The darkest evening
How the days and months seem to have melted away — melted away from dawns to darkest evenings that arrive earlier each day.
We are now approaching “the darkest evening of the year,” as one of our favorite American poets, Robert Frost, mentioned in his “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening.” Somehow there is anticipation and delight in contemplating the arrival of a time of celebration and yet, lurking there, the realization that it is the beginning of the arrival of our next season.
How very modern this thought is: always moving on to something new and different.
In November it was great pleasure to contemplate the gradual early arrival of darkness and the accompanying warmth and coziness of being at home with early supper and early to bed. And what would I read on these lovely long nights of comforting darkness? It would be fascinating to read about the ways our early ancestors tried to banish the dark and bring light to their lives, light brought to them by their campfires, giving them warmth, torches to keep away the predators as they sat closely together about their fires when gathering together for protection
How many images we carry in our memories of books from childhood describing early lives of chasing down animals to roast over their blazing bonfires and how fortunate we are, even the poorest of us, that we don’t even have to chase down a bowl of rice for our supper.
I always wonder if early man had time to gaze into the fire and gain a brief moment of joy and peace and relief from his never-ending hunt for food and warm clothing for his very brief survival.
Now as we approach the time of the winter solstice, I hope that there will be time to slow down and give thanks for this amazing world in which we live and perhaps even spend some time with friends, not discussing what a terrible state the world is in but what each of us might do to improve, in a very small way, our lives and the lives of others.
The darkest evenings of the year give us time to slow down, stop chasing the latest sales and substitute thanks for what there is right now. Perhaps practicing kindness would be a good place to begin as we feel the joy of giving ourselves to others. It is so easy.
Like melting.
— Edith Maynard, Lake Barrington
Wake-up call for schools
Is there a connection between what happens in the elementary school, middle school and high school? If not, there should be! Many elementary schools and middle schools are already tracking students. If you get stuck in the low math or reading class in fourth or fifth grade, there is not much chance of making it into any college track in high school.
I think Evanston is on the right track in that it is bringing to light the issue of high standards for all students (“School may end honors class; Proposal by Evanston Township High School to increase diversity in advanced course leads to charged debate,” News, Nov. 24). This is a wake-up call for all schools to raise their standards instead of putting kids in the “low group” in elementary school and reducing the chance that they will ever dig out of that hole.
— Katy Schwartz, Glenview
Airport security
I am a 75-year-old widow. I left O’Hare International Airport Nov. 22 for Houston. I was able to go through the scanner. This surprised me because I have a pacemaker.
Coming back I had a pat down in the Houston airport. Piece of cake.
What’s the big deal?
— Joy Sutphen, Glenview
Political tantrums
As a liberal Democrat, my nightmares these days feature Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, who were elected on the strength of the temper tantrum thrown by the hysterical left, lo those many years ago.
Are we going to shoot our foot off again?
— Al Kirkland Jr., Elgin
Political futures
When asked by Barbara Walters, in a recent interview, if he thought about a potential contest with Sarah Palin in the 2012 elections, President Barack Obama stated that he hadn’t thought about the possibility of facing her and remains focused on being the best possible president.
This is the same person who started campaigning for the 2008 presidential race right after he was elected as a U.S. senator from the state of Illinois. This is the same person whose campaign staff started planning his 2012 re-election campaign immediately after he was elected president in 2008.
The primary job of any politician is getting elected and staying elected. Much of our tax dollars are spent by elected officials securing their political futures. If we had single-term limits for every political office, then elected officials could truly concentrate on the job at hand.
For Obama to say that he remains unconcerned about a 2012 re-election bid, he would be playing a game of Blind Man’s Bluff.
— Ray Cziczo, Antioch
