there be dragons here
So what's with dragons?
They show up in almost every ancient culture and some modern ones as well, not to mention best-selling novels. The Welsh fly a dragon flag (pictured at right), and no self-respecting Chinese festival lacks a benevolent, if fire-breathing, dragon. Dragons show up in both the Old and New Testaments, and even the Inuits have dragon references.
Dragons are on my mind thanks to Harry Potter and my sister. Jules inspired me to dip back into Book Five of the canon (Order of the Phoenix) before the movie hits the theatres this summer. Reading five led me back and forth to 4 and 6 for context, and thence to dragons.
What real creature gave us the dragon? Did dragons give us dragons?
In the East, they're usually good; in the ancient / historic West usually bad; in the Americas they are gods or god-like; in the mid-east, including Judeo-Christian, they generally oppose God. Satan is described as a dragon in the Book of the Revelation. Modern fiction gives us many varieties of good, smart, bad and ugly dragons, filled with magical powers.
I'm neither anthropologist nor archeologist, so my research is facile at best. One scientist says humankind has a primitive imprint of fear against predator raptors, so we all "know" dragons. Others have formulated the "dinosaur skeleton" theory, but really it holds no water. Dem dry bones didn't lead to the spontaneous and somewhat independent formation of dragons who fly, guard treasures, have magical powers, fight, speak, etc.
Aiding and abetting my dragon flights of fancy is science itself. Here is a link to a story about a newly uncovered "Gigantoraptor" (really): http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/14/MNGUTQESS41.DTL
My favorite quote is: "When I went back to my geologist colleague Lin Tan's lab to check the skeleton, I was shocked," Xu wrote in his e-mail. "I said to Tan, 'It is not a sauropod, it is not a tyrannosaurus, it is a tyrannosaurus-sized oviraptor. We have a gigantic chicken!' "
A gigantic chicken. Here's the artist's rendering:
But this gigantic chicken isn't my dragon. This is not the dragon of the Norsemen or of King Arthur, whose surname was Pendragon. Who were the real dragons? And where are they now, these fierce beings, hidden deep underground in caves in the Caucasus Mountains, guarding ancient treasures?
and on the fourth day
God set the sun to rule over the day, and the moon the night.
When I worked as a pastor, I drew some fire for talking about the role of mythology in the bible. Although myths are neutral, in the sense of being either true or false, many people heard "myth" and thought "fairy tale." When really, I was trying to bring a nuanced approach to understanding the truths of the bible. Mythology truth, historical truth, narrative truth, etc.
All this comes to mind as we experience the summer solstice, the day in the northern hemisphere that has the most sunlight.
As people gather around Stonehenge in England, celebrating the assumed sun worship of earlier cultures, I am reminded of the first chapter of Genesis, where the first creation account (there are two in Genesis) tells us that the sun rules the day.
In 2007, we are the inheritors of thousands of years of biblical history and interpretation, paired with modern scientific fact in an often uneasy pas de deux. We forget the ancient nomadic tribes, telling and retelling their oral history around the campfire. One generation passing along the story of creation -- and their place in it! -- to a new generation.
The fire flickers at a crowded oasis, as children gather to hear the stories. The Creator God making the heavens and earth, separating seas from dry land, and setting the sun to rule over the day, the moon to rule over the night. With such heady stuff, is it any wonder people all over the world celebrated the sun?
From temples in the Andes to circles in Europe to ziggarauts in the East, people knew that the sun ruled the day. They trusted it, counted on it. And often not knowing names like YWHW or Adonai, they gave the sun names and worshiped it. Our concept of the twenty-four-hour day comes from Egyptian Sun worship. The Egyptian Sun god, Ra, traveled half the time through the twelve domains of the underworld and half through the twelve domains of the day. Three thousand years before the birth of Christ, Egypt began using a 365 day calendar based on the solar year.
I take the bible seriously enough to believe in a connection between the ancient Hebrew creation myths and the fact that cultures from all over the world tracked, celebrated and worshiped the sun. According to ancient beliefs, the Japanese royal family is descended from their Sun goddess, Amaterasu.
Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. Gen 1:14-19
Happy summer solstice. Want some spf 40?
Hang on little tomato!
Budding tomatos
Dangle among spreading leaves
Fragrant summer smell
The Man planted three "Fog City" tomato plants in our back yard, fighting with zucchini, cacti, limes, lemons, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme for precious soil and sun. One day it is 53 and foggy, the next 80 and sunny. Amazingly, all the flowers and plants thrive.
I've participated in many a summer harvest, picking or eating what others have planted. This time I'm helping with the whole process. The day I saw the first little green guy swaying under his leaf, I could taste the caprese salad Richard is going to make with the mature tomatos from the crop: Warm from the sun, sliced, sluiced with olive oil and fresh basil, sprinkled with mozzarela di bufalo. Can you tell it is dinner time out here on the coast?
"Hang on little tomato!" is the name of a song from the album by the same name, from Pink Martini. Inspired by a 1964 Hunt's Tomato Catsup advertisement from Life Magazine, they crafted an ode to the pluckiness of enduring the rain and dark in order to achieve the fullness and beauty of life. Or catsup.
I highly recommend listening to all three of their CDs. Current favorite song is "Hey Eugene," again, from the album by the same name. We saw them live in concert at the Warfield last year and are lining up for a summer concert in the City.
http://www.pinkmartini.com
RFK in memoriam
Bobby Kennedy was murdered 39 years ago.
