Looking at all the pictures of fouled water and dying birds and fish, I find myself in serious need of an image of clean water. Unspoilt by the complex, all-too-human machinery of greed.
I seek solace in small things — the shafts of light beaming through a break in the clouds, lighting up the pollen-filled air… saving a beautiful little moth that took up residence in my coffee cup overnight, and watching it fly out over the back yard… stopping to watch the deer that ran across the road a couple of hundred yards down from my house, to make sure it’s heading safely back into the woods… the feel of my body unwinding and uncoiling after a long day hunched over the computer… a cool breeze wafting across my aching body as I drift off to sleep… The sound of an owl hoo-hoo–hoo-hoo-ing in the distance.
Great wailing and gnashing of teeth… this British Petroleum Gulf oil spill catastrophe is so horrific, I’m surprised the people responsible for it can show their faces in public. I’m surprised they are still in the positions they’re in. And I’m surprised that more individuals are not seeking retribution.
The lawyers have been called out, of course. That’s another piece of all-too-human machinery that’s become part and parcel of our collective experience. Someone, somewhere will be seeking retribution. They already are. It just surprises me that the response hasn’t been more explosive. And more personal. After all, someone in power must have explicitly said that any fault-finders on the rigs who complained about unsafe conditions would have to be sacked. Rig workers, from what I understand, don’t scare that easily. It must have been a powerful force that shut them up, and cost us all so much.
I guess folks on the ground are just trying to fix what they can when they can.
There will be time for rage later, when it’s clear that no more can be done under the circumstances, when the battle fatigue starts to wear off, and the reality of the situation starts to sink in. And it doesn’t go away.
I don’t envy any of the BP bosses. Just like I don’t envy the money managers who sank all their clients’ funds into Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme.
It’s all coming home to roost, now. I just hope we can survive it.
Broken Brain - Brilliant Mind 