You can blame it on cabin fever. I thought I'd share some observations with all of you. My apologies in advance for this being probably too personal in nature, and more suited to an entry in a journal.
I woke this morning to the news that Northern Alliance troops had take the city of Kabul. There were joyous Afghan faces, all male I noted, waving at me from the TV, while I sipped my morning tea. The reporter, Sebastian Junger, whom I've met, talked of entering the city with the Alliance troops. His eyes looked bleary, his clothes dusty, and around his neck was a leather 'necklace' that he wore the day I met him. Something about that small detail made me feel more connected to the events. More than the man, more than any other detail, that thong of leather fixed me to this day and its events. After the morning news, I returned to the John Adams biograph by David McCullough. I read passages about Adams' beloved home and the field where he would stand and look out at Boston Harbor. I know that field. When I was a girl, my mother, siblings and I would walk the 3 miles or so to Hutchins Field, to enjoy that very view. Adams' time was certainly trying. He and his wife Abigail sacrificed much for love of country. One of the biggest threats of their time was smallpox. I find some small irony in that fact. As this country was being born, it faced threats not dissimilar to what we face today. And, like the members of this list, and the citizens of the United States, even among the founding fathers there was great disparity of opinion. History has never been more real and alive to me. Today I feel very much connected, on a deeply personal level, to this country's past and its current affairs. All because of childhood walks to a field and a small strip of leather. lots of love Anne
