Jones w frost
This blog is usually about woodworking. Or birds. Sometimes my kids. But not today. The sun is beaming across our frost-covered marsh this AM, and the same sun will shine in Newtown, CT. But the people there are so hurting it makes no difference.
I don’t care about sports. I don’t care about movies & “entertainment”. I only listen to music I’ve heard before. Here at our house, we have no TV connection. I never even play the radio. We get no newspapers. We get to about one movie every three years. We’re falling behind that average & that’s just fine. Few dinners out. Our life revolves around our home & our kids.
Mostly I think about oak furniture. Wooden spoons. Birds of New England. Kids’ education. Handcrafts.
Last night, we got our two 7-yr olds kids to bed, after much talk about Christmas, they tallied how many days were left, – what did they hear last year on Xmas eve, footsteps? Jingle bells? Reindeer? etc.
As out of touch with modern society & culture as I am, I do read the news on the web. I read it last night, after my two were asleep. And it hurt like mad. And I’m sick & tired of reading this shit in the news. Will we ever wake up? My thoughts go out to all who are affected by this tragedy. That should be all of us…
December 15, 2012 at 8:16 am
Very well said Peter.
December 15, 2012 at 8:26 am
I agree, very well said.
December 15, 2012 at 8:39 am
You are right, it SHOULD be all of us. If revoking (or redefining) my right to bear arms would keep this from ever happening again, that’s fine with me. We need sane gun control laws driven by reality; not whack job Survivalists/NRA Zealots who think the government is out to get us.
December 15, 2012 at 12:03 pm
A the gun slamming begins I beleave that Peter was referring to FAMILY values the things we as a nation are very much lacking in.
December 15, 2012 at 8:44 am
I am very much a second amendment person and belive in a persons right to own firearms, but today, I’m not willing to fight over it and will just listen to those in CT who have suffered an unspeakable tragedy. During this time, I will also simply listen to those who oppose my view as I don’t know what to think right now.
December 15, 2012 at 9:12 am
Thank you Peter.
” A voice is heard In Ramah, weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more”
December 15, 2012 at 10:15 am
I respect those with a voice who use it to speak up and out. As the pace of this world quickens and the frequency of violent outburst from our environment hastens, I believe so will the eruptions from our societies. The “why” is more curious to me than the “how”. As a practicing physician for 10 years with a court side seat to some of the most desperately mentally ill, I have my suspicions. I hope under the clamor of guns, evil, vigils and prayer the “why” the disturbed become so is heard.
December 15, 2012 at 12:11 pm
I agree it is not about the tools of this action but why it happened in the first place. I love my country I love what our constitution stands for I try not to hate anyone or any thing. I do how ever really dislike people who use such a tragic event like tis to push their agenda through the system. We need to stop worrying about how big our houses are a our bank accounts are and start looking for way to make this country great again improve our schools bring back our industry back research for a better tomorrow then everyone wins not just a select few.
December 15, 2012 at 10:51 am
Peter you hit it on the head with your question of “waking up” this stuff around us it not the point. Guns or no guns doesn’t stop the crazies or the criminals. My personal belief is we’re here to learn. You focus on who’s got the most shiney stuff and who doesn’t, wjpp has the biggest flat screen-high def this ir that, or who belongs to what religion and how the other guys are evil and were obviously superior you’re headed the wrong way. Love those near you, Open your eyes and see the beauty around you, that you miss cuz yer in your head most of the time. No more soap box….sorry, I couldn’t resist.
December 15, 2012 at 11:02 am
Peter,
I first heard about the shooting when the phone rang and a message from the school superintendent informed all about a tragedy. We live fairly close to Newtown CT. My son is in the 9th grade and I immediately went online and read with horror what had happened. My son came home from school soon after and looking at his face I knew that he knew. We sat down and hugged each other with tears in our eyes watching the President wiping the tears from his eyes.
Please remember that there will be many parents who will be wiping tears from their eyes for a long, long time to come. This madness must stop.
December 15, 2012 at 11:13 am
Doug Stowe had a typically thoughtful piece yesterday about Newtown CT
http://wisdomofhands.blogspot.com/2012/12/this-day.html
December 15, 2012 at 11:25 am
The hardware now isn’t a lot different than it was 50 years ago. As Tim says above, when are we going to start asking why it’s occurring all of the sudden? Is it the effect of the internet, and being able to fill your mind with whatever you want? Is it the effect trying to mainstream everyone? Is it behavioral or anti-anxiety drugs? What’s different now with these kids and why do we disregard their mental state other than to just leave it as one single bullet point in the summary? And then everyone gets divisive? We’ll never solve it until we figure out why these kids are thinking it’s OK to do it or that it’s a solution, what the correlation is and what’s different about how we raise our kids vs. 50 years ago. What is driving them to it in the first place, why aren’t we trying to figure it out?
December 15, 2012 at 12:02 pm
My experience as a somewhat non-participant in popular culture is that violence rules the airwaves and electronic cables. I can’t get through the previews at a movie and hence don’t go. TV is filled with cruelty, fear, and aggression. Music and sports, the same. If violence is the basis of a culture’s entertainment, how can it not anticipate periodic nightmare occurences? If you feed a plant poison, what do you expect to happen? Why would we be any different?
