Maybe The Letters Here & There Are A Gift

Damn if Willie’s song didn’t just show up on Youtube at the perfect time for me as I needed the reminder he provided.

Maybe things do happen for a reason. Maybe the right person or people show up and or leave just when they ought to.

I like the idea because damn, it explains so much and who doesn’t want to feel like maybe there is something more than dumb luck and coincidence.

Not that it matters because I haven’t been able to just accept either side. Seen and experienced too much for me to do more than say I am an agnostic.

Got no plans to see those we have lost on the other side but won’t complain if I am surprised, that is assuming there is some sort of consciousness.

I can’t plan for that so I focus on living the life I have got now because I don’t know if this is the only carousel pony I get to ride upon.

News says there was a shooting in Austin and another in Cleveland so here I sit thinking about how random it all is.

Echoes in my head of people commenting upon the sounds of my fingers tip-tapping upon the keyboard.

Maybe the letters I write here and elsewhere are seen as gifts or maybe as punishment.

Sometimes I listen to Johnny and wonder.

The Only Thing That’s Real

Internet went down for what felt like hours today but was probably far less. Got a four day work week so I had to put time into prepare and got antsy when the pixels refused to work for me.

Johnny and Trent say every everyone they know goes away and I nod my head, been there for that so many times.

Gotten a chance to see a couple of friends during the past six weeks for the first time since I could get hopeful about normalcy returning.

Except normal isn’t coming back, at least not as we once knew it. The country changed after 9/11 and we have changed again courtesy of pandemic and demagogue.

That doesn’t include the focus on the rise of antisemitism and the squeeze upon the Jewish community here worldwide.

I listened carefully to the speakers in this video about the mainstreaming of antisemitism and how we should respond because we are not going back to shtetl life.

There is a line in the sand I won’t move backwards even if it means losing friends, family or other relationships.

Battled it out with a few people during the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The Hamas charter calls for the genocide of Jews, destruction of Israel and creation of an Islamic caliphate. They are a terrorist organization who hide among civilians, exploit their own people and glorify death.

If you choose them over my family and friends do not expect me to consider you to be anything other than a useful idiot and or antisemite.

That doesn’t mean I don’t want peace or think that Israel shouldn’t pursue it but you need a partner and Hamas isn’t it.

Don’t care what your religion, race or creed is as long as it doesn’t require death of unbelievers or any subservience. I judge all by their actions.

All that being said if someone approached me with interest in an honest discussion I am open to it.

Again, if you come to me saying Hamas is misunderstood I am going to confirm whether you know about their charter and actions. If you do and still support them, well…

Hard to make peace with those whose creed says they want to kill you.

So we hope for new voices and new opportunities while making sure we protect ourselves.

It is not impossible, but it is complicated, especially for outsiders who use social media to educate themselves.

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Anyhoo, amidst the chaos and confusion there are still many good things to be grateful for.

I have taken to reminding myself because it helps. I used to think that was nonsense but not anymore.

Experience has helped me see that it can take the edge off. Doesn’t mean I don’t have bad days or never get frustrated cuz that still happens, joy of being human.

Hit The Highway Like A Battering Ram

Sometimes you have to life like a Bat Out Of Hell and see where fortune and skill take you.

Got family coming to visit soon and they’ll get a chance to see how that has translated here.

Life looks different than I had imagined, but it is not done and that imagination can still take me all sorts of places including those that move from dream to reality.

It is part of why I was up in the wee hours writing one of those letters and mapping out a few objectives.

Ought to be interesting to see how it all pans out. Life is one hell of a ride sometimes, now isn’t it.