Connecting people to nature through photos and stories: The Spirit of the Swan

Mary Lundeberg holding a juvenile swan for banding.

Update: The Spirit of the Swan currently ranks in Amazon's top 100 bird e-books for children.


The mission of Nature Connections, the imprint of The Spirit of the Swan, is “connecting people to nature through photos and stories.”  Co-authors and wildlife photographers Mary Lundeberg and Tammy Wolfe fulfill that mission beautifully in this children’s book in which the text is artfully illuminated with stunning photographs no illustrator could ever hope to match.

Responsible parents and educators concerned about the environment will welcome The Spirit of the Swan as a compelling story that will not only hold the interest of elementary school age children, but will also help them better understand and appreciate the natural world.

The Spirit of the Swan is based on the news account of an illegally shot Trumpeter Swan restored to health, released into the wild, and reunited with his mate. Lundeberg and Wolfe remind their readers that Trumpeter Swans have been reintroduced in the Midwest after being hunted to extinction.

Mary Lundeberg at a gallery reception of her swan photos.

The fictional account of the incident begins with the mating of the two swans, Cob and Penny.  Penny's heart is captured by Cob's "music, strength, and courage." Readers  catch a glimpse of how the male protects his mate and her eggs from predators. In this case, despite Cob's brave intervention, only one egg survives the invasion of an otter. Cob and Penny teach their single offspring Ziggy the spirit of the swan: "strong and joyful."

The family of three is migrating to their winter home when Cob, the leader of the flock, is shot. We witness the rescue of the wounded Cob and the courage of Penny and the young Ziggy, as despite his grief, he continues to grow and develop until his father’s joyful return.

The story concludes with the mating of Ziggy and Sarah and in keeping with the recurring theme of music, we read: “The cycle of life continues as swans sing again in the Midwest. The majestic birds multiply and music fills the marsh.” 

The Kindle edition of The Spirit of the Swan is now available at Amazon.com. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will support the Crex Meadows Wildlife area in Wisconsin.

Politicizing the positive jobs report

It’s unfortunate that the media is primarily presenting a positive jobs report in terms of the 2012 presidential election campaign instead of first seeking to inform the public of what the new numbers may mean for America’s struggling families.

Politico’s Alexander Burns and Ben White offer a typical analysis of the latest development on the economic front:

President Barack Obama hasn’t unfurled a “Mission Accomplished” banner just yet. But Friday’s jobs report showing unemployment dropping to 8.3 percent, the lowest level of his presidency, is an unexpected boon for Obama’s reelection bid and a serious hurdle for his top competitor, Mitt Romney, who has staked his campaign on a jobs-and-economy message.

While 8 percent-plus unemployment is still a perilous number for any incumbent, the clear downward trend in the jobless rate complicates the Republican narrative that Obama is an out-and-out economic failure who has no hope of turning around the economy.

You have to read further before the article mentions in passing how the recently released jobs numbers might be received by those whom they most critically affect:

“Those numbers are good news for the country and they are good news, politically, for the president,” said Steve Schmidt, who ran John McCain’s 2008 campaign. “It puts particular pressure on Mitt Romney as the nominee to offer a big, bold, sweeping agenda of reform and economic growth and contrasts with the president’s vision. He’s simply not going to be able to run a campaign built on a foundation of criticism.”

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Wis. Gov. Walker in more hot water

The Caucus (NY Times) reported Friday evening that Wis. Gov. Scott Walker (R) is facing even more problems in addition to a likely recall election:

Scott Walker, the Republican governor of Wisconsin, will meet with a prosecutor who has been investigating the behavior of workers in his previous public office, at the helm of Milwaukee County, Mr. Walker’s campaign office said Friday.

The investigation, which has gone on for 20 months and is seen as a potential problem for Governor Walker in a likely recall election later this year, has led in recent weeks to charges against several close former workers and appointees of Mr. Walker when he served as Milwaukee County executive, before his election as governor in 2010.

The investigation, which led in some instances to charges related to politicking on county time, is secret, so the context of Mr. Walker’s expected conversation with the Milwaukee County district attorney is uncertain.

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Will Obama take his cue from Elizabeth Warren in his reelection campaign?

Put aside the fact that President Obama caved to Republican resistance in his failure to nominate Elizabeth Warren to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau she created and consider this:  

Paul Starobin at the New Republic now suggests that President Obama take his cue from the scrappy defender of the middle class in his reelection campaign.

Pointing out that the women’s vote may be even more critical in 2012 than it was in 2008, Starobin writes:

Elizabeth Warren is poised to thrash Scott Brown in their marquee U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts, and the reason is simple: Women voters love her. In the most recent poll, in December, Warren and Brown were virtually tied amongst men, but Warren led by 13 percentage points, 51 percent to 38 percent, amongst women.

