[Oe List ...] in a reflective mood today

[Katrin Ogilvy via OE]

Dear Del,

As we here in Australia come slowly out of a 'cold' (for us) winter, 
looking forward to warm weather we also prepare for the 'bush fire season'.

Here is an unsung hero from last summer:


                                           Australian Country Fire 
Association Volunteer rescuing a koala


On 1/09/2015 5:49 AM, Del Morrill wrote:
>
> Dear ones,
>
> Yesterday was a memorial service in Wenatchee, Washington (across the 
> mountains from us) for the three firefighters who died in wildfire 
> fighting (got trapped).  These men remind me of all those people who 
> choose jobs in which our own safety depends, at risk of life – hard on 
> families, yet how seldom do I take note of their sacrifice unless 
> something tragic hits the news.  How many fire fighters, rangers, 
> police, etc., have died in efforts to keep us safe?  How many 
> reporters have risked their lives to keep us aware of what’s happening 
> in the world? Many have died in that effort.
>
> And I think this morning, as well of the “silent ones” who work at 
> jobs that carry risk, but probably get no real public recognition – 
> workers on highway construction who are hit by careless drivers; the 
> ones who clean up after storms and try to restore services by handling 
> hot lines; coal diggers who have died so we could have heat and all 
> the rest that comes from that mineral; tunnel diggers and bridge 
> builders, so our cars could get somewhere faster; and so many others 
> that I probably have never heard of. They may have merited a line or 
> two in the paper, or given no recognition at all except by family 
> members and a few friends.
>
> I sit here in my warm, dry, comfortable home aware that, despite rain 
> AT LAST, after an exceptionally dry year here, there are still fires 
> not controlled in this area, and in so many other places in our 
> country – which means there are many more who continue to risk their 
> lives for our sakes.
>
> Then, along with remembering the death of 3, the same paper this 
> morning reports the death of a child, killed in her own bedroom while 
> doing homework, from a stray bullet by a gun fired outside. A recent 
> statistic states that, in the USA, there have been more deaths by guns 
> than in ALL of the wars and other conflicts in which our nation has 
> participated! Men (and women) are fighting natural disasters like 
> fires today, but how do we fight this particular disaster?
>
> With affection,
>
> */Del/*
>
> /Change of any sort requires courage. /
>

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe-wedgeblade.net/attachments/20150901/198ad38f/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: ATT000213111111.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 39595 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe-wedgeblade.net/attachments/20150901/198ad38f/attachment-0002.jpg>