When is Enough Enough?

Tragic. Horrific. These are just two of the words I've used to describe the shootings in Arizona today. We don't have all the details yet. All we know is that several people are dead, including a little girl who happened to be born (by reports) on 9/11/01. A Federal Judge is dead. A Congresswoman may or may not be dead. She suffered a gunshot wound to the head. There have been conflicting accounts as to whether or not she survived. The scene must have been incredibly frantic and I can't imagine how those people felt, knowing that they were under attack.

The controversy is mounting as to the motivation behind the attack. The news media is doing its best to feed the public lust for facts concerning the shooter. The few sketchy details released so far have revealed only a few rambling, nearly incoherent postings from social websites. Where can we place the blame? We may never know.

We may never know because it is senseless. It is not predictable. We didn't wake up this morning and expect this to happen. But...

...did we do everything we could to prevent it from happening? I'm going to go out on a limb here and throw out a whopping generality and say no, we did not. Oh, maybe this particular incident was going to happen anyway, but what about the one before it or the one after. I'm going to step on the thinnest of ice and say that we are pulling the strings of tension so tight that snapping is inevitable. Our fellow men are standing on the very edge of the precipice and we crowd them ever closer to falling. Our world is loud, full of noise and jangle and we keep screaming.

Nothing excuses the actions of those who perform such horrible acts as those which were done today. Nothing excuses those of us who perpetuate violence and hatred in our society. Nothing excuses those of us who would allow the sickest of our brothers or sisters to go untreated.

It is not with naïve mind that I write this, it is with sick and honest heart.

May peace prevail on earth. May healing find the way to those who are hurting.





©Michelle Scofield January 8, 2011 All Rights Reserved

Early Morning Read for Study Attempt

Harwin Street silk
brushes my chin as I
pull the covers over
my shoulders and I

sink

into my own warmth.

I
fall
for
the words.

Perhaps inspiration
will find me if I
spend enough time
gazing at their cadence
and measure.


I am lulled by them.

I trip
into the crevice between
the labour of the pages and
I am lost to the story.





©Michelle Scofield All Rights Reserved January 6, 2011

I'll Chase the Pavement

New Years Day, 2011
Houston, TX

I turned the MP3 player to shuffle. I ran a song, walked a song. My foot still hurts, people. It's not a complaint, it's a fact. I'm also not getting thinner "resting" it. I bought a yoga CD. I can use the elliptical trainer once in awhile. I love to run. It works for my body type, it works for my mindset.

Playlist:

Adele - Chasing Pavements. She asks if she should keep chasing them. It's the first song that plays and although I suppose she's asking about something entirely different. I chuckle as I start off at a moderate pace. I don't know about her but I know that it feels wonderful to feel the wind blowing against my face and the sun on my legs. I smile as I wish a happy new year to a little girl and her mother. The child is bundled so tightly in her winter clothes I can barely see her face but she's in there and she squeaks a greeting back to me as I pass her stroller.

The Spinners - Rubber Band Man. Some lyrics can't be explained. They can't but the music is happy and upbeat and if you don't love this song I'd love to hear why.

Glee Cast - Cover of Somebody to Love. I like the Queen version better but those Glee kids can belt it out. Something I realized today is that hearing a song like this doesn't mess with my head anymore. I'd *like* to have someone to love, but I'm not *sad* that I don't have someone. (If anyone is so inclined to find me someone, I wouldn't object.)

Norah Jones - Wish I Could. If I allowed myself to pine over someone who loves someone else, this would be the song I'd sit around and play over and over. I don't. I won't. This is the one, though. And yes, I'm smiling as I type this. If the last several years taught me anything it's that there will always be someone wonderful who loves someone else.

Fountains of Wayne - Stacy's Mom. Cracked myself up that this is even on my player. However. But. For. The. Record. Men under forty years of age are not on my radar. It's silly. It's not going to happen and forget about it.

The Supremes - You Keep Me Hangin' On. "Set Me Free..." Oh Hell yeah! I feel freedom right around the corner.

Gwen Stefani - Hollaback Girl. ???Who is??? This is a holdover from my kickboxing instructor days.

Adele - Cold Shoulder. I've felt it lately. Fine. I'm 50 freaking years old. BuhBye.

Smashmouth - Allstar. Enough said.

Happy New Year. I hope you chase whatever pavements you see fit. Or not. Blessings on you and yours. M