Orion excitedly ran home to tell Grandmama all about what Chief Molu had told him at the station. However, as soon as Orion entered his house, he realized that Grandmama was nowhere to be found.
"Grandmama, are you here?" he repeatedly asked, searching every room until he noticed a small note on the kitchen table. Orion picked it up and read it:
"Ori,
Please don't be alarmed. I'm going to visit the old excavation site that Grandpa used to study when the meteors started hitting us years ago. Be a good boy and check with Oglu in the marketplace to see if he has any work for you. I should be home by dinnertime.
Love,
Grandmama"
Orion couldn't believe it. Grandmama went to visit Ground Zero? Why would she do that when other people who visited the site in the past disappeared? Part of Orion wanted to stay and do as his grandmother requested, but another part of him panicked when he pondered the kind of danger she was in. She would have left well over an hour ago.
"I have to make sure Grandmama's okay," Orion told himself as he held onto Grandpa's research folder and left the house to go find Ground Zero, the meteor site on Sur del Mar that Grandpa first explored fifty years ago.
As he ran through town, Orion couldn't help but marvel at how trivial all of his previous problems seemed now. School fights, haggling merchants, bugs in the house, and even common colds receded into the back of Orion's mind as he pondered the looming mystery that had consumed much of his short life. Now it was time to finally take action.
When Orion arrived at Ground Zero, he saw no one near the house-size wooden box that covered the gaping hole inside that pulsated white light from its dark, dreary innards.
"Grandmama!" Orion shouted. "Where are you?"
Orion ran around the entire box structure in search of his ancient grandmother, but she was nowhere to be found.
"Maybe she left," he rationalized to himself. "Maybe she's visiting friends now."
Orion thumbed through his grandfather's research notes hoping to find something on the impenetrable wooden dwelling before him that housed the answer to his questions. He wanted to see the phosphorescent maw within, but he saw no entrance to the structure.
"Why would Grandmama even bother coming here if there's nothing to see but this big box?" Orion puzzled.
Just then, he thought of a way to penetrate the structure and see the hole for himself. Orion figured that he would be detained by the police if they caught him vandalizing town property, but he thought the risk was worth it.
"There's also a chance I might end up like those other scientists who have tried finding out what's in that hole," Orion nervously muttered to himself.
Seizing on this thought, Orion ran around the corner to the nearest house and snuck into an adjacent shed. This was Emru Elha's dwelling. Emru was an elderly man who slept most of the time when he wasn't recounting old tales to sailors in Portsmouth. Orion found a large axe in Emru's shed and stealthily ran back to Ground Zero, first making sure there was no one else in the area who would see him.
Orion immediately started hacking into the wooden wall before him and found that, although the wood was thick and sturdy, he was forging a sizable hole in the wall. All Orion could see inside the wooden frame was pure blackness punctuated by a bright, blinding white light that ebbed and flowed from the darkness. As he continued to chop away at the Ground Zero fortress, a patrolman spotted Orion and began to run towards him.
"Stop, boy! Stop what you're doing!" the officer shouted as he sprinted toward Orion.
Orion frantically sliced more of the wood away and kicked a few pieces in before the officer finally reached him. Just before the cop could grab him, Orion closed his eyes and jumped into the darkness.
A moment later, Orion opened his eyes and found himself in a dim, blue room that resembled the inside of a bank vault. However, unlike the wooden box that surrounded Ground Zero, this room had a wall-sized door on it, but it could only be opened from the outside. Orion was too afraid to move for a few moments before boredom started to kick in and he wondered how he'd be leaving this place. He stood up and started banging on the vault door.
"Hello! Is there anyone there?" Orion shouted. Nothing but silence followed his query.
Hoping that someone would eventually come, Orion sat on the floor and read through more of his grandfather's research notes. He found the page that chronicled the ancient myth about which Chief Molu told him. The page read:
"Around 3500 BCE, the Sumerians recorded an event that historians have consistently dismissed as mere superstition. The Sumerians claimed that large objects, which we would called meteors today, fell from the heavens all over the world. One of the meteors supposedly impacted the city of Kish and left a pulsating hole in its wake that frightened nearby residents and prompted the king to close up the site. The king decreed that a royal scientist would check on the site every 100 years and make necessary repairs to the containment dwelling.
