Levels of Humanity

 

Working out in a large family gym, you see all ages.

From 5-year-olds up to older people like me, and beyond.

When walking, I'm taken back to one or another age.

The boys playing basketball, taunting each other,

the happy-go-lucky runner who looks all of 10,

just eating up laps like it's nothing, with a grin on his face.

The two teenage gals dishing the tea on the mats,

pity their poor target getting lacerated.

The older retired guys by the weights,

barking out certainties or possibilities,

chuckling and glad-handing with their towels.

Serious-minded twenty-somethings

walking to or from the weight area,

determined to make it through more sets,

flush-faced from the efforts exerted so far.

More oldsters walk on the upper level track,

chatting, or zooming along or huffing.

Some people with walker or cane make their

slow way down the track, gaining strength with

each painful step taken towards a healing process.

This can get crowded, with folks passing or lagging...

But at least we are out of the weather, and also

we can be around other human beings –

loneliness abated for an hour or two.

There are worse places to spend an afternoon,

and one feels fortunate to be here at least,

on this side of the ocean,

out of harm's way.

War is (still) Hell

 

It is always amazing how fast the years go. And when I sit and watch some show made 20 years ago, and then see how history is unfolding, making old plot points moot. Like watching (on TV) Iranian spies and the Mossad, and the CIA, all 'interacting' on a spy thriller series. And meanwhile today, Iran is being bombed heavily. At one time, even Iraq seemed like a formidable country, before we went over there and whooped them. But to me, it seemed unthinkable that we would attack Iran. Of course, their proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis have been causing endless trouble over the years. In effect, the US has been in a low-level war with Iran for decades, by having to fight or counter their small-scale terrorist attacks. The attacks on oil tankers, their speedboat harassment of shipping, the attacks on Israel, etc etc etc. So I suppose just trying to finish them off makes a kind of logical sense.

It is just that they are a larger, formidable nation, and this won't be easy. If we do have to put troops on the ground, then surely we'll be stuck in a giant quagmire for years. Which makes me wonder just how much of this endless war our country can withstand? I guess we'll find out. A lot of innocents will surely lose their lives, as so many have in the past. War is always messy, always costly, always uncertain in the outcome. We'll see. Sure wish I would have bought an e-bike when they were cheap.