Photo by Naldo Mesquita from Pexels
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, turns it over to the keeper as he and Phyllis fly over the country in returning from their Colorado visit with Rick and Becky on a magnificent day of endless cumulous clouds that–as the summer solstice is marked–make it appear that the earth has blossomed into a thing of seasonal breathless beauty where a waxing moon peers out of a blue sky to share the spectacle.
In the shadows of the pillow-white clouds, the roads and fields and irrigation circles tell the story of the once exuberant wild land being so obsessively tamed as to seem imprisoned.
From the unnatural perspective provided by mechanical flight, the distribution of the people who did that taming—and are still doing it, becomes an astounding thing to contemplate: How did we all get where we are?
Perhaps more to a contemplative point–as the keeper is up with the clouds and as close to any Heaven as he will ever get–is the question of: Where the hell are we all going?
Descending over Madison in a final approach, the answer is ominous: greed and stupidity reign in capitals everywhere and it will be only a matter of time until the corporate one-percenters somehow take over the sky and ruin the magnificent white clouds for everyone.
The keeper and Phyllis enjoyed their Colorado visit and are happy to be home, albeit with their heads somewhat still up in the clouds.