When Sumerian scientists checked on the site circa 2100 BCE, they found that the pulsating hole had disappeared. The king predicted that the meteors from 3500 BCE had been a warning from the gods, but he did not know what the warning represented. Since then, the Sumerians worried about a return of the meteors and that perhaps they would bring great devastation to the planet. One wonders if the meteors that the Sumerians saw, assuming the myth is true, will ever return."
While he read, Orion heard some activity outside the vault door. He jumped up and simultaneously felt fear and joy. The large blue portal swung open, and the most curious of creatures greeted him at the threshold.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
The Old Wayfarer - Chapter 2
Chief Molu sat at an old, wooden desk thumbing through a thick stack of files before a rapid knock on the door disrupted his focus. His round, mustached face shook as he grumbled.
"What is it?" he yelled.
A small, bookish woman entered. It was Nelma, the chief's secretary.
"Chief, there's a young man here to see you. He said his name is Orion. He said you'd know..."
"Yes, yes!" Molu barked. "Send the boy in!"
"Yes, Chief," Nelma sheepishly replied as she slunk out of the room.
A few minutes later, Orion opened Chief Molu's door without knocking. He couldn't wait any longer to learn about his father and grandfather.
"Welcome, boy!" the corpulent chief thundered. "Have a seat."
Without saying a word, Orion bowed and quickly pulled a shabby chair in front of the chief's desk before sitting down.
"Now, how can I help you, Orion?" Chief Molu asked with mock confusion.
"Chief, my grandmother gave me a letter from my father this morning. The letter said that you would know more about my grandfather, that he had a file or something. Can you help me?"
The chief gently put down the folders in his hands and rested his arms across his great belly. As he thought, he could see Orion's left leg rapidly twitching like a jackrabbit on the run. The darkness of the office belied the sweltering humidity that enveloped the entire island, both inside and outside of its primitive dwellings.
"Son, I have a file in my cabinet that no one else has ever seen. If I show it to you, you must promise to never mention its contents to anyone else. Understood?" Chief Molu sternly asked.
"Yes," Orion solemnly vowed. His eyes widened as they followed the sluggish chief to a tall, wooden cabinet. After unlocking its doors and retrieving a thick, yellowed folder, the chief sighed and dropped the file on his desk in front of Orion, who eagerly snatched it up.
"That's your grandfather's research folder. He started his work nearly fifty years ago and continued to take notes right up until he disappeared for good," the chief explained.
Orion half-listened as he thumbed through the messy notes on parchment that his grandfather speedily etched as he sojourned various islands across the world.
"I don't get it," Orion complained. "What was Grandpa doing?"
"I think it would be better if I showed you," the chief replied.
After setting up an old film projector, the chief loaded a thick film reel and started turning the power lever to generate electricity in the device. Black and white moving images flickered across a screen on the wall while the chief spoke.
"One night fifty years ago, when your grandpa wasn't much older than you, several villagers witnessed some abnormally large shooting stars blazing across the night skies. Several days later, Portsmouth merchants brought in news that several large objects had impacted on nearby islands. That's what you're seeing on the screen right now. See how big those holes are?"
Orion's eyes were glued to the grainy images of pulsating mile-wide black holes surrounded by destroyed homes and fallen palm trees.
"Why are the holes glowing?" Orion fearfully inquired.
"Ah, well that's what your grandpa wanted to find out. He was a university student training to be a geologist, so he joined a local expedition to check out the hole in this island. Shortly after his team arrived at the local impact site, they planned an excavation. Those two students on the screen there went down the hole but never came back up."
Orion felt a thick lump in his throat. "What happened to them?"
"No one knows," the chief sighed. "After that, the island chief and elders sealed off the site and reported the tragedy to neighboring islands, hoping they'd close off their sites as well."
"And did they?" Orion asked.
"Half of them did. Luna and Delfino kept their sites open, and, of course, they also lost scientists who went down to explore the holes but never came back up. Even worse was when a group of school children decided to play near the site on Luna and three of them fell in. The island nearly broke out into a panic after that."
"So, if the islands closed up all their sites, how could my grandpa study them?"
"Well, first he checked the historical records to see if something like this had happened before. He found nothing. Being the, er, bold man that he was, he decided to investigate for himself in violation of island law."
"You mean Grandpa went down into the holes himself?" Orion asked in disbelief.
"That's what his reports say. Of course, no one in the scientific community believed him because he was still present, and authorities refused to arrest him for the same reason, but your grandpa said he visited all of the local islands to study their impact sites before branching out further across the ocean."
