Unsettled Weather

Unsettled weather brings new possibilities, wakes us up. We're more watchful, alert to what may be coming. What interesting changes are carried on the wind?

Today, our weather is quite unsettled. A big storm passes through to the west, and we feel the winds it generates. Early this morning the interesting avian passers-through included a Vaux's Swift amid migrating Violet-green and Barn Swallows. Two adult Red-tailed Hawks hung nearly motionless above the ridgeline. Can we Americans achieve a similar grace, balancing in the high winds that sweep our country?

Barn Swallow from Self-Portrait As Garden

Watercolor by © Narca Moore-Craig

I ponder stuff as I walk. It's the era of political division, of the Kavanaugh hearings. Yet yesterday, Arizona's Jeff Flake gave a remarkable speech about moving into a new balance as a nation. Senator Flake (with whom I am often at odds on conservation and environmental problems) spoke graciously about looking across the aisle and, at the end of the day, seeing our political opponents also as friends, not enemies. After all, policies worked out together bring everyone's ideas and concerns to the table. We're stronger when we can harness our united energies. Divided, we disintegrate.

When the current political cleansing subsides––after we weather these societal convulsions––may We the People find deeper wisdom and a return to national poise.

An immature Red-tailed Hawk

Photo by © Narca Moore-Craig

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And, yes, there has been a long hiatus in my postings to this blog! That happens when I'm immersed in a big project. Currently the project has been editing and designing a new book for Dan Fischer––Sky Islands: Encountering a Landlocked Archipelago.

This book examines naturalists' early ventures into our region and celebrates the wild Sky Islands as they were discovered. Of course, the Apaches and other tribes already knew the region well; the incoming scientists took it a step further, integrating their discoveries with the global body of knowledge.

The book is generously illustrated with Dan's beautiful photographs, spanning decades of his own investigations. And it's nearly ready for the printer! Woo-HOO!

I look forward to returning to these blog pages, to reflections on wild nature and farflung places.