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September 14, 2005
I hope you have heard of THE Sweet Potato Queen,
Jill Conner Browne
. She has written some hysterically funny books, which involve sinfully fattening recipes and rules for re-virginating. Her books are wonderful reads if you happen to be, say, sick in the bed or in sorry need of an immediate life horse laugh. You really will feel better for getting involved with the Sweet Potato Queens! Jill Conner Browne is outrageous, sassy, and right on the money here. I’ve included an excerpt from her recent e-mail message that quite neatly sums up my own opinions on the monster disaster of Hurricane
Katrina:
They took us on a "tour" of Gulfport and all I can tell you is—whatever photos or videos you've seen of the devastation in Mississippi—multiply that by the biggest number you can think of and it won't begin to approach what has actually happened. It is absolutely STAGGERING and we only saw one teeny-tiny part of it. To look at it is to be filled with a sense of defeat and hopelessness—it is just TOO HUGE to think about.
But there is NO sense of defeat or hopelessness in any of the people we met and worked beside. There is only acceptance of what HAS happened and a tremendous sense of being UP TO THE TASK—NO MATTER WHAT.
I am sick to death of all the blaming and the "THEY didn't do this" and "THEY didn't do that"—yeah, it's a big, giant MESS but it is NOBODY'S FAULT and at the same time, IT'S EVERYBODY'S FAULT. There IS NO "THEY"—THERE IS ONLY "US." We are not governed by ALIENS—OUR GOVERNMENT IS US. We can't sit on our collective asses for years on end, complacently ignoring huge problems—and then pitch a fit when "THEY" can't immediately fix stuff for us when the big dooty hits the fan. Yes, it is a disaster and all that that implies in every sense of the word. But THEY didn't cause it and THEY can't fix it—IT IS OUR PROBLEM AND WE HAVE TO GET TO WORK. First to clean up the actual physical mess and then to become involved in the civic and political processes to make sure that WE are better prepared in the future. I'm just saying, you're either part of the problem or part of the solution—and bitching and moaning is NOT part of the solution. SHUT UP AND SHOVEL.
That’s a pretty good estimation of the situation, don’t you think? I love "Shut up and shovel!" You can get the whole e-mail message by sending a request to
sweetpotatoqueens@info.randomhouse.com
and telling them you want to read the whole deal. You can visit Jill Conner Browne’s Web site at
www.sweetpotatoqueens.com.
I could not find this particular e-mail message posted on her Web site, however, so there doesn’t seem to be any quick link to what I want you to see. Just send her an e-mail.
The Very Reverend Sam Candler
, Dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip (Episcopal) in Atlanta, spoke to the same subject when he said that the “strength of moral preparation is its ability to meet the unexpected tragedy. When we are morally prepared, we can encounter all sorts of calamity and still do the right thing. Consider, for instance, the awful reports of crime and looting occurring after Hurricane Katrina. What caused that crime and looting? Did the hurricane
cause that? No, a lack of moral foundation caused those incidents. …The morally lazy will always blame someone else. The morally lazy will wait for someone else to wade into the water.” You can read this excellent sermon in its entire by clicking on this link:
http://www.stphilipscathedral.org/sermprint/Sept_11_2005_Dean_Candler.htm
. Dean Candler’s words have stayed with me since I heard him speak them. Am glad they are to be found online so that I can share them with you. I hope you will consider them and keep them as I have. Sometimes it is a good thing to review just how we are living our lives.
Hurricane Ophelia is blowing and dumping rain on Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina as we speak, on her way to the Outer Banks. During our many years as residents of Wilmington, North Carolina, we lived through numerous hurricanes and just accepted that weather as a part of life on the North Carolina coast on the Cape Fear River. We owned a lot of camping equipment so that I could cook in the garage when the electricity went out, which also took our water supply whenever it went. I remember when Hurricane Diana, a Category 2 storm, hung around off the coast for three days in September of 1984, pounding us the whole time. As I think back, I guess my worst problems were the downed trees and power lines and keeping my little boys occupied while being housebound. It wasn’t really too safe to let them outside when the weather abated between the rain bands because of the wandering snakes and other possibly much larger reptilian creatures.
We never experienced a hurricane as ferocious as Katrina, but tales of Hurricane Hazel still abound in the local lore of Wilmington. Hazel arrived on October 15, 1954 and hit during the highest lunar tide of the year bringing an 18-foot storm surge in some areas. That Category 2 storm recorded record rainfall and massive destruction of the New Hanover County beaches. Brunswick County beaches fared even worse. Taxpayers refurbished the beaches, but those beaches are no doubt gone again. That very costly replenishing of beach sand deal is about the stupidest idea going. Legislators should simply refuse to do it because it is a colossal waste of money. Might as well throw all those millions of dollars into the ocean.
I have heard of a fabulous suggestion, although I cannot document who said this or where, about how America can pay for the rebuilding that Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi sorely needs. RETURN THE PORK. Have all the legislators return the pork that was attached to the bills that Congress just recently passed. Returning all that federal money for projects that benefit odd and strange projects would go a long way toward fixing Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. Somebody called me with this idea, but could not document where they had heard it…perhaps National Public Radio? If somebody can identify the author for me, I would be really grateful. It is a stupendous idea.
Hope all is well and thanks for reading.
091405
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