election campaign – Sage Telling Your Story

“Raindrops” was a topic that I was truly drawing a blank on though thanks I suppose to my Irish roots I love the rain and the more rainy days the better. Perhaps this explains in part my draw to those rainy San Francisco winter days.

I was however rescued on this topic by the impending changes, perhaps this week, in Colorado law around the personal collection of raindrops that fall on your own property and specifically collecting the runoff from your own roof. Believe it or not such collection, i.e. a rain barrel collecting raindrops from your roof’s drain spout is illegal in Colorado, the only state in the Union where this is the case. The exact wording of the current law is as follows:

Although it is permissible to direct your residential property roof downspouts toward landscaped areas, unless you own a specific type of exempt well permit, you cannot collect rainwater in any other manner, such as storage in a cistern or tank, for later use.

Though I realize that many of us LGBTQ folks are urban and live in apartments and therefore this is a truly a moot issue it is a bit of a reassuringly small victory for “the people” that this archaic law is finally about to be changed. I suppose this is more a libertarian victory rather than a socialist one but I’ll take it. Though rainwater runoff could also be easily collected from the roofs of large apartment/condo buildings and go to watering communal gardening space in addition to homeowner’s personal tomato plants.

I have lived in several single-family homes and collecting run-off rainwater for my often-thirsty gardens always had appeal. I never got around to breaking the law on a cistern level but I do confess to collecting the occasional bucketful most often during a late summer downpour and them dumping it on my tomato plants. Once more the immortal words of the Jefferson Airplane come to mind: “We are all outlaws in the eyes of America”.

It is my understanding that HB16-1005 has passed the Senate and will be signed into law this week by the Governor freeing up raindrops for collection by the people. Now if we could get this same Governor, who is a super-delegate to the Democratic convention, to realize that he is not bound to cast his vote for Hilary Clinton. He could instead acknowledge and respect the wishes of the significant majority of caucus goers in Colorado and switch his vote to Bernie Sanders. Oh, what am I thinking? Why should access to a few raindrops make us get all uppity and think we actually live in a democracy. We are being told I guess to sit down and don’t rock the boat and just be happy with a few more raindrops.

About the Author

I was born in La Porte, Indiana in 1949, raised on a farm and schooled by Holy Cross nuns. The bulk of my adult life, some 40 plus years, was spent in Denver, Colorado as a nurse, gardener and gay/AIDS activist. I have currently returned to Denver after an extended sabbatical in San Francisco, California.

It takes all kinds to make the
world go ’round. Some come up with the grand schemes and ideas. Others must find a way to work out the
details and put the schemes and ideas into practice. The devil is in the
details.

Consider the recent election campaign
and what is going on in Washington today.
The ideas were put out there, affirmed by the people, but now, no one
seems to be able to work out the details to put those ideas into practice.
Clearly differing political ideologies is the reason the details cannot be
worked out, but there is a middle ground to which some are unwilling to travel
unfortunately.

The details end up being more
important than the grand idea. The
Republicans are proposing to avoid the fiscal cliff and raising government revenues
by closing current tax loopholes. However, they are unwilling to reveal exactly
which loopholes should be closed. So
they expect the Democratic administration and Democratic Congress members to
accept such a plan which either has no details written in it or those details
are being kept secret? That, of course,
will never be acceptable. The details
make all the difference between an economic policy which is good for the country
versus a policy which would be devastating.

Take climate change also, for
example. There are very few people who do not realize or will not admit that
human activity is influencing the warming of our planet. Many people including some world leaders
propose that just cutting back on the burning of fossil fuels would and should
be a priority, but that idea is not being implemented. Why?
The details. Just how do we cut
back on burning fossil fuels. Where do we start? It can be done, but no one can work out the
details to the satisfaction and acceptance of all.

The problem is that when the
details are spelled out, it becomes clear that everyone will have to give a
little, bend a bit, be flexible–some more than others. So it is with tax reform as well. Is it not better to sacrifice one or two of
the details for the good of the whole?
After all, if the whole, that is, the planet or one’s source of livelihood whether it be Social
Security, pension, the stock market, bank and corporate profits–if the planet
becomes uninhabitable by humans or the global economy collapses, details become
meaningless.

About
the Author

Betsy has been active in the
GLBT community including PFLAG, the Denver women’s chorus, OLOC (Old Lesbians
Organizing for Change). She has been
retired from the Human Services field for about 15 years. Since her retirement, her major activities
include tennis, camping, traveling, teaching skiing as a volunteer instructor
with National Sports Center for the Disabled, and learning. Betsy came out as a lesbian after 25 years of
marriage. She has a close relationship with her three children and enjoys spending
time with her four grandchildren. Betsy
says her greatest and most meaningful enjoyment comes from sharing her life
with her partner of 25 years, Gillian Edwards.

Tag: election campaign

Raindrops for the People! by Pat Gourley

About the Author

Details, by Betsy