Monday, January 24, 2005

Realizations from 30 + inches of snow

1) Maybe watching the playoffs is a good idea
2) Your house is your home.. for at least two days
3) Tea and hot chocolate are your best friends
4) It's not the best time to realize that your snow boots and shovel are in the car
5) Wearing your Falcons' sweatshirt is a great way to show support... oh wait ..they lost in the playoffs?..... anyhow it is a great way to stay warm. GO PATS!
6) Thermals really do work
7) Coffee and asthma really do go together
8) Coffee and 5 degrees really do go together
9) Snow drifts that are taller than you, natural or from a snow plow, are impressive if not a little scary
10) Funny stupid hats are no longer funny... they are ingenious devices that really keep your head warm
11) You develop an appreciation for ski masks
12) When walking in the cold, bring tissues. You'll know what I mean when you go inside somewhere
13) When your car finally gets plowed out, remember to bring your license and money
14) People are cooler when you shovel out together

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Death

Our nation has been involved in a war for about 3 years now. Our media continues to cover our war; however, they do it almost casually. The media makes the deaths of our soldiers seem as if it is something the public should expect; that life is no more than a duty performed by someone unnamed and unseen.

Our media's attitude is a horror. Life should have more respect. Respect for someone's death should be a reverence for that person's life. When did callousness become acceptable?

This observation was not made by me. It was made by a friend. As I watch the snowcapped moutains, majestic and awe inspiring even as the snow slowly disappears in the recent warmth, the observation concerns me.

I am thinking about death more as I mourn the loss of someone close to me. Nobody likes death, but most of us accept it as a natural process of life. When someone we love dies, it affects each of us in various ways. Death, to me, means that someone is now out of my life; a soul I can no longer connect with; a presence missing; a void. I try not to think about it and am discontent when I have to deal with death. I cannot calmly discuss someone's death or death in general. It provokes and saddens me.

Every person has worth. When thinking about people who willingly put their lives at stake, their life is honored by the highest orders. Death is a loss to every link in the human chain that they have touched.