Day 1503: Scalia

With the death of Supreme Court Justice Scalia today, all hell will break loose!  The Republicans will do whatever they can to stop any Obama nominee from taking office.  Oh, what a tumultuous year this will be, and not in a good way.  Obama still has eleven months in office, so there is no reason not to nominee a candidate.  Plus, any decisions the Supreme Court makes with a 4-4 vote are invalid and the lower court's decision would stand.  The whole year could be lost if they wait till after the inauguration next year.

The headlines say Scalia led the conservative renaissance on the Supreme Court.  I would not be so kind.  He was a scourge.  He opposed same sex marriage and denounced it in vile terms.  The worst of his decisions was in Bush v. Gore which changed the course of US history.  Obama will have to appoint a moderate to have any chance of gaining Senate approval.

We spent all day at musical rehearsal.  It took our team an hour to layout, cut and sew the body of one of the minister's coats.  When we tried it on our model, the knit fabric clung to her body and crackled with static electricity.  Now we have to sew a cotton lining for each coat to give it body and intensify the color.  So, double the work.

For three days I've been mulling over what to do with my book.  It's approximately 136, 000 words.  Far too many.  Publishers often won't even look at books if the word count is excessive.  Even if I publish it myself, the number of pages will push the cost up to the point that no one will buy it.  It won't be of much value if no one can read it.

Back to the drawing board. At 500 words per page, I must drop at least 40 pages, maybe 60.   If I cut a 1000 words from each chapter, that cuts the book by 23,000 words.  But, that may not be necessary if I take a huge chunk out of the classes chapter by eliminating 25 or 30 pages of lesson plans.  I'll do that first and then move on to the enrolling and recruiting chapter which is heavy on meeting agendas.

One of the most important things I read last week was that an author must have distance from the manuscript to be objective and make the hard cuts.  That may be the hardest lesson yet.  I've been absorbed by the subject, the people, the stories for eight years.  Distance from the people and activities I love?  Painful, but necessary.  If I share too much, none of their stories will be revealed.  So, I must streamline.

Another significant thing I read last week were reviews of Richard Louv's book, Last Child in the Woods.  He coined the phrase "nature deficit disorder"  and described his views about the lack of nature experiences for today's children.  Even though he is a nationally renowned author, the reviews were terrible.  The criticism was that his book was "pseudo science."  He used anecdotes rather than scientific evidence to support his theories.  He was "preachy."  On the other hand, some called it "profound" and one of the most significant contributions to child development.

I do not aspire to a national audience. If a thousand of our friends, neighbors and fellow backpackers read it, I will be thrilled.  I won't be diagnosing or prescribing or identifying a syndrome.  I'm describing how one community came together to create something pretty magical.  I am offering a model program that others may copy, if they wish.   I suspect my book will also be seen as a bit preachy, but I will persist in my belief that outdoor education changes lives.  If my book can guide a few more folks to create a new program and go backpacking, any criticism and all this work, will be worth it.

Annelise 

Stage crew rocks!