Dying River

Dying River

She flows
Through mountains and deserts
Carving canyons over eons
40 million depend
To irrigate and drink
The great, sprawling cities
Denver, Las Vegas,
Salt Lake, Phoenix, Tuscan,
LA, and San Diego consume
This finite source
Based on archaic law
Written a century before
"Use it, or lose it"
The rights held dear
By the progeny
Of those first white settlers
Who forged the land
At the expense of those native.
Now sick and depleted
Her flow trickles
And ends before reaching the sea.

Democratic Socialism

People scare at the word socialism in any context. They immediately conjure images of the failed communist states, conflating the two different terms. Obviously, in education, in life, we need healthy competition but there are definitely things a government needs to help provide for a country's own best interests. A protected, well-educated, healthy, and generally happy population with the ability to move, access, and transport goods and services throughout the given area with a sustainable environmental impact (so our progeny can be part of that).  So strong defense (not offense), education, healthcare, environment protection, time for family, friends, and play, along with a viable infrastructure.  That may be the essence of democratic socialism.  A healthy democracy that provides a fair platform for competition of ideas, innovation, goods, and services.

Autumn on City Greenroofs

 Few are the days that a walk along the High Line is without crowds.  While people watching is part of the beauty, this misty day was sublime.

Atop the vast roof at the Morgan Distribution Post Office building, a look at NYC's largest building site to date, the Hudson Yards Project.  A 52 story building went this year and the foundations for a 90, two 70's, and a 60 plus story buildings are underway.  On this roof, the noise of construction is overshadowed by the sound of crickets, birds, and the wind passing through the grasses.

Tulum

No Trespassing!

 Before arriving at this trail the forest ranger joked that the owner of the adjacent property did not take kindly to people on his property.

Care for the Unborn

The anti-abortionists are out again trying to knock back that pesky law.  They want to protect the unborn.  In reading Naomi Klein's "This Changes Every Thing", I was struck by the extent that pollution largely disrupts species at their most vulnerable stage, within the egg, the womb, the larvae, the youngest stages of development.  It's obvious when pointed out but I am victim to the presence of a vivid photograph of a large animal soaked in oil or choked by plastic rather than the absence of countless adults a few years down the line because a leaked chemical killed the eggs of that same species in their breeding grounds.  This is increasingly true of people, populations that are subject to live near big pollution sites, their reproductive systems are measurably compromised.  If you really did want to protect far more unborn, say no to tar sands, fracking, mountaintop removal, and the criss-cross of pipelines, that regularly pollutes so many places and push lawmakers to entice alternatives.  We want our descendants to have an environment that is hospitable to the young.