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Tom Stewart (1969)
FLIPPIN' ROCKS
In the past decade so many things have happened and so many issues have presented themselves to us. Many of these things are "political" and I want to try to avoid that quagmire, but when many of these events happen I view them like rocks that have been flipped. Each of us have a different base of morals, ethics, values, and viewpoint. I am talking about that BASE or FOUNDATION of our lives which we often don't see on the outward and don't realize it is there. That is where the rock flippin' comes in, it reveals that foundation.
If you have ever walked along a river and flipped a rock and underneath was a whole ecosystem of shiny black creatures that quickly scramble for the darkness of another rock. They hate the exposure to light! Well, to make an analogy, we have our social rocks flipped on an ever increasing frequency these days.
When America got involved in the Vietnam war we saw people taking drastic positions, some fleeing the country, and others protesting on the campuses. The war revealed a bit of what was in people. We had the women's rights movement and abortion issue which was another rock flipped that uncovered the foundation of beliefs that were lying dormant in our friends and relatives, and more divisions arose. Then there was the movements about race and sexual orientation, followed by same sex marriage, LGBTQIA, transgender conversions, men in women's sports, drag queens reading to elementary students, and now the Israel/Hamas conflict. Each of these events are like a rock being flipped and something in each of us reacts one way or another.
What is the point? I miss the times when I was a bit more ignorant and life was more simple. My worst offenses were talking in class, putting gum in a girls hair, or skipping school. I had no knowledge of all the things we see today. I looked forward with great anticipation to the the State and County fair, parades, football games, going to movies, and having fun with my friends.
Covid was a huge rock to be flipped here. No one in America had any experience approaching how bad it got in Ireland. The government took over the entire culture with the support of the national police force known as the Garda. Masks and social distancing were mandated, most businesses were closed so you couldn't get your hair cut, buy clothes or shoes, go to the movies, attend weddings or funerals, have friends or relatives to your house, or travel more than 5 kilometers from your house. The churches were all closed, and as they reopened they were limited on attendance, had to wear masks, and weren't allowed to sing. The schools were all closed and most people were put out of work. The garda would have road blocks at round abouts everywhere and stop everyone every day. They would ask where you lived, where you were going, and why you were going there. Then they would arbitrarily decide if they would let you through. Why am I including this? Because it revealed the hearts of people. Some people actually became informants if their neighbors were disobeying the government mandates. The garda became just like the brown shirts of Nazi Germany and most of the ordinances they enforced were actually illegal and never passed officially by government. It was the first time in my life I actually understood how Hitler accomplished all the did and how he was able to get a nation to turn against one segment of their population. We had the vaccinated vs the unvaccinated, and you needed a covid passport to eat inside a restaurant, otherwise you had to eat outside, often in the rain. A division quickly arose between people over masks, vaccinations, and other issues. We were at level 4 or 5 for nearly two years.
Too many rocks today....
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our time in Woodland. The book has 72 pages, so I will have plenty of material to post! (Thanks to Nita Keehn for letting me scan this book!!) Just because we had so many memories of this place, I decided to lead off with it
