Can’t read. Can’t watch. Can’t bear it.

~ Live & Learn

8:30 p.m. Wednesday evening. I’m in Texas on assignment, Dallas thankfully. The planned evening workout at the gym has been canceled without much fuss.  I’ll need to carry the fuel of three consecutive days of nutritious Chick-fil-A, home fries and Kit Kat bars into a fourth day. You’d say, not possible to eat Chick-fil-A, home fries and Kit Kat bars three days in a row, and I would tell you not to bet against me.

I’m fully reclined on the bed leaning against the headboard.

A long day.

The MacBook warms my lap.  The TV remote control rests on my right.

I start with the day’s RSS feeds, rifling through the posts.  And stop.

The Headline shouted: Fishermen jailed, fined millions for massive shark massacre off Galapagos Islands. The Ecuadorean navy made a shocking discovery earlier this month when, at the request of Galapagos National Park officials, it investigated a Chinese-flagged vessel cruising through the marine reserve off the Galapagos Islands. They found more than 6,600 illegally caught sharks lying in piles onboard the vessel known as the Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999.”

The Galapagos Islands. A protected area.  6,600 illegally caught sharks. Wow.

I set the laptop down and grab the remote.

CNN: Houston. Hurricane Harvey. Levees topped out. Mothers’ clutching babies. The aged being hauled out of Nursing homes. Flood waters rising.

Click.

FOX: North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and missles over Japan.

Click.

MSNBC: Trump and Russia.

Click.

BRAVO: The World Wildlife Fund commercial. 60 seconds, and I can’t avert my eyes.

I turn the TV off.

I twist in my ear buds, grab my iPhone and turn to Apple’s Coffeehouse playlist.  The first tune on the list is Glen Campbell’s (RIP 8/7/17) Gentle on My Mind:

I still might run in silence
Tears of joy might stain my face
And the summer sun might burn me till I’m blind
But not to where I cannot see
You walkin’ on the back roads
By the rivers flowin’ gentle on my mind

Lights out…

~ DK

 

46 thoughts on “Can’t read. Can’t watch. Can’t bear it.”

  5. Right there with you, pal. Coffeehouse and the Spa channel are the places I hide…the steady drip of bad news from every quarter is threatening to take me down. I cling to every news bit that speaks of compassion and largesse as though it were a lifeline….

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  14. It always amazes me when I’m reminded of how stupid most of the world’s population is. We live our sheltered, “civilized”(?) ordinary lives and forget that most people in the world care nothing for the survival of all the beautiful creatures on the earth, caring least of all for their own future beyond the immediate moment. If they don’t mind destroying the earth, it makes sense that they wouldn’t care if there were any plants or animals left on it, let alone other people. Ohhhh pffft! I’m trying to write an encyclopedia’s worth in a small comment space. Frustrated! Saddened! Gimme a KitKat or four, please.

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  16. We do not watch TV and this is why. There is much good in the world (and this from me is something), but we cannot know it if we ingest a stead diet of America’s propaganda machine.

    On another note, I remember Glen Campbell with fondness. And John Hartford whose songs GC recorded more than once, a dear love with whom I was able to share a cuppa before he passed too early from this world.

    Rest easy, David. What is contained within the skin is where we must reside, and the choices we make can secure or shatter those boundaries. ❤

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  17. Inquiring mind, here…Thursday evening? Did you mean, Wednesday evening? I saw strawberry kit kit mini and choc. ones on clearance.at the grocery store today…I, of course thought of you…and no I didn’t make the purchase…as I am GFree, Dear Hubby likes kit kit and I am a frugal one. I figured no need as we have really good choc. at home…Mrs Call’s
    Milk Choc Pecan Clusters, w/Sea Salt and Mrs. Call’s Milk Choc Sea Salt Caramels + Gimbal’s All Natural Black Licorice Scottie Dogs (first time I’ve found G Free Licorice!) /// I chose not to watch the video, I would most likely cry if I did.

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  21. Thank you for saying what so many of us are feeling. I sometimes wish I could isolate myself from all the awful news, and I have to gather conscious courage to take it all in. Music is my refuge too.

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