Michael Robert Dyet's Blog, page 20

Beware the Byte of the Data Fairy

Hmmm, will this trial becoming soon to courtroom near you?

PROSECUTOR: Mr. Dyet, your testimony is that you entered all the data into the online form and saved it. But when you returned to the form later, it was empty.

MICHAEL: Yes, that iscorrect.

PROSECUTOR: Do you knowif you accidentally pressed “Submit” rather than “Save”?

MICHAEL: Let’s examinethat question. Accidentally implies Idid it without realizing it. So even if I did, how could I know I did?

PROSECUTOR: Just answerthe question.

MICHAEL: I don’t know.

PROSECUTOR: The questionrequires a yes or no answer.

MICHAEL: Okay. Yes, Idon’t know.

PROSECUTOR: You’reevading the question.

MICHAEL: Your fault. It’san evasive question.

PROSECUTOR: Let’s circleback to that one. You also testified that you entered the data in the form,your manager looked at the form and found it empty, you looked and found itempty but then checked back later and the data had returned. Is that correct?

MICHAEL: Yes, that’sexactly what happened.

PROSECUTOR: Come now,Michael. Do you really expect the court to believe that?

MICHAEL: If the courthas ever used a computer, it shouldn’t be hard to believe.

PROSECUTOR: How couldthe data be there, and then not be there, and then be there again?

MICHAEL: If a tree falls in the forest, and there is nobody there to hear it, does it make a sound?

PROSECUTOR: I fail tosee the relevance of your question.

MICHAEL: I fail to seethe point of you failing to see the relevance.

PROSECUTOR: Your honour,permission to treat Mr. Dyet as a hostile witness.

JUDGE: So ordered.

PROSECUTOR: I ask again.How could the data be there, and then not be there, and then be there again?

MICHAEL: You’d be betteroff asking Bill Gates that question.

PROSECUTOR: Answer thequestion!

MICHAEL: Okay, an evil data fairy removed the data and then put it back.

PROSECUTOR: You’retesting my patience!

MICHAEL: Now you knowhow I feel.

PROSECUTOR: Your honour,the witness is refusing to cooperate.

JUDGE: Mr. Dyet, you areout of order!

MICHAEL: You’re out of order! And you’re out order! This whole trial is out of order!

JUDGE: Mr. Dyet, I amdangerously close to finding you in contempt!

MICHAEL: You didn’t getthat? It was my Al Pacino impersonation.

PROSECUTOR: Ifnecessary, I will seize your computer and have it analyzed.

MICHAEL: Good luck withthat. Let me know if the data fairy returns my data.

Beware The Data Fairy. She lives in The Cloud, spreads pixel dust on our laptops and takes a byte out of our data. Virus and malware software cannot catch her. She travels invisibly via Wi-Fi and eludes all the nets set for her. She may be waiting around the digital corner of your laptop.

~  Now Available Onlinefrom Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites ofPassage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

Facebook Got Sucked into the Metaverse

Hmmm, have you heard thenews?

Facebook is no longer Facebook. Well, it still is what it was, but it is just calledsomething different: Meta. How isthat pronounced? Meta as in metaverse.What is the metaverse? Hold on, let us not get ahead of ourselves.

Facebook was not just Facebook. It was also Instagramand What’s App (and a bunch of othersubsidiaries) which were part of Facebookonly different. Different how? Well, Instagramand What’s App are platforms intheir own right. Well not platformsin the traditional sense of that word. They do not physically exist.

Well, that is not trueeither. They exist but not in the traditionalsense of that word. Which word? Exist,as in they occupy a physical space, except that they do not. That is what I meantwhen I said they exist but they donot exist.

Does that mean they areboth visible and invisible? Well, yes, sort of, but not in the traditional senseof that word. Which word? Come on, stay with me! The word is visible which is now divisible into whatis visible and that which is invisible.

Are you following me?No? What I am trying to say is I understand all of this, although not in the traditionalsense of that word. I comprehend itbut it is no longer necessary to understandthings as long as you comprehend themin the virtualrealm.

Well, not virtual in thetraditional sense of the word virtual.Well, it could be the traditional sense of that word if you are under 30. Butif you are over 40, it will be a different meaning of that word.

