Billy Collins

Lanee gave me a poetry book by Billy Collins--The Trouble with Poetry. I had never heard of Collins, (a reflection of the waning currency of my literary education), although I have since learned that he was poet laureate of our country a few years back, including on September 11, 2001, which I suppose is both a grave responsibility and an immortal opportunity for a poet, whose gaggle of humanity generally lacks responsibility and is easily forgotten.

Collins is fun to read. A native New Yorker, he has spent most of his life teaching college in the Bronx, a setting which has doubtless contributed to his unpretentious style. He has a keen eye for the commonplace, not as symbols really, as poets often contrive, but as playing integral roles that evade inspection, taking their turns upon life's stage, sometimes with a single line of timely occasion. The salt shaker may reside in a darkened cabinet most of the time, but what is more important when served a baked potato?

So I have enjoyed his refreshing work, despite my usual comfort in structure, meter and rhyme. Collins could care less about any of these, as he is the poet of experience, part common and homespun like Frost and part coarse and plain-spoken like Whitman, mixed with dollop of e.e. cummings' iconoclasm and irony for an American stew made palatable for today's tastes. Here's one I liked:

Flock

It has been calculated that each copy of the Gutenburg Bible ... required the skins of 300 sheep.
--from an article on printing.

I can see them squeezed into the holding pen
behind the stone building
where the printing press is housed,

all of them squirming around
to find a little room
and looking so much alike

it would be nearly impossible
to count them,
and there is no telling

which one will carry the news
that the Lord is a shepherd,
one of the few things they already know.

Wonderland

Just spent a few days in beautiful southern Utah. Thursday I joined a bunch of guys to hike Buckskin Gulch, the longest slot canyon in the world. It's a very lovely route, emptying into the Paria River, for a total of 22 miles of slot canyons flanked by towering 300-foot sandstone walls.

I guess I'm not used to hanging out with guys my age, because it felt a little like a senior citizen group. Six of us were about 50, one was 61 and one 41. But we still managed the entire trek in eight hours, and no one seemed worse for the wear. Good company, great weather, beautiful canyon. Followed with a surprisingly tasty dinner at a Kanab diner. Life is good.

Friday Brett Pinegar and I headed to Rock Canyon, between Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park and Zion National Park. Finding the trailhead proved difficult as we had to navigate criss-crossing rancher roads through sand that demanded 4WD attention. After some backtracking, we found our destination, loaded our gear and headed down Rock Canyon. A few nice rappels and some terrific downclimbing later we were in the Paranuweap River (East Fork of the Virgin). This was my first time on this part of the river and it is truly lovely. We enjoyed a sizable petroglyph wall and then walked the river to the exit, then up French Canyon, which was also quite pretty, starting with a narrow little passage and finishing with a neat little climb. All in all a great day, and a fine introduction to canyoneering for Brett. Didn't see another soul, unless you count the few cows grazing along the river.

I'll never tire of these canyons. I love working my way down them, then the physical challenge of climbing back up, and all the mystical delights along the way. My wonderland.

A Day in the Life of Grandma

This is a true and accurate catalog of yesterday's events, as best as I can recollect them:

11:15 a.m. Bill takes Stacie and MJ to the airport after visiting from Phoenix.
3:30 p.m. Rebecca, having cried three times already, cries again, already missing her grandchildren.
4:45 p.m. Courtney calls, mentioning that she is buying a car from Angelica, but doesn't know how she is going to get it to here from Phoenix.
5:00 p.m. Rebecca suggests she may be available to pick up car.
5:15 p.m. Rebecca calls Angelica. They scheme.
5:30 p.m. Layla calls Rebecca (with Angelica's help) and gives ticket details.
5:40 p.m. Rebecca packs bags for Phoenix. No more crying. Very excited about seeing grandchildren. Schedule includes Layla, MJ and all parents.
7:00 p.m. Bill takes Rebecca to airport to fly to Phoenix.
10:00 p.m. Grandmother reunited with grandchildren after a traumatic 11-hour separation.

Quit Hitting the Bottle

I guess I should practice what I preach, so I'm making a commitment. No more bottled water. I've been leaning in that direction, but today I stumbled upon an article that for some reason I can't find again. (It was a featured story in Yahoo. But I've managed to source most of it.) A few things:

-60 million plastic bottles a day are going into U.S. landfills.
-Plastic bottles can take up to 1000 years to biodegrade.
-In the U.S., we spent $15 Billion on bottled water last year.
-More than 25.5 billion plastic water bottles were sold in the U.S. last year.
-About 1 in 5 plastic water bottles used in America are recycled.
-Producing our plastic bottles uses 1.5 million barrels of crude oil annually. That's enough to fuel over one million cars a year.
-Last year bottling water produced 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide.
-Three gallons of water are used for each gallon of bottled water produced and sold, while one billion people in the world do not have easy access to potable water.
-Tap water is under even more stringent regulations than bottled water. Many experts believe that overall it is as good or better for you than tap water. (See this Readers Digest article as one among many.)
-Bottled water costs (ranges I've read) between 500 and 2000 times more than municipal water.
-Much of the bottled water purchased is simply tap water. This is true for both PepsiCo's water (Aquafina) and Coke's (Dasanti). There are no labeling requirements.
-And more and more research is demonstrating that in blind taste tests, tap water is preferred to many brands of bottled water.

