We the People

The Constitution, in its original form of ink scratched on parchment with a sharp pen, was the work of brilliant, flawed minds who used their collective brilliance to hammer out a document in the hope of doing something good. Their ideas were not unique; they were based on English common law solidified into the Magna Carta. Yet the document they created was a unique formalization of ideas put together in a new way. These great, limited thinkers were wise enough to know that they could not perceive the future or the changes it would bring, so the document itself has a procedure for amendment. They knew things would change, and allowed flexibility so the document would not fracture under the stress of changing times.

But as great and pivotal as the Constitution is, in itself it has no power -- not the online reproductions and scans, not the many paper copies, not even the great original parchments. The Constitution is not a magical object. 

The power of the Constitution lies in the fact that every American, every day, decides to follow it. It is the basis of our law, our mythos, and our society. Without it, everything falls apart. And yet it is only an idea, an ideal, without reality or meaning until given form and shape by the decisions, every day, of those who choose to follow it. 

If we are to honor the Constitution, we have three choices. We can accept it as it was written, by white men who excluded women, persons of color, and those who did not own land. We can lawfully amend the Constitution, in order to refine its basic concepts, and in order to better serve citizens who, hopefully, are adapting to a more perfect concept of freedom. We can also interpret the Constitution and its amendments, with rational discussion and argument, and a knowledge of history, precedent, and the other writings of the Founders who often explained exactly what they were trying to achieve. 

These are our only options. If we ignore the Constitution, if we push through its barriers and shatter its boundaries, we will destroy it. It is fragile; it was scratched onto parchment with ink and sharp pens, a very long time ago. And remember that it is powerless in any case. It exists in the mind and heart and actions of every American, every day, who believes that a free republic, based on the will of the people and subject to no tyrant, is a worthwhile endeavor. We are the Constitution; its power lies in us. If it is compromised, if too many lines are crossed and too many boundaries broken, the keystone of the reality of our civilization will break, and all will fall with it. 

The words scratched on parchment with such hope, now protected behind glass, will fade with time, and break and scatter into dust, and none will remember.

The Sea at Mughain Mentioned on Wikishire!

Location of Dalriada. Source: Wikishire.

A few days ago I was having a really bad day, but I ran across something that made me feel a lot better. Hint: look at the "In Fiction" section of Dalriada--Wikishire.

My novella, The Sea at Mughain, was mentioned in the Dalriada entry on Wikishire. I did not know it was there. It made my day.

Part of the reason I wrote this story was to try to understand the world of my long-ago Irish and Scottish ancestors; if possible, to spin a thread between their world and ours. It makes me profoundly happy to find mention of The Sea at Mughain on a British website, in an entry about a legendary place so important to my story.

Jaleth and the Dragons, Now in Paperback

In 2017, I published Jaleth and the Dragons as a stand-alone e-novellette for Kindle and Nook. I did not publish it as a paperback because it is 50 pages long, a "long short story." I intended, at some point, to publish a short-story collection that would include Jaleth and the Dragons, in both print and e-formats. 

However, I realized my parents would not be able to see Jaleth in its e-incarnation, so I decided to put together a print version for them. (It is much easier, by the way, to do the print version first.) I did most of the work and then there it sat for six years. There has been a lot going on. But I finally finished it, got ready to get them copies, and thought . . . why not? I had done all the work and it was ready to go . . . so I went ahead and put it up for sale on Amazon. I'm still planning to do the short story collection, but at this rate it will be a few more years, so Jaleth and the Dragons can stay in print until then.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

  

Portrait

 

La Bella Principessa by Leonardo da Vinci

My favorite painting by Leonardo da Vinci surfaced a few years ago and was sold at private auction. It is a picture of a girl, in profile, with beautiful wavy hair. It is believed to be the portrait of a fourteen-year old Italian noblewoman, Bianca Sforza, commissioned for her marriage. She was married and then died just a few months after the portrait was painted, probably from complications from pregnancy.

Such deaths were common then. They are not common now in the developed world, largely because of a network of women's healthcare that includes, but is not limited to, access to abortion for those who require it. 

Bianca Sforza had few human rights. Noblewomen's marriages were arranged. She was, in essence, sold, just as her portrait was sold centuries later. Her father, and then her husband, made the choices about her body that led to her fate.

Many more deaths like hers will now occur, and there is now no da Vinci to immortalize them.   

Ghost Yoga

I want to do a show on the Travel Channel called GHOST YOGA. It will be either:

1) People do yoga at haunted places to see if they can feel the ghostly energy.

2) People do yoga with ghosts.

3). Ghosts do yoga. (Because ghosts are invisible, this one would be a camera pointed at an empty location for an hour.)

March

 March comes in like a penguin and goes out like an irritable penguin. 

Small Sanction

 In support of Ukraine, I have ceased distribution of all my Amazon book titles in Russia.