Poem #1

I generally exhibit manners that are mild:
I go easy on the sweet things; let the rushing rush hour pass me by;
identify an unbeknown bird call;
and I do not step in the potholes,
as I am running on the trail around the golf course…
I normally watch the placement of each stride,
a crucial concern to avoid injury.
Today I put my foot directly in it,
a large, memorized indentation in the road,
it was dry; I was sweating; the clouds were floating by -
so I made a different choice:
to land right in the center…
bending my right knee a fraction farther to account
for the drop;
an angle to allow for
a few inches more
down from the level surface.
I changed my focus that instant
from how I usually go…
and for several moments after,
I felt a difference in my stride:
the route I intend to run
around the golf course
no longer
regular.

What we're involved in...

We decide our own level of involvement in life, yet I'm not sure we have anything to do with what we're involved in. Where we're born, who we're raised by, what kind of primary education we get, and the personal capacities that education brings to the forefront is entirely out of our control (unless you have hippy mother earth unschooling parents who allowed you to choose your style of education, which sounds rather exciting). Anyway, our upbringing is generally directed by adults, and influences the lifestyle choices that we face upon becoming an adult ourselves. Our personal will seems to start kicking in during high school, when we gain more freedoms from both the state and our parents. We're meant to possess the skills to determine our own course once we hit age twenty-one, yet I believe we're born with the talents that are developed throughout our school/college years, making one's involvement in a lifestyle a matter of priority and passion.

Oil Boom or Agricultural Bust?

I've just come across a story/documentary called "My Country, No More" that is seeking funding for completion about the conflict of interest between agriculture and industry on the oil fields in North Dakota. The story is that of those living in Trenton, ND, above the newly discovered oil reserves versus those seeking to build a diesel refinery. The film apparently addresses several pertinent questions about how to measure the oil boom's impact on the land, the community, and the future, and tries to assess the human costs and benefits. The rush to capitalize on the oil, for better or worse, will transform those communities, that land, and should help the U.S. to become less reliant on foreign oil in the future. I quote the indiegogo.com article: "What and who are we willing to sacrifice in our pursuit of progress?" I've got a burning question of my own: Did we, as heavy consumers of oil from other countries, offer this assessment of their land, communities, and futures before we built refineries and pipelines in their towns? Now that it's possible to supply our needs with oil from North Dakota, aren't we obligated to do so and relieve the burden we've placed on other countries? If anything this film could shed light on the issue of how much oil we use and the predicted upcoming shortage; and on what the human costs and benefits have been in other parts of the world.