Messages For Our Times

Rainbow over Lake Wingra, Rick Neiss photo

Ann and I often say that we live in a great neighborhood (Dudgeon-Monroe) here on the near West side of Madison. Our apartment is on busy Monroe Street across the street from Lake Wingra and a section of the University of Wisconsin- Madison Arboretum.

Dudgeon-Monroe is walkable with many restaurants, two coffee shops, our bank, a drug store, library, and Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's is a destination for out-of-towners including my brother Lou and sister-in-law, Corine when they are visiting. Prospect Gardens is a twenty minute walk from our apartment and is an integral part of our neighborhood.

On recent walks to Neuhauser Pharmacy, caring for Madison since 1914 and my family since 1986, five things caught my attention.  I consider these as messages that say much about my neighborhood while helping me cope with our current times, marked with rapid change, polarization, and divineness.  I share the five for your reflection with one that includes comments on two recent Prospect Gardens work sessions.

This statement is near the door on the sidewalk of Colectivo Coffee Shop. Initially I thought it was a clever reference to the flower breaking through the crack of the sidewalk plus the need for courage during these challenging times. Then I noticed a second similar statement further down the sidewalk:  "It takes courage to see the light."  This peaked my curiosity. The QR code led me to the Milwaukee based Courageplus.org.  Their mission-like statement reads: 

We give LGBTQ+ youth a sense of community centered around care, safety, and acceptance – while bringing about real systemic change.

The following poem by Less Herrick calls for courage and love given other societal forces besides those directly impacting the LGBTQ+ community. The poem refers to the implementation of Federal Immigration policies in Minneapolis and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.  

Courage

I almost stopped believing in the ocean.
Imagine that. I almost stopped believing
in the music of such massive natural splendor.
I had lost sight of it, lost sight of hope
because innocent people were killed
by people in masks, hiding their faces,
their shame parading as providence,
their weakness posing as policy.
But then, I remembered the tides.
I was restored by the courage of poets
whose songs sounded like ocean waves
guided by the moon. Even now, there is music.
Children laughing on the swings, a student
learning the saxophone, a woman reading
her rough draft by the lake, a father whistling
a love song in his native language.
Courage is from the Latin word  cor,
which means heart, which means we are a heart of poets.
As in, take courage, take heart. As in, the widow
was grateful for your encouragement, your giving heart.
As in, the heart of your convictions.
What I mean is: we are made of love
and therefore larger than their terror.
As a great poet said, they can cut back all of the flowers,
but they cannot hold back spring.
We are a massive natural splendor, too.
In the end, all we are is love and love and love.
In the end, the ocean and the music might save us.
Meet me at the beach. Bring your light.
Bring your songs. I’ll wait for you.

Love as an antidote to the suffering of our times is suggested by this mural. It's on the outside of  the building housing Strictly Discs, known for its selections of vinyl records. The wish is attributed to John Prine (1946-2020), American singer-songwriter and guitarist who blended folk, blues, and country music. His music is often viewed as social commentary and protest. 

A few years ago I purchased from Strictly Discs several vinyl records for our daughter Emily, who has her own collection. I once had a collection.  

A reminder from one of my favorite poets, Mary Oliver, is on the back of a newly painted bench. Another bench and a small bench-like table with "All You Need is Love, Love" are in a shady area near the Harrison entrance to the Southwest Path. I often rest sitting on one of the benches.

"Pay attention" + "Be astonished" +  "Tell about it": wise affirmations for our lives and for our times.  

Across from Strictly Discuss on the window of  Monroe Street Framing is this beautiful painting that includes "Grow with the Flow."  There is a different painting for each season. 

Many neighbors have flower gardens in their front and back yards. Some have replaced their lawns with native plants as recommended by Homegrown National Park ((URL for more information). Rain Gardens are plentiful. Throughout Madison there are community vegetable gardens with individual plots such the eastside Atwood Gardens and the University Heights Gardens.

Madison has many public gardens. Some of my favorites are Olbrich Gardens, UW Botany Garden (off of University Avenue) and UW's Allen Centennial Gardens on Babcock Drive. When I worked on campus, I often had my packed lunch in Allen Gardens.  

Prospect Gardens continues to "grow with the flow." We are now beginning the seventeenth year. This year "growing with the flow" has meant restoration of some areas and replanting. 

