Sunday, September 24, 2006
Sunday Sept. 24, 2006 - Year 4, Day 187 - to die for
9C/48F, brilliant early morning sun lit the way; our only encounter was glum border collie owner & enough droppings that a rabbit convention must have over-nighted in the park
2½ yrs since my last/first visit with CB; a delightful dinner last night with a gorgeous creature; she regaled me with her quest for fish stories, stories of her Namibia trip, of the creatures encountered, of Lion ardour & near-snake experiences + she capped the night by sending me an e-mail story she wrote that still has my hard drive smokin'
the un-likely-ness that things can happen has always intrigued me; someone coined the phrase ‘you cannot achieve the impossible without attempting the absurd’; absurd, unlikely, not possible – these are phrases we use all the time; we use them to describe what we think people cannot do, what we cannot do
we use them in conversation like they were salt or pepper – tossed in for seasoning but really of little consequence; every now & then we encounter – sometimes we meet them, sometimes we read about them – so often ordinary people living extraordinary lives; sometimes these accomplishments are glorified by media hype or word-of-mouth exaggeration, sometimes they are moments of recognition, going to obliviousness at light speed
it is nothing to hear stories from friends or some obscure page in the paper that someone did something extraordinary for children, grand-children, for a piece of dirt or for peace of mind; around us we all have an opportunity to glimpse these folks – they are everywhere, they are our friends, they are us, they are we
we who think these heroics are not heroics at all, simply doing what we need to do for those who need us to do it – not out of obligation, but out of a sense of doing what is right for our minds so our tummies feel settled
yesterday I worked all day except for a brief bit watching TV while I ate lunch; CBC were doing live coverage of a ceremony off-loading coffins of 4 Canadian soldiers from a transport plane to hearses – the result of a suicide bomber on a bicycle
‘You can't say civilization don't advance -- for in every war, they kill you in a new way.’ – Will Rogers
I watched the grief, disbelief & shock on the faces of everyone there; I felt like a voyeur where I should not have been, where CBC ought not to have been; we were witness to the ceremonial end of 4 lives, lives that were ordinary, lives of soldiers who did extraordinary things because it was there job
this reminded me of how many times in my life I’ve been in or near a cemetery, seeing hundreds of markers row on row; everyone lived an ordinary life, most lived that ordinary life in an extraordinary way, but the soldiers graves were off in any area all their own; an area set aside to commemorate most extraordinary service, the loss of young life, the loss of so much promise
they were sent by the government of our country to do their jobs, to keep peace in a foreign land; they did their jobs working in harm’s way, they did not get out alive
they died for us
Mark
2½ yrs since my last/first visit with CB; a delightful dinner last night with a gorgeous creature; she regaled me with her quest for fish stories, stories of her Namibia trip, of the creatures encountered, of Lion ardour & near-snake experiences + she capped the night by sending me an e-mail story she wrote that still has my hard drive smokin'
the un-likely-ness that things can happen has always intrigued me; someone coined the phrase ‘you cannot achieve the impossible without attempting the absurd’; absurd, unlikely, not possible – these are phrases we use all the time; we use them to describe what we think people cannot do, what we cannot do
we use them in conversation like they were salt or pepper – tossed in for seasoning but really of little consequence; every now & then we encounter – sometimes we meet them, sometimes we read about them – so often ordinary people living extraordinary lives; sometimes these accomplishments are glorified by media hype or word-of-mouth exaggeration, sometimes they are moments of recognition, going to obliviousness at light speed
it is nothing to hear stories from friends or some obscure page in the paper that someone did something extraordinary for children, grand-children, for a piece of dirt or for peace of mind; around us we all have an opportunity to glimpse these folks – they are everywhere, they are our friends, they are us, they are we
we who think these heroics are not heroics at all, simply doing what we need to do for those who need us to do it – not out of obligation, but out of a sense of doing what is right for our minds so our tummies feel settled
yesterday I worked all day except for a brief bit watching TV while I ate lunch; CBC were doing live coverage of a ceremony off-loading coffins of 4 Canadian soldiers from a transport plane to hearses – the result of a suicide bomber on a bicycle
‘You can't say civilization don't advance -- for in every war, they kill you in a new way.’ – Will Rogers
I watched the grief, disbelief & shock on the faces of everyone there; I felt like a voyeur where I should not have been, where CBC ought not to have been; we were witness to the ceremonial end of 4 lives, lives that were ordinary, lives of soldiers who did extraordinary things because it was there job
this reminded me of how many times in my life I’ve been in or near a cemetery, seeing hundreds of markers row on row; everyone lived an ordinary life, most lived that ordinary life in an extraordinary way, but the soldiers graves were off in any area all their own; an area set aside to commemorate most extraordinary service, the loss of young life, the loss of so much promise
they were sent by the government of our country to do their jobs, to keep peace in a foreign land; they did their jobs working in harm’s way, they did not get out alive
they died for us
Mark
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