Chaos (noun) : 1 complete disorder and confusion. 2behavior so unpredictable as to appear random, owing to great sensitivity to small changes and conditions.
Paired Flight (Cygnus buccinator)
Nikon D4 + Nikon 200-400mm VR
So describes the world we now live.
The political uncertainty of the upcoming presidential election seems to be a fitting metaphor for the climatic fluctuations of my once predictable temperate home. Political leadership, chosen by the masses, typically represents a best effort to compromise between the extremes. Nearly as assured as sunrise and sunset, our leadership is rarely too hot or too cold, but somewhere in between. Yet today, the predictions of who is in and who is out seems to be as accurate as the daily climatic highs listed in a “Farmer’s Almanac.” Like the chaotic choking cloud that emerges from mix of bleach and ammonia, the rise of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump suggest a potentially dangerous unpredictability that may otherwise be benign and of no consequence (see chaos definition #2).
And what do we make of the weather in Minnesota? On March 12, the city of Minneapolis typically averages a low of 22℉ and high 39℉. Yesterday, March 12, 2016, the temperature peaked at 70℉, just 6 degrees below the average temperature in Tampa, Florida from which we had left on that very day.
Pair Bonding (Cygnus buccinator)
Nikon D4 + Nikon 200-400mm VR
During a three mile walk with the dogs, I could hear migrating sandhill cranes, prenuptial Eastern bluebirds and a cacophony of migrating songbirds overhead. The Vernal Equinox is still 7 days from today, yet trees are beginning to flower and buds are swelling and preparing to burst. As a global citizen, committed environmentalist and humanist, I am challenged by the patterns I am seeing. I am bothered by the political rancor that makes citizens of the United States appear to be xenophobic self-absorbed children, and I am fearful that our political ignorance mirrors an environmental indifference that will only serve to diminish predictability and reinforce the chaos we now experience. Are the politics and climate of today benign and of no consequence, or do they foretell something a bit more ominous? …We have no choice but to play things out and rely on hindsight to make sense of our future’s patterns.
©2000-2016 BTLeventhal.com / Bruce & Tamy Leventhal. All rights reserved. No image on this site may be used without permission.