Autumn afternoons here, perched high above the bay are quiet, interrupted only by chattering  of squirrels high in the branches of the cedars, hollering directions to each other, as they methodically pick, fling and hide the cones to build their cache of food for the coming winter.  Spider webs criss-cross the garden to catch the unaware, and as you go about your business, and what yucky shock you get when a great fat garden spider is flung in your face as you walk into his trap.  We desperately need rain here in the Pacific Northwest, and as raindrops finally began to fall this last Sunday, I actually jumped for joy and hooped and hollered, only to have my hopes dashed as after about two minutes, the skies cleared and the sun came out after three days of overcast skies and promises of rain.

     As I write this, the low murmur of the TV tells us that more troops are needed to win the war in Afghanistan, for better or worse.  One can only hope that they are effective, and out of this terror can come solidarity around the world that will encompass all nationalities, creeds, and faiths.  One can only thank heaven that we, as women, weren’t born in Afghanistan, where women had to live under the most extreme of oppressive slave-like conditions. They have had a few years of freedom from the horrors of the Taliban, but those evil forces are gaining strength.  Forces were deployed to Iraq to fight a false war, when they were still needed in Afghanistan.  I cannot imagine a life where one has and to laugh would be considered a crime.  We as Americans take our freedoms far too lightly, and must remind ourselves we also have to stand up for what we believe in, before some insidious force from within, or without, begins to erode those Freedoms we do enjoy.  All we can do is reach out in friendship to those around the world who have been indoctrinated to see us as the enemy.  In this age of global information, somehow it would seem that those prejudices might be washed away.  Unfortunately it is not so, there are always extremist fanatics whose only wish is to die in the name of religion, and religion has been the cause of wars since time immortal. 

     I for one can only turn to friends, family and garden for solace and comfort. When one is in a garden the kindly face of God shines through, but when thoughts turn to war, with so many numbers of young men dying, and killing, for their religious beliefs, one begins to wonder where does God go in times of turmoil.