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August 26, 2021: Sending Love out into the World

It is sobering to think about the situation in Afghanistan right now. 12 Americans killed, and now the president, previously so meek and mild mannered, is saying that we will not forgive those who did this. Well, the ones who were responsible for the deaths were suicide bombers. They are dead, so the concept of forgiveness is really a moot point.

The President’s response was not a good one. No, we should not grovel. But at the same time, we should not make things worse by saying (indirectly) that heads are going to roll.


Jam and Juice


The president thought he could remove all the troops – a worthy action, but he did not realize that ISIS and the Taliban are entrenched powers. What did he expect? We armed the bastards. It’s like the saying “they’re drinking our beer here.” The rephrase – “they’re using our guns there.”

Again, we are too lucky here that all that is going on over there isn’t going on over here. We here in America think that we are impervious to such things, but tell them it ain’t so Joe. We are a nation of fat people who are soft around the edges. The majority of us have not lived hardscrabble lives.

I was thinking tonight, if Anchorage was nuked, and we had to suddenly leave, and I was told we could not take the animals, what would I do? The answer is this: I would stay with the animals. Together we’d all fry. I just could not leave them.

I’m sure that world-wide, people are being faced with this dilemma. On the west coast, fires. On the east coast, floods. Here, lots of rain. The water tanks are full, and the horse pen is muddy. I’m sure that local rivers and creeks are high – but we are up high.

And again, in the context of this dispatch, we are so lucky. We have so much produce right now that our larder is full to overflowing. I’m giving away Sawmpy’s milk to, of course, appreciative friends. We have more than a dozen eggs in the refrigerator. We have so much fruit that we might not be able to pick it all. I suppose we could focus on the fact that this year, we’ll have hardly any ripe tomatoes.

We also have a cabin filled with books. Today a woman named Adriana stopped by the Meeting House to drop off some children’s books. I showed her the library – most of the books are now off the floor – and she went over to a pile of discarded books and sorted through them and took what she wanted. Then she sorted through the rest and put them spine up. Right then I realized that I ought not send these boxes on for shredding until I go through them again.

I’m feeling a bit burnt out on sorting, so I did not finish this task. Rather, I came home and boxed up 18 boxes of kids’ books that are going to be left at tribal villages in the Kenai Peninsula.

This is not just abundance. It is also affluence.

Next: 236. 8/27/21: Road Trip Coming Up

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