of horizons, blue in the distance, great primeval silences, knowledge of all things of the earth. It embodies the hopes and dreams of those who have gone before, including the spirit world; it is so fragile it can be destroyed by a sound or thought. It may be infinitesimally small or encompass the universe itself. It comes in a swift conception wherever nature has not been disturbed. ~ Sigurd F. Olson

Six days shalt thou paddle and pack, but on the seventh thou shall wash thy socks. ~ Aldo Leopold

I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. ~ John Muir

[The Super leads the way out . . . ]

The way of a canoe is the way of the wilderness, and of a freedom almost forgotten. ~ Sigurd F. Olson

June 22

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. ~ William James

[The kids from Minnetonka did it again. They performed their tied for first place in the state one-act play contest “Honk & Holler” at Theatre L’Homme Dieu on Thursday night. Incidentally, Alexandria tied them for first place . . . ]

“1972. A then-lawyer at the ACLU named Ruth Bader Ginsburg set out to convince an all-male Supreme Court to take sex discrimination seriously with an unconventional strategy. She didn’t just bring cases where women were the victims of discrimination; she also brought cases where men were the victims. In this episode, we look at how a key battle for gender equality was won with frat boys and beer.*

This world premiere one act play is adapted with permission from NPR and Radiolab from one of their most popular podcast episodes. Minnetonka Theatre is excited to bring this remarkable true story back to life on the TLHD stage. Two performances only.”

Fight for the things that you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you. ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Whatever you choose to do, leave tracks. That means don’t do it just for yourself. You will want to leave the world a little better for your having lived. ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg

[The Super approves of pre-show adult beverages on the patio . . . ]

I pray that I may be all that [my mother] would have been had she lived in an age when women could aspire and achieve and daughters are cherished as much as sons. ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg

[Becky helps keep the wheels of the theatre operating smoothly . . . ]

Justices continue to think and can change. I am ever hopeful that if the court has a blind spot today, its eyes will be open tomorrow. ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg

[Trent Boyum, artistic director, Minnetonka Theatre, and Nicole Mulder, executive director, Theatre L’Homme Dieu, discuss what we were about to see . . . ]

Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception. ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg

As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it. ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg

We have made huge strides … but we have not reached nirvana. There’s still rampant discrimination on the basis of race, gender. It’s true that most of the explicit classifications — men are treated this way, women that way — are gone from the law books. But what remains is what has been called unconscious bias. One excellent example of that is the symphony orchestra. In my growing up years I never saw a woman in a symphony orchestra, except perhaps a harp player. ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg

[The kids were very much terrific . . . ]

June 24

Jazz stands for freedom. It’s supposed to be the voice of freedom: Get out there and improvise, and take chances, and don’t be a perfectionist – leave that to the classical musicians. ~ Dave Brubeck

It’s not that people don’t like classical music. It’s that they don’t have the chance to understand and to experience it. ~ Gustavo Dudamel

[Classical music fans arrive at the evening’s venue at Mount Carmel on Lake Carlos . . . ]

There is a lot of science in bubbles. They are just like our weather system. The earth is, in effect, trapped inside a liquid sphere, the troposphere, where our weather forms. The bright colors on the outside of a bubble are just varying thicknesses of bubble, just like the varying thicknesses of clouds. ~ Tom Noddy

[We had an incredible summer evening sky on the drive home . . . ]

When I look at the clouds over the Earth, and I know how high clouds are, I get a sense we are really, really far above those clouds. I wouldn’t call it scary, but I am aware I am in space. ~ Scott Kelly

The Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford is an astonishing building, designed by Christopher Wren. Its painted ceiling has just been restored so that the darkish miasma that was Robert Streeter’s original allegory of truth and light striking the university is now bright with playful cherubs and lustrous clouds. ~ Justin Cartwright

I read this book when I was young. It’s about a black girl growing up in Heaven, Ohio. The cover has a black girl with clouds behind her. It was the first book cover I ever saw with a girl that looked like me. ~ Jamila Woods

Every customer wants to run on all the clouds. ~ Diane Greene

Among the plausible niches for extraterrestrial life in our solar system, the clouds of Venus are among the most accessible and the least well explained. ~ David Grinspoon

When you can stand over the clouds and watch them roll through the mountains below you, it shifts absolutely everything in your brain. ~ Jamie Chung

June 27

Twice a year, I take myself off to a self-imposed ‘writer’s retreat’, staying at a small inn or on a friend’s farm, where I am all alone and do nothing other than write. ~ Jane Green

[A wedding and event center that has happily decided to feature music one day a week – this time our friend Anthony Miltich . . . ]

Japan is the most intoxicating place for me. In Kyoto, there’s an inn called the Tawaraya which is quite extraordinary. The Japanese culture fascinates me: the food, the dress, the manners and the traditions. It’s the travel experience that has moved me the most. ~ Roman Coppola

[The music and pizza venue . . . ]

I don’t read music. I don’t write it. So I wander around on the guitar until something starts to present itself. ~ James Taylor

[Overlooking a lake (well, it is Minnesota) . . . ]

I believe 100 percent in the power and importance of music. ~ James Taylor

I am myself for a living. I don’t animate a character. ~ James Taylor

[Another Kilroy selfie . . . ]

If Willie Nelson had been Rosa Parks, there never would have been a civil rights movement in this country, because he refuses to leave the back of the bus. ~ Kinky Friedman

[Yup, this is the start of the parade to put bread in Anthony’s jar . . . ]

If it hadn’t worked out professionally, I would be teaching music theory and composition in a small college somewhere and playing drums in a jazz trio at the Holiday Inn on weekends, and I’d be happy there, too. ~ J. D. Souther

There is no private house in which people can enjoy themselves so well as at a capital tavern… No, Sir; there is nothing which has yet been contrived by man by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn. ~ Samuel Johnson

Things started to get out of control when I began reading that I was a superstar. ~ James Taylor

[And the finish . . . ]

I collect hats. That’s what you do when you’re bald. ~ James Taylor

A concert is always like a feast day to me. ~ James Taylor

[Thanks for the pizza!]

I’m very unstable; there’s no stability in a musician’s life at all. You live on a bus or on the road hand to mouth and you don’t know where your money’s coming from. ~ James Taylor

Certain things in life are more important than the usual crap that everyone strives for. ~ James Taylor

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages. ~ William Shakespeare

[Meanwhile, back at Theatre L’Homme Dieu . . . ]

Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures, good plays, good company, good conversation – what are they? They are the happiest people in the world. ~ William Lyon Phelps

If they ever do my life story, whoever plays me needs lots of hair color and high heels. ~ Charlize Theron

June 28

I’ve never been to a class reunion or anything because I’m always afraid of that one – there’s going to be some ‘Carrie’-like incident. ~ Paul Feig

[The venue for the monthly reunion lunch, the winery on the south side of Lake Minnewaska in Glenwood . . . ]

The future is built on brains, not prom court, as most people can tell you after attending their high school reunion. But you’d never know it by talking to kids or listening to the messages they get from the culture and even from their schools. ~ Anna Quindlen

[Mayo and I represented a two-person reunion . . . ]

There’s some horrible connotations in the word ‘reunion.’ ~ Carrie Brownstein

It takes a certain amount of guts to go to your class reunions. ~ Dick Cavett

[The hazy view of Lake Minnewaska . . . ]

Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different? ~ C.S. Lewis

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public. ~ Bryan White

[The views from the winery . . . ]

I’ve never been to a class reunion or anything because I’m always afraid of that one – there’s going to be some ‘Carrie’-like incident. ~ Paul Feig

[This was a visit of first impression for Mayo . . . ]

It takes a certain amount of guts to go to your class reunions. ~ Dick Cavett

[The winery . . . ]

Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different? ~ C.S. Lewis

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public. ~ Bryan White

There are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable application of high explosives. ~ Scott Adams

[And then it was on to golf course fine dining . . . ]

Sheep, like people, are ungovernable when hungry. ~ John Muir

[Yup, meat loaf . . . ]

June 29

Every class is drama class when you’re in high school. ~ Timothy Bird

[Basketball is not usually the first thing that comes to mind at the end of June . . . ]

To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks. ~ A. A. Milne

[Cardinal coach Wendy Kohler is hoping to lead her team to the state tournament again next March . . . ]

I went to the 30th reunion of my preschool. I didn’t want to go because I’ve put on, like, a hundred pounds. ~ Wendy Liebman

[Hadley Thul (11) was all-state last year as a sophomore . . . ]

Don’t go to a school reunion. There’ll be a lot of old people there claiming to be your classmates. ~ Tom Dreesen

[With team quickness and depth, the Cards will be hard to beat this season . . . ]

People want to take sex education out of the schools. They think sex education causes promiscuity. Hey, I took algebra. I never do math. ~ Elayne Boosler

In California, some high schools are requiring students to wear uniforms. They say uniforms create a safe, stable environment. Like the post office. ~ Jay Leno

[If that’s all the starters on the floor, the shooter appears to be junior-to-be point guard Allie Haabala . . . ]

Stand firm in your refusal to remain conscious during algebra. In real life, I assure you, there is no such thing as algebra. ~ Fran Lebowitz

[Half time score with the game played on running time . . . ]

As long as teachers give tests, there will always be prayer in schools. ~ Unknown

[This is Allie Haabala (33) shooting the free throw . . . ]

Education costs money, but then so does ignorance. ~ Claus Moser.

[Junior-to-be Chloe Scholl (15) . . . ]

To be good is noble, but to teach others how to be good is nobler—and less trouble. ~ Mark Twain

[The next game . . . ]

It’s easier to floss with barbed wire than admit you like someone in middle school. ~ Laurie Halse Anderson

[Hadley . . . ]

The difference between try and triumph is a little umph. ~ Marvin Phillips

[High school girls are “bigs” in basketball when they’re over 6-feet tall. Here 6’2″ Hadley passes in to 6′ sophomore-to-be Kate Hennessy . . . ]

A liberal is a man too broad-minded to take his own side in a quarrel. ~ Robert Frost

He [Tony Bennett] was always available, always gracious. That old-school elegance, the jazz-era royalty – I don’t know if that’s going to exist anymore. Maybe he was its last remaining proprietor. That is one of the things that I mourn the most. ~ k. d. lang

Up Next: Likely Camp ’23 (Day 3 – ) . . .