Winter has settled into the High Desert.
The weather is gray and windy here in the mountain desert of Nevada. the air is filled with snow flurries and a growling persistant wind, Life seems to have slowed just a tiny bit. A few folks out doing that last minute shopping thing that we in America are want to do.
We are planning a move ... again. Hopefully this will be the last one for either me or my Mother. We have a mobile family - in the extreme. I love this high country....mountain range after mountain range. Feels somehow safe - a comfortable illusion.
In the quiet of the high altitude winter I've been pondering human violence. I think Karen Armstrong is right, it is time to practice compassion. No more dead children by the hand of man...where ever it happens: Afganistan, Israel and Arab occupied lands, weary and war torn Africa, Detroit, Newtown...anywhere. Enough! No more grieving parents because someone set off a gun, a bomb, a land mine.
The CEO of the NRA suggested a police man in every school. Very cavalier of him but perhaps he is not entirely wrong. Perhaps we should use our National Guard or regular Army or Marines or Navy Seals to protect ours from us. At least until we can agree on what is the national acceptable level of violence. Yes, I think we need to be that blunt. Let's talk about what we ignore. We haven't yet figured out domestic violence let alone killing children in their schools and on their streets. Perhaps this is the time we look at all of it. It is all so much larger than developing a sane agenda for gun control. We love our guns. A loaf of bread and a hand gun in every home. So be it. Let's at least talk about those "fences" and who or what they are keeping in or keeping out. Let's discuss those of us who are unstable and need a solid mental health program. Let's discuss why we feel unsafe and afraid of strangers and worry about intruders. Let's talk about how much gun Americans need to feel safe!
On another note...to my Christian friends out there, I wish you a peaceful holiday. May the New Year be safe and healthy for you and those you love! I dearly hope for a New Year that is more filled with pece than violence. May the passage of time be kind to us all.
4 comments:
I think Christmas Eve 1988, when I was living in Virginia City, will go down as the most magically. I should blog about it.
Hi Sage: The view from Virginia City is as magical as it gets. Drove up the Gieger Grade the other day (before chains were required!). Mountain range after mountain range from the Summit. Please do write about Christmas Eve in 1988... I would love to read it!
I am confused, you left the mountains and went to smaller mountains and the wold mustangs came with you?
Well, what an annoyance...I don't know how to set up a reply although I see the feature on other blogs.
Hi Mark:
We're still living in the foothills northof Reno. We have to move before June. Am looking for a new (to me) abode. I wish the horses would follow me. But I don't think that's the way it goes. Anyway the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has a mission to remove all the mustangs to their holding grounds. They sell the animals from there. A large number are going to Mexican slaughter houses. OMG I'm starting to sound as though I work for GreenPeace.
Anyway, my household will be moving southeast from here...probably closer to Carson City.
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