What happened to thepeople between 30 and 40? Well, I guess they got sucked into the metaverse (which is kind of like a blackhole but not really). I cannot actually say that for a fact but it seems like areasonable assumption, although that not in the traditional sense of reasonable.

Where was I? Oh yes, Facebook – which includes Instagram and What’s App – is now Meta,as in metaverse. So Facebook does notexist anymore? Well, it never really existedin the traditional sense of the word. But it still exists as it always has in the sense that you can still sign ontoit. But not sign in the traditional sense of sign on.

What I am trying toexplain to you is that Facebook wasalways more than just Facebook. Well,not at first, or course, but for quite some time now. Facebook was the sum of its parts, although not in the traditionalsense of that phrase.

You really have to stopbeing so literal or we are never going to figure this out. Not that I have itall figured out, but I figure I understand enough to comprehend it,figuratively speaking, of course.

Bottom line: Facebook is now Meta as in metaverse. Metaverseis kind of a metaphor although not in the traditional sense of that word.

Got it now? Good, couldyou please explain it to me?

~  Now Available Onlinefrom Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites ofPassage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That MakeMe Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

Little Jimmy’s Sad Day: Learning to Play Snakes and Ladders

Hmmm, what lesson islittle Jimmy going to learn today?

Little Jimmy is just anaverage kid. But he is about to have a very sad day.

“Mom, I’m going outsideto play.”

“Not so fast, buster.Put your helmet on.”

“I’m not going to ridemy bike. I’m just going outside to play.”

“It doesn’t matter. Youstill have to wear your helmet.”

“But why, Mom?”

“Because it’s not safeout there anymore. It’s for your own good.”

“But Mom, the helmetmakes my head hurt. It gives me a headache.”

“Well then, we’ll haveto take you to the doctor to see if he can give you permission not to wear yourhelmet.”

“Okay, I like Dr. Jones.”

“Oh no, we can’t go tohim. He’s not our doctor anymore.”

“Why not?”

“He said some things he’snot supposed to say. So he’s not allowed to use his training anymore.”

“Oh, alright! I’ll wearthe helmet. I’m going to play with Billy.”

“No, you can’t play withBilly anymore.”

“Why not? Billy is mybest friend!”

“Billy’s Mom doesn’tmake him wear a helmet, so it’s not safe for you to play with him anymore.”

“But I’ll be wearing ahelmet, so I’ll be safe even if Billy isn’t.”

“No, that’s not right. It’snot safe unless you’re both wearing helmets.”

“I don’t understand,Mom.”

“You’re not supposed tounderstand. Just do what you’re told, young man.”

“This sucks! I guess I’llgo to the Rec Center instead.”

“Okay, but you stillhave to wear your helmet and you’ll need a ticket.”

“Why do I need a ticket?I thought we had a membership to the Rec Center.”

“We do have amembership. But you still have to have a ticket so they know it’s safe to letyou in.”

“I don’t understand,Mom.”

“You’re not supposed tounderstand. Just do what you’re told, young man.”

“Ah geez, I guess I’lljust stay inside and watch TV.”

“That’s a good boy.”

Little Jimmy has learnedto play the modern version of the game of Snakesand Ladders. If, you wear your helmet, you can climb the ladder to yourhappy place. If you do not wear your helmet, you will slide down into the pitof venomous vipers.

But how will littleJimmy learn to protect himself from snakes if he is never exposed to them? Andhow will he learn to be a healthy and functioning adult if he is taught to fearhis shadow?

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week

Election Campaigns: Michael’s 5 Rules of Engagement

Hmmm, can our collectivepsyche withstand another election campaign this soon?

I have not yet fullyrecovered my patience, and my tolerance for mudslinging, from the recentfederal election that accomplished absolutely nothing. But to my chagrin, theshame and defame television ads for the next Ontario provincial election havealready begun.

The provincialConservatives are first out of the gate with their Steven Deluca is Kathleen Wynn reincarnated shot across the bow.There really ought to be a legislated cooling off period between elections toallow us to recover our sanity. But since that is not likely to happen, I aminstituting my own Rules of Engagement for election campaigns.

