3.09.2005
It's Like Summer
The fog is in early and burns off to a beautiful sunny day. The evening brings the east fog wind and a chill to the air - it's just like summer. The calendar indicates it's still winter, but the native buckeye tree in my yard says it's spring. Sunday - sharks was fun at the low tide boil, Monday - logging at privates with the Mayor, Tuesday - kelp riding the low tide boil at sharks - the swell keeps marching on. Payback for the dismal summer/fall/early winter. Tonight the buoys read 8 feet from 295 at 14 seconds - sounds good. Hope everyone is getting their fill. I was speaking about Iraq with a young guy I've known since he was a boy. He was home getting his fill of plain old life. Seeing his family, eating - helping us with baseball. We spoke about war - it was a very short conversation. What do you say? Are you glad to be back? - duh. He told me about killing another person. He said that once there, he learned to refer to all the native folk as Hasim. Hasim has a rocket launcher - you kill him. You're there to kill the bad guys. The young man I know is a great guy, and I know no matter how he constructs things in his mind to get by - like lumping all into good or bad, Hasim or savior - the fact that he killed another person strikes at the core of his being. He said he has nightmares about it, but doesn't relive fighting. Instead, he sees Hasim's mother wailing at the loss of her son. He'll get by with the help of his family - I hope. What's with war, and the young folks giving their lives and mind for a cause like - land grab. Yes - throughout history - it's mostly been about land grab. Hidden in good causes like spreading freedom, security, protecting the down trodden - land grab. When you have an opportunity to speak with someone touched by war - visualize - look into their eyes, watch their face - it's hard to justify. Hasim's mother sees no justice and my young friend lost some of his. I am thankful for our summer-like day, the surf - even the crowd - it's easy for me after distantly touching war. Let's grab waves instead.