Blink of an Eye

So here we are a year after Katrina--the disaster that confirmed everything..that epitomized all my fears about our current government. A year later and we still see neighborhoods that have not recovered, entire sections of the city that still don't even have power. We hear about insurance claims not being honored and people unable to rebuild their homes. A YEAR later and nothing is resolved. I watched all the horror on television; for days I was glued to the unbelievable scenarios going on before my eyes. And then I watched all the volunteers, all the media groups building homes and providing shelter, cleaning up the streets, and still it wasn't enough. And then I couldn't watch anymore and I couldn't write. I read the newspapers and blogs that continued to write and rant about politics and war and I couldn't join in. I just couldn't. I guess I just couldn't imagine anything anymore. I was shocked.

But now it's a whole year. Is it possible? A year of days and not much change out there in the big picture. But here in the smallness of my head life rambles on. I don't have the energy to rant, but I do observe and writing here is better than not writing at all.

Looking back on my year--I adopted a kitten who is the hero of my children's book; the book I haven't begun to write. I took an on-line writing course and totally lost my way through the one novel I've written. Maybe it's just another excuse, but I swear I suffer post-writing-workshop syndrome and don't know where to pick up my story after all the analysis and re-writing I did in six weeks. We totally renovated the first floor of our home and all the outside landscaping, learning a huge lesson in the nature of professional and not-so-professional contractors. We are fortunate our home is still standing. We're just beginning to recover from the chaos and believe the transformation was worth it. In early spring our sweet Golden Retriever died of lymphosarcoma. We learned that there is such a thing as chemotherapy and oncologists for dogs and that vets and oncologists deviate greatly in their philosophies as to how far you should take veterinary medicine to prolong the life of (but not cure) a beloved pet. And along those lines we learned that there is a HUGE controversy out there regarding what to feed dogs and cats--real raw food, holistic manufactured food or good old grocery shelf kibble. I learned that there are Yahoo Groups out there supported by people dedicated to helping others on all kinds of subjects. I am grateful to these on-line communities for getting me through my dog's cancer and now I am grateful to another Group that is supporting me in the training and well-being of my new Border Collie puppy. There are several writing groups on Yahoo too....but, well, I wasn't writing so who knew?

At any rate, I'm back--reading, writing and raising a puppy. I guess as in any grievous situation, life trudges on. We think the world should stop and pay attention, but it doesn't happen that way. My heart goes out to the victims, past and present, of Katrina. Maybe the coming year will bring the changes and improvements and sense of urgency we expect of our government.