Summer Solstice 2024—Seeking Balance

       As the summer solstice nears, I find myself seeking balance in a society that is so badly out of balance that it spins with  violent vibrations and forces that threaten to shake it apart.  I turn to the balance of the seasons, the harmony of the natural world, and the rhythms of all forms of life to bolster my spirit amidst such troubled times.
       I just finished reading Daniel James Brown’s book Boys in the Boat for the second time and am reminded so clearly of the titanic struggles humanity endures between good and evil, love and hatred, honesty and lies. Brown quotes boatbuilder, rower, and philosopher George Yeoman Pocock in that wonderful book with this simple wisdom: “Harmony, balance, and rhythm.  They’re the three things that stay with you your whole life. Without them civilization is out of whack.”
       Well, today's civilization is out of whack. The natural world is in transition, moving as nature always does, to find new rhythms, harmonies, and balances to compensate for the messes humanity has wrought.  The question is, will those new balances of nature have a place for humankind?
       Meanwhile, I must find my center in nature in order to keep strong, keep writing, and keep fighting the corruption that threatens our lives, our constitutions, and our natural world. I’ll bask in the summer sun on a mountain lake for the Solstice, and then I’ll return to wield my pen as a soldier in this battle for truth, beauty, and justice.