Warren’s commanding lead is not about her gender (Masssachusetts has never before elected a woman to the Senate or governor’s office: Brown defeated Martha Coakley just two years ago) or even her party (the state has a history of voting for GOP moderates like Brown: Think ex-Governor Mitt Romney and, further back, Senator Ed Brooke.) Rather, she owes her ascendency to the fact that her communitarian message resonates so strongly with females.

President Obama ought to pay heed: Warren’s campaign can offer important lessons to his own. He too will need to secure women voters if he wants to earn re-election. And he, too, could do so by adopting Warren’s proud communitarian appeal.

Starobin continues:

THE PUREST DISTILLATION of the Warren message can be seen in the video, shot back in August during her appearance at the Massachusetts home of a supporter, which went viral on the Internet and alternately met with applause amongst liberals and apoplexy amongst conservatives.

It’s easy to see why. With evident passion, Warren weighs in against George Bush’s “tax cuts for the rich” and, hands knifing the air, rejects the notion that she is stirring up “class warfare.” Not at all, she says. “There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear: you moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for; you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate…” It was a riveting performance that proved her skill as a retail politician, someone able to relate to regular folks—there was not a trace here of the Harvard Law professor with a specialty in bankruptcy statutes or the policy wonk whose 5,000 word treatise in Democracy led to the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

According to the Civic Practices Network:

Communitarianism emerged in the 1980s as a response to the limits of liberal theory and practice. Its dominant themes are that individual rights need to be balanced with social responsibilities, and that autonomous selves do not exist in isolation, but are shaped by the values and culture of communities. Unless we begin to redress the balance toward the pole of community, communitarians believe, our society will continue to become normless, self-centered, and driven by special interests and power seeking.

Starobin concludes:

… Communitarianism is not only about ideals, but about practical action. Obama needs to talk more about his particular policy proposals and how they link up with America’s “underlying social contract,” in Warren’s phrase. That’s perhaps the most promising way to reconnect his campaign, so far lacking in any sense of grand aspiration, with its natural demographic base.

Congratulations to Elizabeth Warren for igniting a conversation in the public domain about a too long-neglected topic: the American social contract.

Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow

Groundhog photo credit: public domain.

Groundhog Day is a whimsical holiday, and I’ll bet most of us smile – even those of us who are surviving another Minnesota winter – when we hear of Punxsutawney Phil’s latest prognostication, whether or not he sees his shadow. The Huffington Post's Green section reports:

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. -- Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his lair to "see" his shadow on Thursday, in the process predicting six more weeks of winter.

But, at this rate, that might not be so bad.

The groundhog made his "prediction" on Gobbler's Knob, a tiny hill in the town for which he's named about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Temperatures were near freezing when he emerged at dawn – unseasonably warm – and were forecast to climb into the mid-40s in a winter that's brought little snow and only a few notably cold days to much of the East.

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Update: Bachmann denies reports of endorsing Romney

In a follow-up to his earlier post at Political Intelligence (Boston.com), Glen Johnson reports that Michele Bachmann denies any intention of endorsing Mitt Romney:

CHICAGO - Former Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann today denied any plans to endorse frontrunner Mitt Romney when he visits Minnesota this afternoon, following a Globe online post suggesting the possibility.

The Minnesota congresswoman noted she would be in Washington while Romney was appearing in Eagan, Minn. She also said that while she has had discussions with her formal rivals, she has no immediate plans to endorse any of them.

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Romney courts Michele Bachmann

Bachmann and Romney. Photo courtesy of the Guardian.

A progressive who has appreciated the efforts of moderate Republicans in their efforts over the years to promote sane government at both the state and federal levels, I'm disappointed this morning to learn that coming off his Florida victory, Mitt Romney headed for Minnesota

As governor of Mass., Romney helped put the state on a firm financial footing, and he signed into law the Mass. health care reform legislation, the first of its kind in the nation. 

Now we learn that Romney is seeking the endorsement of radical Minnesota conservative, Michele Bachman, in order to win over the Tea Party faction of the Republican party.

Glenn Johnson, blogging at Political Intelligence (Boston.com) reports:

TAMPA, Fla. - Mitt Romney is carrying a full head of steam after winning the Florida primary, but the Republican presidential contender isn’t headed first today for Nevada or Maine, the next two states to vote.

Instead, he is jetting off this morning to Minnesota for what is billed as a “grassroots rally.”

Why?

Michele Bachmann, it seems.

Aides to Romney and the Minnesota congresswoman have been in conversation in recent days about securing the candidate’s endorsement by the Tea Party favorite and forceful public speaker, The Boston Globe has learned.

Not only would it add to the impression of Romney consolidating the GOP base after rebounding in Florida from his South Carolina loss, but it could help Bachmann by earning her an ally to help her pay off her lingering campaign debt.

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