faulker020

"Hey, there ain't no space between us!" - a flight attendant who saw me reading this book This is a very important book about a very important topic (segregation and race relations). It is also a book that strongly agrees with my priors about how the world works. And not just my priors, but with my desires - I want  segregation to be a bad thing. So because I'm so biased in favor of this book's thesis, I'm going to try to be especially hard on it in this review. Just realize that that's what I'm doing here. You should absolutely read this book. The research it explains is eye-opening, well-executed, and very important for our national future. And the theory that Enos weaves to explain his observations probably captures important features of reality, and deserves to be a central part of our national discussion. Having said that, let me proceed to being overly critical. The Basic Idea A very simplified version of Enos' basic theory goes like this: Ra...

Who can match Dylan Thomas's lines from " Poem in October " where he speaks of "the heron priested shore?" I love that evocative imagery, and I like this beachside photo, so I wrote a haiku for a summertime setting.  ~ CK in the morning sun at the vast ocean’s shoreline a lone heron waits _______________________________ Photo: Heron at Sunrise Found online on Pinterest and at  Sundiamonds of Life  =

[ The following essay was first posted in November of 2011. This week I was reminded of it and found it to be a word I needed to hear again today. ] “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”                                                                                                 ~ Julian of Norwich I tend  toward optimism. Sure, you can look around and see any number of causes for alarm and dismay. The world – or I should say the humans who inhabit it – display a grand mixture of good and bad, weak and strong, noble and depraved. Even so, and with such a mixed bag, humanity is on an upward track. There is a higher consciousness and a greater awareness at work in society. I can’t ...

From the YouTube site:                                                                                                          Dire Straits were a British rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), his younger brother David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals), and Pick Withers (drums and percussion). Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest to beat music within the context of rock and roll. (Scroll down to read lyrics) Hand in Hand by Dire Straits The sky is crying the streets are full of tears Rain come down wash away my fears And all this writing on the wall Oh I can read ...

when swallows take flight and winds become more playful the eye must follow ______________________ Image: Two Barn Swallows in Flight, Willow Branch and Flowering Cherry above (1910) Artist: Ohara Koson (Japan) Medium: Woodblock print Public Domain (courtesy of WikiArt ) -

[You may have seen my reference to a possum in a poem last week as a sign of hope, a connection with nature (see Respite in Nature ). Here is a post from two years ago about my delight in the return of ol' possum.] “I’m sorry to have to tell you this,” my wife said, “Your possum got hit. We saw his body up on the main road.” My connection with ol’ possum went back for a little over a year. If you read my post about the raccoon family , then you know about how my wife leaves some cat food out on the porch for the feral cats that we spayed and re-released last year. She feels an obligation to offer them food and water as well as a responsibility to see that they do not continue to reproduce, bringing unwanted kittens into the world. That Was No Rat One night last year, she was a bit unnerved when she went out the door to see a rat hiding behind the recycle bin waiting for her to leave so he could eat the cat food she left on the porch. When I went out to check, I didn’t see anything,...

"Sutu Kun" by Vieux Diop was one of the stand out tracks for me when I happened upon a Windham Hill Collection CD at the public library. The CD was Summer Solstice 2 . Many good tracks, but this is one artist I had to look up and hear more from. Or, you can see the YouTube video at  https://youtu.be/yxYEWh4hzwQ -

tell me one more time how light came in the morning propelled by bird song _____________________ Image: "Meadow at Giverny" (at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts ) Artist: Claude Monet Medium: Oil on canvas -

The National Sacred Harp Convention will be meeting for three days this week, June 14-16 in Fultondale, Alabama. (For details, go  here ) Sacred Harp is an old acapella style of singing that came to this country by way of the English settlers. It was taught to people by using shaped notes to designate, and a "fa-sol-la" method for vocalizing each note. It was kept alive in this country primarily by the Primitive Baptists in Appalachia.* Did you know that sacred harp music is finding renewed interest in conventions across the United States and even in other countries? There are sacred harp events across the British Isles, Australia,  and Europe, even in Austria, Germany, and Poland. In the three videos below, you will see first some authentic Sacred Harp singing at Cades Cove Primitive Baptist Church in a video produced by the Great Smoky Mountains Association. That one is followed by "World Unknown" at a Sacred Harp Convention in Ireland. The third video is of Sacre...

The National Sacred Harp Convention will be meeting this week, June 14-16 in Fultondale, Alabama. (For details, go here ) Sacred Harp is an old acapella style of singing that came to this country by way of the English settlers. It was taught to people by using shaped notes to designate, and a "fa-sol-la" method for vocalizing each note. It was kept alive in this country primarily by the Primitive Baptists in Appalachia.* Did you know that sacred harp music is finding renewed interest in conventions across the United States and even in other countries? There are sacred harp events across the British Isles, Australia,  and Europe, even in Austria, Germany, and Poland. Here is an old sacred harp melody, “I’m Going Home,” being sung at a Sacred Harp Convention in Ireland.  __________________ * See also Sacred Harp and the Sound of Eternal Essence . -

sometimes the waters speak to us of all the world while trees are silent _______________________ Image:The River Epte (courtesy of WikiArt ) Artist: Claude Monet Medium: Oil on canvas -

Fred Rogers on the set of "Mister Rogers Neighborhood"  ( Jim Judkis / Focus Features ) When my daughter was a preschooler, even as a toddler, she loved to draw and paint (she, in fact, grew up to be an artist ). I still remember one day as she was using her markers and large poster-sized paper which she had laid out on the floor. With some large, rather abstract sweeps, she said, “This is Mister Rogers. He has long arms.” I was glad to see my daughter thinking of Mister Rogers in her creative moments.   I could not help thinking as well that Fred Rogers did indeed have long arms – figuratively as well as literally. He reached so many people in positive ways during their formative years. Won’t You Be my Neighbor? is a new documentary about Fred Rogers that is coming to theaters this weekend. I look forward to seeing it. Just as I was happy to see my daughter fondly thinking of him all those years ago, I am also quite grateful that Mister Rogers is being remembered now, 15 ye...

Oak leaf hydrangeas (can you spot St. Francis?) It is the natural world that gives me hope for the future and comfort in the present. With so much turmoil in politics and in the news cycle, I find my own peace and renewal in nature. Though I live in an urban neighborhood, I like the presence of parks nearby and a vibrant creek in walking distance (I catch sight of a blue heron down there on occasion). My wife and I try to keep nature as close as possible by planting things in the yard to create a “sacred space,” attracting birds and butterflies and keeping us in touch our living planet. Indeed, it is our natural environment that is our hope and our sustenance. Though care for the environment has become yet another political struggle, may we ever more seek to preserve the earth that sustains us.  Last week, I took some measures of encouragement by stopping to listen to the natural world from my own doorstep. I shared one of those moments Saturday with the haiku, “ Forest Rain .” Th...

“Ganges Delta Blues” is a track from the album, A Meeting by the River , which was a collaboration between American songwriter and slide guitarist, Ry Cooder , and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt ,  a Hundustani classical musician. Bhatt plays a monhan veena, an instrument of his own invention which has been described as a hybrid between a guitar and a vichitra veena . -

rains falling fresh winds bending trees earth renewed ___________________________ Photo: Drops on Spruce Stock Photo (Getty Images) -