Dear Bartender and Priestess,
I’m not sure what I expect from you, but I feel like I need to get this off my chest. I’m just so taken aback. And angry. Okay, really angry.
I love dogs. I’m a dog owner and have always been a dog owner. Continue reading
I’m still haunted by that very quick conversation with the emigré… You don’t know what hard is…. You don’t know.
I’ve seen a lot and, yet, I believe him. Because I’ve heard stories filled with pain about things we cannot comprehend. And we live in a country where a lot is wrong, and still, we don’t know.
And I work hard at helping us see those things that are wrong, I look hard at myself and my great, great privilege. And I’m sure I miss plenty.
But I think we who search for the wrong, get so earnest that we forget to celebrate the right… and lavishly… We forget to let people know that life is grand and everyone should have access to the grand things…
We forget our rights (privileges) and we forget our responsibilities. They expected less than 30 percent of registered voters to turn out. Less than 30 percent. And this was the only sentence I could find about how many citizens are registered to vote. “Among eligible voters, some 30 percent of African Americans, 40 percent of Hispanics, 45 percent of Asian Americans, and 41 percent of young adults (age 18-24), were not registered to vote in the historic 2008 election.”
So I found this conversation enraging. Wanna be an american and be all up in my face. Vote, dammit. Peace doesn’t make it self. We do. So let’s do it.
Forest fires happen in this region. It’s part of the cycle. You know that when you see the pine cones opened so the seeds can spread. Some cones open only during fires. Some of the first green you see in burnscapes are itty bitty trees.
So knowing that, and building houses in forests, you know you’re taking your chances. I remember watching people helicopter in supplies to build a house and thought… hmmm if the truck can’t get in to bring the lumber, how does it get in to bring the water?
I get living in the forest with all the dark and green. Being a Pennsylvania girl where there are lots of forests, I understand the allure. And there one of the biggest problems is mold in your house. But this is not Pennsylvania. And even there there are dangers.
But now we’re in escalating cycles of drought in California. And the building doesn’t stop. It hasn’t stopped in the forests and it hasn’t stopped in large subdivisions that further tax the water system.
Everyone I know is flushing less frequently and taking fewer and shorter showers, but we all know… the brick in the toilet will not be what saves the land or the people.
California’s a mecca … people are going to come. Somehow, everyone is going to need to do something about global climate change. It’s our challenge. We worry constantly about our relationship to our friends and family, let’s learn to communicate better in our relationship with the Earth, shall we?
Peace will come from our accepting our responsibility.
