Henry Hudson. Hudson River. Russian Jet Crash. Halloween. The Red Dot. The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Amazon Prime. Benedict Cumberbatch. Hamlet. Ophelia. European Refugee Crisis. Sumte, Germany. Nazi. Turkey. Erdogan.
I am gliding south on the 8:45 out of Hudson, down to the city for a few meetings this week and then will head back Wednesday evening. The Hudson River is still and mirrors the muted colors of fall. A barge makes its way north to Albany. In certain stretches, it is possible to imagine that this was the way the river looked when Henry Hudson first sailed north.
It is so placid a scene that it is almost possible to detach from the battering of the news.
It has been two days since I have written; Saturday afternoon I was having a late, for me, brunch at the Red Dot before heading home to service any Trick or Treaters. Several people were sitting not far from me, chatting rather loudly and raucously about their summer exploits of jet skis and pool parties, dancing and dating.
At the moment, I was reading the New York Times and was feeling very aware of the various crises that are engulfing the planet. A Russian jet had crashed in the Sinai earlier that day. More had drowned in the Aegean and Germany is preparing to settle nearly a million refugees within its borders.
The conversation happening not far from me grated on me. Unreasonably, I wanted to walk over and say to them something like: you fools! Don’t you know serious things are happening?
I didn’t.
They were having a harmless conversation. I have had harmless conversations about silly things, too. And I am also aware of what is happening in the world. It bothered me at the moment because on the Saturday of Halloween it seemed no one was paying attention except me. I was having a cranky old man moment.
Last year, there had been a few Trick or Treaters. This year, there were none. As I waited, I watched “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” from Amazon Prime. When I finished, I went off to bed to read a book, soon falling into the arms of Morpheus.
Early up on Sunday, I went off to Christ Church, slipping away after communion because I had a ticket for an HD version of Benedict Cumberbatch’s “Hamlet.” He and the production were superb. It is the first time I have witnessed a production that indicated that Ophelia was fragile even before the Prince of Denmark’s attentions.
At home, afterwards, I did some paperwork and read some more and am now heading down to the city.
The Russian airliner is much in the news; it apparently broke up in mid-air and it is being posited that some “external event” resulted in the loss.
In Germany, one small town of 102 individuals is being asked to take in 750 refugees. The Mayor of Sumte’s wife thought it was a joke when they were first notified. It has energized a youngish local Nazi who has a seat on the town’s council: it will be good for his brand of politics he thinks. This is a harbinger of the challenges facing Germany and those challenges also threaten Angela Merkel’s position as Chancellor.
Erdogan has won a big victory in Turkey, giving him the impetus to push forward once again with a plan for an executive presidency, not that it has been a de facto executive presidency since Erdogan took that office. He has been playing the role of both Prime Minister and President as he feels like it, a bit like the arrangement Putin had with Medvedev.
The day, which began gloriously, has turned grey as we have moved south. Mild temperatures are expected this week, a last gasp of Indian summer.
Loving to entertain, I am having two sets of people in for dinner this week.
We will talk, I’m sure, of silly things and serious matters and I will do my best to not be a cranky old man.
Letter from the Vineyard 
Letter From New York 11 24 15 That attitude of gratitude…
November 24, 2015Howard Bloom. New York City. Thanksgiving. Metrojet. Claverack. Howard Bloom Saves The Universe. Anne Frank. Jason Rezaian. Nancy Wiard. Penn Station. Chad Dougatz. Metrojet.
It is mid-afternoon and I am beginning this as I am closing in on New York City, on the train. I’m down this afternoon for Howard Bloom’s Podcast [Howard Bloom Saves the Universe, look it up on iTunes or howardbloom.libsyn.com/.
I have a breakfast in the morning and then I am scurrying back north for the long weekend. Trains were getting hard to get yesterday – every other one seems to be sold out.
Depending on when I get finished with breakfast, I may take an earlier train. I’m eager to be back at the cottage, priming for Thanksgiving. I have a few side dishes to make for the feast I am attending.
It’s cold today and it is going down to a mere 14 degrees tonight in Claverack. Yikes! I am wearing my winter jacket and have pulled out my favorite scarf.
But my hardships are minimal. I could be a refugee somewhere in Europe as the cold settles in on the Continent while, at the same time, finding themselves feared by the countries to which they have been fleeing.
Earlier today, in a Facebook posting, I saw that Anne Frank had applied to come to America but was denied. We weren’t very open to Jews before the war. If that visa had been granted we may have been denied her diary but she’d be 77 if she had lived.
That fact saddened me.
People are wrestling with what to do about refugees. Some of most liberal friends are now feeling fearful of accepting them. I have been seeing the postings on Facebook. There is great support for and there is great fear of refugees, both views understandable in the light of current events.
Jason Rezaian, a journalist for the Washington Post and who headed their Tehran bureau is headed for prison for an unspecified period of time. Holding both Iranian and US citizenship, he seemed a natural for the posting. The Iranians have convicted him of espionage.
He has languished in prison since July 2014.
Now, I am sitting just outside the studio while Howard is doing his podcast, discussing with Chad Dougatz, the host, the roots of Islamic terrorism.
Terrorism, the bane of our time… Just moments ago, my phone buzzed with a notice that the US has issued a global travel alert due to increased threats of terrorism.
My friend, Nancy Wiard, is traveling to the European Christmas markets. She sent me a message today from Amsterdam, which is close to Belgium whose major city, Brussels, home for the European Union, is under lockdown.
Multiple operations are underway in Brussels as I type.
It is believed that the bomb that took down the Russian Metrojet was placed under the seat of a fifteen year old girl, seat 31A.
I didn’t get to finish last night. Today is a beautiful, slightly chill, afternoon on the train heading north. I’m seated on the river side of the car and I’m watching the Hudson slide by as I move north.
As I headed toward the train this morning, Penn, not unexpectedly was overflowing with people heading out for Thanksgiving. It, too, had more than its usual contingent of police and soldiers. In the fourteen plus years since 9/11, I have yet to accept their presence as the new normal.
But, it is, and during Thanksgiving the city is on a higher alert level. More police, more soldiers, more…
Yes, the world is a grim place. The Turks have shot down a Russian warplane which kept, according to them, violating its airspace. Let’s just ratchet up the tensions, why don’t we…
However, I also read an article in the NY Times this morning about the positive health affects of being grateful, so I am attempting to settle myself into my “attitude of gratitude” mode. It will be a healthier place for me.
It is two days from Thanksgiving and tomorrow I will be prepping my contributions to our annual feast of gratitude and I will do my best to remember all the many things for which I am grateful.
Tags:Anne Frank, Attitude of Gratitude, Howard Bloom, Howard Bloom Saves the Universe, IS, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Syria, Thanksgiving
Posted in 9/11, Airstrikes, Columbia County, European Refugee Crisis, Iran, Mat Tombers, Mathew Tombers, Mideast, Paris Attacks, Political Commentary, Social Commentary, Syrian Refugee Crisis, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »