b4 days and counting

It's been a wild month.

The sad news is the death of my mother Olive, not
unexpected and yet we thought she might just last
forever... So, a quick trip to Kentucky became an
eight day stay.

Just prior to that, I was at a camp across the Puget
Sound from Seattle with a group of young people.
Beautiful location, good people, great coffee.

One of my plans has been to sell my car prior to the
big trip, and that is happening. I was down at the
Department of Motor Vehicles getting the title, and
was sitting across from a man who was pretty agitated.
He was muttering to himself, uttering expletives,
then began walking around and yelling at the staff.
He left, then tried to come back in, but someone hit a
hidden button and locked the doors. He left again,
but came back this time in his pick-up truck, and
drove it through the front doors! Glass flew
everywhere, but the metal door frames held. We were
afraid he was coming in with a gun, but thankfully
left and was soon caught by the police.

When it was over, I realized the clerk had gone to
print my car title when all this happened. This being
my fourth or fifth trip there (and they thought that
guy was mad!), I decided to stick it out. So, with
the place emptied out, broken glass on the floor,
police inside interviewing staff, and my clerk shaking
her head saying "I'm gonna look for another job--I
can't take this anymore", I finally got my title. You can
view a news report at http://www.abc15.com/news/schedule_archives/
and looking for stories from August 12.

I'm often asked if it is safe where I'm going. This
story illustrates that bad stuff can happen anywhere,
when you least expect it. If we hide ourselves at
home, if we fail to interact with and learn about our
friends in other countries, if we fail to be open to
new ideas and different ways of thinking, we are all
at great risk. Risk of intolerance, violence and war.
There are certainly risks inherent with travel, but
they can be managed with good planning and decision
making. The risks of living a life of isolation and
geocentrism are much greater.

JP

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