I haven’t had much to say these last few weeks.  Ordinarily, my voice is that of a Contrarian ~ barking at everything going wrong, like a good watchdog, or a proofreader, marking up all the errors.  But these last few weeks have seen something of the beginnings of a turnaround, where the pendulum, having reached an extreme position, has turned and begun moving in the other direction.  This phenomenon is known as enantiodromia in Taoism, by which Yang and Yin succeed each other in turn, and when either reaches an extreme point, the direction reverses and goes the other way.  In the language of Hermetic philosophy, this is called Solve et Coagula (blowing apart and then coming back together toward the center again).  

     I am an original hippy, and I remember the incredible high point of the Summer of Love in 1967, when my whole generation seemed to come together in a cosmic union of love and joy.  The apex of this moment was fairly brief, and the movement going the other way seemed to follow rather quickly, but the high was extreme, and we all felt it at once.  Since that time, the world has been steadily growing colder and darker emotionally, while, at the same time, the physical world has been growing warmer, due to climate change, and it has even been getting brighter, lit up by all the extreme forest fires up with which our poor planet has been burning itself (comic relief provided by the Old School ~ Classical High School of Providence Rhode Island, 200 years old and featuring most of the original staff).  

     But, last week, an event happened which was like a constipated person drinking a quart of olive oil and suddenly finding relief.  Finally, the entire population of the world exhaled a huge sigh of relief as the American people finally flushed their toilet.  It was beginning to stink.

     Some of you may think that the analogy is unnecessarily vivid, but others may agree that the image conjured up by the analogy is entirely commensurate with the reality.  

     In commemoration of this moment of American Renewal, I want to encourage everyone to plant a tree ~ perhaps one of the new generation of American Elm that is resistant to the Durch Elm Disease, such as Valley Forge, Princeton, New Harmony, or Jefferson.  An internet search will turn up nurseries where these trees can be purchased.  If we have just passed the nadir of the present cycle, perhaps in 2087 we will see another high point, comparable to 1967, and all the trees we plant now will be in glorious maturity.

Curriculum Vitae ~ links about the Author and his work.