WAR: GOOD FOR
ME?
22 March 2003
The war may end up being good for me. Whoda thunk?
It's all war all the time on all stations (except possibly Nickeoldeon and the weather
channel)--radio as well as TV. Of course, I have the option of sitting in silence, or
putting on a CD or something, but old habits die hard. So from Katie and Matt to Jay Leno
time, it's all war. Soldiers in the war, children's view of the war, psychiatrists' view
of the war, the guy next door's view of the war, the guys salivating over the kewl new
bombs, the guys salivating over the kewl new computers that are going to guide the kewl
new bombs. Retired Generals with maps and pointers.
It just got to be too much.
I had two choices...well, three if you count turning off all stimulation.
I could eat (a tempting prospect), or I could get the heck out of the house.
So I saddled up the Blue Angel and we went off for a ride. Me and the Blue Angel and the
camera. Time to take it a bit more leisurely (though I discover that my "leisurely
pace" today would have killed me a year ago!). Take time to smell the roses, watch
the geese, look at grass grow. That sort of stuff.
It was just what the doctor ordered. I got a good workout and took some really nice
photos.
We pass this spot every morning (just after the
teeth-jarring bumps in the bikepath--my very least favorite few seconds of our daily ride.
I hate those damn bumps...I'm about to petition the city to FIX THEM!). Each morning, now
that it's light when we ride, I think "I wish I had my camera with me!" But it
wouldn't do any good. At 6 a.m. we are out for exercise, not a photo excursion and I'm
lucky if I get a swig of the water in my sports bottle (I just tossed that in there
because I can now stay upright on the bike, lean over, get the bottle, take a drink, and
put the bottle back--took me MONTHS to learn how to do that).
But today was different. I stopped the bike. I got off the bike. And I took pictures.
Pictures of blossoming trees and pictures of the geese coming home for the night.
By the time I got home, I'd ridden about 6 miles and
had gotten past the munchies. If this war keeps going for a few more weeks/months, I might
just get this whole "food craving" thing under control.
But then there is always nighttime TV viewing.
Where is that popcorn....?
No matter how you feel about the war, I've discovered two journals that are very
informative to read. Lt. Smash is an
officer stationed "in country," offering a unique view of what it's like to be
advancing on Iraq right now.
In contrast is Where is Raed, written by a
very articulate guy living in Bagdhad, who is opposed to Saddam, but is not in favor of
the US bombing. |
