Through the Looking-Glass!

"Through the Looking-Glass" is a sequel to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."  It describes Alice's further adventures as she moves through a mirror into another unreal world of illogical behavior.

In thinking about how I see the world these days I realized that I've gone through a looking-glass.  In this universe, on this side of the looking-glass, what I see going on does indeed appear to be unreal and illogical.  Said another way, I've moved into a new paradigm and am responding to it as if I'm in my old paradigm.  So naturally things look different, aka all fucked up.

In my old paradigm my country stood for goodness and decency, was indeed a place to be admired.  We didn't always live up to our standards, but in the end we could be counted on to come through.  We differed in our politics, but there was a chance to compromise for the greater good.  We were not a mean spirited people.

So as I try to make sense of what I see going on all around me I am disappointed.  Or more accurately, I feel betrayed.  Feeling betrayed is an old paradigm reaction, I realize.  I wouldn't feel betrayed if I were judging today based on having gone through the looking-glass and seeing that what was illogical to my former self is logical in this new world.

Does seeing more clearly help?  No!  I liked it a lot better the way it was.  Should I surrender and just go with the flow?  No, not that either.  So for now I'll accept where I am and how the world is, but I'll hold on to the memory of my old paradigm and keep it alive at least in theory.

And good luck to us all!

  

Remembering 9/11

I was in Sicily on September 11, 2001.  We were scheduled to come home the next day and were having a farewell lunch with our dear friend Anna at Lorenzo's in Taormina.

About half way through our meal we noticed that people were huddled around a radio and the volume was louder than usual.  There was no TV in the restaurant.  The information coming through was sketchy and confused, but it didn't take very long to figure out that something very bad had happened.

We spent much of the rest of the day trying to piece together the facts.  When we went to the airport the next day we still didn't know much.  No way would we be able to fly home.  We could get to London, but no further.  Fortunately, we had friends in London who could house us until the world settled down a bit.

This was a Wednesday, and it was in London that for the first time we saw pictures of what had happened.  We were in London for five days and then got a flight to San Francisco.  Like everyone, we were shocked.  The ride home was a somber affair.

As we taxied up to the gate at SFO, which would complete our trip home, outside were groups of people holding "Welcome Home" signs and American flags.  This expression of friendship and solidarity moved me to tears.  It does again as I write these words.

Where to Look First!

It's hard to figure out where to look first.

Wildfires that are forcing thousands of people to evacuate and to lose their homes and businesses.

The damage caused by Ida in Louisiana and beyond.  No power.  No potable water.  No homes.

The flash flood drownings in New Jersey and New York.  Death in stranded vehicles.  Death in basement apartments.

Afghanistan where tens of thousands of people who worked for the US and who we didn't get out are threatened by the Taliban.

Places around the world where tens of thousands of Afghans who did get out are being housed and processed on the way to who knows where under conditions that are barely tolerable at best.

The jobs report for August, which shows that the job market has slowed and new jobs are down by hundreds of thousands less than predicted.  The "experts" are blaming the Delta variant.  Maybe they're right.  Maybe.

The virus itself.  New cases up to where they were earlier this year.  Hospitalizations also up.  And deaths the same.

Political battles about masks and vaccinations.  Following the science?  Ha!

Confusion about booster shots.  Get one?  Don't get one.  Get one after six months?  After eight months.  Get a dose that is less than the first two doses?  The same as the first two.  Don't get a booster while less than 2% of the world haven't yet had a first shot?  And so on . . .

Like I say, it's hard to figure out where to look first!