December 15, 2012 at 12:24 pm
Very well said, it all stems from family values which you believe is right to me it is not sitting your children in front of the TV and video games as you sit and sip your latte in piece you decided to bring your children into this world you are responsible for there well being and upbringing NOT the schools and NOT the government, but, you and your mate. To many kids do not know what a normal family life is and this is the biggest problem I see in today world. But, with all that said my heart goes out to the families of the victims, in this time of year we should be celebrating peace and love not morning the lost of innocent life.
December 15, 2012 at 12:29 pm
So in the end Mr Follansbee peace and love be with you and your family and hug your children extra tight tonight before putting them to bed for you (in my eyes) have the right idea of family values. And I too will keep the families of the slain in my heart and as God to look out for them and keep them safe.
December 15, 2012 at 12:56 pm
Unfortunately, this is not a new phenomenon, Michigan holds the dubious record for most children killed in a school. Almost a hundred years ago, a school board member exploded three bombs in a school here, killing over 45 children. What we need is better care for the mentally ill, and earlier detection.
December 15, 2012 at 1:26 pm
It’s disturbing, yes. I wish we had easy answers to awaken to.
December 15, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Amen Peter, and maybe we should all wait a few weeks to spray about gun laws in the hopes that we could finally have a rational conversation which is not influenced by ideologues and profiteers.
December 15, 2012 at 2:44 pm
Peter, don’t worry. There will be an awakening. We just need to keep our attention off of destruction and on perfection that we want.
December 15, 2012 at 4:06 pm
Amen & God bless, if I am still allowed to say that.
December 15, 2012 at 5:51 pm
So well said Peter, it is just such a sad and unfathomable event. May there be some sort of peace for the families involved.
December 15, 2012 at 6:48 pm
There is a world full of angry people out there who can’t cope. But there is nothing new about that, it has always been so. The saddest thing is accepting that it will ever be so.
People have damaged brains from one cause or another, they are the Beserkers. Thousands of years of efforts by people to be more civilized in how they live and they still go in and try to wipe out villages caring not who the victims are.
December 15, 2012 at 10:10 pm
True K Beans All these violent video (games???) don’t help you just end up Without Feeling or a Soul like lanza and he was only playing a violent video game with a real gun.My heart hurts for all … well said Peter
December 15, 2012 at 10:05 pm
This morning I had the radio on in the truck. The NPR sports commentator reported reactions of some sports figures ( unfamiliar to me ), and what one of them had said was that we needed to do more than ban weapons, we needed to change how we thought about and treated each other. Like many people, I don’t have any useful ideas. If anyone does I am willing to listen. Possibly Bill Copperthwaite does.
December 15, 2012 at 11:38 pm
I am with you Peter. I had posted a blog entry this morning about the shooting as well. Seems like the youth these days really need to be more grounded and have some parenting. It is sad where this country is headed.
December 16, 2012 at 12:38 am
Peter, mes pensées vont vers toutes ses vies détruites ou meurtries pour toujours.
December 16, 2012 at 8:01 am
Here in the UK it is illegal (and very difficult) to own a gun without a licence. You need a really really good reason to get a licence. Police are unarmed except for crack units in emergencies. Fewer than 10 people a year are killed by handguns. QED.
And if someone breaks into my house at night, which is very unlikely, they almost certainly do not have a gun with them. Neither do I.
December 16, 2012 at 10:33 am
This senseless tragedy saddens me to the my very core.
And, I hope it does the rest of our country as well.
Extra prayers for all of us tonight.
Thanks Peter.
December 16, 2012 at 11:48 am
Every day on the green side of the grass is a good start. Managing pain is a given. Being a “grown-up” isn’t for the faint of heart or the thin skinned. We are all in this mess together. Let’s endeavor to make it easier for the other fellow. Now is the time to show all of the victims compassion. Most of all the ones whom we all feel do not deserve our toughts and good will. Even our enemies love and adore their children.
Peter put it rather nicely, compassion and concern for our fellow creatures starts at home.
December 16, 2012 at 7:15 pm
Tell you what. People are after the NRA, their Twitter site was shut down, as well as their Facebook page is under attack. There’s a protest scheduled tomorrow at the Washington DC headquarters, this is not going to go away.
December 17, 2012 at 6:21 pm
The President said “we need to change” and he was quite right. It isn’t about guns. It is about how we treat one another and how we deal with our- for lack of a better word- sick. Had Adam Lanza not had access to guns, he might well have turned to a bomb, instead- as referenced previously happened in Michigan.
People with mental/emotional problems are not a modern development, they’ve been among us all along the human journey. From time to time and place to place we have dealt better, and worse, with them and their difficulties.
We need to change how we address their problems, help them to mesh with other people, help other people to appreciate and mesh better with them.
When we do, we will stop having to face the results of people who lose control of their anger and frustration and lash out at the world around them in rage.
It’s not about weapons, it is about people.
December 18, 2012 at 12:32 pm
I totally agree with this comment. It is all about people. What will we be thinking in 1-2 months from now when the pain and anger releases. We need to begin each day by looking in the mirror. Since this terrible tragedy this past Friday, we have lost 2 police officers in Kansas, another in Missouri and yesterday a triple murder suicide in Kansas City.