I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait for this recall election to be over. I have very fervent hopes that it will turn out a certain way, so I’m not one of those people who have thrown up their hands in frustration and decided not to care anymore. I care- but I swear that if I have to watch one more political ad or hear the phone ring once more with some research center on the other end of the line, I will shoot the TV, shoot the phone, or both. There is such venom in this race, and it’s flowing both ways – and after awhile it’s as though you can’t take any more of it into your bloodstream. And after awhile, all you can do is try to escape the maelstrom, at least for a few minutes.
Last night, when I was feeling an especially acute need to escape it all, I was so glad to have three WGTD interviews the next morning for which to prepare. It meant finishing Anthony Swofford’s new memoir “Hospitals, Hotels and Jails” – and then reading as much as I could of a powerful young person’s novel called “Never Fall Down” – and watching four amazing nature documentaries from the National Geographic channels. And with me on my little voyage of escape was Ellie. (Bobbi was someplace else in the house and Kathy had already gone to bed.)
As it turns out, neither of these books were exactly a feel- good romp through the park, although they were both inspiring in their own way. Anthony Swofford is pretty well known for “Jarhead,” a hard-hitting memoir of his experiences in the Gulf War. (His book was transformed into a gripping film starring Jake Gyllenhaal.) This latest book is also a memoir but it focuses on his efforts to rebuild the fractured relationship he had with his dad, a troubled and scarred veteran from the Viet Nam War. Swofford holds nothing back in describing the abuse he suffered at the hand of his dad, the tragedy of his older brother’s death from cancer, and the extremely rough time which he and his dad had through the course of several long RV trips. It’s the kind of book that makes you realize that whatever issues you might have with your own family, they are pretty darn minor compared to the Swofford household. But because father and son are finally able to reconnect, against all odds, this is also a story about how seemingly impossible dreams can come true – but it might take everything you have to give to it.
As if that wasn’t tough enough, I went from that to a novel called “Never Fall Down,” which springs directly from the true life ordeal of a young Cambodian boy named Arn Chorn-Pond, who was very fortunate to survive the so- called Killing Fields in his homeland. It turned out to be music that saved young Arn’s life because he turned out to have an exceptional gift for playing a certain Cambodian instrument in the small musical ensemble which the Khmer Rouge organized in one of their terrible camps – and their music, as much as anything, was to drown out the sound of the killings, which typically took place at a certain time of day- right when this music would be played. The terrible things which Arn saw would leave heavy scarring on anyone, but somehow Arn came through those terrible years with his spirit intact – and now he is working tirelessly to bring about better days in his homeland. This novel is written in his voice – and it’s designed for fairly young readers – but I couldn’t put it down. And beyond the inspiration of this survival story is also the valuable reminder that for as much as we might envision life as absolute hell if “the other guy” wins tonight’s recall election, real hell on earth is something else entirely . . . and this book gives you an unvarnished look at it.
Beyond those two books, I also watched most of a series of four documentaries from National Geographic called “Untamed Americas.” These four programs show us, in succession, amazing vistas and creatures from the Mountains, Forests, Deserts, and Coasts of the Americas. I was expecting these programs to mostly be celebrations of natural beauty, but in fact what they “celebrated” (not quite the right word) is how harsh and difficult the wild can be and the extraordinary lengths to which many creatures have to go to survive. The first scene in the Mountain program showed one lonely and hungry wolf pursuing a herd of caribou. 99 times out of 100 the villain would have been the wolf – but in this case, I found myself rooting for this noble creature to finally catch a meal. The scenes played out very dramatically, to the point where I was actually crying out at the screen – and Kathy finally yelled down from upstairs “are you okay?” I felt pretty sheepish trying to explain to her that I was worried about a hungry wolf. And things got only more dramatic from there, from baby sea lions to young parakeets living on the rim of a volcano to an amazing desert field mouse that manages to subdue and kill both a scorpion and a poisonous centipede, and then howling as though it were a miniature wolf. It was amazing. Again and again, the story was of the struggle to survive playing out in the unlikeliest of ways. And as I watched these life and death struggles breaking out, one after another, somehow it made the bitter battle royal playing out right now in Wisconsin seem a little less bizarre. And it helped me appreciate the ferocious sense of resolve with which both sides have approached this struggle. Yes, all of us are caught in the crossfire and there are a lot of people like me who just want this to be done, but there is also something quite impressive going on here. And it may sound corny, but somehow it was these National Geographic specials more than anything that helped me see it in that way.
So maybe I didn’t escape anything after all.
pictured above: Ellie watched most of the National Geographic specials – and at certain points leapt off the couch and started barking at the screen, whenever something a bit dog-like was shown. (The stuff about wolves got her especially excited- as did, oddly enough, the battling sea lions.)