Prairie's Sunrise

Contemplating Machu Picchu this morning courtesy Sunrise Earth on the Discovery HD Theatre channel. This photo is of Sunset, according to Wikipedia. Which gives me...and you...a day to contemplate the sheer majesty of what people can accomplish when they put their minds and hearts to it.

Consider the planning, the scouting that first revealed the site, and then the nearly endless time to laboriously design and construct wall after wall, terrace after terrace, rampart after rampart. The work that had to be done to support the builders. Gathering food. Making garments. And tools. And weapons...of war and survival.

Machu Picchu is a designated World Historic Site. Surely it is the greatest treasure of Peru.

Gives one pause to wonder...what are we building these days that would endure and inspire such awe a hundred years from now? Five hundred? A millenium?

Kind of puts in perspective worrying about daily ups and downs and trackings and who'll be in the veepstakes, now doesn't it?
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UPDATE: But if you're really, really curious and you can't tear yourself away from the guessing game, Sen. Byron Dorgan told a local Fargo talk radio host this morning he thinks it'll be Biden. We'll see....

Meanwhile, back to Machu Picchu....

UPDATE 2: So does Howard Fineman...

Hmmm, time to check the inbox?

UPDATE 3: Biden says no, it ain't me babe...ah, no, no, no, it ain't me...
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Waterfalls

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Contemplating the sunrise this morning, and the awesome power of waterfalls, courtesy the La Paz River in Waterfall Gardens Nature Park, Costa Rica.

Some would say we need to harness that power, turn it into hydro, to serve man. Yeah, I'm torn between recalling that ol' Twilight Zone episode and the headlines of the day about Monica Goodling's loyalty test for the Dept of Justice, to serve a man.

Seems all kinda golden calf, doesn't it?

We've gotten things wrong so many times in our history, mankind's history. We are at a moment of change when we have an opportunity to get things right. So as we contemplate freeing ourselves from our addiction to Big Oil, let's keep in mind the consequences of what we choose as alternatives.

Let's remember the waterfalls...they've been here untold milennia, rushing to the seas, circulating the entire planet, sending off droplets of moisture that feed the cloud forests and the creatures within.

In our stampede to find new solutions, let's make sure we choose solutions that enrich and steward the planet...instead of despoiling it. And ourselves.
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Still They Gather

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We are watching penguins this morning. Black and white noisy penguins. On the Planet Earth channel on HDTV.

They're gathering at sunrise, contemplating the pounding surf off the barren point a world away at Punta Tombo, Argentina.

The rhythmic sound of the surf is backdrop to the squawks and bawling as guanacos drift in as well.

Occasionally the penguins engage in little bill wars, even drawing blood. Here and there, feathers litter the ground. But still they gather, in larger and larger numbers, preparing to face the dangers of the sea together.

Yep, there's a metaphor in that.