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Curious to know more about the author of an essay that I particularly liked, I flipped to the contributors page of a highly respected national environmental news publication. The description of the author ended with the following sentence: “She lives in Stehekin, Washington, with her wife, Laurie Thompson.”

My brain hiccuped, Wait, isn’t she . . . oh, yes, she is! Just like that, without fanfare or fuss, a nationally recognized environmental publication authenticates the new face of America — a face that includes changes in the fabric of America.

All too often I am beset by frustration and dismay at the hysteria that grabs media attention — hysteria about:

  • faith – to believe or not to believe
  • faith – who to believe, who to follow, who is right, who is wrong
  • family and what it looks like – adopted, surrogate, biracial, homosexual, trans, this color, that color, this ethic group or that ethnic group
  • food – what to eat, what to fear, what to buy, where to buy, from whom to buy
  • politics – who is right, who is wrong, who is the devil, who is the angel of mercy
  • systems – the war of isms — isms that the general population would stutter to define, if pushed.
  • nationalities and ethnicities – who is superior, who has the best interests of humankind in mind?
  • science – who controls it, fabricates it, studies it, and most of all, who can we believe?

In an age of black and white, right or wrong, shades of gray relegated to pulp fiction, it is refreshing to realize that some elements of change are being effected quietly and without finger-pointing or acrimony.