What a weird day. And we're still in it. Lockdown at the local high school, due to a shooting. No one hurt. But trouble there, for sure. Wild weather: sudden storm, surprise sun.
My husband is retrieving our daughter. Area businesses have provided food. I baked two banana breads while trying to stay updated. Heard from our daughter intermittently via borrowed cell phone, so we know all is well.
Ah! She's home!
But now I connect it with A Vision, by William Butler Yeats, written via his wife's activities as a medium. That's a weird fact I remember from high school English class!
Anyhoo, Richard Fox is part of an upcoming reading of selections from Changing Light, and Robert McDonald discusses Merrill re: Lurie in the EIL Blog. With fascinating broken-camera art by William Miller and these amazing paintings by Xue Jiye. Quija board is courtesy Wikipedia and public domain.
We've learned a little more about the lockdown situation now, and I send you to this amazing interview by Charlie Schlenker of WGLT radio, talking to Sean Kennedy, a fellow student of the shooter. We are glad everyone is safe, grateful for the courage of those in the classroom, and grateful, too, that the school system has a plan and had rehearsed it and could carry it out. Grateful to local police, as well, of course! Feeling bad for the shooter, who is clearly terribly troubled. I hope he'll get some real help now.
12 comments:
Wow, I'm so glad she's home with you and everyone is safe.
I'll check out the latest offerings at EIL. Looks like beautiful work, as usual.
Thanks, Mark. We're glad, too, and so grateful.
In keeping with the Ouija aspect, I had weird feelings all week...in pit of my stomach. Gone now.
i was reading the EIL interview when you first posted about the lock down. more than i want to say in this space, but the ouija board making its appearance now brings forth all sorts of affirmative head nodding on my part.
so glad everyone is safe and i, too, hope the young man is able to get good help. listening to the interview i was struck by how fair minded sean was and also how much the shooter was pleading for help. oy.
Feeling the same, Sherry. Admiration for Sean, compassion for the shooter, hope that he gets the help and attention he needs.
Actually glad my kids are no longer in school - they're in jail.
No, no, just kidding. They're not incarcerated .... yet
I thought I'd had a rotten week, but your post and link just make me so very sad. Sending your Normal community a mental hug.
Thank you. I'm glad it's the weekend, and people can be with their family wamilies.
Yikes. So glad everyone is safe. Thanks for the postings and spreading the word on the Merrill evetn!
I know gun control is an extremely touchy issue in the US. Several years ago the conservative (yes, conservative, not liberal) Howard government brought in strict gun control laws and buybacks of arms, prompted by the outrage at a particularly horrific shooting rampage in Tasmania. The result is a massive reduction in shooting deaths. There was fierce opposition to the new laws at the time, but now almost everyone agrees it was a good thing.
By the way, I never vote for Australian conservative parties, but I do give credit where it is due. Of course, gun control would be much harder in the US with your more porous borders. We are an island. Glad things were not too bad in your area.
Jeronimus, thank you so much for your thoughts on this, and the info about Australian gun control. We so clearly need better gun control here in the USA, and each time some awful thing happens, I hope more people will see the need and help support legislation.
So glad you and yours are okay! What a surreal experience. Sorry you had to go through it. :(
Indeed, surreal, and super real and too real. Thanks, Natalie.
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