P is for Peace

I had a long post ready to publish about pain and prisons. I can't bear to print it right now. Instead, I'll simply offer a link about Peace: The Biography of a Symbol published by National Geographic.

Peace be with you. Pass it on.

O is for Oracle

It’s a frightening time we live in. We have challenges on Planet Earth. War and strife seem constant and potentially increasing around the world. Weather becomes ever-more intense, fueled by environmental damage caused by mankind. Population growth exacerbates the problems we face in the future. Increasing stressors result in more human strife, and the cycle accelerates.

In the midst of all the turmoil, a few oracles stand tall and sane. One organization I respect deeply in the environmental movement is 350.org, a group of people working vehemently to stall the building of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline construction, a project that has the potential of slicing a disastrous and damaging route down the center of North America. Led by author, Bill McKibben, these people have the courage to risk imprisonment for their civil rebellions. My heroes in a world gone mad!

Others have spoken out before. I recently thought of Don McLean’s gentle protest songs of decades ago, so relevant even today in their poignant plea for stewardship and sanity. Give Tapestry a listen and heed the words:

There are other modern oracles as well. When librarians and nuns, those gentle intellects of a more civilized way of life, strongly supported the efforts of Julian Assange and Wikileaks, I raised an eyebrow. I still have mixed feelings about the methods employed by this organization, but in principle, see eye-to-eye with the efforts of exposing fraud and corruption. When a society’s government strong-arms secrecy, especially secrets shrouding despicable actions, the oracles are the good guys… not enemy combatants. Perhaps it doesn’t seem that way now, with the skewed values and wants of modern living, but I suspect history will cast a different light on these people and their actions. The past holds many souls who have suffered the consequences of their beliefs to create a better world for all living creatures.

Photo credit: Greer Studios

In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, I applaud all the heroes of kindness, all those calling for patience and tolerance, and send a message of love and solace to those who suffer from this tragedy. May those who died rest easy. May we all find inspiration to become oracles for peace.

N is for Noise

http://www.noisecontrol.com/news-on-noise/

Spring has sprung,

The grass is green,

Boom cars make me

Want to scream.

Most years of my adult life, that’s been my clever little complaint as the weather warms up. Lovely as it is to see the end of winter, the noise level also increases, and often in most unpleasant ways. There’re the sounds of cars with blasting radios, mowers clipping the vast expanses of lawns, and the endless barking of dogs. Where I live, you can add to that the roars of farm trucks (now industrial-sized semis), heavy farm equipment, and outdoor intercoms from the nearby high school and John Deere center. O-la!

Is it any wonder I’m grateful for my diminished ability to hear? Over the past three winters, I’ve had increasing loss of hearing from Meniere’s Syndrome. It’s worse during the cold months due to inner ear pain. The hearing usually increases a bit as the temperatures warm and with accompanying changes in barometric pressure. I don’t think this year I’ll be able to get back to telephone use, or spend very much time enjoying music or movies. Restaurants with music, and other venues with ambient sound levels are also an issue. Time will tell how this impacts common activities.

“How isolating”, someone recently sympathized. But you know what? Mostly I enjoy the lack of noise. It affords me a level of peace I don’t get when I hear everything around me. I really enjoy the bliss of quiet. I can still hear many things I love. For example, my husband whistling a piece of classical music. I’d miss that, but then, I’d miss him were he gone. Loss of hearing isn’t nearly as traumatic to me as loss of sight. I had that experience for a very brief time after cataract surgery, when I couldn’t see well enough for months to be able to read or paint or do any small handcraft. Oh, my. That was like hell.

But noise? No. That I don’t miss for one second. What about you? How do you feel about noise? What kinds do you notice? Are there certain times noise is more obvious to you? Do leave me a comment, please!