A New Low
Although my first paragraph or two here are aimed at my boating friends, I promise to get beyond the boring nautical details if you hang with me for a couple of minutes. This note is important to me and I hope to you as well.
Yesterday’s barometric pressure here in Milwaukee fell to 962 millibars (28.40 inches of mercury), the lowest recorded since the early 1900’s. This precipitous drop was accompanied by a sustained wind speed of 46 knots (53 mph) for a period of about 12 hours in the middle of the three day storm. Several gusts were recorded at 62 knots (72mph) which is only 1 mph below the official designation of “hurricane force” winds. Nevertheless, the sustained wind speed is classified as “strong gale” just a knot or two beneath “whole gale” and produced much wind damage locally here in Southeastern Wisconsin. With 100 year old Oak trees blown over, roofs lifted and semi trucks overturned it was an exciting couple of days that also produced the tallest wave ever recorded in Lake Michigan at a mind boggling 21.6 feet. Period and fetch information were not available as of this writing, but regardless, this is a lake. It’s not an ocean! Period and fetch will both be far shorter than any ocean storm and that makes this storm exceedingly dangerous if you are afloat. The turbulence of waves steep and short is the bane of all vessels regardless of size. The Edmund Fitzgerald, a 1000 foot steel ore carrier, encountered 30 – 40 foot waves in Lake Superior and sank with all hands.
During my lifetime, I have spent thousands of hours in boats on Lake Michigan including some scary storms that tested both me and the boat but I have never experienced anything larger than nine or ten feet in all those years. I cannot imagine nor do I wish to contemplate a 20 foot wave on Lake Michigan. This recent low was quite fearsome for anyone familiar with the Great Lakes, but it brings into sharper focus the merits of the concept of fear. Fear is healthy in small doses and I have learned (sometimes the hard way) to listen to its message. It is a valid warning of dangerous shoals ahead. Hence I come to my main concern in this Bad Whine letter.
Fear. I am afraid. Afraid for my grandchildren. (and soon to be Great Grandchild) Afraid for yours as well. Afraid for our nation. No, it is not about the vitriolic nature of these recent political campaigns, although I find them scary as Hell. No it is about something even more frightening. It is about the disappearance of the one life line necessary for our Ship of State’s safe passage. That crucial lifeline is tolerance. The disappearance of tolerance for anything I dislike or anyone not like me is a rapidly gathering storm that frightens me to death. “My way or the highway” has become this nation’s mantra, and “Live and let live” has disappeared in the black cloud of our collective fear-mongering. It is NOT a Republican or a Democrat problem, it is an AMERICAN problem. It is a raging divisive storm every single one of us must prepare to weather if we expect to come out of the other side of this intact.
Actually it is worse than divisive. Divisions amongst us will always be a part of our society because that is what being a democracy is about. A free society must always protect our right to be different. It must respect the divisions between us. But chasms? When a chasm becomes un-crossable, when it becomes a bridge too far, freedom will always reside on the opposite side, out of reach for anyone and everyone. That is where we are headed as a nation: Me, here on this side and you over there on the other side. Be it politics, money, ethnicity or any one of a myriad of recent chasms, if there is no way for us to join up and break bread together, none of us will be free.
Am I being overly dramatic? I truly hope so. However, I have several close friends who are not of the same political persuasion as me and I have noticed a reticence recently to broach subjects upon which we disagree. OK, respect and simple civility you say. Wrong… in the past, we were always able to discuss differing points of view and yes, many times quite heatedly as I recall. We no longer venture there. Not in good faith, not in satire, not even in jest. We reluctantly sidestep delving into deep differences because… why? Because neither of us wishes to lose a friendship over a clash of ideas. Because neither of us wishes to test the limits of our respective tolerance. Because both of us are afraid of what we may learn about ourselves and each other. Because there is no trust in our or their… tolerance. This is the crux of my fears. No tolerance, no civil discourse. Without civil discourse, how can one experience the intensity and validity of brilliant ideas in our increasingly digitally separated worlds regardless of the source? We cannot.
And thus deepens a new low in the history of our nation. A record low. Will this storm pass? I don’t know. Will we weather it intact? I don’t know. But I do know I must make an attempt to deflect its course. I will make a small personal change in my life; one tiny action to help deflect the damage of this raging storm of intolerance. I will listen to the arguments from the other side of the chasm without screaming that they are stupid. (Yes I have done that). I will make a supreme effort to see clearly to the other side of the chasm. Perhaps then it will not be quite so far from where I stand that I may still be able to throw a line all the way to the other side. And isn’t that how one begins to build a bridge?
The record low and its resulting local wind storm damage here in Bay View just a block off of Lake Michigan’s western shore had a good news/ bad news component. The good news? All of the leaves from my trees got blown into my neighbor’s yard. The bad news? I chased down the alley after my garbage container four times during the day. The last chase extended nearly the entire block before I brought it back and laid it safely on its side between my garage and my neighbor’s.
Are there any larger lessons here for me? Oh yes, and for you as well I might hope. First, although a strong breeze can cleanse the air, it can also wreak havoc. Think carefully and thoroughly about your desire for a fresh breeze and what it may bring along with it. Secondly, chasing after garbage down the alley is not all that much different than looking for Mr. Goodbar in today’s political climate. Absolutely fruitless unless you have the fortitude for due diligence. That necessitates one exercise the ability to see all the way to the other side of the chasm. Be forewarned, a thirty second TV spot will NEVER allow one to see the other side.
So why do I take up your time with this diatribe? I do not care what your political leanings are nor your station in life, but I do have a request. Go out and vote next week. I don’t care if it’s raining, snowing, sleeting, and your back is aching. A part of it is your responsibility and what you owe your family and friends. More importantly, you owe it to your country. Be a true patriot. It is small payback for your incredible good luck to live in this magnificent country of ours. And it IS ours… not mine… not yours. OURS.
