The fireflies at sunset, a young moon and dust that came from the Sahara brought a sky lit with the colors of the rainbow, brilliantly resting on the horizon, under lit by the on and off lighting from the bugs sailing along the tall grass in the field.
Images like that I have seen with my own eyes, but other pictures that I can call up to memory came because of the travels of a couple who have been seeing the world's sights and posting them for the stay-at-homes to marvel over. Jerry and Laura Edington shared their travels and now are moving on for keeps to Fayetteville, AR. I hope to be learning about their adventures in the new neighborhood and what they will see as they bike the trails there since moving about as world travelers ceases during this pandemic.
Americans may not be welcome for now in ports of entry where the virus is contained and life in those countries is rebounding. I remember a time in Norway the summer after the World Trade Towers were attacked when Americans were loved abroad. Now we are harbingers of the plague with the numbers of deaths climbing each day in our country and we are not weeping for our losses, but clinging to the thought of rebounding our economy and defending our right to freedom no matter what.
I was reflecting on the peace of the sunset and enjoying the heat that is building this summer and waiting my turn in our above ground pool which will begin after the last of the tadpoles gain their legs and walk themselves out of it. The thousands who have met me when I gazed into the water, as they came to the surface to get the air they were finding a need. But then remembering the Edingtons and the impact a single couple can have on a community and how many memories they can conjure up for us after they have long moved on.
That picturesque sundown got me thinking about Sundown towns and about the rally this week in a town once belonging to that category. Black Lives Matter Peaceful Protest. These types of events can gin up fears and real live feelings come to the surface. I remember before heading out to go to Standing Rock after seeing how peaceful protesters standing to protect sacred lands and water were being treated by state and federal troops, how I made sure my will was up-to-date and once there, had the phone number of a civil rights attorney written in permanent marker all down the skin on my left arm. There are times in American history when real people in little towns, and in big can stand together and peacefully ask for the changes that can be made to make this country better in our lifetimes. This rally might bring forward deep feelings of impending doom or a sense of being part of a larger movement while staying in your own neighborhood.
It will be the 144th anniversary of the Battle of Greasy Grass or as history has referred to it as Custer's Last Stand at the Little Big Horn when the speaking begins at the little rally at the Rocket Park.
Our tribal brothers live here in every 4th house and yes, we would like there to be a Indian Lives Matter peaceful protest for us and for the murdered Native women and for the list of wrongs we have endured, but we understand deeply there are great wrongs that need addressing and yet we can be part of helping to stand for others, too. We are generous in our desires and hopes for other dark skinned people, whose ancestors worked for us, and in our place when our ancestors were lost to violence or plagues.
Be there or in spirit join in. Watch the sundown in a different way that evening, let the setting sun of indifference set for the last time.
Care and show that you care for the individuals in your life while you wear a mask to protect yourself and those in our wider world. That wider world the Edingtons traveled to and shared with us on Facebook is out there waiting to be discovered again.
Respectfully Submitted
~ Rebecca Jim
https://www.theadanews.com/news/local_news/dust-and-sand-from-sahara-desert-may-reach-oklahoma/article_ab1f12f2-cd74-58e5-b1c2-dc07b7857b81.html
Images like that I have seen with my own eyes, but other pictures that I can call up to memory came because of the travels of a couple who have been seeing the world's sights and posting them for the stay-at-homes to marvel over. Jerry and Laura Edington shared their travels and now are moving on for keeps to Fayetteville, AR. I hope to be learning about their adventures in the new neighborhood and what they will see as they bike the trails there since moving about as world travelers ceases during this pandemic.
Americans may not be welcome for now in ports of entry where the virus is contained and life in those countries is rebounding. I remember a time in Norway the summer after the World Trade Towers were attacked when Americans were loved abroad. Now we are harbingers of the plague with the numbers of deaths climbing each day in our country and we are not weeping for our losses, but clinging to the thought of rebounding our economy and defending our right to freedom no matter what.
I was reflecting on the peace of the sunset and enjoying the heat that is building this summer and waiting my turn in our above ground pool which will begin after the last of the tadpoles gain their legs and walk themselves out of it. The thousands who have met me when I gazed into the water, as they came to the surface to get the air they were finding a need. But then remembering the Edingtons and the impact a single couple can have on a community and how many memories they can conjure up for us after they have long moved on.
That picturesque sundown got me thinking about Sundown towns and about the rally this week in a town once belonging to that category. Black Lives Matter Peaceful Protest. These types of events can gin up fears and real live feelings come to the surface. I remember before heading out to go to Standing Rock after seeing how peaceful protesters standing to protect sacred lands and water were being treated by state and federal troops, how I made sure my will was up-to-date and once there, had the phone number of a civil rights attorney written in permanent marker all down the skin on my left arm. There are times in American history when real people in little towns, and in big can stand together and peacefully ask for the changes that can be made to make this country better in our lifetimes. This rally might bring forward deep feelings of impending doom or a sense of being part of a larger movement while staying in your own neighborhood.
It will be the 144th anniversary of the Battle of Greasy Grass or as history has referred to it as Custer's Last Stand at the Little Big Horn when the speaking begins at the little rally at the Rocket Park.
Our tribal brothers live here in every 4th house and yes, we would like there to be a Indian Lives Matter peaceful protest for us and for the murdered Native women and for the list of wrongs we have endured, but we understand deeply there are great wrongs that need addressing and yet we can be part of helping to stand for others, too. We are generous in our desires and hopes for other dark skinned people, whose ancestors worked for us, and in our place when our ancestors were lost to violence or plagues.
Be there or in spirit join in. Watch the sundown in a different way that evening, let the setting sun of indifference set for the last time.
Care and show that you care for the individuals in your life while you wear a mask to protect yourself and those in our wider world. That wider world the Edingtons traveled to and shared with us on Facebook is out there waiting to be discovered again.
Respectfully Submitted
~ Rebecca Jim
https://www.theadanews.com/news/local_news/dust-and-sand-from-sahara-desert-may-reach-oklahoma/article_ab1f12f2-cd74-58e5-b1c2-dc07b7857b81.html
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