Category Archives: “Dog Days” Diversions

Garrison Keillor: Out with the old, in with the young

Out with the old, in with the young

The Column: 08.25.23

I am delighted by the court ruling in Montana that the state, by encouraging the use of fossil fuels, violated the constitutional right of young people to “a clean and healthful environment,” something no court has ever proclaimed before.

“Clean and healthful environment” is in the Montana state constitution. The legislature had forbidden state agencies to consider climate change when considering fossil fuel projects, and this decision would change that, but the state will appeal and likely the decision will be tossed away like used tissue, but still it’s an interesting idea: that we have legal obligations to our kids beyond feeding and clothing them and not putting them to work in shoe factories before they’re 12.

Continue reading Garrison Keillor: Out with the old, in with the young

After the Sudden Storm: Minding the Light Again!

About 10:30 Wednesday night, I was ready to pack it in: tired and frazzled from a day spent largely looking for chargers to recharge chargers for phone & Ipad, and then charging the devices while circling in the Fair Wendy’s air-conditioned EV., and buying drippy bags of ice from a darkened but open vape shop for the room temperature fridge/freezer.

I turned off the MSNBC audio feed my phone still had and was starting the push up out of the recliner when — voilá!

Continue reading After the Sudden Storm: Minding the Light Again!

”All God’s Critters Got a Place In the Choir”–But Sometimes They have to Make (or Change) It

”All God’s Critters Got a Place In the Choir.”

And being in the choir is work.

I’m not much for singing gospel songs; but Bill Staines, who wrote this one, was more of a folkie, and his tune, “All God’s Critters” is more folk than (Lord help us) “praise” music. But whatever the genre, I’m more interested in its theology, because I agree with it.

All God’s critters got a place in the choir,
Some sing low, some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire.
And some just clap their hands, or paws,
or anything they got now . . . . Continue reading ”All God’s Critters Got a Place In the Choir”–But Sometimes They have to Make (or Change) It

In The Yard: Daisy In Peril—An August Thriller

Outside our kitchen door, a single daisy has appeared. Daisies are generally pretty good at standing up for themselves.

But our Daisy faces a very serious challenge; she appeared in the middle of a larger patch of very pushy, one might even say aggressive and imperialistic morning glories. Continue reading In The Yard: Daisy In Peril—An August Thriller

Florida is in HOT Water: Boiling Its Corals

The water temperature on the tip of Florida hit hot tub levels, exceeding 100 degrees (37.8 degrees Celsius) two days in a row. And meteorologists say that could potentially be the hottest seawater ever measured, although there are some issues with the reading.

Just 26 miles (40 kilometers) away, scientists saw devastating effects from prolonged hot water surrounding Florida — devastating coral bleaching and even some death in what had been one of the Florida Keys most resilient reefs. Climate change has been setting temperature records across the globe this month.
Continue reading Florida is in HOT Water: Boiling Its Corals