Tonight on a walk up our country road I saw two snakes, one dead and one living; three aptly-named Giant Puffball Mushrooms; a white tree trunk entwined by poison ivy vines bearing brilliant crimson leaves; a garden plot covered with colorful gourds; paw-paws and buckeyes dangling from trees.
No guns. No deranged gunmen. No murdered schoolgirls. No fear.
Out here in the country we feel safe. There are no metal detectors in the local schools, few locks on the neighbors' doors. We hear talk of thefts and hunting accidents, but murder belongs elsewhere, in the hectic cities and their suburbs. What can hurt us out here?
Today's news reminds us that nobody's safe, and it's news I'd rather not face. Instead I seek news of two snakes, three mushrooms, a pretty tree, a garden full of gourds, and a fruitful forest where violence occurs only among non-human beasts.
1 comment:
Gotta say if I saw the snakes, I'd have wanted a handgun. Or in-keeping with your theory of nature's violence, I wants a big mongoose or snake-eating bird of some sort with me.
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