His assassination is one of my first memories.
As a young child, I lived with my grandparents. My grandfather was a pastor, a calm and loving man. He had given me oatmeal and a banana that morning. Something caused him --perhaps the morning paper-- to turn on the black and white TV in the den. A newsman was reporting the shooting, and my Grandfather ran through the house, waking everyone else up and saying, "Kennedy's been shot, Kennedy's been shot!" My mother remembers confusion, thinking, "But he's already shot," reliving President John Kennedy's assassination.
I stayed alone in the den, with the oatmeal and banana, with the images of death and grief, sounds of wailing and pain.
I don't know why oatmeal is comfort food for me today -- it didn't help me then.
For some people, it is popular to libel Bobby Kennedy, smearing him with his brothers' adulteries. I don't know if he was faithful to his wife Ethel. I don't know what sins he may have committed. The man I remember was a pastor during the Martin Luther King assassination, sharing the grief and helping calm the riots. The Bobby I remember traveled through Appalachia and swaths of poverty where education, health care and justice was non-existent. The public figure I remember listened to children, immigrants, the disenfranchised. The RFK I remember called America to rediscover her moral core and lead the world with justice and truth.
And so he was murdered.
Here are some of his words, and a story from Salon.com.
Our gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strenght of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worth while. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.
Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change the world which yields most painfully to change.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1952393,00.html
Jury Duty, part three
Four weeks, maybe longer.
That's the expected trial length.
I've asked for and received a deferral.
(sigh)
I would enjoy serving as a juror for this case, but spending June at the courthouse is unworkable for me. Too many client responsibilities, and at least one out-of-town business trip if not two during the month.
Mercifully, there are enough alternates to take my place, and the judge deferred my jury service until later in the year.
I can manage a week away from work, but not a month.
I wonder what will happen during this trial. What testimony will be given, which facts will emerge.
Other than finding the case interesting, and observing the ethnic balancing act between plaintiffs and defendants, I had drawn no conclusions about the case, and was eager to hear the testimony and hopeful of helping to render a fair verdict based on all we would learn.
Maybe next time.
Gorge-ous
Portland road trip, post deux.
Once in the City of Roses, we drove east through part of the Columbia River Gorge, hiking here and there amongst waterfalls. The Columbia is one of the rivers Lewis and Clark explored during their trip to the Pacific, and there are at least 77 waterfalls on the Oregon side alone of this section of the Columbia.
In case Speaker Pelosi is reading, we solved all the nation's pressing problems while on this road trip. Our solutions for war, peace, employment, immigration, enhanced journalistic freedoms and powers, poverty, global warming and the pursuit of happiness are offered free to you today. Call now before I write a book and charge $19.95!
Later, crater
The lovely sister and her leige are in the midst of a 10-day visit here at the manse. They are such good guests that it feels like 10 hours. Come back, J&J! Move here.
This weekend is a fast and furious road trip to Portland, both couples and the Hound from the Pound.
Bryn de la Pyn is exceeding our already high expectations for her good behaviour, and The Man is exceeding the speed limit.
No news here.
On our way to Portland, the city of Free Municipal Wi-Fi,
(Free Wi-Fi
Free Wi-Fi,
Hooray!!)
we detoured to Crater Lake, pictured at right.
Wow. A gorgeous site on a gorgeous day.
It's June, but there is still plenty of snow in the mountains. In fact, much of the loop road around the lake is closed due to snow.
This is Bryn's first experience of snow (as far as we're aware) and she loves it.
She immediately began to dig slightly and eat -- how smart is that? Break through the possibly dirty crust and eat the good snow below.
Richard began playing faets with her (fetch-and-eat-the-stick) and she treated the snow like cold sand, leaping and sliding through it.
Happy times with the family.
Jury Duty, part two
Boom BOOM,
da da da daa daaa...
The old-school Law and Order Theme, in case my musical phonetics need translation.
Despite the whole:
"we're going to call you sometime this week, so don't make any firm plans"
way SF asks you to be available to come for possible juror selection on any unknown day of a specific week, I approve of the way they handle jurors once you're there. I'm proud to be a citizen of this city-state. I don't even mind paying state taxes, but that's another blog.
So we're sitting in a courtroom, hearing the details for the case: two black men suing a well-known white bread corporation and one of its managers (a man of Jewish antecedents) for racial discrimination and harrassment. The lead attorney for the plaintiffs is a well-known SF lawyer, a woman from a prominent Italian family, the daughter of a former Mayor. The attorneys sitting at the defense table are: one white woman, one black woman, one black man.
The majority of juror surnames are Asian, and it looks as if the jury is going to be a marvelous slice of San Francisco: every possible combination of demographic is percolating into the jury box, with a pretty even distribution from the population.
I'm going into the racial and ethnic demographics of the people in the case because it seems like an episode from a televised courtroom drama to me. Two people from Ethnic Group A accuse Ethnic Groups B-C of harrassment and discrimination. B-C hire A lawyers to defend them, and the A plaintiffs hire a well-known D attorney to prosecute the case. Meanwhile, the jury is A-F, with male, female, transgendered, whatever.
Here's my personal opinion: I think the B-C defendants deliberately choose A lawyers to offset the A plaintiffs charging racial discrimination. But I don't think the A defendants distinctly choose an Italian female attorney -- I think they went for the sharpest counsel they could find. And knowing a little about Ms. D, I think she saw a meaty case.
Interesting stuff, folks. Stay tuned...
