Spring Equinox and Super Full Moon

It's Sunday, the first day of Spring (official at 1621 PDT), and last night was the first Super Moon in 18 years. Last week a large earthquake offshore of Japan caused a tsunami felt all across the Pacific Ocean. We are still watching Japan's nuclear power plants with wary eyes. Many still remember the effects of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the incidents at the power plants of Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, and wait to see how the effects our use of that destructive power for domestic uses will ripple across the globe this time.

Here on the West Coast of the United States, last night was the night of wicked winds and more rain dumping on already saturated ground. Flood control structures such as floodgates and weirs are in operation again for the first time in five years.

The U.S. and several allies instituted a no-fly zone over Libya yesterday, which means we are now covering conflict and combat on three fronts, yet we are still not taking care of the home front - the most important front. We still have no Federal budget for 2011, even though we are nearly 1/2 way through the fiscal year, limping along on Continuing Resolution (CR) after CR after CR. The blame game continues on the Hill - business as usual.

And still, I find I desperately want to have faith in my fellow man, to believe that we can all acknowledge we are human beings first and all else second, and from that common ground come to a common understanding in order to chart a path forward through all this chaos back to being the responsible stewards of this planet that we are supposed to be - no matter which religion you follow.

My puny efforts at exercise and writing seem tiny indeed when put against the workers at the Japanese nuclear power plant who are willing to take the risk to their own lives in order to save the lives and health of the many.

Their actions remind me of the Star Trek movie "The Wrath of Khan" where Spock give his life to save his shipmates. The lines "the needs of the many outweigh...the needs of the few...or the one" reverberate through my head.

On that thought, Namaste.