"Is that what Grandpa did during the twenty-five years after the shooting stars first appeared?"
"Essentially. He spent the first two or three years investigating the local islands. After we received news about islands across the ocean, he decided to travel further out, often for years at a time, to investigate their impact sites. As the years went on, the shooting star phenomena continued to occur in other parts of the world, prompting your grandpa to travel farther and wider to understand why they were happening."
Orion sat and thought for a few seconds before asking another question.
"So, when Grandpa left twenty-five years ago, was that because of more shooting stars?"
The chief shut off the projector but kept the lights dimmed in his office as he spoke in a low, deep tone.
"No. It was something far more bizarre than the shooting stars."
Orion swallowed another lump in his throat and asked,
"What was it?"
"On that day, your grandpa ran into my office all in a panic. He'd just come back from Neptunia in the Orient Seas when he said he made a staggering discovery: the pattern of shooting star impacts followed some kind of ancient legend that predicted great danger arising from the glowing holes in the earth."
"W...What kind of danger?" Orion stuttered as goosebumps emerged on his neck and arms.
"I wish I knew," the chief lamented. "Your grandpa was in such a hurry that he didn't tell me what the legend was before he stormed out. He apparently didn't tell anyone, including your grandmother, where he was going. The man could be at any of the 250 impact sites around the world, though they're all supposed to be sealed off and hidden from the public."
Orion was overwhelmed. He never expected to hear anything like this.
"Do you think my dad went to find Grandpa because he learned something that no one else knows about?"
The chief bit his lip nervously and sighed.
"I don't know, son. I just don't know. It's anyone's guess where they could be now. You can keep your grandpa's file if you'd like, but just keep it to yourself. No one but your father's heard anything about him these past twenty-five years."
Orion blankly gazed at the pages before him and closed them up in the old folder.
"Thank you, Chief Molu. I really appreciate your help."
"You're welcome, son. I only wish I knew more."
Orion picked up his grandfather's folder and left the chief's office. He decided to return home to study Grandpa's notes in the hope that they would guide him to his next destination.
"What is it?" he yelled.
A small, bookish woman entered. It was Nelma, the chief's secretary.
"Chief, there's a young man here to see you. He said his name is Orion. He said you'd know..."
"Yes, yes!" Molu barked. "Send the boy in!"
"Yes, Chief," Nelma sheepishly replied as she slunk out of the room.
A few minutes later, Orion opened Chief Molu's door without knocking. He couldn't wait any longer to learn about his father and grandfather.
"Welcome, boy!" the corpulent chief thundered. "Have a seat."
Without saying a word, Orion bowed and quickly pulled a shabby chair in front of the chief's desk before sitting down.
"Now, how can I help you, Orion?" Chief Molu asked with mock confusion.
"Chief, my grandmother gave me a letter from my father this morning. The letter said that you would know more about my grandfather, that he had a file or something. Can you help me?"
The chief gently put down the folders in his hands and rested his arms across his great belly. As he thought, he could see Orion's left leg rapidly twitching like a jackrabbit on the run. The darkness of the office belied the sweltering humidity that enveloped the entire island, both inside and outside of its primitive dwellings.
"Son, I have a file in my cabinet that no one else has ever seen. If I show it to you, you must promise to never mention its contents to anyone else. Understood?" Chief Molu sternly asked.
"Yes," Orion solemnly vowed. His eyes widened as they followed the sluggish chief to a tall, wooden cabinet. After unlocking its doors and retrieving a thick, yellowed folder, the chief sighed and dropped the file on his desk in front of Orion, who eagerly snatched it up.
"That's your grandfather's research folder. He started his work nearly fifty years ago and continued to take notes right up until he disappeared for good," the chief explained.
Orion half-listened as he thumbed through the messy notes on parchment that his grandfather speedily etched as he sojourned various islands across the world.
"I don't get it," Orion complained. "What was Grandpa doing?"
"I think it would be better if I showed you," the chief replied.
After setting up an old film projector, the chief loaded a thick film reel and started turning the power lever to generate electricity in the device. Black and white moving images flickered across a screen on the wall while the chief spoke.
"One night fifty years ago, when your grandpa wasn't much older than you, several villagers witnessed some abnormally large shooting stars blazing across the night skies. Several days later, Portsmouth merchants brought in news that several large objects had impacted on nearby islands. That's what you're seeing on the screen right now. See how big those holes are?"
