vive la vie

just one more morning

i had to wake up with the blues
pulled myself out of bed

put on my walking shoes
went up on the mountain

to see what i could see
the whole world was falling

right down in front of me

~ gregg allman
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My wife and I visited Nice, FR, in 2013. 

It is a city of great natural and cultural beauty, a place you could feel connected to and comfortable in no matter where you are from. In our time there the locals were welcoming and gracious; they helped us with our (very) limited grasp of their language, and spoke to us in ours when it was clear we were clueless. 

The city buzzed with the energy of the Ironman Triathlon coinciding with our stay; the Promenade des Anglais was full of sponsors and vendors and running gear and smiling people. Thousands of miles from Seattle, I felt completely at home. 

Today, in the anguished hours following another vile, insensate attack on the concept of civilization itself, I wonder how we humans have managed not to wipe ourselves out of existence. We've had plenty of chances over the millennia, and yet like cats with far more than nine lives, somehow we manage to hang on. How? 

I think it's because when things are at their intolerable worst, there are still people who remain civilized. They don't turn into snarling animals, they don't indulge their worst impulses, and they don't make a bad situation worse. They gather themselves and their loved ones and their dignity and their humanity, and they say, "Nope. Not gonna respond to barbarism by becoming a barbarian. Not gonna kowtow to the ignorant by burning libraries. Not gonna bow to the artless by setting fire to the Louvre. Nope. Not gonna happen. Not on my watch." 

We humans are a strange bunch. We are the only species that commits atrocities against our fellow creatures, and the only one to build universities and hospitals and museums. We run great distances, create works of miraculous beauty, send people into space, and occasionally cure cancer. 

We also kill each other in great numbers, without reason or regret. The disconnect is inexplicable. 

We live in dangerous times ~ but taking the long view, humans have endured much worse. Our ancestors would shake their heads in wonder at our first-world fear worship. A moment's reflection may be in order any time we see someone shouting at the rain and calling it a tsunami.

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Stay steady, friends. Breathe. Know that things may get worse before they get better. 

Our job, our tiny contribution to history, is to make sure they do get better.

#vivelafrance