The Morning Walk

We were up just as dawn was breaking to walk on the trail alongside one of the lakes. We heard the first birdsong and there was a beautiful golden sunrise to reward us on the way back. There is a lot of beauty in The Natural State, as they call Arkansas. Judy reminded me that when we lived in Northern California we used to drive off weekends in search of it; usually north in the direction of Point Reyes. Its beauty is more spectacular; great waves roll in from Japan to pound the white beach. But it is always cold and a strong wind blows. The beauty here seems older and more restful. The Oauchita Mountains are eroded; the best soil washed away long ago.. The flowering trees are in bloom and the azeleas -- there are around a hundred kind -- are in blossom.

The news as usual is bad. The Polish president and other high-ranking officials and their families died in a plane crash. It was pilot error. He tried to land in heavy fog despite advice from the ground. Why is the news always bad? For the same reason history mostly concentrates on wars, the violent rise and fall of empires, and other troubles. Good people and quiet times -- when rarely they come -- lack what it takes to interest others. There is no drama, no crises, no high stakes to be won or lost. History was supposed to be over when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. Instead, the Cold War was seen to have merely been a temporary interruption of the much older struggle of Islam against the West and the rest of the world.

We gave up watching TV news long ago; me for its left wing bias. The robust health of FOX compared to the anemic performance of the rest of the news organizations shows I'm not the only one who thinks so (Judy is uninterested in the news, period). The market is so small in Arkansas the local news shows have a low-rent look. The anchors are young and generally unattractive and don't dress with the stylishness you see in the big cities. The news itself is small bore as befits a place where not much of general interest happens. Radio is even worse. Unless you can stomach NPR -- Nancy Pelosi Radio as conservatives call it -- and its smug liberal take on developments, you are left with ABC news bulletins on AM stations where radio time is so cheap you can go from one end of the dial to the other hearing nothing but commercials. Car salesmen seem to think their message is more effective if delivered fast and loud. I am usually on to the next station before they get a third word out. "Blowout sale at . . ."