Yesterday I read that a landmark-protected German cathedral – a rather small one that really should be called a church – is going to be razed this week. Immerath cathedral happened to stand in a neighborhood that has been forcibly emptied since 2013 to make way to open-pit brown-coal mining; a dirty business, an insanely destructive but seemingly lucrative one.

The reason the news caught my attention was that the church is located in a region where I went to school when I was ten years old. I know the neighborhood. I knew some of the people who had to leave their homes and schools and churches behind, moving away from Erkelenz for good into isolation and an uncertain future.

For some reason it floored me.  The article, in a progressive German news outlet, talked about the fact that the building would have been saved with protests and determination if it was a mosque, and that the replacement church, a village or two further away was a building of such ugliness that it would have pleased Trump.  It seems such a strange chain of associations by an author who was clearly despairing over the final loss of a landmark, usurped by greed.

And then I learned that Republican Multnomah County Chair Buchal wants to hire right-wing militia groups to protect Republicans going to the streets for Trump. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/29/portland-attack-republican-james-buchal-militia-groups

So, I insist on an antidote to the news of the world this week – otherwise I am going to loose my mind.

For the next couple of days it’s going to be the beauty of flowers, coupled with some uplifting music to start the day on a semblance of optimism. I assume you don’t mind joining me in such an endeavor however futile it may turn out to be in the long run….

We start with the prettiest PINK, and Beethoven’s Spring Sonata.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRyzOVLq2BE