Orion's eyes were glued to the grainy images of pulsating mile-wide black holes surrounded by destroyed homes and fallen palm trees.
"Why are the holes glowing?" Orion fearfully inquired.
"Ah, well that's what your grandpa wanted to find out. He was a university student training to be a geologist, so he joined a local expedition to check out the hole in this island. Shortly after his team arrived at the local impact site, they planned an excavation. Those two students on the screen there went down the hole but never came back up."
Orion felt a thick lump in his throat. "What happened to them?"
"No one knows," the chief sighed. "After that, the island chief and elders sealed off the site and reported the tragedy to neighboring islands, hoping they'd close off their sites as well."
"And did they?" Orion asked.
"Half of them did. Luna and Delfino kept their sites open, and, of course, they also lost scientists who went down to explore the holes but never came back up. Even worse was when a group of school children decided to play near the site on Luna and three of them fell in. The island nearly broke out into a panic after that."
"So, if the islands closed up all their sites, how could my grandpa study them?"
"Well, first he checked the historical records to see if something like this had happened before. He found nothing. Being the, er, bold man that he was, he decided to investigate for himself in violation of island law."
"You mean Grandpa went down into the holes himself?" Orion asked in disbelief.
"That's what his reports say. Of course, no one in the scientific community believed him because he was still present, and authorities refused to arrest him for the same reason, but your grandpa said he visited all of the local islands to study their impact sites before branching out further across the ocean."
"Is that what Grandpa did during the twenty-five years after the shooting stars first appeared?"
"Essentially. He spent the first two or three years investigating the local islands. After we received news about islands across the ocean, he decided to travel further out, often for years at a time, to investigate their impact sites. As the years went on, the shooting star phenomena continued to occur in other parts of the world, prompting your grandpa to travel farther and wider to understand why they were happening."
Orion sat and thought for a few seconds before asking another question.
"So, when Grandpa left twenty-five years ago, was that because of more shooting stars?"
The chief shut off the projector but kept the lights dimmed in his office as he spoke in a low, deep tone.
"No. It was something far more bizarre than the shooting stars."
Orion swallowed another lump in his throat and asked,
"What was it?"
"On that day, your grandpa ran into my office all in a panic. He'd just come back from Neptunia in the Orient Seas when he said he made a staggering discovery: the pattern of shooting star impacts followed some kind of ancient legend that predicted great danger arising from the glowing holes in the earth."
"W...What kind of danger?" Orion stuttered as goosebumps emerged on his neck and arms.
"I wish I knew," the chief lamented. "Your grandpa was in such a hurry that he didn't tell me what the legend was before he stormed out. He apparently didn't tell anyone, including your grandmother, where he was going. The man could be at any of the 250 impact sites around the world, though they're all supposed to be sealed off and hidden from the public."
Orion was overwhelmed. He never expected to hear anything like this.
"Do you think my dad went to find Grandpa because he learned something that no one else knows about?"
The chief bit his lip nervously and sighed.
"I don't know, son. I just don't know. It's anyone's guess where they could be now. You can keep your grandpa's file if you'd like, but just keep it to yourself. No one but your father's heard anything about him these past twenty-five years."
Orion blankly gazed at the pages before him and closed them up in the old folder.
"Thank you, Chief Molu. I really appreciate your help."
"You're welcome, son. I only wish I knew more."
Orion picked up his grandfather's folder and left the chief's office. He decided to return home to study Grandpa's notes in the hope that they would guide him to his next destination.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
The Old Wayfarer - Chapter 1
I never met my grandfather, but I've heard a lot about him. Maybe he's alive. Maybe he's dead. I have no idea. What I do know is that he was what the old folks call a wayfarer - someone who travels on long, mysterious journeys. The last time anyone in town saw Grandpa was some thirty years ago. Grandmama said that Grandpa told her he was leaving and that was it. Before I get too carried away, I should probably tell you a bit about myself.
My name is Orion. You know, like the constellation. My father was a stargazer and my mother was a mythologist, so the name came rather naturally to them. I live on the island of Mar del Sur in the Tropics. There's plenty of sun but little access to the outside world here. Most of what we learn about other islands and countries comes from the eastern shipping ports where sailors and stevedors trade secrets like old wives who swap baking recipes. Most of the stories told down in Portsmouth are probably inaccurate, but they sure are interesting.
