Musings: Dig it

A silver crescent moon was cozying up with Jupiter in the brightening eastern sky when Koko and I went walking this morning. The air was alive with the sound of birds, and heavy with the alternating smells of citrus blossoms and unidentified dead things in the bushes.

And then the cacophony of bird song subsided and the sky went pale for a time until the sun, rosy-gold, made its grand appearance and flushed all the clouds pink as the roosters were madly crowing.

It’s definitely feeling, sounding and smelling like spring, even in my house, thanks to a load of first-of-the-season gardenias delivered yesterday by a friend, who prescribed them as the anti-venom to Richard Borreca’s column. Both Ian Lind and Disappeared News also weighed in Richard’s rant, while Star-Bulletin editor Frank Bridgewater today printed a clarification about the devil quote that fell a bit short in its clarifying.

Oh well. As any writer knows, you can never fully retract, clarify or correct something once it’s been printed. All you can do is go on. The same friend who brought the gardenia suggested helpfully that perhaps Richard was trying to do me a favor by increasing readership of my blog. Now that's an example of how kind and generous people on Kauai really are. And yes, I’d much prefer to think Richard was doing that rather than making a deliberate cheap shot dig.

Speaking of digging, I’ve been heartened by some of the small, but symbolic, things coming out of the Obama Administration, like First Lady Michelle Obama helping school kids to dig the White House garden:

Whether there would be a White House garden had become more than a matter of landscaping. The question had taken on political and environmental symbolism, with the Obamas lobbied for months by advocates who believe that growing more food locally, and organically, can lead to more healthful eating and reduce reliance on huge industrial farms that use more oil for transportation and chemicals for fertilizer.

And that’s not the only sign of awareness emerging like a spring bulb at the Obama White House.

There was also Obama’s videotaped appeal to the people of Iran that was timed to coincide with the Iranian holiday of Nowruz:

“My administration is now committed to diplomacy that addresses the full range of issues before us and to pursuing constructive ties among the United States, Iran and the international community. This process will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.”

Wow, that’s a markedly different approach to Iran than was taken by the last guy who occupied the Oval Office. Maybe now we'll actually get somewhere, other than war.

But what really jumped out at me was the comment Obama made when he appeared on the Jay Leno show the other night and spoke of how the AIG bonuses exemplified the excesses that have come to characterize Wall Street:

“The immediate bonuses that went to AIG are a problem, but the larger problem is we’ve got to get back to an attitude where people know enough is enough and people have a sense of responsibility and they understand that their actions are going to have an impact on everybody. And if we can get back to those values that built America, then I think we’re going to be OK.”

Amen, brother.

I know Obama isn’t perfect, and I certainly haven’t agreed with everything he’s done and said. But these sorts of comments and actions are a strong indication that Michelle and Barack Obama have got it going on in the one area that counts most: a higher level of consciousness.

And I dig it. Welcome to the new world order.