Growing up in small Euro-ethnic town Long Island during the '50/60'ties, watching Walter Cronkite's nightly news in black & white was a window into a world beyond my own: riots & racial strife, poverty, intolerance, the lack of civility, rage and then there was that war in some distant country casting its shadow across the screen. It seemed a world consumed by baser instincts, with only a few, like Dr King, leaning into our common humanity preaching what modern genetics now tells us, we may be a mixed pool, yet we all come from the same distant 'Eve'.

'Tangled' started as a doodle, reflecting on this common humanity and my life's experiences. To any observer of nature, when you cut into a forest, the trees exposed on the edges are imperiled by wind and storm. A healthy forest is often best a mix of species, their roots entangled, and their branches woven into a canopy of protection. I say a mix, as the beauty of a western pine forest or the sea of long-lost Chestnuts, can easily fall prey to beetle or blight.

We are all 'equal in the eyes of our creator', yet as humans we know there is no intrinsic equality, no equity, no fairness; In truth we are born into a bell-shaped curve of possibilities parsed razor thin in all matter's human... health, stature, talent, brains, beauty, athletic prowess, skills & aptitudes. Some are gifted far more than their 'fair share', while others seem bereft of any talents save life itself. But in truth we are all human and our individual uniqueness makes for the delights of life itself. A caring spirit calls us to reach out to those less fortunate and celebrate those who enrich or entertain us with their ingenuity and talent. To be human is laugh and sing or just smile as we look into a stranger's eye and yet see ourselves looking back.

If there be but two commandments, it's said the second is 'love thy neighbor as thyself'. Sadly, too many have no love of self, consumed by envy for those who have more and by what they are lacking in the pit of their soul. Our baser instincts needn't dominate, but it starts from being at peace from within and growing to embrace our common humanity as we are all but one link in a vast chain anchored in the dawn of time.

I have also come to see a forest is an organism made up of individuals supporting the others against the buffeting winds. Clear cut a swath, and those on the edge of the forest will snap and uproot taking down one then two then scores as they fall. Each tree is supported by others, and others rely on their fellows to reach for the sun. It's a message that has been taught for ages, yet one mankind often fails to embrace. Maybe in the next lifetimes... among generations yet born, there is always hope despite our baser instincts that simmer below.