I can’t concentrate on anything today, as I’m too wrapped up in trying to follow events in Iran (see my Twitter posts in the sidebar).
Nonetheless, I took my wife grocery shopping — big mistake! If I ever say I’m going into town for groceries on Saturday morning again, just shoot me first. Also, it’s cold and raining here, although it feels colder than it is. But the rain! Our road is a sloppy mess… I’ve never seen it like this in June. Mud everywhere, and I’m about to build a fire. This is the latest I’ve ever had to burn wood here in New Mexico.
But Iran is the big thing. I think this grabs me so strongly because I identify so fiercely with victims of oppression. I also taught English as a second language to Iranian graduate students in Austin, Texas, several decades ago. They were some of the most intensely civilized and self-aware people I’ve ever met, and my heart goes out to them today. Rarely does the world have a chance to see this kind of staggering brutality and repression as it’s happening, thanks to the internet (Sully’s blog in particular). The atrocities by the authorities are horrible. It’s hard for me to believe that anyone else can be having a “normal” day while this is going on, because the lessons of these days are so applicable to us all. I feel like I’m being beaten and shot on the streets of Tehran. That’s how upset I am.
Life does go on, of course, and for those of you with more control over empathic states — I have none! – I hope your Saturday is safe and worthwhile.
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