A Short Post From Crappy Suburbia

 

 

 As usual for me, August brings nothing but endless yard work and long, hot humid days with me dreaming of cooler weather. That was the case last weekend since my daughter and I decided to do the mowing and trimming on Saturday. By the time we were finished the only thing I wanted to do was get cleaned up and vegetate on the couch for the rest of the day.

I've done this blogging long enough to fully understand that a weary and overheated Beach Bum does not create audacious fiction nor insightful essays. However, I still wanted to post something so here is some new Jimmy Buffett. 

Have a good week and send me ideas on how I can get my wife to let me go to the coast next Saturday. Understand this, any ideas offered I will consider. I will not held back by moral or ethical concerns. I need a sandy beach, ocean waves, and a salty breeze.      

A Little Hope

From my viewpoint the world geopolitical situation is one huge alleyway dumpster fire that threatens to engulf surroundings buildings. Yeah, I fully understand that its been like that since history began. The difference from the vast majority of what has gone before being the nearly eight-billion humans now living on the planet and a whole host of apocalyptic weapons that could sterilize everything down to bacteria. Not that there isn't beauty, wisdom, kindness, compassion, and a little hope going on all over the place, its just that the blazing dumpster tends to over shadow the tiny flower growing from a crack in the sidewalk.

About a years or so ago my wife and I stumbled upon a video showcasing disabled kids living in Chinese orphanages. Being that our daughter was adopted from China, we know more than the average people about the conditions these kids have to overcome. What we learned about one small boy though broke our hearts.

Wu Keyuan was born without ears and was seven years-old at the filming of the video. We quickly learned that airplanes were his favorite thing to draw because that was what his mom and dad would use to come get him and take him home. What tore me to shreds was that past a certain age China doesn't let orphans get adopted, and that Keyuan was already past the point of easy placement for kids with no disabilities. But in the video I remember Keyuan repeatedly saying that he had to “Be patient,” that his parents would come.

It didn't take much to realize that Keyuan probably learned that response from an overworked staff dealing with more kids than they had energy and time to give. The image of little Keyuan stayed with me until I googled, “Chinese orphan with no ears” last week and learned some happy news.

A couple living in Singapore saw Keyuan and having already raised three other boys more or less moved both heaven and Earth to bring him home. As a parent of an adopted child I realize that there is no clean, happily ever after. The trauma of being an orphan and leaving his friends behind will be tough on Keyuan. Then there is his hearing disability which will require numerous surgeries to correct and years to recover. But with a family now to support him just maybe things will work out.

With the world going to shit and powerful men doing their best to make it worse, I'll take this one ray of hope as a sign things might one day get better for us all. 

China orphan who broke our viewers’ hearts finds a home, 4,500km away in Singapore

Eight-year-old Keyuan is spending his first Chinese New Year in Singapore with his new parents - who fell in love with him after watching a Channel NewsAsia documentary on China’s unwanted children with disabilities.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/china-disabled-orphan-keyuan-singapore-adopted-alenah-9965340

John McCain 1936 - 2018

Putting the bitterness and inherent divisiveness of politics aside for the moment, I have to clearly state that John McCain was a genuine American hero and patriot. I am not saying he was perfect or that I ever really agreed with his political positions. The truth of the matter is that back in 2008 when McCain was the Republican nominee for president I cringed at the thought of him handling the financial meltdown should he win the election. And to be honest, I thought the man had lost his marbles picking Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Despite the fact that I couldn't ever support Senator McCain's positions on most issues, I never for a minute doubted that he always had the best interests of the United States as his ultimate goal. Politics is a dirty game that at times forces good people to say and do things that they would otherwise refuse to take part. The best we can hope for in democracies like ours is that the people elect decent men and women who can come together and forge a compromise that ultimately advances everyone's' interests. I honestly believe John McCain the vast majority of the time was one of those decent people.

Now it's easy to scoff at politicians of all stripes and yes, elected office does seem to attract the lowest common denominator types looking for an easy way to gain power and influence. But in John McCain's case, no one can question his devotion to the United States given what he endured as a prisoner of war. Did he come from a privileged background? Yes, in a way since being the son and grandson of U.S. Navy admirals surely wasn't a hindrance to personal achievement. But the thing no one can deny was that he honorably served his country, whereas many children of powerful people just live off their trust funds or skate by doing as little as possible avoiding danger and commitment at all costs.

No, I didn't agree with John McCain on a lot of things. I personally feel some of his positions were backwards and outright dangerous given the world we live. But the thing is I believe that if a person agrees with any elected official one-hundred percent of the time they very much need to reexamine their way of thinking. John McCain was just a man, prone to mistakes like us all. But he was a good man who truly loved his country and will very much be missed.