So Much Grief
While I try my best not to succumb to gloom and doom, I can't ignore how tragedy has followed upon tragedy without a break.
We've lost hundreds of thousands of acres of timber to wildfires in at least six states. The Gulf Coast was hit by hurricane Harvey, leaving Port Aransas and Rockport, Texas destroyed and Houston devastated by flooding. In just days, Hurricane Irma struck Florida, leaving most of the state damaged or destroyed by wind and water and without electricity. That same storm wiped out the island of Barbuda, leaving it uninhabitable. Shortly thereafter hurricane Maria swept through causing untold destruction to Puerto Rico, the island territory that should be our fifty-first state.
Last week, a large slab broke free from the rock face of El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park, killing at least one person and driving hundreds from the park.
Then a madman opened fire on a crowd at a concert in a parking lot in Las Vegas, killing at least 59 and injuring hundreds.
All of this was taking place while Bali and other island nations were evacuating because of pending volcanic eruptions. Mexico had its own flooding from a hurricane, followed by a massive earthquake. There have been bombings, workplace shootings, subway stabbings and nuclear tensions with North Korea.
Our grief is short. Proper grieving is a luxury we are not afforded, before another tragedy strikes. Many people in Puerto Rico don't yet have water and basic supplies, we've already lost track of where things stand in Houston and Key West, not to mention Mexico and now this terrible act of mass murder has taken place in Nevada and changed our focus again.
The dead outside Mandalay Bay have barely been identified and I'm already bracing for the next devastating act by humans or nature. Will we get a chance to breath, to grieve properly and take stock of what needs to be done? So many infrastructures, cities, buildings, homes and lives to be repaired and rebuilt. All while we wait for another shoe to drop.
Stephen P.
We've lost hundreds of thousands of acres of timber to wildfires in at least six states. The Gulf Coast was hit by hurricane Harvey, leaving Port Aransas and Rockport, Texas destroyed and Houston devastated by flooding. In just days, Hurricane Irma struck Florida, leaving most of the state damaged or destroyed by wind and water and without electricity. That same storm wiped out the island of Barbuda, leaving it uninhabitable. Shortly thereafter hurricane Maria swept through causing untold destruction to Puerto Rico, the island territory that should be our fifty-first state.
Last week, a large slab broke free from the rock face of El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park, killing at least one person and driving hundreds from the park.
Then a madman opened fire on a crowd at a concert in a parking lot in Las Vegas, killing at least 59 and injuring hundreds.
All of this was taking place while Bali and other island nations were evacuating because of pending volcanic eruptions. Mexico had its own flooding from a hurricane, followed by a massive earthquake. There have been bombings, workplace shootings, subway stabbings and nuclear tensions with North Korea.
Our grief is short. Proper grieving is a luxury we are not afforded, before another tragedy strikes. Many people in Puerto Rico don't yet have water and basic supplies, we've already lost track of where things stand in Houston and Key West, not to mention Mexico and now this terrible act of mass murder has taken place in Nevada and changed our focus again.
The dead outside Mandalay Bay have barely been identified and I'm already bracing for the next devastating act by humans or nature. Will we get a chance to breath, to grieve properly and take stock of what needs to be done? So many infrastructures, cities, buildings, homes and lives to be repaired and rebuilt. All while we wait for another shoe to drop.
Stephen P.
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