Movie Review and Random Thoughts!

Random Thoughts: I am watching the TV show 1883. Man, it rips at your heart each week and has you on the seat of your pants waiting for the next episode. I never thought I would say that I love a Country Western show.  The writing for the show is like poetry. Watching this week's episode has me really thinking about freedom, wanting a better life or what we think will be a better life, risk, and most importantly death.  We take life for granted as if it is guaranteed, yet there is no such guarantee. In the news this weekend, there was a report of a woman from Britain who lost her life in Tonga after a volcano erupted and she was caught by the Tsunami.  That woman got up like everyone else that morning and I am sure was enjoying the beautiful weather that Tonga had to provide. Now she is gone!  As I was clicking through the internet, I came across an article that the tensions are rising and there is fear that Russia is going to invade Ukraine.  Are we on the brink of war again?  Currently, there are troops lining the borders of the two countries.  Those troops are someone's child, brother, or father, and I don't know if they have any women in their army, but if they do then the same would follow as daughter, sister, and mother. This isn't the first time I have thought of death.  My father passed away in August, so I know death.  Our friend Sherry W passed away at the end of November, but in both cases, both had lived a good life and both had been suffering for many years from disease.  The same was the case for our friend Brittney who passed away on Christmas day from Cancer.  Sadly, she was only 40. Anyway, I am not really sure what my point is, but tonight I am thinking about death. Death that is caused by unexplained environmental events, death caused by disease, death caused by bandits on the American frontier, death caused by other people's greed, accidental death, and death welcomed in order to relieve one's suffering  I don't think it is an unhealthy thing to do.  I hope that by reflecting upon it and respecting it each day as I live and breathe I live it in a manner to be worthy of its gift.  

Another random thought, did you know that after a period you no longer need to put two spaces?  I didn't and I know that is going to be a hard one for me to stop doing.  It is such a habit.  Just like my husband is always getting after me for always shutting off the lights.  I grew up where it was ingrained in me to turn off the lights every time I left a room. My husband says the newer energy-efficient lightbulbs it is best to not always turn them off and on.

So my husband is in the process of writing a book.  His publisher had a gender diversity specialist go through it and wow!  Not unexpected!  Not necessarily a bad thing.  I don't even know where I am going with this thought, but boy do I have so much to learn. I feel like I am a pretty open person and a pretty accepting person, but I guess I have some things I need to learn.  My teenage son called me racist the other night because I asked if the dish I had made tasted Asian enough.  He didn't like that!  I tried to explain to him that I had wondered if the food I had cooked tasted Chinese meaning that the flavor notes aligned with typical Chinese cooking. My son thought that it was racist of me to say that because he pointed out to me that Chinese cooking and Asian cooking are diverse. I don't disagree with him on that but at the same time, I do think certain cultural foods do have a certain flavor profile.  Maybe my question is are we taking some things too far.  I certainly don't want groups of people marginalized or made to feel bad because of other people's ignorance or my own ignorance.  Prior to COVID-19, one day I was sitting at the lunchroom table in the school where my children went to the German school. There was an African American woman at the table and we were talking about race.  I made the comment that I don't see color as I was taught to love everyone.  The woman got very angry at me and then proceeded to explain to me that by saying that I didn't see the struggle her race had gone through.  If I am being honest, despite having a minor in Black Studies as a white person I will never fully understand the struggle of the African American as I don't live with that struggle on a day-in and day-out basis. I can read about it and empathize, but I will never really know what it is like to be a black man or woman in America. How do we move forward though?  Will, we ever become one!  When the names of groups and people are constantly changing and redefining themselves.  I am not sure!  Well, if you have read this I am certainly not writing this for debate. I just wanted to put it down to paper or in this case, my blog so that my posterity can see that I am a more complex person than maybe what is portrayed here on the blog of our daily comings and goings.  I am certainly more than a person playing our next adventure.