Beekeepers, movers, and shakers
This evening the Monroe County Democratic Party is holding their annual “JJ” Dinner– Jefferson Jackson Dinner. We’ll be visited by Representative Jan Schakowsky.
In 2007 I blogged about JJ Dinners and if you visit that entry you can find links and text to historic addresses delivered by politicians at past JJ Dinners.
Our local Party’s fearless leader is Chairman Rick Dietz. He recently sent out a dispatch urging party members to attend a Town Hall meeting being held by Congressman Baron Hill. Mr. Fluck Mill eagerly asks, “Will Baron go Barney Frank?” This being because Mr. Fluck Mill is marveling at how deftly Barney Frank handled answering some idiotic questions at a Town Hall meeting on healthcare.
Besides urging local Democrats to attend the Town Hall meeting, Party Chair Dietz also wrote,
“And speaking of essential issues, I know we are all coming to grips with the passing of Senator Edward Kennedy. Let’s keep his spirit alive in this debate; his respectful and equally relentless pursuit of healthcare reform is an example for all Democrats at all levels laboring everyday to bring about a more perfect union. It is hard to imagine seeing his like again in the Senate and in American public life. One can only hope that our representatives and everyone he has inspired into service will take hold of his banner. He will be missed.”
Local movers and shakers from all walks of life, who share in common Democratic values, will be at the JJ Dinner tomorrow night to be invigorated by a message. I’m sure Rep. Schakowsky will deliver.
I look forward to hearing some remarks from our Party Chair Rick Dietz…
Rick is a beekeeper and he emanates some very nice qualities as such. For about a year, his bees lived out here on Fluck Mill Road and this was very enlightening to me. On the Permaculture Institute website there is some information about beekeeping that I think best describes some qualities I observed about Beekeeper Rick—-the site page on beekeeping first begins by saying, “Beekeeping is a great way to get in touch with the spirit of place…”
Then it goes on to detail the following traits, which I think can apply metaphorically, to describing the leading of a bunch of Democrats:
“To be a beekeeper, it takes a certain personality: quiet calm, grounded presence, awareness of the sun and wind, day lengths and blooming times. It is all about attention to detail, understanding of local economy and industrial agriculture, heightened focus and sensitivity. It is akin to working with all animals and plants, live things. As you see a good beekeeper speaking softly to each bee, coaxing them aside, waiting until every worker has safely moved out of harm’s way before replacing a comb and moving on to a new one, you will notice how he moves so slowly, minding every finger placement, even where he is stepping. And the bees seem not only tolerant of his presence, but soothed by it.
By honoring the bees and their natural processes, we gain the most from them. By disrupting those processes, as modern agriculture does in order to increase profit and yield, we invite disease and risk the eradication of bee populations. This is an essential ingredient in permaculture: designing systems and ways of interaction that support the natural rhythms and patterns of the elements of those systems, and also positively inform our ways of thinking and acting as individuals and in community.”
Congressman Hill’s Town Hall meeting will be held in Bloomington on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at Bloomington North High School from 6:00 to 7:00