TOMORROW AND TOMORROW.........
AND ALL THE YESTERDAYS....
Shakespeare: McBeth: Act 5
Hanns F Skoutajan
It was the eve of a new year and I was sitting by myself on a beach on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. I had decided not to go to the party at the pool. I could hear the sound of revelry as the celebrators gassed up for the big moment, the ringing of the New Years Bell and the explosion of fire works followed by Auld Lang Syne sung by a hundred inebriated voices. I have never been much tempted to party on that last night of the year. I prefer to be by myself meditating about the events of the last 12 months.
So it was that hugging my knees I sat on the sand, my back to the coloured lights, my ears tuned off as much as possible to the carousing, I looked out into the dark night. I had observed a freighter that had left the port and watched as its lights dimmed and finally disappeared into a new year that was fast approaching.
I imagined the new year to be like a curtain moving from across the sea toward the land. It would soon sweep over me like the tide that comes rushing in and transport me into a new calendar page. Onward it would go without pausing until somewhere out in the Pacific it crosses the International Date Line and all the world will be a new day, a new year.
I keep a journal and each time I crack open the binding of a new book I look at the lines and pages and wonder what news, events and reflections would be recorded thereon.
These last twelve months have not been easy as I battled metastatic prostate cancer. Soon after New Years Day I found myself hooked to an intravenous apparatus that dripped “poison” into my system to kill the cancer but much else as well.
The chemo did a good job knocking down my PSA considerably but it also played havoc with the blood cell production. The chemo was terminated and deemed intolerable to my system. I spent 2 weeks in hospital for blood transfusions and whatever else to restore my health. By the time I left the hospital I hardly had the strength to get up out of a chair. I was put on oxygen and with exercise gradually recovered. I began a new medication ($3,700 a month) that has no side affects but is only covered by healthcare if chemo fails or proves intolerable as in my case. Thank you dear tax payer! It brought my PSA reading to under “1” - quite a relief. My hair grew back, a bit more curly than before. I regained my weight and feel normal again. People comment on my healthy appearance if not my good looks.
Against this personal background a lot has been happening out in the world, much of it not good. A deadly ebola epidemic caused thousands of deaths in western Africa. In the Middle East war continues to rage against ISIS, Syria, the Kurds and Iraq. Thousands have become refugees in neighbouring countries . In eastern Europe the struggle between Russia and the Ukraine with other nations taking sides recalls the Cold War of the sixties. This time its not communism against capitalism, we are all capitalists now it seems. On the positive side half a century of hostile relations between the USA and Cuba are being “normalized”. Gas prices have plummeted but that may have dangerous consequences and there is talk of a major recession in the months ahead.
In Ottawa there are plans to construct a memorial to the victims of communism on the Supreme Court lawn. It is being supported by our very right wing government. Why not a memorial to the victims of fascism, racism, sexism and capitalism. All of them have left a trail of victims in their wake. How about a monument to man’s inhumanity to man.
In many countries economics is allowed, nay, encouraged to trump environmental concerns. The signs of global warming are readily apparent in aberrant weather behaviour and a continuously rising CO2 rate bodes badly for the future of life on this planet.
I could go on and so can you for there are many other concerns that flood our minds as the New Year dawns on the face of our globe. John Greenleaf Whittier wrote : “I know not what the future hath of marvel and surprise... “ Sometime it seems best not to but we can’t help but contemplate what lies ahead.
Thus, my thoughts inevitably turn to the next months and I am reminded that 2015 is an election year, a chance for Canadians to bring back “good government” on behalf of all Canadians. Electioneering including gerrymandering has already begun.
Friends of Public Broadcasting, an organization I support, has been struggling against our government’s intent to weaken and destroy the CBC. They send me a book every year about a notable Canadian. This year it is about Stephen Harper. “Party of One” by Michael Harris who documents the Harper government, or as the author puts it, the one man rule of Stephen Harper, to turn Canada into a corporate welfare state as well as an extraction venue. Harris argues that Harper is more than a master of controlling information; he is a profoundly anti-democratic figure. He illustrates how Harper has made war on every independent source of information in Canada since coming to power. Read it!
Naomi Klein in her recent book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate paints a rather bleak picture at times and in the end quotes Desmond Tutu , “to serve as custodians of creation is not an empty title, it requires that we act, and with all the urgency the dire situation demands.” The world has changed even since the 1980s. Dare we ask what it will be like at the end of 2015 if left unchecked?
My health struggle shall continue but my hope and heart is set for my wonderful granddaughter who in a few months will be eight years of age. I think of her and all her friends who deserve a country and indeed, a world at peace and an environment that is not threatened by human avarice. This is something worth fighting for. Don’t forget this as you face the ballot box.
The curtain sweeps from east to west and a new era is coming. Happy New Year!
Spirit Quest : December 30, 2014
Previously published stories may be found at skoutajanh.blogspot.com
