A hot, humid rainy day. I brush up the remains of August, I am ready for autumn, I think. The artist living across from us, the one with a mental health issue, has been calling out from her upstairs window for at least an hour, her long grey curly hair is getting wet in the rainy gusts. It's a high pitched lament about something. I occasionally catch the odd word, nazi, pig, poison, cats. She does this at night as well and it will only be a matter of time before someone calls the police again. Last week as I saw her opening her front door, I briefly considered walking up to her and turned into her driveway - which is covered in small statues and crockery and bowls filled with broken glass and many sheets of paper with faded messages - but as I got closer, she lifted a hammer she had in her hand and hissed at me. I am considering calling social services although it will probably result in her being sectioned again and what do I know.
Last night I attended a meeting organised by our city's climate change committee where the various goals and achievments were patiently explained - once again. The 1000 fruit trees planted this year, the solar panels now on almost all supermarkets and school buildings, that kind of stuff. The first remark at the question and answer session afterwards came from an elderly guy who basically explained that it's all too little too late and what about the cherry trees in his street and anyway, who can insulate old buildings and all the faults of heat pumps and so on. Thankfully, someone cut him short with "if not now then when" and I realised that I had held my breath while he spoke, I was so mad. Eventually, during the informal part, with my glass of water in hand, I approached him with a couple of suggestions, especially regarding the cherry trees but he cut me short when I mentioned a website - I am not on social media! - and when I offered him a cell phone number of the tree activist group, he fiercely shook his head because, no cell phones either. I gave up.
We went walking a while back, deep in the country and through the woods. People have been living here since the 16th century.
And write their life motto on the truss beams.
This one is in the local dialect Allzevell es onjesond - too much is unhealthy.
Does the elderly man not understanding that you can phone a cell phone from a landline? Or he doesn't care? Or he doesn't want to have to accept that people are trying? I get so tired of people who say, but that's how we've always done it. That's fine but when we know better, we can do better.
ReplyDeleteToo much is unhealthy, too much of anything. True words.
And that poor lady across the street, that must be awful for her and for everyone around her.
My guess is that he is also not vaccinated.
Deletedoes this woman live alone? does she not have family concerned about her? she definitely has mental problems. and the old man. seems like he doesn't really want solutions only to air his grievances. maybe it is too little too late but what the hell, giving up and not even trying is just defeatist. and much as I voice my opinion that we humans are too stupid to survive, we have survived so far and I'm not a defeatist. so I'm all in on any and all measures. if not for people alive today, then for the generations that will follow even if those generations are shrinking (which actually is for the best, fewer people will help the planet regenerate). I'm impressed with your town/city's efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. I wish Americans were as intent and proactive.
ReplyDeletetoo much is unhealthy. my version is 'all things in moderation'.
That poor woman. She sounds tormented. She needs help, obviously but sometimes it's impossible to know what the right way to help would be.
ReplyDeleteGood for your city! It sounds like you've done very positive things to enact change and it's sad that some people just can't see their way to being part of that.
Too much of anything is unhealthy. Except perhaps, love. The good kind, the real kind, the genuine kind- for people or the planet.
She used to be a secondary teacher, much liked, and opted for early retirement to paint full-time. She has a website with her art work. Her life has always been very solitary, she got her meals delivered from local restaurants and would go for a daily walk to read the papers in a local cafe. We - the neighbours - know that she has a guardian and that she has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The last time I contacted social services, I was too late as another neighbour had called the police who broke into her house and delivered her to the psychiatric clinic. In a way that may be the best option now as that time, she came back much calmer and even greeted and conversed with people for a while.
DeleteInteresting motto. My mother's mother taught her nine children that "all you need is enough." And she used to pray that her children would have just enough, not too little to thrive, and not too much to stop striving. She was a wise woman.
ReplyDeleteSome people (like the man at the committee meeting) just like to complain. They're not really interested in trying new things or finding solutions. They want everything to stay the same, which is a futile hope in today's world.
ReplyDeleteThere are some people who cannot be helped. It sounds like this fellow has already made up his mind and helpful suggestions are not welcome. I applaud your local community for doing so much.
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