MOVING ON.....2024

A Note From The Author: Jacqueline E. Hughes

I am so happy to welcome in the new year, 2024!!! My Blog is changing-up a bit....mainly because I am evolving. Travel will always take precedence in my life and, my journeys will be shared with you. This 2024 version will offer a variety of new stories and personal ideas, as well. This is all about having fun and enjoying this Beautiful Journey called......Life!!!

Thursday, September 21, 2017

STAYING CALM: NOTES ON HARVEY, IRMA, JOSE, MARIA, AND SO MUCH MORE



A series of essays.....








.....as seen through my eyes!





By: Jacqueline E. Hughes

Keep Calm and Carry On was a motivational poster produced by the British government in 1939 in preparation for World War II. The poster was intended to raise the morale of the British public, threatened with widely predicted mass air attacks on major cities. Evocative of the British 'stiff upper lip' and unemotional sounding self-discipline, the message, I believe, was thought provoking and served its purpose to the British people in its own, quiet way.

In the year 2017, we recognize this poster, albeit in its many new and innovative forms, as a soothing, informative, and self-supporting meme, typically humorous in nature, that has spread rapidly to multitudes of people via social media networks.






Courtesy: PC Wall Art



Various parodies of the original poster include: STAY ALIVE AND AVOID ZOMBIES (Author: Mark Baker); Keep Calm And Let the Dutch Girl Handle It (Recently posted on Facebook by my brilliant Dutch friend, Wilhelmina.); I'M FRENCH, WE DON'T KEEP CALM (Had to throw that one in there!) and, one of my favorite parodies that will get us through the year with understanding and peace is this calendar made-up of topical monthly reminders:

 
Courtesy: From the Heart


Keeping calm these days has become a literal 'Cone of Uncertainty' in and of itself and a minute shift from the left to the right could make a huge difference in which path our lives will follow. How is it even possible to remain calm, cool, and collected while living in an age of massive chaos, both in its natural form and man-made varieties? Are these forms interchangeable given the fact that man's ignorance of and/or total disregard for the maintenance of nature has served to ramp-up the grand furies offered to us by Mother Nature herself within this past year alone?

Having recently survived Hurricane Irma as she 'slapped' those of us in Central Florida as compared to her 'heavy fist pounding' of the Caribbean Islands and the Florida Keys, I can tell you that with each of her tiny wobbles and shifting itineraries, my heart would skip a beat. Having survived Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne, who crisscrossed their merry way through Central Florida in 2004, we knew that Irma was in a category all her own. She was stronger, meaner, tougher, and guaranteed to blow you away as she covered the entire state with her cloak of disaster. Never did my childhood memories of the hurricane scene in The Wizard of Oz hit so close to home as with Irma on our heels!

Harvey swallowed-up a portion of Texas only a short while before Irma and left the people there feeling hopeless and lost while the high waters and sheer pain of loss gnawed away at their future well-being. My heart aches for all who have suffered such devastating loss and must work so diligently to create a brighter tomorrow for themselves and their families...

The scores of wildfires plaguing our Western States had been the focal point of pain and loss prior to the advent of this season's hurricanes. Looking at this informational map of the United States sets the entire picture for the suffering currently being inflicted upon her citizens in the form of wildfires and hurricanes today.





Two hurricanes I have yet to mention are depicted on this map in burgundy along the East Coast. Jose continues to ramble along his crazy, circular path up near the coastline in the Northeast. It's as if he's waiting for his date, Maria, to catch-up with him so that they can dance together to the wild rhythm of power and glory before, finally, leaving us alone.

Hurricane Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm as I type this story. Not since 1932 has such a powerful storm touched the landmass of Puerto Rico with her potent wind gusts of over one hundred and fifty miles per hour. I can feel that sinking feeling in my gut as I watch the pictures coming out from this island. If you have never experienced the lead up of a possible hit or the direct punches of a powerful hurricane, I hope you are kind enough to understand why we choose to 'hunker down' in our homes and ride out the storm. And, we do know that you mean well and truly do care, however......

