But I'll

My kids complain about the lack of "free time" for themselves. Time for watching TV, behind computer, playing games. Time to play with their friends "outside" the house "somewhere" in the little village we live in. I did not tell them yet how life was when their grandpa was young. But I'll ;)

Last Sunday I interviewed - for a historical newsletter - an eighty-eight year old woman about her life. Between 1937 and 1944 she went to boarding school. Her days were stuffed with prayers, lessons and study. Never alone. Always nuns looking after them. Even the letters she wrote to her parents and her parents letters to her were screened!

I understand how it worked more than seventy years ago. At the same time it feels strange and so different from our time and age. Respect for priests, teachers and authorities in general disappeared. The hot tub, the scourge and the safe-haven of the doctrine of Christ has disappeared. Disappeared in my country. In my family. For my kids.

My kids aren't looking for Christ or God. They want "freedom". I didn't tell them yet that nothing comes for free. But I'll.

Needle

On the radio someone said "like a needle in a haystack". I want to share with you 3 minutes of my stream of consciousness while driving home Monday evening.

First minute. Needle in a haystack. Difficult to find? Manlike problem solving: set the haystack on fire. After the fire use a magnet or metal detector to pick up the needle.

30 secs later. Bashar Hafez al-Assad (1960- ?soon?) difficult to find in Syria? I am convinced that "they" know where he is but it's not the right time to kill him. First his army has to be defeated some more. Much more blood has to be to shed! If not, Assad's group will not be convinced that they "lost" the war. His regime can't be beaten by just killing Bashar. 

10 secs later. Are Assad and his wife Asma (1975-?soon?) still having a jolly good time sharing music? By now they must be afraid of their - and their 3 children's - asses. Do they realize that their fashionable life with kings and heads of state is forever gone?

Last minute. "They" follow Assad and their main targets with drones. Next to spies on the ground. I wonder if drones carry a transponder or another airborne collision avoidance system. If not, it's a matter of time before people get killed by "unknown flying objects". Better: for them unknown flying objects not sending identification signals.

Last 5 secs. Flying in a glider. Feeling like a king in the blue sky. Just enjoy flying ... and out of the blue you collide with a drone. Killed by a drone ... for heaven-sake.

And You Can't Buy Them With Money

And Died no Mar

A lovely poema from Vinicius de Moraes (1913-1980):

Source: here

And next to that - I could not have said it better - a quote from Vinicius' poem 'Procura-Se Um Amigo':

"(...) it's enough to be human, it's enough to have sentiment, it's enough to have heart. You have to know how to speak or be quiet, more than anything you have to know how to listen. You have to like poetry, dawn, a bird, the sun, the moon, the song of the winds and the music of the breeze. You must have love, a great love for somebody, or feel a void of not having that love. You must love your neighbor and respect the pain the passer-by carries with him. You must keep a secret without sacrificing."