This little tree lives next to a building across from mine on campus. I think it’s a crabapple or some tree of that ilk. For the last week, I’ve been watching it pop out little buds, stretching its limbs in honor of what it obviously perceives as spring. I wish I could somehow tell the little tree that really it has at least 2 months until the Vernal Equinox, and probably should wait even longer than that. I find it rather disconcerting that things are budding. This happened last year as well, though not as early in the new year. We are surely going to get another hard frost before long, and it will kill everything. Last summer, Wilson’s Apple Orchard was decimated because all their trees budded early and then we got a hard frost in early May.

Here’s the weather blurb for today (courtesy of weather.com)

When I left the house this morning I immediately noticed singing birds of a song that we generally don’t hear ’round these parts until March. I commented on this to a fellow bus stop companion and she said she had noticed it too.

Of course I realize all this is anecdotal evidence. But anyone can surely see that the weather the last 5-10 years has gotten warmer and wamer during what should be the “winter months”. There should be snow on the ground right now! And skin blasting winds from the North.

I have an idea for a future post where I aggregate a bunch of weather related links from say, a week of news..just to give a larger picture of the weird stuff happening.

Last night we went to see “The Untold Story Of Emmett Till” at the Bijou. The film did a good job of explaining the events surrounding the incident and the reasons behind Mamie Till Mobley’s incredible decision to have an open casket at Emmett’s funeral. It is worth seeing for the clips from the trial, and the interviews with still-living relatives who remember the events of the time. And of course, this is a piece of history that every American should learn about.

I remember hearing about the case only in passing over the years. I’m sure I read a paragraph about it in High School history class (everything in High School history is reduced to a bland paragraph or two). I was a history major in college but focused my attentions mostly on American labor, American women’s history, and Latin American history. So this was my first in-depth exposure to the horrible slaying of the handsome youth from Chicago, and the subsequent trial and unjust acquittal of Emmett’s murderers, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam.

I was unsurprised to learn that no one has ever served any time for taking Emmett’s life in such a brutal and untimely way. Watching the film, I was surprised, however, to learn that a few scant months after they were acquitted, the 2 perpetrators accepted $4,000 (a large sum at that time, I am sure, especially in economically disadvantaged rural Mississippi) to tell their story to Look Magazine. They confessed heartily to the crime. Double-indemnity laws saved them from being tried again for the same crimes, tho sources say that after the article came out, they were somewhat ostracized from their community..ironic how prior to the ” national bad press” about their state, local community members had thought nothing of the crime at all.

PBS has a great resource website about the Emmett Till case, which contains a reprint of the Look Magazine article, as well as the subsequent “letters to the editor” spawned by the article. There is also a section where people have written in their recollections of the incident–> these are totally fascinating; there’s a letter from Muhammed Ali among other historical figures.

Read, learn, never forget,

You must always know the past, for there is no real Was, there is only Is.

–William Faulkner

today we had our bedroom painted red. it might need one more coat, but it IS quite striking. I wonder what it will be like to sleep in that color. will it affect my dreams?

later, mingus accidentally bumped against the wall and I had to give him a sponge bath. he’s quite a curious fellow. I’ve noticed that both he + I bumble a lot. I think it gives us a good perspective.

Well, the Holidays are over. The Pirate + I drove Noah to meet his plane to Tucson in Chicago on New Year’s Eve. It’s always so hard to say goodbye to the little guy..his visits are the such an utter joy in my life which block out any other day to day struggles and/or silly angstful grown up stuff. When we’re together, I get to be 7, on some level and we play all kinds of games and have the most amazing conversations about the world and humanity. He’s such an astute little character. Very in tune with humans and their emotions.

He also loves reading. On one of our best mornings together, we all woke up and laid around reading our books. The Pirate got him the first Yugi-Oh! comic and he devoured it in about 6 hours. Then moved on to the Lemony Snickett book she bought him. And he zoomed through 2 Goosebumps Choose Your Own Adventure books too.

We visited Minneapolis for a day to see some friends, Megan + Corrie, who live there. M + C live in a house with some other people and they have chickens. Noah was totally thrilled to get to pet the chickens and to feed them. He couldn’t wait to tell his AZ mom aobut them because she loves chickens too.

While in the Mini Apple, we visited the Walker Art Center and looked at several exhibitions. Noah liked the Warhol exhibit, and Erin + I liked the exhibit of Kara Walker’s art. Noah was also a big fan of this wrecked car, which is part of the “Mythologies” exhibit. It’s an exact replica of a car found by the artist Charles Ray in a junkyard and meticulously deconstructed, cast in fiberglass and reassembled.

It was a great visit, as usual, and I can’t wait to see him again. He’s growing up to be such a fine, loving fellow and I’m just endlessly proud of my kid.