Friday, March 14, 2008

The Tides of March - Sunrise, Assassination and Sally Kern


This is the soul-warming view from the office today - the office this week being a hotel in Key Biscayne. It's the last day of my work here in Florida before heading home to Oklahoma and I finally found a few minutes away from it to capture one of these magnificent sunrises that occur here nearly every morning. You see, watching sunrises and photography make up a big part of my "lifestyle"...as does birdwatching and hiking.


Which brings me to a small point I would like to make -- but you need to read on - to the bottom of the post, past the pretty pictures. Tomorrow is the Ides of March and I am going to use my Skywatch Friday forum to make just an ever so slight protest. The recent controversy over a certain Oklahoman pulls at my heartstrings like these gravitational tides of March.

In the Roman calendar the term ides was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July and October, and the 13th day of the other 8 months. In modern times, the term Ides of March (Latin Idus Martiae) is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was assassinated to be removed from power. The term has come to be used as a metaphor for impending doom.

There is a disgust-inducing, mean-spirited Oklahoma state legislator, elected to represent the very same little humble square mile of district where I was born and raised that has put my little birthplace at the epicenter of controversy. This representative elected "by the people for the people" has gone on record saying my lifestyle is a bigger threat to the safety and security of America than the terrorists associated with September 11. That's a serious indictment against birdwatching, hiking, photography and the appreciation of fantastic sunrises.

Perhaps her character assassination on me and, likewise, a decent number of the world's population was timed for these Ides of March. I would hope that her removal from office would follow swiftly - swept away by the tide against her. The uproar and protest has been heard around the world. These loud voices of objection make me proud to be a resident Oklahoman and citizen of this planet.

Sally Kern you may be my elected representative but you do not speak for me or many of my neighbors. I hope you truly find your god someday - you might start by looking at these sunrises - they are full of god and short on words. If only you could find a way to be like them - for the moment it seems unlikely. What does seem likely, though, is that your words will empower people to hurt and kill. I shudder at the thought of the blood that will spill at the casual disposal of your irresponsible diatribe.

My "agenda" lately is birdwatching, hiking and admiring sunrises -- if you should see me out there enjoying nature and marveling at god -- remember -- I am really harmless.

"O judgement!! though art fled to brutish breasts, And men have lost their reason. The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones."
(From Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar on the eve of the Ides of March).

35 comments:

Kate said...

Kern is a moron. What can I say?

Anonymous said...

The reflections of the morning sunrise on the water is gorgeous :)

SandyCarlson said...

Every stop here enriches my day. Just gorgeous. Thanks for stealing a moment to capture these!

Daniel J Santos said...

beautiful colors in excellent images, well done.

Berit T said...

WOW!!! So beautiful!!!!

Autumn said...

Beautiful pictures T.R. And Kern... well she is an idiot and should be removed immediately.

Tom said...

These are just the pictures for Sky Watch... the dawn is stunning I must say.

Have a great weekend and I#ll catch up with you again real soon

Tom

Miss Patti said...

I really like the first one, But they all are so pretty!

Lilli & Nevada said...

Beautiful shots thru the window

sonia a. mascaro said...

Those photos are breathtaking!
Awesome pictures! Very well done!

kuanyin333 said...

Your photos are gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Great photos ... and loved the reflections of sunrise on the water.

Pernille said...

Absolutly wonderful photos! I love the reflections!! But the last one is AMAZING and Breathtaking!!!
Have a nice weekend:)

Carletta said...

Stunning! If any "picture is worth a thousand words" this is it for me. Beautiful.

Petunia said...

You take my breath away.....

Anonymous said...

I hate to think Kern is preaching the party line in this state but according to ABC News and the Tulsa World, she was given a standing ovation in a meeting with Oklahoma Republican lawmakers. My only hope is that her constituents are better people than she is. She should resign.

Thank you for posting about it, TR. We're still in the dark ages out here in Dead Center.

DeeMom said...

Fabulous pictures and right on with tomorrow being the Ides of March…

Carole said...

Amazing photos! Your post was outstanding. I wish I could believe that there aren't a whole lot of people out there who probably think like Kern. Unfortunately, I have come across many of them. To think this way and still consider yourself a Christian is beyond me.

