Finding center again

You don’t really appreciate the power of a storm until you see it first hand.

Every few years while growing up, a hurricane would work its way up the coast and hit where I grew up in New Jersey. I remember watching in fascination as the pitch pines would sway like reeds on a riverbank and bend nearly in half in the wind only to spring back.

While the odds are exceedingly remote that Wisconsin would ever get the brunt of a hurricane, the region has enough on its plate with blizzards, tornadoes and the occasional exotic, and hard to pronounce, meteorological phenomena.

I still enjoy watching the trees dance in the wind. The aspens, oaks and maples that are common in Central Wisconsin are made of sterner stuff than the forests I grew up in. There is an implacable stability in an oak tree. The mighty oak tree stands firm season after season, only slightly moved by whatever storms buffet it, sometimes leaning slightly one way or another but never straying too far from center.

A strong center is the source of both the pine tree’s resiliency and an oak’s rock-solid stability. As long as the heartwood remains strong, the tree will continue to stand. For several years I lived in a house that had a giant silver maple in its front yard. The tree appeared superficially healthy, but its core was rotted away and it was only a matter of time before some storm and the weight of its many branches would prove too much and bring it crashing down or split it apart.

The past year has been an especially stormy one on the political landscape of America. Idealists, activists, radicals and reactionary forces blow from every side conflating even minor issues into a gale-force battle of wills.

Idealists on both sides of the political aisle are quick to dismiss what they refer to despairingly as the “squishy center.” In the twisted logic of 2020, they would have you believe that being a moderate is a sign of weakness or is demonstrating a lack of conviction. Nothing could be further from reality.

Moderates form the heartwood of America. After the storm ends, it will be their job to make sure the nation continues to grow strong and tall, leaning neither too far one way or the other but instead reaching only for the heavens above.

As with the trees in the woods across from my home, I sometimes worry about the country when the winds blow so strongly and for so long. I worry about the cracks that form allowing outside vermin in that would take up residence and devouring the trees from within.

As a nation, America has stood strong through 244 winters. As the chaotic winds of the past year settle and we move into the new year, let us hope that America’s heartwood remains strong and upright finding center once more. *** One of the major criticisms I have heard from the new federal stimulus package is that the aid is not as targeted as it should be with everyone under the income threshold getting the same amount whether they need it or not.

It is a fair criticism to make since the pandemic has not impacted all areas the same. While some areas have seen job losses and businesses shuttered, others have fared better or have even thrived.

Rather than taking to social media to whine about it, my suggestion to those who do not need the stimulus is to donate it to worthy cause. Civic organizations rely on community fundraisers and events to raise money for things like scholarships. With so many things canceled in the past year, the budgets of these organizations are hurting, putting scholarships and ongoing programs in jeopardy.

Other ways to help are to give to organizations that assist those facing food or housing insecurity either locally or to places more impacted by the pandemic. For those who don’t want it, there is also the option of simply giving it back to the federal government which has a separate fund that was set up back in 1843 with contributions used to pay down the nation’s debt. In fiscal year 2020, which ended in October, about $1.6 million was donated to the federal government this way.

Brian Wilson is News Editor at The Star News.

Brian Wilson