I drove into my garage thinking what a great day I was having and looked down to see the temperature gauge on my dashboard was registering firmly in the red zone. I had just been telling someone how great my 2004 subaru is, perhaps the greatest car ever made:) There was an entire model at one time describing in a fair amount of detail that our car problems reflect our issues.  Interesting, don’t you think? I remember they even separated physical and emotional elements based on which side of the car - driver, passenger, front, or back was impacted. Like my car I am a little dented, scratched, and rusted. There may be something to this theory.

So what does having the temperature gauge buried in the hot zone mean?

Unfortunately, I think it has to do with my frustration with all the uncertainties, controversy, and general volatility we face most days. In our little town we had bus drivers of migrants roaming, attempting to unload people in the middle of nowhere so they could allegedly take the train to Chicago, and then what? People with children, parents, friends searching in a strange country for a safe place. It is overwhelming to me. And yet knowing those buses were mere miles from me forced me to pay attention to how blessed I am and also to ask what could I do. I checked the internet and found several sources listing ways to support the migrant rescue operations. I was able to purchase some portable infant beds on Amazon that will ship directly to a site. It made me feel at least it was something. The constant barrage of political and social travesties can leave us numb. 

I was behind a large flat bed truck on the way to work and on the back in large letters was: LEONARD. Suddenly that was not just another vehicle on the road, it was LEONARD. Next in front of me was Terex, the cement truck. I realize it is easier to ignore the problems our world faces if the ones most impacted are nameless, even faceless. We hear and see the trauma and knowing all the names would be devastating. But keeping in mind that everyone on those buses has a name, is a human being, just trying to be safe in this world makes this all much more personal and in a weird way, more manageable. It is not just a bus, there is a LEONARD, hopefully not a Terex, but maybe even a Mary Lou. Blessings my friends and I pray the new year is kind to you. Mary Lou Nugent