On A Life Full of Stolen Imagery

I took a walk over Shabbos, down by the Charles, and a large part of that particular little bay was almost entirely covered in lily pads- it prompted immediate thoughts of the Dawn Treader. It really did look something between a green sea and a lawn where I knew there was water.

There was also tons of pond scum. Something is clearly up with the balance of chemicals and whatnot in that water. And yet people were out there fishing...

There was also a father with a little kid looking (and the kid screaming) at the Canadian geese, which were just standing there, rather than running away. It was rather surprising.

On A Life Full of Stolen Imagery

I took a walk over Shabbos, down by the Charles, and a large part of that particular little bay was almost entirely covered in lily pads- it prompted immediate thoughts of the Dawn Treader. It really did look something between a green sea and a lawn where I knew there was water.

There was also tons of pond scum. Something is clearly up with the balance of chemicals and whatnot in that water. And yet people were out there fishing...

There was also a father with a little kid looking (and the kid screaming) at the Canadian geese, which were just standing there, rather than running away. It was rather surprising.

Very Uninformed Thoughts on War

I'm very bad at keeping up with the news- but even hiding under my usual rock, I know something about what's going on in Israel. I was talking with Mom about it on Friday while I was cooking for Shabbos, and I was just aware of how very conflicted I was about everything, and how very impossible the situation seems: there seems to be no right action. Mom thinks that Israel isn't being proportional to the scale of offenses done to it. I agree- but being proportional didn't seem to work, so maybe this is the only solution: along the lines of "If what you're doing doesn't work, try anything else". Israel seems to be trying "anything else" or several "anything else"es. So far no luck. I don't know. I'm lost.

What hit me was how much Mom was thinking about the global consequences, and how easily the words "World War 3" became part of the conversation. I don't know if that was a result of leftover Cold War thinking or what- but it's enough to make me shudder. A war of terror and/or nuclear attack- Mom's thought was 'and', nor 'or'. Between that and global warming, we had a very pessimistic moment. I've read enough stories based in post-nuclear-catyclism worlds: I can't imagine that being real life for me or anyone I know. It's enough to take a situation where I'm worrying for my friends and turn it into a situation where I'm also worrying for my world, a bit, even if I think we are hopefully at least smart enough not to blow up the whole world over this.

Or maybe it's something about it being far enough away to be abstract...

Very Uninformed Thoughts on War

I'm very bad at keeping up with the news- but even hiding under my usual rock, I know something about what's going on in Israel. I was talking with Mom about it on Friday while I was cooking for Shabbos, and I was just aware of how very conflicted I was about everything, and how very impossible the situation seems: there seems to be no right action. Mom thinks that Israel isn't being proportional to the scale of offenses done to it. I agree- but being proportional didn't seem to work, so maybe this is the only solution: along the lines of "If what you're doing doesn't work, try anything else". Israel seems to be trying "anything else" or several "anything else"es. So far no luck. I don't know. I'm lost.

What hit me was how much Mom was thinking about the global consequences, and how easily the words "World War 3" became part of the conversation. I don't know if that was a result of leftover Cold War thinking or what- but it's enough to make me shudder. A war of terror and/or nuclear attack- Mom's thought was 'and', nor 'or'. Between that and global warming, we had a very pessimistic moment. I've read enough stories based in post-nuclear-catyclism worlds: I can't imagine that being real life for me or anyone I know. It's enough to take a situation where I'm worrying for my friends and turn it into a situation where I'm also worrying for my world, a bit, even if I think we are hopefully at least smart enough not to blow up the whole world over this.

Or maybe it's something about it being far enough away to be abstract...