On the drive out to the pet sitting job with the Dachshund this morning, I noticed that there is a string of fire hydrants still wrapped in plastic garbage bags all the way out. The ground beside the road looked like it had been disturbed, though not recently. It may be a water line that was laid last fall.
It's a bad day in the news. The fallout from the earthquake in Japan is not a metaphor. In addition to the direct damage from the earthquake itself and the tsunamis that followed, one of the country's nuclear sites had some level of meltdown. The earthquake and tsunami damaged the pipes carrying cooling water to the reactor. They finally did get sea water in there for cooling, but not before a radiation leak had occurred. People are being tested and time will tell. The news story says that 170,000 people, all those within a 12 mile radius of the plant, have been evacuated.
Most of these people had escaped the worst damage from the earthquake and the tsunamis, so were still in their homes or at least their village. I can't imagine what it must be like to have survived those events and then, three days later, be told that a problem with a nuclear reactor may render your home uninhabitable.
The Middle East is not a font of good news either. The Arab nations finally (and very reluctantly) asked the UN to approve a No Fly zone over Libya because of reports that Qaddafi's troops are beating back the rebels and massacring citizens. Even if this happens it will take days, during which many more will be killed.
Driving home, I was wondering if the conductor for the Vermont orchestra would add a short piece to the upcoming concert in memory of the earthquake victims. One of the few things that a musical group can do is to acknowledge the damages of the world in a peaceful way. I expect that there will be many such moments in performances over the next couple of weeks. It is probably futile, but it's something to do when the scope of what is needed is so overwhelming.
On the heels of that thought, NPR aired a story about a woman who is getting recognized for her singing of sacred Tibetan music. She has been taught by one of the most revered masters of this music and, until a westerner recorded her, was known only to the religious community in Tibet. But that recording caught fire and she is now singing this music in secular settings. As a result, she is being criticized by traditionalists who charge that she is presenting this music in an inappropriate or disrespectful way. She was concerned enough that she asked her master about this - should she continue to perform sacred music in such settings?
His answer was one that, as a musician myself, didn't surprise me. But I thought it was was timely for this day.
He told his student that it was more important that people hear this music than that everyone understands and agrees with their beliefs. The music is beautiful, as is the way this woman sings it, and it just has to be put out there for people to hear. What happens after that is.... what happens. And you can't control that.
So this ramble seems to have found an ending. If there is a lesson, it's that you do what you can. You keep walking the dog or singing in the choir or playing in the local orchestra, donating a few moments of a piece in a concert in the hopes that it'll help make things better.
If there is something concrete, like getting the town to put install a water line and fire hydrants in your neighborhood, you do that. It won't do much for world peace, but if there is a fire it might mean you can focus on that good work rather than rebuilding the house. And the dog will still be around to take you out on walks.
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