Bottled water became popular when smart marketers from French companies (first Perrier, then Evian) convinced trend-setters that it was cool. I predict that in five years, drinking bottled water will be considered as uncool and irresponsible as littering or driving cars that burn oil. So drop by REI and get a nifty-looking Nalgene or refillable sports bottle. (Don't refill plastic water bottles for health reasons.) How hard is that? And if you don't like the idea of simple tap water, get a PUR or another filtering system, which are cheap and easy to use.

Yeah, bottled water is convenient. That's the same thing decent people used to say about throwing dirty Pampers out their car window. What would you think of them now? C'mon, be cool, responsible and ahead of your time. Quit hitting the bottle!

Seeing the Light

Ran into a very cool, fun, refreshing and original website called www.unscrewamerica.org, which promotes the usage of incandescent light alternatives--LED's and CFL's. Be sure to hit the space bar, and play around on the website, which is clever and upbeat, but still provides plenty of credible arguments for all of us to switch. Why? Well ... they are both cheaper over the long run, save energy and reduce greenhouse gases. That ought to be enough, methinks. Here's something I learned--95% of the energy used by an incandescent bulb is lost in heat. The light is merely a byproduct. Gee, that sounds pretty wasteful.

Over the past six months I have reflected on various elements of my lifestyle, with some nagging persistence in the area of environmentalism and conservation. (I've long admired the ancient wisdom from Socrates: "The unexamined life is not worth living.") And sadly, in many areas I am unable to justify my actions. When confronted by these realities, I either do a fetal curl in denial, or seek refuge in the protective embrace of crowds and customs. For instance, I can question the research, without the inconvenience of further study. Or, I can ignore it, content with the fact that everyone else uses incandescent bulbs. Why should I have to be weird?

Another example: I recently read about how our oceans are becoming increasingly polluted by plastics, floating on the surface, coalescing toxic chemicals and endangering ocean wildlife. According to the article, "Currently floating in the Pacific Ocean: a giant field of plastic trash that's twice the size of the continental United States." It's nearly impossible to destroy plastic, so when bags, bottles and manufacturing byproducts hit the waterways, as plenty do, they have nowhere else to go.

What can we do? Quit using plastic bags. Cut out bottled water. Buy less disposable stuff. Recycle. And maybe all of those are a little inconvenient. Maybe these changes are too hard. Well, maybe so. But does that make us any less accountable? Then there's the greatest rationalization: I'm only one person and won't really make a difference. I think just the opposite--real change is only going to happen by individuals leading the way with their personal decisions and commitment. Example is the only effective way to teach, and the best way to change the world. It is my responsibility to do what I can.

Unfortunately, these ruminations can be frustrating, as I continually find myself living at odds with my ideals, and must suffer the burden of culpability, no greater or less than anybody else. On the other hand, maybe CFL bulbs can lighten my load.

April Quotes

"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
--Winston Churchill

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worthwhile."
--Herm Albright, writer

"Pain is mandatory, but suffering is optional."
--Sylvia Boorstein, Buddhist-Jewish teacher

"The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense."
--Thomas Edison

“Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.”
--Peter Drucker

"No plans survive first contact with the enemy."
--Carl von Clausewitz

"A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood."
--General George S. Patton


"It is impossible to learn everything about a man, his soul, his will and his judgment, until he is seen practicing government and law."
--Sophocles (Antigone)

"Some day bemused students will try to see how we came to this decision and credit us with profound thought we never had. The thing as I see it is to get a definite, simple plan quickly, and win by execution ..."
--George S. Patton, on plans for the 1943 invasion of Sicily

"I may lose a battle, but I shall never lose a minute."
--Napoleon Bonaparte

"Many assume that half efforts can be effective. A small jump is easier than a large one, but no one wishing to cross a wide ditch would cross half of it first."
--Carl von Clausewitz

"When life gets to be more than you can stand, kneel."

“Meetings are a symptom of bad organization. The fewer meetings the better.” - --Peter Drucker

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” - --Peter Drucker

"Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons."
--Woody Allen

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." - --Winston Churchill

"Finish last in your league and they call you 'Idiot.' Finish last in medical school and they call you 'Doctor'."
--Abe Lemons, college basketball coaching legend

"Doctors bury their mistakes, mine are still on scholarship."
--Abe Lemons

“One's objective should be to get it right, get it quick,
get it out, and get it over ... your problem won't
improve with age.”
--Warren Buffett

"One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity."
--Bruce Lee

"Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking."
--Albert Einstein