I go to school at Southern Cross High on the far eastern side of the isle. School is about a mile north of home, and I walk there every day. That's mainly how I get to most places on the island. Only the rich can afford horses and carriages, so the rest of us make do with foot power. I'm not a great student, but I excel in history and language arts. My math and science skills leave much to be desired. I also work at the local market running goods in from the harbor when they arrive fresh off the boats at Portsmouth. That's how I know about a lot of the gossip that spreads through town.
My mother died when I was born, so I lived with my father until I was ten. At that point, Father decided to go off in search of Grandpa and left me to live with Grandmama. For the last five years, I've been going to school, working, and wondering about the two absent men in my life. I don't really talk to anyone about the disappearance of Grandpa and Father, though everyone on the island knows about it. None of my friends really ask me about them, probably because they know it's a sensitive subject. I got in trouble once in sixth grade when this one kid told everyone that Father left because he hated me. I punched the kid in the throat and nearly tore out his eyes, so I was suspended for a few days. Grandmama wasn't too happy about the fight, but she understood. She always does.
The reason why I'm writing all this is because of something that happened last month that really jolted me into action. I woke up early one morning to get ready for school when Grandmama called me into her room. The shades were completely drawn over her windows and the entire room was as dark as pitch, save for the light seeping through the door I opened. Grandmama was still in bed when she asked me to sit down beside her and listen. Her voice was raspy and low, as it always was early in the morning.
"Ori, there's something I have to tell you. Do you know why today is special?" she asked.
"Well, I guess it's my birthday. That's all I can think of," I replied.
"Exactly! Fifteen years ago today, you entered the world and lit up the southern skies," she proudly said as she took my hands in hers.
"But I have a birthday every year. Why is this one so special?" I asked, knowing well that Grandmama celebrated my birthday when I came home from school, not a moment before.
"Because I have a message from your father," she gravely uttered in the darkness. My heart began to race. The hairs on my neck and arms stood on end.
"What does it say?" I nervously asked, swallowing a lump in my throat. No one had heard from my father in over five years. What was this all about?
"Just before your father left five years ago," Grandmama explained, "he gave me a letter to pass on to you when you became a man. Fifteen is the age of manhood on Mar del Sur, so now is the time to give you the letter."
I could hear Grandmama reach for something on her bed and then felt the envelope between my fingers. I slowly took it and nearly dashed out of the room before she interjected,
"Whatever you choose to do after reading this letter, Ori, just know that I love you and will support whatever you decide."
"Thanks, Grandmama." That's all I could muster before I bolted out the bedroom door and stood against the kitchen window to read the letter that still looked brand new, protected from the elements in a slightly yellowed envelope. I didn't know what to think when I first read the only words that I'd seen from my father in half a decade:
"Dear Orion:
I trust that Grandmama has followed my instructions and given you this letter on your fifteenth birthday. I know that life has been hard on you these last few years, but I couldn't stay on the island any longer. On that day five years ago, I received a letter from your grandfather after nearly twenty-five years of silence. Naturally, I had to go find him, because I knew he was still alive.
I can't tell you now why Grandpa left us when he did, but just know that he could not stay any longer. If you want to learn more, go see Chief Moru on the western side of the isle. Ask him about Grandpa's old research file. That's all I can say for now. Perhaps some day we will meet again, but I fear it will never be on Mar del Sur. Godspeed, my son.
Father"
After reading father's letter, I told Grandmama that I wasn't going to school that day and decided to visit Chief Moru in the western province of Volu. I had to know more.
My name is Orion. You know, like the constellation. My father was a stargazer and my mother was a mythologist, so the name came rather naturally to them. I live on the island of Mar del Sur in the Tropics. There's plenty of sun but little access to the outside world here. Most of what we learn about other islands and countries comes from the eastern shipping ports where sailors and stevedors trade secrets like old wives who swap baking recipes. Most of the stories told down in Portsmouth are probably inaccurate, but they sure are interesting.
I go to school at Southern Cross High on the far eastern side of the isle. School is about a mile north of home, and I walk there every day. That's mainly how I get to most places on the island. Only the rich can afford horses and carriages, so the rest of us make do with foot power. I'm not a great student, but I excel in history and language arts. My math and science skills leave much to be desired. I also work at the local market running goods in from the harbor when they arrive fresh off the boats at Portsmouth. That's how I know about a lot of the gossip that spreads through town.
