THE ART AND POLITICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND KITE FLYING

THE ART AND POLITICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND KITE FLYING
by Andy Weddington
Thursday, 29 January 2015



"Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country." Anais Nin



Earlier this week billowy white clouds, and spooky gray ones too, were not flying high above the normally clear vibrant blue desert sky. Strangely, the clouds, like a sudden sand storm, slow rolled along at ground-level. An inversion, I think the phenomenon is called. Nature's filter obscured visibility. And so did complementary fog. Headlights and fog lamps made for visibility but did not improve same; better to be seen. The sun appeared as a full moon. Oddly, it was beautiful. But kite flying weather it was not. 

And, oddly, a tune has been haunting me. Over and over it plays. Delightfully. That is, the upbeat waltz-like song penned by the Sherman brothers, Richard M. and Robert B. - 'Let's Go Fly a Kite.'

Sorting through the relevancy and connections of seeming chaos - art, politics, climate change, clouds, kite flying, and the uplifting song from the film 'Mary Poppins', I've come to a conclusion: 

Our national and international climate is a great big mess. But that mess has nothing to do with the mysterious ways of God nor Mother Nature and everything to do with art and politics and ignorant and stupid and brazen and bumbling man. 

Thus, for a long while now, the troubling forecast: Murky with 100% chance of disaster. 

To those in charge, "Go fly a kite!"

So, change the climate we must.

And do so in the spirit of the Sherman brothers words... 

Oh, oh, oh!
Let's go fly a kite
Up to the highest height!
Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring 
Up through the atmosphere
Up where the air is clear
Oh, let's go fly a kite!

The happy score and cheerful, inspiring lyrics reminding me of the not only can-do but will-do spirit - to get things done - of Marines.

Marines damn well know the difference between the suggestion of kite flying and the art of kite flying. 

Keeping with the civil and gentlemanly standards of this forum, the single syllable four character word that clearly differentiates the two soaring activities merits mention but not print. Hint: The word adds color, not present in the visible spectrum, to the Marine lexicon. 

Contemplating Anais Nin, dreams are fine but a kite let's go fly to bring back our country anew. It's that spirit that matters. Spirit matters in all things. 

Climate change - for America, for the globe - rests in our citizenry's hands. But no strings attached. Though winds of change a must. Just ask Mary Poppins, a rider thereof. 

For whether we like it or not America's climate influences that of the planet. And, oh, that's not a forecast but truth - about kite flying and more. 

Surely Mr. Banks would title this tumultuous period, this trave(r)sty, in American "weather" 'Saving Uncle Sam.'

Let's dream red, white, and blue!

Oh...

Let's go fly a kite! 

Post Script

Robert B. Sherman (1925-2012), a U. S. Army soldier, fought in World War II. Among other decorations, the Purple Heart - for a gunshot wound to the knee - was pinned to his chest. After the war, a successful songwriter was he. Somewhat secretively, a painter, too. His father was a kite maker. And he and his songwriting partner, brother Richard M., and the neighborhood children flew them - up through the atmosphere, up where the air is clear.