Musing

today’s Musing written and published from south Calgary, near Fish Creek Park

9C/49F (high 19C), magenta band of fire lifts clouds on the horizon, the lagoon silent, no fowl in sight, light breeze ruffles the quiet

LR called from Irvine last night to advise she and family are back home, the wildfires having come within 40 yards. of the house, yesterday was 6 months since I met PB . . dinner last night with BB - nice to see you; SM has a birthday today, congrats; tempus fugit

man did not invent fire, cannot harness fire, cannot manage it, cannot live without it, loves it, hates it, thrives on it; it gives life and takes life – it is all and it can reduce us to nothing

some days (I had this type yesterday) - not anxious, a day when many things moved an inch forward, some a foot; some things come together, some came home to roost, some came full circle, some felt warm, some felt red-hot, some felt better than ever expected; in short, a very good day, an exceptional day, a fine day, a happy day

today, pundits and headlines tell us, will be one of the most significant in a generation – here in Alberta for many that will be true; in the great scheme of things it is just another day, no greater or less than any other; no one is being sent to war or jail or the poorhouse, the worst is already a reality, the best will not be captured in a politician’s speech; in response citizens will want to praise or fire – no middle ground there, sink or swim, triumph or fail, right or wrong; as if anyone can get something completely right or completely wrong when trying so hard to do right; will our Premier walk through fire, will his party want to fire him in any case? walking through fire is not the same as surviving the heat in the kitchen . . though so much of what is important gets reduced to cliché

easy to see life and opportunity through a headline or sound-byte; when headlines report gloom trouble has already hit and hurt, when they report good news it is already old news; sitting on the edge of seats to hear announcements of spin-doctoring is hype to make us feel good about the mistakes government (usually) has already made but reporting to us has become an art form of spreading blame, of hording credit

some times, individually or collectively, we are wholly distracted putting out fires, sometimes we start some, sometimes we have fire in our eyes, sometimes we have fire in our belly, sometimes we light birthday cake candles, or a single one; what will today bring?

Mark Kolke
341,004
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