My mother died when I was born, so I lived with my father until I was ten. At that point, Father decided to go off in search of Grandpa and left me to live with Grandmama. For the last five years, I've been going to school, working, and wondering about the two absent men in my life. I don't really talk to anyone about the disappearance of Grandpa and Father, though everyone on the island knows about it. None of my friends really ask me about them, probably because they know it's a sensitive subject. I got in trouble once in sixth grade when this one kid told everyone that Father left because he hated me. I punched the kid in the throat and nearly tore out his eyes, so I was suspended for a few days. Grandmama wasn't too happy about the fight, but she understood. She always does.
The reason why I'm writing all this is because of something that happened last month that really jolted me into action. I woke up early one morning to get ready for school when Grandmama called me into her room. The shades were completely drawn over her windows and the entire room was as dark as pitch, save for the light seeping through the door I opened. Grandmama was still in bed when she asked me to sit down beside her and listen. Her voice was raspy and low, as it always was early in the morning.
"Ori, there's something I have to tell you. Do you know why today is special?" she asked.
"Well, I guess it's my birthday. That's all I can think of," I replied.
"Exactly! Fifteen years ago today, you entered the world and lit up the southern skies," she proudly said as she took my hands in hers.
"But I have a birthday every year. Why is this one so special?" I asked, knowing well that Grandmama celebrated my birthday when I came home from school, not a moment before.
"Because I have a message from your father," she gravely uttered in the darkness. My heart began to race. The hairs on my neck and arms stood on end.
"What does it say?" I nervously asked, swallowing a lump in my throat. No one had heard from my father in over five years. What was this all about?
"Just before your father left five years ago," Grandmama explained, "he gave me a letter to pass on to you when you became a man. Fifteen is the age of manhood on Mar del Sur, so now is the time to give you the letter."
I could hear Grandmama reach for something on her bed and then felt the envelope between my fingers. I slowly took it and nearly dashed out of the room before she interjected,
"Whatever you choose to do after reading this letter, Ori, just know that I love you and will support whatever you decide."
"Thanks, Grandmama." That's all I could muster before I bolted out the bedroom door and stood against the kitchen window to read the letter that still looked brand new, protected from the elements in a slightly yellowed envelope. I didn't know what to think when I first read the only words that I'd seen from my father in half a decade:
"Dear Orion:
I trust that Grandmama has followed my instructions and given you this letter on your fifteenth birthday. I know that life has been hard on you these last few years, but I couldn't stay on the island any longer. On that day five years ago, I received a letter from your grandfather after nearly twenty-five years of silence. Naturally, I had to go find him, because I knew he was still alive.
I can't tell you now why Grandpa left us when he did, but just know that he could not stay any longer. If you want to learn more, go see Chief Moru on the western side of the isle. Ask him about Grandpa's old research file. That's all I can say for now. Perhaps some day we will meet again, but I fear it will never be on Mar del Sur. Godspeed, my son.
Father"
After reading father's letter, I told Grandmama that I wasn't going to school that day and decided to visit Chief Moru in the western province of Volu. I had to know more.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
2011?
It's strange to me that this year is 2011. Ten years ago it was 2001. I remember when I couldn't believe it was 2001. Remember the space odyssey?
Every year I seem to experience what I call temporal disbelief: the inability to accept that a particular year has at last arrived. It's not the kind of condition that occurs every minute of every day, but once in a while I'll stare at the calendar in disbelief and feel unable to understand how I got to this point in time.
How about that shooting in Arizona? How about those riots in Egypt? What a crazy month January 2011 has already been. I can't even imagine what being in those types of situations would be like, but I hope for resolution and peace for all parties, especially the victims.
If we were all reasonable people in all kinds of circumstances, how would being reasonable affect our daily behavior? Is it possible for people to always be reasonable? I suspect not, but it can't hurt to try. Of course, perhaps we all have different definitions of reasonable.
I like raisins with my reason.
Every year I seem to experience what I call temporal disbelief: the inability to accept that a particular year has at last arrived. It's not the kind of condition that occurs every minute of every day, but once in a while I'll stare at the calendar in disbelief and feel unable to understand how I got to this point in time.
How about that shooting in Arizona? How about those riots in Egypt? What a crazy month January 2011 has already been. I can't even imagine what being in those types of situations would be like, but I hope for resolution and peace for all parties, especially the victims.
If we were all reasonable people in all kinds of circumstances, how would being reasonable affect our daily behavior? Is it possible for people to always be reasonable? I suspect not, but it can't hurt to try. Of course, perhaps we all have different definitions of reasonable.
I like raisins with my reason.
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