Dec. 26, 2012 — Since “My Turn” this month falls on Christmas Day, I’d been thinking about what to write. It seemed like Christmas wishes were in order, and I wanted to try for something cheerful and upbeat.
Then, last Friday that changed, and I realized there was no way I would be able to get through the rest of December without thinking of 26 families in Newton, Connecticut who would be spending the holidays without their loved ones.
Like most humans, it’s nearly impossible for me to wrap my mind around the level of madness and violence that could cause someone to randomly kill 20 children, and my questions are the ones most of us have. Why and how did this happen? Could it have been prevented? Are tighter gun laws the answer? Should we be looking at our mental health system?
Dec. 18, 2012 — The date I’ve been dreading for decades and decades — Dec. 21, 2012 — is finally upon us. The last gear spinning in the long count Mayan Calendar wheel means the end of this age has arrived, and a new one will begin. According to some folks, we’re all going to wind up in one big festering heap. Yep, don’t look now, but the end of the world finally comes at 11:11 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) this Friday — that’s 3:11 a.m. here in Susanville for all you clock watchers.
Truth be told, I’ve already survived the end of the world a couple of times, and I’m happy to report I’m none the worse for wear. Yet.
Some religious fanantic friends of mine predicted the world would end the summer of 1986, and they headed off for the desert in New Mexico. I don’t know what happened to them because I never saw them again, but I’m pretty sure that I’m still here. Maybe I’m just caught in some inter-dimensional feedback loop, and I don’t know I was actually incinerated 30 something years ago. Nah.