The damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina is on our minds.
Photo by UW Madison, WisconsinTwo views on what it means, from Ron Fink and David Ciaffardini.
Death knocked two doors down a couple of weeks ago.
Death knocked one door down today.
The people who died were just people, not famous, not well known by very many people, but the people who knew them well loved them with all the love they had.
It does not matter that both of the people who died had been sick and there was warning that the end might come at any time. Death came as a shock. To those that died and the ones they left behind.
I worry about the ones left.
One of the women does not drive and has a bad back making walking difficult, food shopping has become an issue and cleaning is impossible. Her son lives many states away. He and his wife offered to move her but she does not want to impose. She has no one here, she says.
My other neighbor is still recovering from having her best friend Bear Bear, her little dog of 14 years, snatched and killed by a big dog. She tried to save her friend but the big dog was too big, too strong, and too intent on the kill and she was too frail. Her son's death may be too much for her.
Grief is present in the neighborhood this week and we still have one to go since it always knocks three times.
It just knocked again. --Margo Viers
Describing sound is rather like catching smoke. You can hear it in your head but the words elude you. The casino was like that--smoky and filled with sound.
Electronica gone amuck, with the people trying to catch it.
Shoulder to shoulder people, smoke wafting everywhere inside a building in California no less! Amazing. Up the escalator there is a woman smoking. I pause to see how security will handle it. And they just walked by. I knew I was in a different world.
Smoke was not the only item filling the air. Soun-- lots of sound. A cacaphony of sound. Whirs, beeps and pings but few human voices.
I pick a machine and promptly realize that once again in the path of life I don't know what to do, it has been too long since the last visit to a casino. It's time to figure it out.
Five buttons on the top row, 5 buttons on the bottom row. Pick and choose. Ok. But the machine won't take my bill. I take that as a sign and move on.
Second choice was not a good choice. Four spins, good-bye five.
Next machine is a 7-spinner and a good-bye five. Movin' on now. What's the reverse of ka-ching? ka-chung?
Hey, that Bandida looks like a good machine, another five in the slot and spin it down to the last 1 credit. But... there is a help button. Now that's my kind of button. Read the instructions. Play the last spin and up come 15 free games but I definitely don't know how to cash in.
My neighbor gestures to just let it run. I start to touch a button and he gestures again. I leave it alone. The machine spins up a 36 dollar win. I turn to say thank you to my neighbor and realize that once again, sign language has worked in place of words since he did not have the ability to verbalize.
Good bye Bandida. Goodbye casino. Goodbye gambling. --Margo Viers
Give a great big welcome to writer, researcher and Santa Barbara jogger, Mickey Rowe.
Congalton's Medialogue recaps the Pulitzer typos and usual Friday Tribune critique session.Once again, thank you for helping our blog reach its first 1,000+ unique viewer month! Please tell your friends of this URL--and we thank you again! Sphere: Related Content
David Ciaffardini says "love is the answer," but what is the question?Ann Calhoun mourns the loss of a mighty eucalyptus grove in Los Osos.Ron Fink asks how much does it cost to save our environment?Dr. Don Regan wonders if it's worth it to "stay the course."Mr. Rogers tells us a quadriplegic sailed the English Channel solo!
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Our sources point out a frightening plan for coastal dumping and how to stop it with your public outcry--now until Thursday, 9/1/05.
The state Bureau of Reclamation proposes to pipe 40 years of untreated agricultural waste from the San Joaquin Valley into Estero Bay at Point Estero near Cayucos.This plan calls for untreated selenium and pesticide-bearing waste to be dumped a mile and a half from shore in an area rich with migrating marine mammals, birds and fish, and an area that is the habitat for a threatened species, the southern sea otter. The effects of this discharge would be devastating to our local estuary and marine ecosystem.
Calhoun's Can(n)on questions 'Lord of the Flies' analogy in Tribune editorial.Bill Benica lets us know the citizen standoff is growing in Cambria.Dr Don Regan speaks from the heart about adoption and thankfulness.Gary Ray Rogers fills us in on the ADA and ADAAG and accessibility.
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