OH NO…OH YES!

Published January 6, 2024 by Nan Mykel

You may have heard by now: another school shooting, in Iowa….And some honcho in the NRA has been arrested…and China has been following spy planes…And in ATHENS, OHIO Jan. 1, the BYOB day (Bring Your own Bag) dawned, some grocery store shoppers griped, and the state of Ohio says Athens’ plastic BAG Ban is Unconstitutional, which is no surprise since Ohio is republican. But I have an idea! It would be a win for them if Walmart or/and Kroger and maybe Aldi and/or Seaman’s came out and supported Climate Change and stuck with the no-plastic bags decision on their own. That would certainly affect where I continue to shop.

But did you hear and/or see on CBC the great strides Canada is taking with housing/homelessness? Amazing, absolutely amazing. And I really do enjoy a couple of their cute, youngish and affable male anchors, so much more enjoyable than some of the new anchors here and there. I’m not just talking about looks; personality is involved, too. One male anchor even has curls, and does not appear to be trans. Not that there’s anything wrong with being trans, you understand…Sorry if in the new year I have sunk into humanity with all its foibles…Speaking of trans, I just stumbled across an apparently new news source called Trans Nation. I hate to be behind the times, but apparently it’s old news that Ottawa is offering visas to people in Gaza with ties to Canada.

Lovely?: Who said “I am your retribution.” Does that make you feel all warm and cuddly? Go figure.

Last year it was revealed that all countries have shrinking populations. Making space for more immigrants? Well, no, because we have to “save our own civilization.” I wondered with all the discussion about shrinking populations why I hadn’t read anything about impaired sperm production until the current The Week magazine. A study of Swiss military recruits ages 18 to 22 found that those who used their mobile phones more than 20 times a day had a 21 percent higher risk of a low overall sperm count and a 30 percent increased risk for low sperm concentration, compared with those who used them five or fewer times a day.

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THINKING

Well, maybe not thinking

but tussling with ideas and

trying to recall dreams.

And now, pencil in hand

I write and remember the trees

all green, but not the fork trees,

bare and stripped of life among

their green brothers, standing,

forks aloft…or are they the

devil’s trident, poor souls.

Another Serendipity

Published January 4, 2024 by Nan Mykel

I only go to my local library on Poetry Writers Group day, every other Tuesday. That’s when I visit the free book section, and also when serendipity has a chance to show itself This Tuesday it delivered to me Whatever Became of Sin? by Karl Menninger, M.D., a book copyrighted in 1973. I was drawn to his words on page 102 in the chapter on Sin as Collective Responsibility:

“Most people never see the awfulness of war; they only read about it or hear about it from reporters or survivors. War continues to be a deputized human activity; some citizens are sent out to do what the total citizenry couldn’t and wouldn’t do. The rest of us sit (or stand) a long ways off –and watch or listen, occasionally. And we are so accustomed to receiving reports in prosaic words, in statistics of “body count” and bombing “missions” (sic) and metaphorical phrases such as “punished,” “cleaned up,” “resistance met with,” and “right on target” that the horror, the awfulness, the reality of the total event become denatured. The pain, the terror, he sorrow, the blood and filth and mud, and the loss of all that is loved that are squeezed out of the reports, leaving dry husks of unassimilatable “facts” in endless heaps.

“The picture of one screaming, burning child or one half-dismembered or disemboweled woman shocks and revolts us, although we are spared the sounds of the screams and groans. We are not witnesses to the brokenhearted mother’s sorrow. We know nothing of the despair, the hopelessness, the loss of everything. We don’t go with them into the hospitals and observe the hideous wounds, the agonizing burns, the shattered limbs. And all this is one tiny dot on a great map of millions. It cannot be described. It cannot be grasped. It cannot be imagined.”

He adds on the next page, “Why don’t we outlaw war, just as we have long since outlawed cannibalism? How infinitely more horrible it is than cannibalism, which so shocks our sensibilities.”

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Of course, with internet journalism we can and do witness more suffering. I’m sort of glad the good doctor isn’t around to witness our imperviousness to it–by many, not all.

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WISH I’D WRITTEN THIS:

Published January 3, 2024 by Nan Mykel

I do not know the history of the following–it was a forwarded greeting from a second or third party. I feel guilty about not being able to get permission to share it, but would feel even guiltier if I did not share it:

Dear Family and Friends–Happy Holidays!

This is a different greeting than we formerly sent, no trips, adventures or great activities to report. Jenny* has Alzheimer’s and now our journey is an inner one in which we have daily talks about the trips we took, the people we know, how we met and the memories that are still alive. We wonder what will happen and then come back to the present moment as our most precious gift and refuge. We hold hands and hug more often and have the deepest conversations we have ever experienced during our 43 years together. We spend hours a day processing what is going on, talking about the joys and losses of our life and being grateful for all we have and especially for friends and family.

…Everyday lessons and finally learning anew every day how to respond to the calligraphy from Thich Nhat Hanh on our wall, “How may I best love you?” It seems like this is a daily koan for me.

Much of my time is spent reassuring Jenny , as Lisa Genova (author of Still Alice) has said, “Diagnosis doesn’t mean you’re dying tomorrow. Keep living. You won’t lose your emotional memory. You’ll still be capable of understanding love and joy. Despite the fact that my yesterdays are disappearing and my tomorrows are uncertain, so what do I live for? I live for each day. I live in the moment.

Jenny and I have been given the opportunity to really practice what we have learned…over the years. In taking this dive into the unknown, we are learning how to truly love each other. Meanwhile, her long term memory is stellar. We now have time t0 complete any unfinished business (Jenny’s specialty), let go of anything that doesn’t support our journey and share our deepest truths about everything.

We talk about family and friends like you often and know you are there. Thank you for your prayers, blessing and metta practice. If one thing is true, “understanding is love.”

May your holiday season be blessed with peace, love and joy. May you take care of yourself so you may take care of those you love.

With loving kindness and peace….

*Jenny substituted for real name.