In praise of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 Tomorrow celebrates the life of a man who truly changed the world.

Who left us all too soon.

Live The Dream.

The Road in Front of Saint-Simeon Farm by Claude Monet

The new year seems to be barreling along at a fast pace. January is always the snowiest month in Cleveland, and this year we are getting blasted with some big snowstorms. In between, I'm trying to catch up on grocery shopping, library visits, doctor appointments and errands.I really don't have the stamina to do too much at a time, so the Christmas decorations are down, but not put away. they are organized into piles in the corner of the living room. I'm hoping to get them boxed up and away within the next week. Since I was so late putting them up, there is less of them than usual, so finishing up ought to go quickly.
Last Saturday there was a police standoff in the apartment building next to mine, after a man barricaded himself inside of his apartment and wouldn't come out after threatening the cops. The entire street was blocked off, there were police from 3 other suburbs and the SWAT team all converged in this one area for 7 hours until the man surrendered. It was scary, especially since there seemed to be so little information online and on the local news about what was going on. One TV channel said he was alone, another said he had taken an ex-girlfriend as a hostage. When it was over, the brief reports said no one had been injured and he was in police custody. I was so relieved it had ended peacefully. On Monday, the newspaper had more information and I realized he was someone I had spoken to in the past and had always been decent. I was aware he had mental problems, as his apartment windows used to be covered in foil, but he'd never seemed dangerous or anything. Here is the news article if you'd like to read it- police standoff
It felt less creepy, now that I knew who it was and that there had been no hostages. But the whole experience made me understand more vividly how people in more violent parts of the world, from a gang infested neighborhood, to Northern Ireland in the '70's or Beirut, etc. The tension is even worse than you can imagine and the modified behaviors one must adapt to(staying away from windows and doors) are draining. I cannot fathom what that must be on a more frequent basis.
Today I met a friend for lunch and it began snowing shortly before we left the restaurant, big feathery flakes. I drove home carefully and slowly, savoring the snow covered scenery. it was like driving through a Christmas card.

Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear....