Summer Blues: Liberty, Lies, and Lessons

“What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action.” M. Eckhart

Living in Chapel Hill is a blessing. Despite the stifling heat wave, seemingly tropical afternoon rain storms, and the rise in coronavirus and monkey pox cases, life is good in the southern part of heaven. Screeecch! Let’s be clear — reality bites. There are matters that have “stopped me in my tracks” and made me wonder about our capacity and compassion as humans. Why so much unnecessary harm and death in this wealthy democratic experiment called the United States? I share several happenings that just don’t make me feel good — at all.

1) The plight of WNBA and Olympic star Brittney Griner. Her smuggling and possession trial in Russia has ended with a conviction and a nine-year prison sentence. Guilty of possession of less than 1/10 of the amount of cannabis that would be found in one of our edibles! Now that the 31-year-old has pled guilty will the prisoner swap, which requires the highest levels of Russian-American diplomacy, occur? It’s just weird watching the WNBA playoffs and the Phoenix Mercury team without her. #FreeBrittney

2) How come most of the lettuce and spinach sold at grocery stores is now packaged in plastic? In addition to the damage plastic is doing to our environment and human health, the containers are difficult to open and fill up too much space in my garbage bag! According to a May 2019 report called “Plastic & Climate: The…