I just spent two weeks in contemplative peace. Some time was devoted to rest and some to hunting (which is its own form of meditation).
I hoped to gather my thoughts. I had the intention to make sense of the current mess. How did we get here? What does it all mean? Did the heartbreak of 2020 have to be as it has been? Was it necessary? Does necessity make it better? Are we feeling the sharp pain of a power grab or dull throbbing remorse as a lost situation gasps in its deathbed? Are the two mutually exclusive? Who can bear a full year of gaslighting? Was it only a year? What is to become of the ones who’ve already forgotten the before time?
Am I seeing an ending or a beginning? Does anyone else see what I do?
I couldn’t do it. It’s too big to encompass, to weighty to elucidate, to much for a mere blogger. The only solution is to wait. People will come to their own conclusions in due time… if they’re capable. And if they can’t? The solution to that problem is above my pay grade.
I wrote a 2,000 word rant. I discarded it. I wrote a 1,500 word carefully considered analysis. I discarded it. I scribbled notes and ignored them. I had more false starts than I care to revisit. In the end, I realized the truth. Nothing I write will be equal to witnessing what has happened and was probably fated to occur. Strange and destructive, yet irresistible and attractive; I looked it square in the face and took in its full measure. To witness, one must look. Not everyone looks. Even fewer see.
What summation does justice to a year of constant harassment? All is in flux; a people simultaneously losing freedoms and gaining a spine. It’s not even limited to my country… does not Europe flounder? Once upon a time there was the phrase “western civilization”…
It seems overwhelming but then again, it’s meant to. It’s artificial. If you didn’t have media, most of what’s claimed to be “important” would be imperceptible. Meanwhile, the sun rises each day. It does that with or without CNN. Which is why the sunrise matters and CNN doesn’t. To think otherwise is to indulge in pretend battles with fiercely imaginary people. Hollow, simulated, creatures, bereft of connection or accomplishment; twisted by lack of self, they burn what they cannot break, consume what they cannot sow. Violent but only in their minds, they’ve neither thrown nor taken a punch. They bellow insults into the wind; thinking that if only they bay loud enough it’ll break the silence within. It won’t.
It is wiser, and was once common sense, to build your house on a foundation of stone, not theater. So I have returned to stone, as all wise folk do.
Here’s what matters. The cycle continues. My dog died. I have a new puppy.
Not much in life is better than a puppy. I am happy.
Until your refusal to comply with some order to register your gun, or restrict yourself to 2.5 guests in your home or to use the “right pronouns” or other shit that doesn’t matter leads you to a position where Law enforcement visits your home and kills your new puppy, and threatens to kill you next. As the “instapundit ” always says… YOU MIGHT NOT BE INTERESTED IN THE GLEICHSCHALTUNG, BUT THE GLEICHSCHALTUNG IS INTERESTED IN YOU. Yes, focus on what is real.. but the puppet theater you are ignoring is the harbinger of what is coming. “Papers-please” check points in New York become check points at state borders. At some point the imperceptible becomes very perceptible. We have a few months– maybe even years – but we haven’t seen any change in the over all trend, and at some point it will arrive at your homestead as flesh and blood.
I get your point. Don’t think I’m not concerned. Quite possibly this shit will wind up at my door. By the time it does, half the nation would be a smoking crater… if only because of my removed locale. That’s not to say I approve but that I “bugged out” long before 2020 raised its ugly head. Further, I already have wolves and bears at my door and it’s a risk but not the end of things. I handle them as needed and will address new forms of zombie as needed and should the time come. After all, there were people who were born, lived, and died in times of turmoil and yet lived well. I have and intend to continue to be one. Part of that is replacing the best dog I ever had and trying to raise an even better dog in this, the next go round.
Put another way, there were Roman citizens warning of the building barbarian risk and it did nothing to stop the lights going out in Rome. What they did in the interregnum is largely lost to history, but some surely did as well as possible given the circumstances. I want to be one of them.
Yeah, check out what happened to the Roman Farmers. I don’t begrudge you enjoying what you have and making the most of it while it lasts.. just expect it to be cut shorter than you might like. I don’t think anyone out in the rural hinterlands cares about the lights in New York or LA. Those people signed up for first row seats. But what happened after the fall of Rome and what do historians call that period? Oh . Right.
Oh don’t get me wrong, the fall of Rome sucked. But it’s not like some dude running a bakery on a side street of the Empire’s capital was capable of stopping it or responsible for the fall. If he was smart he bailed out for Constantinople well in advance. If he wasn’t he might have died in the fall. Regardless, he didn’t pull down the walls and he couldn’t hold them up alone.
It’s important to do what you can but it’s also important to know some things happen regardless of your input. If the zombie horde comes rampaging over the horizon after having fouled its own nest I may wind up screwed. I might even die. Nobody is sure of anything in this world. But some things are better to evade than stop. For one thing it may do no good to damage your soul over it. If I lie awake every night fretting over a populace that seems to have lost its mind over COVID or can’t manage a clean election, all that happens is I get tired.
Oh and by the way, it’s not all negative energy. When they disrupted supply chains at the start of COVID I immediately began raising pigs and chickens. My contribution is small but there’s a bit more food in the world due to my efforts. Who knows if someday that’ll matter? At the very least I took much of the strain of feeding my household off the back of a stretched system. It’s not going to change the world but simple stuff like that is a good thing to do if one can.
Lighten up, Francis.
It is at it is, and always will be. You were dying as soon as you were born. Many other weighty, stoic, perhaps Nietzschian phrases.
My favorite is you can only affect that in front of you that you see.
It helps a bit if you can anticipate what will come into your view, but that won’t come from CNN, unless they’re rubbing it in your face. Helps more to be surrounded by like-minded folks.
“Here’s what matters. The cycle continues. My dog died. I have a new puppy.“
Yes. Life is what happens when you’re busy planning for it. Looks like a healthy pupper.
I love a dog with built-in snowshoes!
Ha ha ha, yes she’s about 80% paw and 20% fluff at this age.
Congratulations on the new pup. They bring a lot of joy into a life filled with chaos.
We can’t stop change, we can only roll with the punches. Fighting change will cause you major fatigue because the REAL troubles come at you from your blind side. Remember Deepwater Horizon – shit, that came out of nowhere and no one predicted the consequences.
We can only choose to deal with it or just give up. The choice is up to you.
Good looking Pooch! I acquired a Pyrenees male puppy last fall and we’re best buds. He’s brilliantly intelligent, loyal to a fault and favors my better half if she’s outside. The coyotes, raccoons, skunks and all the other varmints have disappeared. Now he’s over a hundred pounds, loves to play and keeps a close watch over our little hobby farm.
Nothing better than a good dog to lift your spirits.
Like yourself, lost our house guardian of 15 years last month.
New replacement will be picked up end of December, not the best time of year to train a pup, but the rewards outweigh temporary need/use of mop and bucket.
Yeah, this political cluster^uck is still evolving, any analysis done today can be turned on it’s head in a few days or weeks. Waiting it out is good policy, that and prep wherever possible.
A fine looking dog!
A long an happy life to you and her.
Good luck with your new dog. Happy thanksgiving.
Puppy! Puppy puppy puppy! Snuggle snuggle puppy puppy! Puppy is made of cute! Puppy is made of happy!
Pups are magical.