The Summer Moves Towards Completion...

We have made it through another wonderful Traverse City Film Festival, which also means that our summer in Northern Michigan is nearly at an end. We saw eight movies, including the usual number of thought-provoking (and occasionally hilarious) documentaries. There was a focus this year on the challenges faced by working people in the face of continuing income centralization and inequality. It is clear to me that the world in which I lived as a child, marked by the existence of a solid American middle class, is no more. Those in this country who have the money have the power in a way that resembles most closely the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, and they are determined to use it to their maximum advantage. They no longer need American consumer spending in a "world economy," so their only concern is to make certain that the walls outside their gated compounds are high enough to keep out the troublemakers. Of course, this has been the truth for most of the rest of the world throughout the formerly halcyon age of the American middle class, so in some ways we are just catching up with the rest of the world.

Enough of my rants. We had a wonderful week between films, and managed to spend some more time with friends and family. We will keep working on that this week as we take care of the busy work that must be done to prepare for the trip to Alaska that starts on Sunday morning. There are totes to buy and pack, and some last minute dental work to get accomplished. We will be busy, but I think that we somehow enjoy being busy, even when we bitch about it. It is probably good to feel useful, and happily engaged in the world.

Looking back on the summer, I feel that I accomplished a few things that were important. I finished the classes that I need to get my professional license in Alaska, and I finished my AKT2 program, at least as I understand it. I am informed that we need to make mileage pledges for next summer's biking season, but that will take care of itself in due time. After all, vacation should include some serious leisure time in my estimation.

On to the new week and the renewed grapple with the challenges of life in the Bush...