naming valleys

every two weeks or so i drive down to rochester for work to meet with clients. at first this was not my favorite thing to do and my body language told it all. i would rent a car, leave late, stop for coffee, ice cream, bathroom, anything to break up the two-hour drive and maybe if i were on a bus or a train, reading a book i would think it would not be so...long, but something changed recently to make me enjoy these drives, even look forward to the ride. i am not sure exactly what it is but i think it is simply familiarity and recognition, feeling at home with the scenery. as i head out past the cities, past the oil refinery, for the next two hours its. just. farmland.

oh and also the sogn valley.

i buy locally produced honey. i have read that when you ingest honey harvested by local bees it is supposed to have some sort of homeopathic effect on your allergies, increasing your immunity because you are essentially digesting the pollen. maybe this is not true, but i like believing in stuff like this.

my honey comes from the sogn valley. as does my local organic wine, arabian horse breeders, sunflowers, berries, rolling hills and cottage hobby farms. i pronounce it like phone but not sure if that is proper, but i like the way it feels coming out as it reverberates in your stomach and makes its way up through your nose as you say it out loud. sogn.

the valley lays half way between st. paul and rochester. now, when i drive through i turn off my radio, roll down my windows and breath deep. in these moments i forget about work or my drive and i just am. i have found that being alive in the moment is addictive as now i look forward to the next time and the next...although i still might stop for ice cream.

tous les beaux esprits se rencontrent

'all the beautiful spirits find themselves'

When William F. Buckley passed away earlier this year, Newsweek published an article about the man and his life. I was about to toss it aside as just another article on another old, white -haired republican, but something about his photo compelled me to read the article. After reading it, and several others since then, my perception on classic conservatism changed completely. I think Buckley's representation of it and his idealist view that when government lets men be, the human spirit triumphs. with the notion of smaller government, tight community involvement, putting education and culture first, freedom of speech, freedom of press...if this is the intent, then i would call myself a republican. But something got lost along the way. From a humble, kind, gentleman into a pistol packing hockey mom, i am not sure how to get it back again. Although there is hope, and hope is stronger than any political lines.

to read the entire article click here.

national security

even police in riot gear influence beauty and rhythm. although poetry in mutiny comes easier while riding horse-back. maybe it's a way to tame the uprising. one thing i noticed was that these officers had a quiet presence to them, and to watch them gallant through the parks of st. paul after the opposer, was enchanting. they were knights in shining armor, hero's of days gone past. while running through the streets and protesting of all things wrong with the country, one look at these gentle creatures and you remember that america is still great. and that horses are still great too.