Got To Me
Sunday. To bed around eleven last night, up this morning at nine. My, my. Let's see if I feel rested for the remainder of the day. One would hope so, don't you think? This feeling crappy thing I've been going on about over this last week finally got me to sit down and take my blood pressure, noticing it's low in the mornings and comes up to say 120/80 or 130/90 in the late afternoons and evenings when I generally feel pretty good. Back to the medicos to see if the dosage can be adjusted, somehow, keeping it relatively level during the entire day and making this crappy feeling go away. No complaints. If this is all it is then it's easily fixable and it could in too many ways be worse. Worse is always worse.
Still, back from breakfast now that it's after eleven, the sun bright and the temperature in line. I left the windows open last night and the entire apartment cooled off. Life in the late morning fast lane here in Oakland.
I was listening to a story coming out of Sichuan this morning on the radio, a three month old baby had been pulled from the rubble without a scratch, the mother who had cradled herself over him to protect him was dead, a cell phone found tucked into the baby's blanket with a text message saying “if you live, always remember that your mother loved you”. I can't write that without tears. That is crap enough, but at least the Chinese government is stepping up, has enough confidence in the stability of their rule they're encouraging anyone in who can help. How many Burmese mothers hoped their last act in life might allow their child to live long enough for help to come, for their message to be read? None, because those in power were frightened their privileged existence might be compromised if they allowed outside aid to enter Burma.
None if it sounds strange, unfortunately: allowing millions out of sight and out of mind to die to maintain power, but now and again it becomes so obvious and wretched the people who enriched themselves by building substandard schools, for example, are hung by their necks in front of their rubble and generals once in power become ex-generals on the run. I doubt it will ever be more than a comfortable “on the run” - too much money, too much power, too many similarly situated allies to ever bring them to justice - but maybe the set of Burma generals who come after will understand not everything is on the table. Not much to hope for, the generals in Burma will most likely never pay a price, but you never know and you never give up.
Are you now ready to get off your soap box?
The mother huddled over her baby got to me.
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