Somewhere it is springtime

All around me people are mowing their lawns for the first time. Early tulips are blooming and all kinds of birds are fussing at the feeder. The cardinal pair, a rose breasted grosbeak, nuthatches, goldfinches, sparrows, chipping sparrows and the lovely white throated sparrows with their black and white striped heads and splash of yellow at the spot where their beak meets their forehead. The stop on a dog.

At one time everyone planted masses of red and yellow Emperor tulips, but today the colors are soft and muted. And some are even exotic shaped.

In my own garden the early dusty, dark lavender tulips are blooming. The rambling rose bush is leafing, with a bunch of new sprouts. It is hard to think the oh so beautifully fragrant shrub rose will be in bloom in a few weeks now. The furnace is still running and last night we had frost warnings.

But in June, the Emma Rose will bloom.

I don't know exactly what variety the rose is, burt I named it Emma rose for the woman who lived in this house all her adult life. She married a local boy and the families were among the first Europeans to settle in this part of Wisconsin.

The wild rambling roses are hers too. And the peonies, poppies and lilacs. Emma was 88 when she died, and lived in this house until close to the time of her death.

Usually the lilacs are blooming by May 10. They are just beginning to leaf out, so we'll see if the Emma rose blooms in June.

PHOTO BY SHIRLEY HUNSAKER

Watching the world from the sky

A story on National Public Radio this past week described an avalanche in Alaska and how it damaged power supply lines to Juneau. Electricity normally supplied by a hydro plant, were shifted to diesel generators and electric bills were five times as high as normal.

For some businesses, it was the difference between $10,000 and $50,000 a month, and the implications are sobering.

Though temporary, these changes are increasingly reflected in everyone's lives. Energy costs are driving up the costs of the very essentials of modern life. Schools in the United States are beginning to burn wood. Farms in my area are beginning to sport windmills on top of silos, and in other areas fields of windmills are appearing on lands that were cultivated for food.

The fossil fuel based economy didn't last long. Not much more than a hundred years, but why aren't we moving forward? Back in the 70's gasoline shortages were manipulated to reduce retail competition, but Japanese car makers began to send the first small cars across the pond. The Datsun B210 was the first car to boast 50 mpg. Why aren't we seeing those cars now, 33 years later?

Maybe we'll soon see the next generation of sustainable, efficient, energy emerge. Something where the cure won't be worse than the disease.

And already people are experiencing life bigger, whether it is food shortages, wars, shifts in economic development or ...celebrations. At last people can see the future with a world view. That's got to be good for humanity, the advancement and protection of the planet.