News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
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I never got flu shots because I preferred to have my immune system do the work. COVID was different. Too many people in my life were vulnerable. I wanted them to live. Though I’d been vaccinated, I hadn’t been boosted. On October 31, yes, Halloween, and barely able to drive to the clinic in Redmond, I was given a rapid test. Moments later I was ushered out the back door, a sheaf of papers tucked under my arm. COVID. I’m pretty sure it was Delta, with the temperature spike for days, dark dreams, and a lost sense of smell and t... Full story
Traditionally, the New Year has been about anticipation, new light and life, reset, beginnings — but not this year. Most people speak with trepidation about the future. Hope feels stunted. Unrest hovers, a feeling of flux, so we wait with bated breath to see what the New Year will bring — not in anticipation, but with unease. The uncertainty is real, old systems and ways of doing things failing. We’ve lost trust in optimism because it hasn’t relieved anything. We’re told, on all sides, everything is rigged. All o... Full story
“Love is not real.” I remember blinking in surprise and being somewhat dumbfounded. It was said to me some years ago at a Christmas gathering here in Sisters. The person who spoke went on to say that people are basically egocentric, self-centered. They may live or die for their ideals, but ultimately, it’s to feel good about themselves. OK… Many philosophers and theologians agree that humans are basically self-involved, trying to survive in a speculative world, but this was a new concept for me. I began to wonde... Full story
I have family members who feel alienated in Oregon, muzzled, unable to speak their minds in what they perceive as a liberal state. After Thanksgiving they will search for property in Florida, to be in the sun and have fun with people who think like they do. They actually used the words “joining our tribe.” I can honestly say I empathize. I like to think of myself as independent, objective, looking at both sides of an argument. Yet, nowadays, not taking a firm stand is considered weak, unworthy. When others voice strong and di... Full story
Last week I saw a man carrying a sign on the streets of Sisters saying “take the diaper off your face.” I felt a flash of anger, then purposely squelched the fire. That man happens to live in a country where He is FREE to have an opinion and to express it, even if it shames and belittles others. He is free. Still, I will suggest there is another freedom slowly being syphoned from our precious moments. It concerns the pursuit of happiness, inner freedom. This inner freedom is being replaced daily with provoked ind... Full story