RULE1: No Jumping the Gun

No election advertisingof any nature can begin until the election has been formally declared. Noexceptions allowed. Any party that exploits what they believe is a loophole tothis rule will start the election at a -5 position in terms of seats.

RULE2: The Past is the Past

Any reference in anymanner to a previous party leader and/or Prime Minister/Premier is expressly forbidden.Those individuals’ day of fame (or infamy) is past. Let them live in pace andspare us the retroactive slander.

RULE3: TV Times Three Only

All parties are limitedto a maximum of three, one-minute television advertisements per week. A minimumof two of these advertisements must be positive in nature – expressing what theparty will do to make things better in the future rather than why the otherparty leaders are despicable beyond all reason and not to be trusted.

RULE4: Leaders Debate Protocol

There will be only one LeadersDebate. All participants will be wired to an electrical generator. If aparticipant goes more than ten seconds over their allotted time to answer aquestion, or interrupts another participant’s answer, or ignores the questionto reiterate their party elevator speech, or launches into an argument withanother participant, they will receive an electrical shock that renders themmute for thirty seconds.

RULE5: One Week Moratorium

A one week moratoriumwill be in effect on any form of campaigning in the week prior to the electionto allow the public to sift through the mountain of rhetoric for grains oftruth. During this week, the party leaders will be under a stay at home and keep your mouth shut order.

Modern electioncampaigns are for all intents and purposes a rhetorical war during which thepublic is held hostage against its will. We must flip the script and make theparties play by our rules or not play at all. Are you with me?

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week

The Cloud 5.0: A Prognostication

Hmmm, what will lifelook like by the year 2100?

We are in the midst of theFourth Industrial Revolution, aka Industry 4.0. This is the official titlefor life as we currently know it resulting from ongoing automation of traditionalmanufacturing and industrial practices, using modern smart technology,including the ubiquitous Internet ofThings (IoT).

A central component ofthis era is what is known as The Cloud– software and services that run on the internet rather than locally on yourcomputer. If you have trouble grasping the concept of The Cloud, you are not alone. Suffice to say that it is a worldunto itself that defies description – as nebulous as clouds in the sky fromwhich it takes its name.

The question is: Wherewill all of this technology ultimately take us? I will not pretend tounderstand more than the basic principles involved. But that understanding isenough for me to make a prognostication of what might – emphasis on might – come to be if we let it.

By the year 2100, wewill have reached the state of existence known as The Cloud 5.0. Here is a glimpse of what life could look like inthat not so very far away time.

Fully 80% of all jobswill be done by, or made obsolete by, automated machinery and technology. Consequently,20% of the working age population will be employed in technology positions. Theother 80% of the working age population will be deemed unemployable.

The 20% of adults whoare fortunate enough to be working will not be willing to pay taxes to supportthe other 80%. Governments will therefore get out of the business ofunemployment insurance and all forms of social support.

The 20% of employedadults will live in luxury, high security condominiums. They will eat, sleep,work and pursue recreation strictly within their place of residence. Theunemployable will be housed in barracks and provided with the barest necessitiesof life. Permission will be required to leave the barracks.

Traditional currencywill be abandoned in favour of cryptocurrency regulated by the Bank of The Cloud 5.0. A multi-trilliondollar, underground cybercrime industry will have evolved to exploit cracks inthe cryptocurrency system. Illegalsiphoningoff of 20% of cryptocurrency will be considered an acceptable threshold forthose controlling the purse strings.

The fragile structure ofsociety in The Cloud 5.0 will dictatestrict government control. Consequently, human rights will be abandoned in favour of human privileges which those in positions of authority will be empoweredto restrict or suspend as they see fit.

It will be considered acrime, under The Cloud 5.0 Criminal Code,to exercise personal, independent judgment or discretion. Severe penalties willapply.

Life will largely becarried out behind closed doors in TheCloud itself. The Cloud willevolve its own identity and consider itself the equivalent of God answerable to no one.

For the balance of thestory, refer to the book of Revelation.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

Truth and Reconciliation: Reversing the River

Hmmm, are we prepared tobuild the future together?