On May 16th, Laura, Astrid, and Sheila joined me to finish removing weeds and installing native plants in the Regent side section. Here's Shelia and Astrid weeding and digging up a section. 

That was a long day for me starting about 9 am with buying the plants at the annual UW Arboretum plant sale. We ended at about five o'clock with Laura and I  fencing the planted areas. 

My plans to retire as crew chief are on hold. Unfortunately Becky can no longer be co-chair with Ryan, who manages the list server of volunteers. I am more involved with the Gardens than expected;  spending many hours besides scheduled work days. Meanwhile Ann, my wife, wishes to announce that she has "come out of retirement" from being a volunteer.  She was especially helpful while I pruned  two overgrown forsythias. She cut down the large branches for easy transport. Thank you, Ann 

Here's Laura weeding near the pottery bells mobile. The pottery mobile has been in the Gardens for several years; way before the Pandemic. I noticed a man carrying it while I was working at another Garden along the bike path. I commented on the mobile's uniqueness and he replied that it was for sale. I offered ten dollars which he accepted. 

Thank you Laura, Astrid and Sheila. Your generosity and helping hands are so appreciated. 

Rabbits are now a major challenge. Without fencing, as recently learned, new plants are the rabbits choice. Rabbits ate three of the six purple poppy mallows that I recently planted. I fenced the remaining three on a hot sticky day. 

Once again staff and enrollees of Operation Fresh Start helped tend the Gardens on June 3rd. Accompanying Conservation Supervisor Taylor were Avi and Makei. In the picture, next to Taylor (in the yellow T-shirt) is Avi and next to me is Makei.  Ann took the picture, provided the treats and helped with weeding.

Thank you, Ann, Taylor, Avi, and Makei.  You all worked diligently. 

We accomplished our goal of  removing blooming Bishops weed throughout the Gardens and which we never planted. A few days later Laura, in disbelief, shared an article favoring the plant while misidentifying variegated snow on the mountain for regular bishop's weed. Furthermore, according to the article, despite "vigorous growth and invasive tendencies" bishop’s weed is "useful in the right setting." I whole heartedly disagree-- its a tenacious plant that outcompetes other plants.  

Along Monroe Street are poems engraved in the sidewalks. This one gives passersby a brief history of Monroe Street by identifying what no longer exists. Four of the six  (Ken Kopp's grocery, Dardanelles, Edgefest , and Mallatt's)  disappeared since we moved into the neighborhood in 1986. I recall all. 

Ken Kopp's meat counter was a favorite. His grandson now has a small restaurant across the street from Camp Randall. When our daughter was a child, we enjoyed Edgefest on the Edgewood High School campus, with games, rides, and food carts. Such good memories.   

The poem reminds me that Prospect Gardens and our neighborhood is constantly changing and that impermanence is a reality of life. All phenomena and life itself are constantly changing. 

Faced with dizzying change exacerbated with the unfolding of artificial intelligence, messages like the five help keep me balanced and moving forward. Some commentators consider artificial intelligence as being the second industrial revolution, fundamentally altering our society and way of life. 

John O'Donohue's poem, "For Presence" provides  additional helpful messages as we experience these rapid societal changes.

For Presence  

Awaken to the mystery of being here 

and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.    

Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.

Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.       

Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow 

its path.

Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity.

May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.

May anxiety never linger about you.

May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of

soul.

Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek 

no attention.

Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.

May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven 

around the heart of wonder.

I end with an update of the young cranes (colts) who are a sacred gift and that add wonder to my days. Here they are on the shore of Lake Wingra. It is June 3rd on a warm, gentle evening.

I'm amazed at how fast they grow. These two were hatched in early May. Feathers are appearing. The length of their legs and necks have significantly increased. They now look like miniature cranes.

  

Here's one on June 12th. The day before on my way home from Lake Wingra, I joined the family as they made their way from the park down Knickerbocker. They leisurely walked in front of me, a few feet away. We approached the intersection of busy Monroe. 

They seemed to wait for me to push the button that stops the traffic, which I did. Afterward, the family, walking in a straight line, with the colts in the middle between the parents, leisurely crossed busy Monroe. I and other passersby on the sidewalk looked in wonder as cars waited for the family to pass. The family was heading to a bird feeder in a backyard at the intersection of Knickerbocker and Gregory. They will feast on the seeds on the ground under the birdfeeder.  

Glory be and halleluiah!