Tuesday - January 18, 2005
Long Shadows
There's
no moonlight and the sun is down, leaving the air suddenly and bitterly cold
after a nice warm day. Far in the distance, a mile or more in some cases, are
some lights. Some are flood lights, some are head
![CIMG0265.png](Media/CIMG0265.png)
lights, but they're all a
long way away. This is my new home in the high desert. I'm walking back to my
hootch in the dark after a slightly pleasant meal at the chow hall, trying not
to twist my ankle in a rut formed by the torrents of water that ran through
whenever it happens to rain.
As I walk
along I see movements to my side, but there's no one there. Very disconcerting.
I was getting a bit spooked. I see clear shadows of people walking by, but no
people. Are there ghosts in the Mojave?
More movements and I look around, listening for
people talking. I hear some laughter from far off, maybe a couple hundred
yards, but I can't see them very clearly. Off in the distance I see headlights,
maybe a
![CIMG0266.png](Media/CIMG0266.png)
kilometer and a half away. The headlights are blinking as people walk
around the vehicles.
I've found my ghosts. The Marines from so
far away are making shadows near me and even further. The air is so clear, the
land has no obstructions, vegetation, or buildings -- making the shadows very
long. They reach out and change how I see things near me. In the light of day
all is clear, but at night these eerie shadows dance and beguile the senses.
Here in the desert it's easy to see how something far away can influence our
perceptions. This happens all the time, but here in the scenic vacuum of the
desert the influence is starkly
apparent.
Most people wander about the
Earth not realizing how things far away change how they live. Most people live
their lives not realizing how things long ago affect their society.
I'm in the desert and I can see how
lights play with my eyes. I am in the desert and I can see how things in the
past affect me now. I am in the desert and I think I can know that what we do
now will impact the world for decades and centuries to
come.
But what that impact will be
isn't clear. I can only trust that what we do here in the desert will start or
continue to influence others and allow them to live in justice and
prosperity.
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