Unless you are leaving under a rock, you know that Canada observed the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation for the first time this week. The day honours the lost children and Survivors of the terrible residential schools as well as their families and communities.

.At present, the residential school system is getting most of the headlines – and rightly so. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission estimates that 6,000 children died while attending these schools. Some sources believe the real figure is closer to 15,000.

The discovery ofhundreds of unmarked graves on the grounds of some of the residential schoolproperties has renewed the trauma. Unfortunately, many more will likely befound. But the reality is that the residential school system was only one partof what amounted to cultural genocide carried out against First Nations people.

The root source of muchof this discrimination is the Indian Actthat was introduced in 1876. In addition to authorizing the residential schoolsystem, it also significantly restricted the rights of First Nations residentsand asserted control over reserve land. It is an Act that should have beenrepealed and replaced long ago. But it is still on the books.

Further back, the issue of land rights emerges. I did some research on this topic for a short story I wrote a number of years back. I learned about the Toronto Purchase.

The British negotiatedthe purchase of land from the First Nations in the 18th Century. Butthe First Nations people had no concept of land ownership. They believed allland belonged to the Creator and that they were only agreeing to share their land.

That treaty was neveractually signed and became known as TheBlank Deed. The British restarted negotiations in the early 1800’s and gotsignatures this time around. Disputes continue to this day over what waspromised to the First Nations in this and other treaties.

I have some personalexperience to relate. I grew up in Hagersville which borders the Six NationsReservation. High school age youth from some parts of the reservation werebussed into Hagersville High School. It was very much an us and them mentality.There were many derogatory terms used to refer to the youth from the Reserve.

I recall walking alongthe street after school one day. I saw a group of Indian youth ahead of me someof whom I had classes with. I sped up and caught up with the group. When theysaw me, they turned and declared: “You can’t walk with us. Don’t you know? Werape white girls!” They had a good belly laugh about it and continued on. The culturaldivide was clear.

History is sometimesequated to a river. Streams of contributing events converge over time to form alarger outcome for better or for worse. In the case of First Nations in Canada,it regrettably has largely been for the worse.

There is much to be doneto reverse the flow of that river looking ahead. Acknowledging uncomfortable,often unconscionable truths is a first step. Reconciliation requires thewillingness to correct mistakes where that is still possible and the desire tobuild the future together respecting our differences and celebrating oursimilarities.

 ~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes &Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

COVID: A Moment in Time

Hmmm, will it pass anyquicker if we hide from it?

Our second COVID summeris now behind us, although all that really means is that we are now in oursecond COVID autumn. We are not locked down which I guess is something forwhich to be grateful. But the fourth wave is keeping us masked and in many waysstill restricted.

Vaccine passports arenow the hot topic of conversation. On this issue there really is no middleground. We are hopelessly divided as a society. There is pro and there is con andnever the twain shall meet. Restaurant staff have the unenviable task of havingto enforce the passport policy – forced to be the bad guy in place of theregulators who make the rules.

We found our way througha COVID election which turned out to be the most useless election in Canadianhistory. It changed absolutely nothing in the House of Parliament. $610 flusheddown the bottomless pit of bureaucracy. The party that received the most votesonce again did not win which some find distressing. But that is low on my listof things I would like to see changed.

The NHL is gearing upfor another season with the prospect of substantial fans in the stands onceagain. But some players are standing on principle and refusing to bevaccinated. The league is tiptoeing around the issue with restrictions and sanctionswhile giving teams the right to suspend players who refuse to be vaccinated.

Working at home is stilla reality for many people. Deadline after deadline for returning to the officeor workplace has been cancelled or pushed forward. Meanwhile, senior managementare grappling with the minefield of vaccine policy – often searching for a safemiddle ground that may not exist.

Children are back inschool but socially distanced and masked. It is anybody’s guess whether or notin-person classes will last. And this just in: Toronto’s Medical Officer ofHealth is recommending that Ontario require vaccination for students who areeligible based on their age.

