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Grandmothermara

Listed below are comments made by Grandmothermara between Saturday, 13th September 2008 and Monday, 16th March 2009.

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Are you an Office Evangelist? 02:45am on 16 Mar 2009 I have to admit to passing on my enthusiasm for "Firefly" to quite a few people, as it was passed to me by my son and daughter, but, unfortunately, much too late to save the series. A real pity!
Where's the 'real' John McCain? 5:10pm on 26 Oct 2008 Thanks so much for putting your finger on exactly what's been bothering me about McCain. I would have voted for him myself if Clinton had been nominated. But once he chose Palin for VP, I've really wondered what's going on with him. How could someone who cares about my country put her in the position of president-in-waiting to someone over seventy?
An unconventional Church 8:24pm on 05 Oct 2008 Thanks, Jon! As you move across the southern part of the US, I'm more and more impressed with the even-handed manner in which you're taking a look at our country. Now, if you could just visit us in the Northwest....

My feeling about the country is that it's so big it's split into many smaller cultures. There's less influence from the media, newspapers, movies, TV, that once gave us a fairly bland mix, an "America" that immigrants could join. Now it's people who believe one way, or who's view of the world is from a particular direction, all talking to each other, not to people who believe differently.

If anything, a small town forces you into close proximity with people of different backgrounds and beliefs. They aren't as easy to ignore. Sure, many small towns have a lack of racial and income diversity, but that's diminishing.

On the other hand, a larger place, like St. Louis, has enough people who think outside the mainstream to bring them together to support each other, as this article points out.

Anyway, good work! I look forward to reading more.
Run for your life 4:23pm on 18 Sep 2008 Congratulations on tying in the Native community! I've spent quite a bit of time on reservations in the NW and in Canada (reserves, there) and I think that you did a good job of pointing out the issues. What you may not realize is how difficult it is for someone to walk with a foot in both cultures. Yes, the poverty is bleak, the alcoholism is a tremendous burden, the physical and sexual abuse has been tremendous, but the ones who rise out of it are often the ones who also have deep roots in the culture. One elder I know made sure her son went to ceremonies, that was her first priority, then she supported him in becoming successful by the terms of our culture. He's now a university graduate and world class martial arts expert. She would tell you that the spiritual and cultural roots of her people give them the strength to do anything. They just have to put them first.
Fingers on buzzers 9:16pm on 17 Sep 2008 I live in a small town, too, on the west coast, north of Seattle. And, yes, the community is real plus, a lot of willingness to help out, no matter how far apart our religious and political differences. I'm all for helping ourselves, and our families, but, let's face it, modern realities often overwhelm our small town resources. Just look at the aftermath of Hurricane Ike. We're part of a global community, with factors that affect us that are far beyond our control. Small towns work for many of our social and physical needs, state and national and world networks work for others. And voting for someone (like Palin) just because they seem like "folks" isn't going to help much when that person has to grapple with world issues. Me, I don't trust her one bit.
Annie, get your gun 9:22pm on 15 Sep 2008 One of the problems with having such a large country is that we tend to talk to people who think the same way we do.

I'd love to share thoughts and feelings with someone who loves guns and hates gun control. I disagree on some issues, but I think we could each understand WHY we feel the way we do. But the opportunity to do so is limited.

A blog, such as this one, is a poor substitute for face to face conversation. As a facilitator of a drug and alcohol responsibility class, I was taught that a huge amount of nonverbal communication drops out when we talk on the phone. Another large chunk drops out when we write a letter (or an email.)

A real, face to face, give and take of both deeply held beliefs and the feelings that underlie them would be the best medicine for the chasm between cultures in our country.
Magic bus 2:48pm on 13 Sep 2008 As I'm sure other people have pointed out, the route you're taking is through a particular cross section of the US. Nothing wrong with that, unavoidable. But I do wish you'd gone up the West Coast. Life's a bit different here and it's really impossible to understand our point of view without living, at least for a while, in the presence of huge mountains. They put the world into a different context, they're always there. Drop by sometime!
No place like home 2:43pm on 13 Sep 2008 I was struck by this comment, ""Everybody's going to save us. You know what? When I was going through it, nobody saved me."

That, I think, is the major change we're going through. Used to be, no one but your own family was your "support group." Then things changed to "the government needs to save us." Now, we're learning that perhaps it's our responsibility after all.

I'm all for the government doing what it can, but taking care of ourselves and our families needs to be top priority.

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