A mandatory evacuation is another story. This means that the likelihood of being caught in the direct path of the worst part of the storm, weather it be from wind, rain, or storm surge....is in your future and you must get out of harm's way because your life is so much more important than anything else you may own. It's exceedingly difficult to remain calm when someone is telling you that the probability of death is imminent if you remain where you currently are.

Mother Nature has unleashed her fury in the form of fire, wind, water.....and, within the past several days, she is adding earthquakes to her repertoire with two major quakes rocking Central Mexico and an underwater quake striking to the south of New Zealand, near the Auckland Islands, provoking the fear of those on the other side of the world, as well. A few moments ago, I heard of a magnitude 6.1 earthquake hitting off the coast of Japan sending tremors along the East Coast of that island.





The human spirit coupled with the possibility of survival combine to ultimately calculate the aftermath of these disasters. It may be raising your fist for silence as another victim is pulled from a pancaked apartment building in Mexico City, a human chain formed to pull a victim from rapidly flowing flood waters in Texas, or offering shelter and food to someone who has lost his home due to high winds in Florida. The essential nature of human kind is to help our fellow man after troubling times.

What about beforehand? Does the 'essential nature' of mankind extend to helping to thwart (man-made) disasters, also?

On the same day that hurricanes, fires, and earthquakes blast our world with their red-hot fury, and remaining calm can be the furthest thing from our thoughts, we are confronted by the illogical mind games presented by the appointed leader of our great nation as he stands before the United Nations General Assembly and spits out the words, "....we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. 'Rocket Man' (His nickname for Kim Jong-un, leader of North Korea) is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime."

I'll speak for myself when I say that I've always been told that blatant provocation is utilized by fools and the uninformed in order to stoke tensions that can lead them down roads they do not truly wish to travel. Let's face it, a provoked nuclear conflict would certainly be leading us down one of these sinister pathways!!!

Gambling on the welfare and mental stability of everyone here in the United States, as well as the lives of over twenty-five million people in North Korea, and the men, women, and children that comprise the fifty million people living in South Korea, is NOT an option here! Not to mention the people of Japan and Guam placed into the mix.

Headlines after his juvenile U.N. speech include:

NPR: "After Trump's U.N. Speech, Some Senators Look To Reinforce War Powers."

Baltimore Sun Editorial Board: "Who's the madman, Kim or Trump?"

Vanity Fair: "In Maniacal U.N. Soliloquy, Trump Threatens Annihilation."

Why would we even think that having a President threaten annihilation is a smart, practical tact toward obtaining world peace and the general welfare of mankind? Call me crazy for believing otherwise but, fighting fear with the use of fear can only create more fear and more hate and ultimate instability among these two leaders who do not seem to be the most stable people in the first place. Since diplomacy has been abandoned during the making of this unnerving scenario anyway, I say we place Don and Kim in the same padded room, lock the door and allow them as much time as needed to work on this child's game they have going between them.

Like any good Mother under similar circumstances might tell you, given sufficient time, they will work something out. They will have to. And, no humans, animals, or irreplaceable antiquities will be harmed in the meantime. A feeling of peace and calmness will prevail.

Immaturity and mean spiritedness should not be allowed to triumph, especially when so many lives are currently being disrupted by Mother Nature's wrath. Her extreme punishment will continue to pose a threat to life and limb as long as we continue to ignore the necessary role of mankind to Keep Calm and Save The Planet; Keep Calm and Save The Earth. 





It is our duty as Earth's temporary lodgers to be kind and to protect our surroundings to the best of our ability. Whether we are protecting the land from irresponsible human beings who disbelieve in global warming, or protecting the planet and all who reside here from annihilation by nuclear warfare, we know that our main intent is to keep our temporary home safe for the generations of people who will have the opportunity to correct our wrongs and make better lives for their children's children to come.

I have an unequivocal feeling that Mother Nature is telling all of us to change our bad habits now and that, finally, enough is enough!


Copyright © 2017 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved


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