Whenever I watched the right wing “news” channel during Hunter Biden’s trial, I heard hosts and commentators state that this was a Delaware jury that, in essence, had been captured by the Bidens. The jury would “nullify” and acquit Hunter. This was said again and again, not as a possibility but as a certitude. When I watched Fox News after the verdict, I only heard that the evidence against the defendant was overwhelming and the verdict a slam dunk. I heard no one confess error for any previous statements.

“Think before you speak is criticism’s motto; speak before you think creation’s.” E.M. Forster.

Kristin Hannah’s bestselling The Women is a powerful novel. In 1965, Frankie serves as a nurse in the Vietnam War. She makes strong friendships but also experiences the horrors of battlefield wounds, napalm, and Agent Orange. She returns to a divided America where no one wants to hear about her military service. With no outlet to process what she has experienced, she suffers flashbacks and spirals out of control. And that made me think about one of my friendships. My closest high school friend served in Vietnam. In 1968 I took a road trip with him from Chicago to Georgia where he was going to report for duty to be sent to Vietnam. We did not talk about the correctness of the war. We knew that he was going; we knew that I opposed the war. That reticence continued after he returned when antiwar activities had increased. Although we have spent much time together over the years, we have never talked about his experiences in country. The Women made me realize that I have not been the friend I might have been.

“It isn’t the man who controls events but events that control the man.” David Diop, At Night All Blood is Black.

I don’t understand airport security. For example, why do I have to take a computer or iPad out of my carryon at one airport and not at another? And what’s the deal with shoes? TSA is a national agency, so why do the rules vary?

In one of those surveys, which I am sure is highly scientific, Finland ranked first with the highest percentage of happy people. It has been at the top for the last six or seven years. When I hear these results, I think of my friend who worked for Nokia. She liked the work except for her frequent trips to the headquarters in Finland.  It amused her, though, that Helsinki was the only place where she saw women with blonde roots.

I grew up in a small Wisconsin town, but I grew up hearing the roar of a lion. There was a zoo. It had Japanese macaques, which I liked watching, and other animals I don’t remember — except for Sadie the lion. She was kept in a small cage. Not regularly, but often enough, she roared, which was sufficiently loud to be heard at our house. It never sounded fierce, only lonely and sad.

 “Silence is a virtue in those who are deficient in understanding.” Dominique Bouhours.