Paulie said...

Beautiful. . . well maybe two words. . . absolutely beautiful!!!!!!!!

Luiz Santilli Jr said...

Very, very, very fantastic colours!

Luiz

Anonymous said...

I can't comment on your politics, but your pictures are beautiful..
And I walk tomorrow along the lake, watch the birds as well.
On earth there is no heaven,
but there are pieces of it.

;o said...

Wonderful images. Some of my favorite sunsets have been in Arizona. Washington has surprised me though, from time to time.

joey said...

I can't comment on your mean-spirited Oklahoma state legislator but I can comment on your stunning morning reflections. What a great way to start the day ... focus on those thoughts. Perhaps the mean-spirited legislator will fade away like the setting sun :)

Anonymous said...

T.R., I am astounded that such moronic tripe is still uttered by anyone, let alone an elected official. I live in Colorado Springs, home to many similar Christian whack jobs. I try to understand (read: not loathe) them. They are truly motivated by fear -- of the scary god they've created, of their own dark hearts and base impulses, of anyone who is bright and free and able to think clearly, love deeply, live joyously.

Your photos show that you, my friend, know the heart of the Infinite.

P. Ollig said...

Alas, bigotry and hatred continue to be alive and well in the minds of too many politicians. It's very sad that some people refuse to be tolerant and accepting of their neighbors.

Also, I just finished watching the first season of the HBO series "Rome". It was fantastic! And it ended on that fateful event that occurred 2045-ish years ago today, actually. Do you happen to remember the year Caesar was assassinated?

Oh, and beautiful shots, TR!

Misty DawnS said...

Your photos are spectacular! Such beautiful images!

Mary said...

T.R., keep on keeping on. What you do is enriching to so many... Your sunrises and sunssets are spectacular. I love your style and heart.

"Sally Kern is Satan’s spawn", I read... She'll never succeed.

nina at Nature Remains. said...

Hang in there T.R.
I believe that how you handle adversity says a lot about you--more than the words anyone else can say about you.

Gorgeous sunrises! Must be tough getting anything done that doesn't involve staring out at such loveliness!

Anonymous said...

WTF is up with that Kern woman? I hadn't heard of her until now and cannot fathom the hogwash coming out of her mouth. While I was reading the articles about her I couldn't really believe she was saying what she was saying. In this day and age? Homosexuality more of a threat than terrorism? Does she have some kind of undisclosed drug habit? I mean, really. What other explanation could there be for such abhorrent behaviour?

When I come across sick, misguided people like her I thank God for you and your sunrises. They make me hold my breath and experience true gladness. They are what counts. Thank you.

Alan Scott said...

Hey, T.R.! Thanks for the beautiful pictures! You have such a talent and an eye for beauty.

I'm glad to see your rant on Old Lady Kern. I emailed her last week asking her about some "facts" she stated in her holier-than-thou speech. She hasn't responded yet.

Lynn Green said...

Thanks for your comment on my blog, "The Green Flame.
In speaking of slavery, Abraham Lincoln once said that in giving freedom to the slaves we insure freedom for all people. I think the same can be said about the "gay agenda." In honoring the human dignity of gay citizens, we insure that all Americans enjoy their right to human dignity.

Lana Gramlich said...

People like Kern should NEVER be given positions of power. "Do you want fries with that" should be the most damage they can do. :(
Absolutely lovely photos, as always! Sorry I've been absent lately, but the mundania monster has had me fully in its grasp. Hopefully that will let up soon!

Crayons said...

Tim,
The ending gave me shivers. I like the way you pulled all of these strands together. Thanks for urging us to put our little grain of sand on the side of justice. Throwing words around is dangerous. It irritates me, for example, when people joke about someone being "a real Nazi" or "like a terrorist." Such linguistic acts drain words of their real meaning. I want to ask her what she means exactly. To say it is one thing, but to refuse a retraction is much worse. I am sickened.

Doug Taron said...

Beautiful photos. My lifestyle is just about as dangerous as yours. Maybe a bit more, what with the entomology and all. Us worse-than-terrorists gotta stick together.

Ur-spo said...

i too found the photos lovely
thank you for the photos and the post.

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