As I stood in my kitchen before Thanksgiving, relishing the opportunity to experiment with a couple of recipes, one from the package of the cornmeal mix I was using, and the other from my friend Vicki Lane, I did not think about the women standing in their kitchens in countries threatened by our own country's drones and armaments. After listening to the President last night speak about escalating the war in Afghanistan, I began to think about them. To think about preparing a meal for children, parents, and husband and to be blown to smithereens by a drone controlled by someone sitting in California.
When I read of the numerous missed targets in Afghanistan and on the border of Pakistan, I shudder. We don't hear about these missed targets much in our media. And the President certainly will not acknowledge them. The families and neighbors remember, though. And I have vowed to think about these nameless women in their kitchens each time I prepare a meal, especially a holiday meal.
Yes, I will feature my post on my kitchen experimentations and my Thanksgiving meal, which was a success, if I do say so myself, but each time I do, I will have these women in my mind. I hope we all do, as the holiday season bears down on us with its demands and seductions.
5 comments:
Beautifully said. We certainly do need to think more about the families. We were one of those families during WWII with my father in the Phillipines when I was born. We didn't meet until I was 18 months old and had chicken pox.
Sam
The drones are one of those evil inventions that make war too easy. For every 'surgical strike,' how many botched operations must there be.
I am very disappointed in Obama's decision to continue this unwinnable war. The costs on both sides are so staggering . . .
Sam, what a story and what a closure--chicken pox. Have you written about this?
Vicki, I'm with you. The lessons of war never stick, do they? As poet Ruth Stone calls it--"the message that fails again and again." (From a piece about 60's anti-war protestors.)
i've been watching the WWII in HD specials that aired recently, and that is what I keep thinking of - if people in the US had to deal with war on their own land, would they be so ready to go to war?
The drones are one of those evil inventions that make war too easy. For every 'surgical strike,' how many botched operations must there be.
Work from home India
Post a Comment