Just a Thought

The flood waters are retreating and there is a hint of the countryside drying out. Of course we could have another storm or two between now and the end of April but I suspect they will be rain, which is fine with me. I’ve had enough of winter. My snow blower worked, it plowed nice canyons that were the walkways between my office, the driveway, the sidewalks and the house. I’m pleased with it.

Something else is happening—the geese are back. A skein of geese flew over yesterday afternoon and I happened to look at the kennel to see Cookie watching the birds. I think she truly does live for the birds. She knows when we should be going hunting and her entire manner changes with the hunting season. I guess she pumps herself up for the season so that by the time I pick up my shotgun she is primed for the hunt. I don’t know if it is the change in weather, the length of the day or if she can smell the birds in nearby fields—and the nearest field with grouse is less than a mile from my house. I’ve never hunted that field, leaving it for the local kids who like to tramp through it in the fall.

I was watching some kids hunt that field last fall. They seemed to have a really great lock on what they were doing. They circled the slough, two boys on each side, and continued up the CRP grass. In my mind I could see the sharptails running before them. Maybe if I had offered to let Cookie hunt for them she would have pinned the birds before the crest. I didn’t, though. I watched and sure enough, as they neared the crest of the hill several grouse flushed and the four shotguns all barked. One grouse did fall and the boy who shot it ran wildly to pick up his bird then held it triumphantly for his buddies to admire. Aren’t we all like that? Shouldn’t we be like that? He was totally unencumbered by the trappings of spiritual quest, connection, in or out of nature and the hunt’s salvation of civilization. He and his buddies were having a good time. Nothing else mattered. Too bad they will all grow up. glg

Red River Flood

The Army Corps of Engineers is warning the people of Fargo and others along the Red River that it will crest over 41 feet and could reach 43 feet. I don’t care what your belief is but either send a prayer or a positive thought to the people of Fargo. They are fighting for their homes and their city. They are doing it the way Americans have always done it—by standing shoulder to shoulder with people they may never see again. It does not matter whether they are Democrats or Republicans, gay or straight, hunter or anti-hunter, they are all Americans and they are in a fight for an American city that is in peril. I’ve been all over the world and I’ve always been amazed by our willingness to set aside all differences and stand together, even when it is against the odds.

If they get the dikes high enough and if the dikes hold back the ice cold waters of the Red for the duration of its long crest then Americans will have witnessed a triumph of spirit over adversity that this nation has not seen in quite some time. The experts who know dikes and floods are quietly admitting the people are fighting against all the odds.

The next time the nightly news shows video of Fargo think about what you are watching. A nine-year old filling a sandbag, his grandfather tying it and handing it to high school student with a pierced nose who hands it to a college student who passes it to a homeowner, to someone who lives in a bare-bulb apartment and it goes down the line. Every person in that line, from the truck to the dike, has a different story, a different life and politics, but when nature turns on their town these people join together to save homes they will never step inside, business where they cannot afford to shop and apartments they wish were in another block. But for the present there is nothing more important than saving their town—their homes and the homes of others and God willing they will do it.

I think that is what makes us special as Americans.