Ten months ago Brignone crashed on a slalom run; she suffered catastrophic injuries to her leg. It was a long time before she could even walk & she's on record as being joyfully grateful that she even made it to these Olympics. Hector & Stjernesund (as I understand it) planned to bow to her just because she completed the run. But, as it turned out, they were acknowledging the amazing accomplishment. You talk about yer Olympic ideals...
When I got my permaculture design certificate in 2018, the course instructor told us that there would be a talent show, and participation was mandatory. That the originators of permaculture design courses had included it originally and it was a requirement. No further explanation.
So, of course, my brain invented reasons. It helps us get to know each other. It gives us things to talk about. It forces each of us to be a little vulnerable. It helps us see what skills (that may be wholly unrelated to permaculture) each of us brings to the table. It’s fun! And I understood, completely, why this was a part of the course.
And I’ve been trying to come up with how to convince some of the folks I’m working with now that this is something we need. Silly? Yes, but also so necessary. So thank you for writing this and articulating some of what I’ve been struggling with so that I can just share a link with people and be like “see? Garrett agrees with me.”
I never imagined I would be so struck by the death of Jesse Jackson, but I am. That thing they said in his NYT obituary about him being the bridge between King and Obama hit me right in the gut. I feel my own life existing, generationally, on that bridge between the mid-20th century civil rights movements and whatever is going to emerge, is emerging probably even now, in this second quarter of the twenty-first. Growing up in D.C., I remember being around some of the greatest of that era-- Jackson, Bernice Johnson Reagan, even Marion Barry before he got caught up in crack. I remember seeing Bishop Tutu speak. Watching him walk past me and feeling the force of his light, shining.
And now they're all gone and it's hard to convey their weightiness, or what it meant to be alive and awake in a world they shared and molded with such dedication and moral clarity. I think of my own parents, both of whom were involved in movement and of an age with Jackson. How deeply imperfect they were, and also how noble and inspiring. Maybe humans are always that way, but being so intimately tied to that generation, being raised up by them, that combination of incredible nobility and human imperfection feels deeply poignant today.
Time to break out that Bob and Doug McKenzie album from 1981 "Great White North" - unless you lived in the North Country you didn't have a clue what they were talking about - but it was still funny. As a certified former Upstate denizen I have ice skated, curled, cross country ski, ice fished, snow mobiled, Tobaggoned, snow shoed, played hockey, and downhilled . The only two I was reasonably decent at was skiing and hockey (thank my Dad for that one). My wife from NYC, of course, thought I was nuts at every step. I agree I haven't a clue about the how or why of most of these sports. But it's still to fun watch them go really fast doing crazy sh_t. I also enjoy the human interest stories - a welcome break from the current news cycle. It is refreshing to see people around the world getting together for some common goals - considering our current administration. Kinda like a big potluck. We just did a Mardi Gras one last week.
Now speaking of Upstate, where can a guy find decent cheese curds in Maryland, eh.
Ten months ago Brignone crashed on a slalom run; she suffered catastrophic injuries to her leg. It was a long time before she could even walk & she's on record as being joyfully grateful that she even made it to these Olympics. Hector & Stjernesund (as I understand it) planned to bow to her just because she completed the run. But, as it turned out, they were acknowledging the amazing accomplishment. You talk about yer Olympic ideals...
When I got my permaculture design certificate in 2018, the course instructor told us that there would be a talent show, and participation was mandatory. That the originators of permaculture design courses had included it originally and it was a requirement. No further explanation.
So, of course, my brain invented reasons. It helps us get to know each other. It gives us things to talk about. It forces each of us to be a little vulnerable. It helps us see what skills (that may be wholly unrelated to permaculture) each of us brings to the table. It’s fun! And I understood, completely, why this was a part of the course.
And I’ve been trying to come up with how to convince some of the folks I’m working with now that this is something we need. Silly? Yes, but also so necessary. So thank you for writing this and articulating some of what I’ve been struggling with so that I can just share a link with people and be like “see? Garrett agrees with me.”
I never imagined I would be so struck by the death of Jesse Jackson, but I am. That thing they said in his NYT obituary about him being the bridge between King and Obama hit me right in the gut. I feel my own life existing, generationally, on that bridge between the mid-20th century civil rights movements and whatever is going to emerge, is emerging probably even now, in this second quarter of the twenty-first. Growing up in D.C., I remember being around some of the greatest of that era-- Jackson, Bernice Johnson Reagan, even Marion Barry before he got caught up in crack. I remember seeing Bishop Tutu speak. Watching him walk past me and feeling the force of his light, shining.
And now they're all gone and it's hard to convey their weightiness, or what it meant to be alive and awake in a world they shared and molded with such dedication and moral clarity. I think of my own parents, both of whom were involved in movement and of an age with Jackson. How deeply imperfect they were, and also how noble and inspiring. Maybe humans are always that way, but being so intimately tied to that generation, being raised up by them, that combination of incredible nobility and human imperfection feels deeply poignant today.
Time to break out that Bob and Doug McKenzie album from 1981 "Great White North" - unless you lived in the North Country you didn't have a clue what they were talking about - but it was still funny. As a certified former Upstate denizen I have ice skated, curled, cross country ski, ice fished, snow mobiled, Tobaggoned, snow shoed, played hockey, and downhilled . The only two I was reasonably decent at was skiing and hockey (thank my Dad for that one). My wife from NYC, of course, thought I was nuts at every step. I agree I haven't a clue about the how or why of most of these sports. But it's still to fun watch them go really fast doing crazy sh_t. I also enjoy the human interest stories - a welcome break from the current news cycle. It is refreshing to see people around the world getting together for some common goals - considering our current administration. Kinda like a big potluck. We just did a Mardi Gras one last week.
Now speaking of Upstate, where can a guy find decent cheese curds in Maryland, eh.