XXXI. Hot Time. Summer in the City.

Happy Father’s Day. If your dad is not around anymore, take a moment and say, “Hey, Dad”. Do it out loud to remember when it was part of your common language.

Do it now before you forget.

This week’s issue covers some climate change-related items, stories on the importance of public service and education, and a mental health story that was a good piece of journalism.

June has been hotter than Hades. It has not stopped the blueberries and blackberries from growing. They are lined up right by my car and I’ll usually pop a couple in my mouth when I leave for work. This morning’s extra treat was watching a Mississippi Kite pluck a dragonfly out of the air and head up to a high roost in the neighbor’s yard to eat it. For several years, Kites come through about this time and then perch in one particular tree. This bird must be second or third generation by now.

Back to the heat. The older I get, the more I view fall as the best time of the year. While sun and sand have been sold for better living since tourism became a boom industry, in my bones, I feel I’m more cool air and mountains. I want my last view to be through the leaves of trees and a glimpse of the sky. Others are going to prefer horizons looking across the ocean.

But don’t let summer slip by without some days of living. At the beach, at the lake, cookouts. A big summer blockbuster. A concert or a ball game. Almost anything to do with water. Especially for kids, days of exploring are essential nutrients.

As this week’s issue arrives, I’ll be on the road, taking our youngest to visit a potential college. If you are in a position of leadership, remember your family is the first customer. Some things you’ll do hundreds of times with your kids. Other things, only three. Don’t let opportunity slip by. And as far as your staff, treat them with the dignity of family. If they need time to do things, make sure they get it. Our workplace culture is ripe for a reimagining.

Seize the summer and savor the moment.

• When I was a kid in Tennessee, we called them locusts and collected the shells off of trees. I’m glad we have entomologists. Lots of mystery still remains.

• It’s an unhealthy mind of someone who trashes public service and future public servants to score points.

• There’s something very American about this guy with his collection of stuff and his attitude. One thing I’ve found through travel is that average folk are average folk all over the world.

• It’s a long but poignant read from a techie on the inside who knows what AI is going to do and how we can handle it.

My wife and I were at an event a couple of weeks ago and met a young guy who spends much of his job on prescribed burning. I asked him about wildfire duty. Many state and federal agencies have reciprocal agreements, which is how you end up having a ranger from Florida fighting fires on mountains in the West. Why does the public sector handle wildfires? Because there’s no money in it for profit. The next best thing is cost sharing, which the states and federal government do, but there needs to be more money for public servants.

Little details like this news piece are what you need to know for who is supporting public services and who isn’t. Keep in mind that climate science has been predicting for several decades what we are witnessing in hotter hots, colder colds, bigger storms, and more fires. Fighting fires is not fun and games. Adrenaline, yes. Dangerous, hell yes.

We can do better by public servants.

Climate change has been part of our vernacular for three decades now. While the forces of anti-science have been successful in casting doubt, climate models are continuing to portray consistent and unique trends. I believe at least part of the strife we are experiencing in our country today has come from throwing sand in the wheels of science. It has given us angst when we can’t depend upon our leaders to be truthful with us.

Part of this relationship we have the power to influence.

Climate science has always been like any other science. People spend a lot of time doing similar things over and over, and then observing, contemplating, and recording. Step back and consider that most of these people chose this work. They aren’t out to get rich or sell something. They like math and data. They like seeing the numbers tell a story, and they decipher the message. The return is in the work itself.

In science, when 95 out of 100 scientists agree on something, I urge you to take heed. We have the ability and frankly the responsibility to be less in love with our own opinion, less led by those with monetary interests, and more appreciative of the facts collected by dedicated human beings.

As we go about our daily lives, freedom fighters in Ukraine are putting up stiff resistance to Russian aggression. We are finally back on the right track with supporting the Ukrainian defense. If you need an analogy, when the colonies decided that they had experienced enough of British rule, France assisted the War for Independence.

The United States is doing the same with Ukraine.

In this article, a real behind-the-scenes story that we don’t normally read about. Imagine the personal leadership and risk these guys experienced for the sake of the greater good. Improvise, trial and error, teamwork.

Long live a free Ukraine.

Years ago, the local government had an underpass and fencing put along a highway that cuts through an area called Lake Jackson. From all indications, it has been successful with thousands of species over time funneled toward the underpass instead of ending up as roadkill.

We are so used to roadkill that we never even think about the millions of species that perish every year. I once had a colleague who was a marine biologist. He kept a list of all the species of roadkill he saw along his normal work route, a list that included deer, gopher tortoise, alligator, birds, and otter.

Many U.S. states are establishing wildlife corridors to help animals move safely under, over, or across fragmented habitats. For example, California's project for the 101 Freeway crossing is a $100 million structure that will give threatened mountain lions and other animals a safer path than trying to frogger across a 10-lane freeway. Yes, the price tag is high but here’s the part to remember.

It’s not always about us.

The corridor in this article is a pretty big deal in Florida. You can look around the nation and whether California condors, gray wolves, or even our eagles, it has taken a lot of work to protect species from human encroachment. Setting aside land for corridors is a great and necessary expense given our love for sprawl and for driving.

Before I left my last position, I was in contact with Carlton Ward, Jr., mentioned in this article, to get the rights to use one of his panther photos to create a puzzle for youth conservation. Mr. Ward has helped to bring renewed attention to the Florida Panther and the importance of establishing a corridor for the panther to roam farther and ultimately survive. For more on this, check out this brief National Geo video on his work here.

This piece of journalism is good because it allows the reader to decide what they feel from it. I have to applaud the man for his willingness to talk about the stupid thing he did. A couple of points to make:

It goes without saying that people with a history of mental health issues should not have easy access to weapons meant to kill. We’ve also seen many cases of people with no known history of issues or outbursts who give in to selfish and hate-filled acts of destruction. There’s a lot to ponder from reading this story. In some ways, the system was very fair with him, but I fear there are many more out there like Mr. Morelli, and if we can’t get better at electing the best of us, if we can’t move beyond “I” back more for a “We”, such situations are only going to get worse.

Education has been so important to my family that I naturally love stories like this. We are at a crossroads, discussing how we can support and deliver education in America. Some of the focus is necessary, such as why higher education costs so much. Other efforts are purposeful distractions related to how you look or what you read.

Education is as important as it has ever been. Whether college, vocational-technical, or a more robust apprenticeship program, democracy depends upon citizens interested in lifelong learning. There’s no one and done with progress. When I was a GED teacher, I saw firsthand the importance of getting students through that first hurdle of achievement. A great quote from this article is a life lesson to close with:

And Now….

Thanks for reading and sharing this newsletter. Take a moment to feel grateful, and remember: Be a good human.