Hammer Mill Days

Shore it up, boys. Let's keep the roof on this thing. Sure, it used to be the floor, but when something's keeping the rain off your head, it's a roof. Unless it's a hood ... or an umbrella. Never mind. Hey, well, here we are again, man. Trying to keep a broken home together. I don't mean that daddy left and ain't coming back (even though that's roughly true); I mean we're fixing a hole where the rain came in ... and it's the size of the freaking roof. We're borrowing wood from the floor to shore up the roof. We're borrowing planks from the south wall to block up the gaping hole in the north wall. This is like the fabled Ship of Theseus. This isn't a home ... it's a philosophical paradox! Is it the same potting shed as when we moved here? Only your logic professor can say for certain. Sure, sometimes the demands of home ownership (or home occupancy) keep us from our real work, the work we were put here to do. And that's a good

Like so many weeks during the Trump era, this one has been dizzying. It started with the massive climate change resistance marches led by Greta Thunberg and other young people, and it's ending with what appears to be the most brazen example yet of Donald Trump self-dealing in the conduct of his office. Whoa, momma ... it's like drinking from a fire hose .... again. Let me start with these amazing young climate activists. I have to say, if anyone is going to be able to save our sorry asses, it's these folks .... and I don't mean that we should sit back, fold our arms, and wait for them to deliver us from climate catastrophe. I mean that their activism can be the catalyst for real change. It is impossible to argue with people who will inevitably inherit the world that we are so actively wrecking. Their outrage is justified, and we should follow their lead. There have been times when I have fallen into resignation on this issue, I will admit, but they give me reason to r