The new televisionseason is about to launch which lends some spice to our dreary lives in thecurrent circumstances. But our favourite actors in our favourite series areoften wearing face masks and writers are embedding the pandemic into plotlines. We cannot escape COVID even when we turn on the television to escape fora while.

What has any of this got to do with the photo at the head of this post? Absolutely nothing, and everything, simultaneously.

The point is that justabout everything in our lives at the moment is interpreted in light of, orfiltered through the lens of, COVID. No single issue in recent memory has soinfiltrated our lives and our minds. Even our language is changing.

But turn off thetelevision, the radio and your mobile device (yes, the mobile device too) andtake off your mask. Go for a walk on a nature trail where no one can imposetheir will on you and it does not matter whether or not you are vaccinated. Outthere nothing has changed

The Great Blue Heronstill stalks through the swamp in search of a meal and is quite happy to letyou watch. Life goes on there as it always has.

COVID is only a momentin time. It will not pass any quicker if we hide from it. But what we misswhile we are hiding can never be regained.

~  Now Available Onlinefrom Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites ofPassage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That MakeMe Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week.

A Three Ring Circus in the Seven Circles of Hell

Hmmm, is it worth allthe craziness to end up right back where we started?

I voted at the advancepoll last weekend partially to avoid the lineups next Monday. But alsopartially so I could justify tuning out all the rhetoric, backbiting andmudslinging among the political parties and their leaders in the last week ofthe campaign.

The shortened lead timefor the election this year seems to have amped up the nastiness. All the partyleaders – with the pleasant except of Green Party Leader Annamie Paul – appeardetermined to get in as much maligning as they would have in a longer run-up,if not more. Slander is now an approved election tactic.

Most people I speak withsay the same thing: If all you can do is tell me why I should not vote for theother guy, why should I vote for you?

But the behind the sceneexperts appear hopelessly out of touch. They still believe negativity willtranslate to votes. Maybe they are just caught up in a vicious, addictivecircle from which there is no escape. But hey, it pays well.

The particular electionhas the added elements of the pandemic and the vaccine passport issue to addfuel to the fire. They are political hand grenades that the party leaders keeplobbing back and forth hoping they will blow up in someone else’s hand. But ofcourse, they make sure to get as much mileage out of the issues as they can inthe process.

Trudeau is beingskewered for breaking his promise not to call an election during the pandemic.He is spinning the issue as be he can. I really did not want to do it, but Ihad to. We need a new mandate because the old one is… well… never mind about that.Choose forward to get the country through the pandemic. It hasn’t gone so wellthus far, but… well, never mind about that.

O’Toole is doing his bestto play both sides of the vaccine issue. Urging everyone to get vaccinatedwithout telling them they have to do so, except that you should, but not if youreally don’t want to, but you should want to, but not really. The only way tosecure the future is to vote Conservative. And a vote for the People’s Party isa vote for the Liberals.

Singh is charting acourse down the middle as political expediency dictates for the third horse inthe race. Everyone should get vaccinated. Its Trudeau’s fault that some havenot. O’Toole is part of the problem. Look at the mess the Conservatives landedAlberta in. We should not be in an election. But since we are, vote for me. We’refighting for you. No. not you, theultra-rich.

It is all a three ringcircus that has landed us in the seven circles of hell. Spirally madly downwardto an election day when chances are we will end up right back where we started –but $600 million deeper in debt and more divided than ever before.

I will be so glad whenthe whole charade is over. Well, not glad exactly. Relieved, perhaps, that themudslinging is done. Hopefully, it will take four full years to clean the mudoff all their boots.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions for subscribingare provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in theright sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week

Ground Zero: Never Again

Hmmm,if only we could retire the term for all time.

I donot have to remind anyone that today is the 20 year anniversary of the 9/11terrorist attack against the U.S. By now you have already either watchedseveral retrospectives in the media (many got a jumpstart by doing their storiesyesterday) or kept your TV and radio off to avoid them altogether.

By theway, I would really prefer that we not refer to it as an anniversary. I think of anniversaries as things to celebrate. Pickany word you want but that one.

We allhave our “where were you when” stories from that day. Here is mine.

