The Reality of Things: When Life Steps in & Demands Attention

Friday was petty. Saturday was petty. Minor, piddling spats when compared to the Reality of Things. And the Reality of Things smacked a lot of us upside the head this weekend.

Frankly, I don't glue myself to the television. It's a nuisance, an irritant most of the time. Except when something fast-moving and interesting is going on and catches my attention. As it happens, I missed the start of the latest fire up in Lake County. It didn't reach my awareness until yesterday afternoon - and that's when the glue took hold.

This is the fourth major wildfire up there this summer, the third calling for mass evacuations. As bad as the others were, they were dress rehearsals for this one.

While the others were bad, in the scope of area burned, a relatively few people lost their homes and, as tragic as that is (I cannot begin to imagine how horrible that would be), the scope of this one, the speed of it, is astonishing.

I heard reports of news crews seeing dead livestock caught by the fire along the side of the road. The animals could not be saved because the fire was moving too fast for their owners to get to them, load them up and get them out. Many people literally fled in front of the fire. They had no time to grab anything because the flames were bearing down so quickly.

It started Saturday afternoon. Yesterday, it had grown to more than 50,000 acres. This morning it's at 61,000 acres and still growing.

Coworkers are displaced and several people our people know have lost their homes. Many people in the area have lost everything.

As a personal-to-me coworker tally:

One family is living with friends in Santa Rosa because their home was in line to burn. Thankfully, when the man-of-the-house went and checked yesterday, the house is standing. The fire came close, but missed.

Another coworker - one who took in family twice in the last fires - was in an area that was badly burned. In their case, the local elementary school and market burned, but their house is still standing even though they evacuated and went to stay with yet another co-worker. They had to leave so quickly they had to leave three of their outdoor cats behind. Fortunately, when a neighbor stopped by to check on things, he found the missing cats. They're fine, just hungry.

One person's backyard burned, but the house is fine.

The "primary" town up there in the burn area - Middletown - has been ravaged. It was a small town of about 1,300. The surrounding area has been decimated, too. 13,000 people evacuated. Four-hundred structures burned. If you want to see a vision of Hell, take a look at this less than two minute video from YouTube. The driver is heading toward Middletown - where he thinks he can take refuge:

Imagine this is your world - your neighborhood. This is reality in Lake County and it puts into perspective the pettiness of every day living. And I am not above it, until I'm reminded.

I hope you and your family are safe - that nothing like this ever happens to you or to anyone you know, or to anyone, anywhere, any time, ever.

Best~
Philippa

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I'm Sorry, But It's My Opinion

I know. I'm entitled to have an opinion so I shouldn't apologize, but I know this is going to be unpopular, so I offer the apology before I get started.

It is sincere, by the way, since I really don't want to cause heartburn for anyone.

With that said, I sometimes wonder why men ever gave women standing in anything. Honest. I really do think that sometimes.

We can be so bloody pretentious, so petty and flagrantly childish it makes me want to bring out the paddle and set to. Kind of like the nun in the Blues Brothers. Whack... Whack... Whack-whack... Whack-whack-whack... Whack-whack-whack-whack-whackwhackwhackwhackwhackwhackwhack...

What got me going on this today is that on one of the the sites to which I belong there is a huge knicker-knotting going on.

It's all because one member - a man - started a thread that is set in the 1870's.

It's a role playing game where those who choose to participate are supposed to "dress up" and get in character. Anyone can post. There are no restrictions on who can post or on what is posted - it's supposed to be fun and creative and humorous.

Unfortunately, some of the women (children) took exception to the fact that this 1870's setting calls out 'men's only' in the opening post.

In this day and age, it is offensive, I agree. But, back then, it was the norm - it was accepted by the majority of society and no one noticed.

Now - if this was a role playing game set in present day and that OP was there, I wouldn't like it. It would bother me, but I would shrug and go my own way. I don't get excited about stuff like that because with everything else going on in my life and the world at large, it isn't worth getting upset about things like this. It is one thread in one forum on one small internet website.

It is not starving children in Africa, or people dying of thirst for want of clean water, or the Syrian refugee crisis or the approval of the Iran nuke deal or...

It is a miniscule issue - a bacteria on a pimple on a gnat's ass - yet they seem to be determined to bring it down.

When I pointed that out to one of the militants - politely and in a private message - she said we would just have to agree to disagree. Fine. I disagree with the idea that she has the right to impose her will and her principals on the rest of us, whether we agree or not.

If this was a case where the OP was anything but tongue-in-cheek, I would be offended and I would stand right by her side and agitate to have it removed, too. If, for instance, it declared that women are not allowed to post, or people of any particular race or sexual preference can't post. It would be dead wrong and she and the other few women who are up in arms over this (out of a site of 96 members) would be right. However, it's not. And that's where this bothers me.

We all get riled up about things. Some are big, some are not, some important, some petty, but there comes a time when a thinking adult will step back and objectively ask, 'how important is this, really?'

If it's not important, if it isn't going to cause gross unfairness or societal disruption, is it really worth spoiling the pleasure for others? It's not as if this particular OP states that women aren't allowed to post. It just encourages (strongly) that people post in the role of an 1870's Victorian male.

After thinking about it, I posted in the guise of a man (Colonel Mustapha Muchleigh) arriving on the doorstep of this particular Gentlemen's Club after having it recommended to me by 'ol' Baldy'. Right after that, one of the militant dames posted a picture of a suffragette's march. Now that I don't like. Didn't then, don't now because it's disrespectful and rude - in my opinion.

So, given the umbrage taken over a silly thread in a single forum on a single website, I guess all of us are going to end up with multi-stall restrooms where men, women and children all do their 'thing' without regard to privacy. Because that's how it should be according to a few.

Now, let's all lighten up, shall we? Have a lovely, confrontation-free day.

Best~
Philippa

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