Today the Florida Legislature convenes for year 2017.  As we look down from the Heavens upon our great state what do we see? Mostly water… And yet water is such a problem for us. As the third largest state in the nation, and for the children of the future, it is imperative that we get this water problem straightened out….starting with the St Lucie River and the destructive discharges from Lake Okeechobee.

Because of Senate President Joe Negron,  I am very hopeful. Let’s just hope the state legislature doesn’t kill the albatross. The albatross? Let us remember the story of the albatross.

Remember 8th grade? Remember reading Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem the “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner?” You may at least recall these lines:

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

The very deep did rot: O Christ!
That ever this should be!
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea.

About, about, in reel and rout
The death-fires danced at night;
The water, like a witch’s oils,
Burnt green, and blue and white…

In case you have forgotten, in this famous poem, the Mariner is punished by the crew for killing the albatross with no good reason, a sign of good luck and of hope, and thus bringing devastation upon all.

We the citizens have been in a sea of frustration and thirst with “no wind” for years; we have watched our water as before the tortured Mariner turn blue and green and white. But hark, the  wind is blowing; the albatross is flying over… we have hope – a sign.

How shall the state legislature react? My hope is that they recall the lesson of the “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner,” and remember, to whom they answer, and from whom they derive their power.

Water, water, everywhere…

_______________

Watch interview with Senate President Joe Negron on TC Palm regarding water issues Destruction of St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon via Lake Okeechobee/Goal for EAA reservoir to offset: http://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-lagoon/politics/2017/01/26/negron-defends-lake-o-discharges-bill/97047520/

_________________

Florida Bar Calendar of Legislative Dates: https://www.floridabar.org/tfb/TFBLegNW.nsf/dc7ee304c562ed5b85256709006a26ee/47cccd05ad13623785256b2f006ccfa6?OpenDocument

“March 7, 2017 Regular Session convenes (Art. III, &3(b), Fla. Const.) 12:00 noon, deadline for filing bills for introduction (Senate Rule 6.4(4))”

Full text, Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Smauel Taylor Coleridge: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43997