I wasworking on the 28th floor of the Eaton’sCentre tower in downtown Toronto. We had a TV on in the board roombreathlessly watching the horrific event unfold. Needless to say, all of usthere felt very vulnerable as we watched the footage of the airliners crashinginto the twin towers of the World Trade Centre.

MostToronto companies shut down by mid-morning that day and allowed their shell-shockedstaff to go home. It was the right thing to do. However, the result was a largepercentage of the computing population of Canada’s largest city descending uponUnion Station at the same time desperate to get out of the city.

At thattime, there were no mid-day Go Trainruns from downtown Toronto to Brampton where I lived at the time. So I stoodwaiting on Front Street to catch a Brampton-Georgetown bus. The situationquickly deteriorated into an every-man-for himself competition to get to thedoors of each bus as it arrived.

Threebuses came and went and I was not even close to getting on one of them. The ever-growingcrowd was becoming a panicked mob. I feared for my safety should thingsescalate. I made a judgment call and went back into Union Station to catch thefirst train at 2:50 pm. I was wedged in with other riders, like sardines in acan, but made it home.

It wasa no-brainer that the psychological trauma of 9/11 would stretch out for years.The world no longer seemed like a safe place regardless of where you lived. Thespectre of terrorism was planted deep in our minds and has never shaken loose.

But we didnot know that the cloud of dust and smoke,from the collapse of the towers and the fires that burned for months, would betoxic and would lead to debilitating illnesses that are still manifestingthemselves today in some victims and rescue workers. This would become part ofthe enduring legacy of 9/11.

Ground Zero. Its origins are the U.S. nuclear tests of 75+ years ago. Hiroshima was ground zero in 1946. The twin towers site began ground zero in 2001. Let us hope that we never have occasion to use the term ever again.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me GoHmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2 . Instructions forsubscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructionspage in the right sidebar. Ifyou’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularlyto my page for postings once a week

Beetle Life Underfoot

Butsolitude is only a human presumption. Every quiet step is thunder to beetlelife underfoot; every choice is a world made new for the chosen.

BarbaraKingsolver, Prodigal Summer

Hmmm, perhaps it is pasttime for us to catch up on the protection side of our thunderous impact on thenatural world.

The quotation at thehead of this post is my favourite opening line to a novel by one of my all-timefavourite authors. There is so much wisdom and insight packed into it that I couldwrite pages on the embedded meaning.

It came to mind today asI was looking at the caterpillar photograph, at the top of this post, which Itook yesterday while on a nature hike. I looked it up online and determinedthat it is a White-Marked Tussock Mothcaterpillar.

I have not paid muchattention to caterpillars in my ramblings in pursuit of winged wonders. Butperhaps I should do so. The exquisite markings of this caterpillar and thefeathery hairs in which it is covered make it quite striking. Interestingly,the moth that it will eventually become is a rather nondescript off-white colourthat lacks distinguishing marks.

I occasionally get thesereminders of what I might be missing as I march along with tunnel vision. Howmuch beetle life underfoot is passing unnoticed as the relative thunder of myfootsteps sends miniature creatures scuttling for cover?

I could easily havemissed this Lance-tipped Darner if ithad not taken wing when I walked past its original perch. This particular speciesof Darner often perches low in thegrass effectively camouflaged and hidden from view. I had to search for aminute or two to locate this one even though I saw where it dropped down.

Darners are one of the largest dragonfliesand a personal favourite of mine. But how many have I walked past oblivious totheir presence because I was simply was not paying attention to the hiddenworld where they live?

You would think it wouldbe hard to miss this swarm of WhirligigBeetles frolicking about on the surface of a pond. But I did not noticethem until I was at the edge of the pond scanning for dragonflies. They weregoing about their frantic business in plain view but camouflaged by their sizeand their dark colour.

There is a wholeuniverse of beetle life underfoot in every acre of meadow or marsh or woodland.I have no doubt been thunder to it countless times.

It is not too much astretch to suggest that beetle lifeunderfoot is a metaphor for how wilfully unaware we too often are of ourimpact on nature. We are the creature with the most potential to both protectand to harm the natural world. We have done more than our share of harm. Wehave a lot of catching up to do on the protecting side of the equation.

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog .

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