Friends

I have to start off with the good news.  A few days ago, a friend of a friend asked if she could make me a meal.  I said yes, and promptly forgot about it, as there are people who offer to do things but then forget.  This afternoon she called to ask if she could deliver some soup to me.  I thanked her and she dropped off a bowl of barley, chicken, chorizo and vegetable soup, which was wonderful.  Just as an idea, Don (the world’s fussiest eater) had a bowl and a bit!  We both really enjoyed it, and there’s one bowlful left, which may not survive very long.  Jerry loved the day today, as it was a beautiful spring day, with lots of sunshine and he had a chance to be out in it.  Lovely spring, with the sun and the blue skies and the fresh breezes, but no lilacs yet!  We wait… My back, though, will need to learn to relax as I just go through normal activities.  The twinges are no fun.

Talking to my dad this afternoon, he was distressed about the war and the numbers of people who are dying needlessly (as he sees it). That conversation reminded me of a line from Tolkien.  Frodo and Sam see a skirmish between 2 groups, and they pass one dead invader.  Frodo wonders why this boy — a man not quite old enough to shave — was so far from home, and what lies led him there.  It does still apply these days, as there are so many lies in circulation.  I encountered also this quote, but I don’t remember the author, “A half truth is a whole lie.”  I’m horrified by the number of people who push half-truths and pretend that they’re uncovering conspiracies.  They add just enough truth to make it impossible to separate out the lies, because the entanglement is profound.  And people unfortunately can’t manage to separate out the tangles so they get sucked further and further into the morass of partial truths and twisted facts.  It’s truly sad.  What makes it worse is if someone points out the flaws in one of those arguments — it then becomes a “personal attack” and there’s suddenly no way to communicate in a friendly manner again.  I’d just suggest that if it’s necessary to challenge someone’s beliefs, that we try to make it impersonal, so nobody is called names for what they believe (even if you want to scream at them that water is wet, fire is hot and ice is cold.). Nobody wins if one person makes another feel stupid.  I’ll leave this, without getting into too many details at risk of needlessly starting an argument!

I’m off to bed now.  I’m going to put my twinges to rest in hopes of stopping them.  I hope that you have a good night and a great tomorrow!