Category: Musing (Page 11 of 31)

….all these vignettes about good things happening between any ethnic, cultural, religious, racial identity group?

Yes, we are in a political season–actually we’ve been in this season for a long time, far too long. (If you are a candidate and propose an amendment that says the election process can be no longer than it takes to grow a baby, by god, I’m with you ).  So over this long primary season people use their FB page to score points in favor of the party/person/ideology they back. My own personal tally is that the ad hominem attacks come more from the progressives than they do the conservative. But then I tend to be friends with those who are more progressive, so that is what I see–go figure! These ad hominem attacks have the unfortunate effect of stifling conversation and creating a bullying environment. How sad.

I spend far too much time on Facebook. I use it as slosh time–a time wasters because I am not prepared or ready to do what I need to do. I ‘slosh’ about in other peoples highlights of their lives or their thinking. It is more interesting and far more mind numbing than solitaire. Sometimes the postings are just banal and other times illuminating in that it points up one of two things. Either the posting show how people want to be seen to the world outside. Or the postings illustrate how individuals think, what they believe, what they are willing to say or comment on for their belief system.

I’m not good at the 140 character thing. I don’t want to get trapped in another social media program, far too many are out there,  so I use Facebook.  And here’s what I wonder. Why are there all these posting about when good things happen, especially when it is between black and white, muslin or jew? Why? And I must add, I see this more profoundly on the pages of those who espouse a more liberal or progressive ideology. It’s almost like they are saying “See, we can love one another. See, this story right here proves it. It proves we are right.” And I think of Shakespeare and the ‘protesting too much’.

And I wonder if that is some deep guilt [silly me] because the progressive policies of the last sixty years are not working–see Baltimore, Chicago, Fergueson. At the beginning of this year black unemployment was at 8.3%. While white unemployment is 4.5%, Hispanic unemployment is 6.3% and Asian unemployment is 4%. Labor participation rate is the lowest its been in 40 years. Lowest is not a good number in this case.

Right now the argument on the conservative side is that relations between identity groups is the worse it has ever been. The narrative on the progressive side is it’s not as bad as you think if we could just control guns and the police. If there was just a little respect for those minority identity groups we would all be fine.

When I see a person post overly much that a conversation will solve all ills, that there is all this  ‘good news’ and ‘wonderful sparks of humanity’, I wonder if they understand what they are admitting? If things are so great, why? Why do you continually have to single out individual stories? And post these stories, over and over and over. Face it. If you have to keep reminding me, over and over again, that things are great, my bet is no, nope, they are not. So stop posting!

In the south autumn is in November, maybe even mid November. Not so in the northeast. On the way up to Falling Leaves Retreat in Silver Bay, NY, we saw the world in various stages of preparation for the long winter nap. We traveled on Hwy 81, that runs up the western side of the Blue Ridge into Pennsylvania. We started out in dank and dreary weather, but soon were surrounded by waves of color–yellow, rust, bright red. Then suddenly the trees were sticks, pointing and reaching skyward, some brown, some black, some a dull silver. In those places it was desolation. Evergreens were the only relief. Then strangely back to the colors again as we continued up 81, across the New York Thruway. This is autumn, the time between summer and winter. The only season with two names.

The night before the retreat we stayed in Saratoga Springs. We were pleasantly surprised with a walkable downtown. Arty pieces in unsuspecting places on streets with nice restaurants, interesting niche shopping and bookstores. Leaves danced up and down the sidewalk. We found a lovely Italian restaurant that made limoncello martinis and an amazing eggplant appetizer. We knew adjacent Warrensburg from camping there summers when the girls were little. We were delighted with our venture into Saratoga Springs.

Friday dawned sunny and chill but with the promise of a great drive to Silver Bay and we were not disappointed. Stopping at Duffy’s in Lake George for a Philly Cheesesteak we saw the lake we knew from years past. From Duffy’s up route 9N winding around Lake George into Hague we arrived at the retreat location. The road to Silver Bay YMCA dipped and turned and ended with a spectacular view of the northern section of Lake George, blue, calm, wide and probably freezing. The YMCA is a historical treasure of over one hundred years. It is simple, plain, basic. No TV…which was a disappointment to Tom… but with acres of walking trails and a porch wide and inviting. I LOVE porches. The weather was accommodating, warm–for November– we were just 250 miles south of Montreal–clear, fresh from some rain, reminiscent of Ukraine’s Velvet Season. We sat and rocked and just enjoyed the view. 

The weekend was spent at the Watson Art Center. A single room with round tables and the warmth of participants gathered for one purpose–to listen, to discuss, to study, to be better at story telling. And the weekend did not disappoint.

Falling Leaves is an autumnal event. As I listened to the each editor’s presentation I was fascinated by the depth of information. I appreciated the breath of topics. The willingness of these editors to share. Autumn is a time to prepare, be ready. Falling Leaves did just that.