Posts Tagged ‘Minnesota’
Introspection City (A Meditation on Life, Minnesota, and Struggles)
Have you ever been in this place I find myself? Looking inward, because looking outward makes no sense?
Over the past six months, I’ve lost so much stuff. Some of it was important to me — favorite books, various small things like dishes and glasses that didn’t make it in the move (not that it would help much if it did, except make me feel better, as it’s all in storage), other things that gave me comfort every day — and some wasn’t. But there’s no denying that much of how my life is lived has changed.
I stand at a crossroads of possibilities, yes. Some are very low-level possibilities (like finding a second guy as good as Michael was); some are higher-level possibilities (such as visiting another country for a while, as I’ve been invited to two different places) that seem impossible due to financial constraints. My health also limits me more than I’d wish, had I my druthers.
The amount of time I have for myself is very low at the moment, which is why my books continue to languish as “out of print” (which is weird, because they were always ebooks anyway, so technically were never print at all). Because of the struggle of the last several months on various fronts, I continue to make strides back to the life I’d thought I knew. It wasn’t always wonderful, but it had enough time in it to write both music and words, for me to think about what I should do next, writing-wise, and I was able to juggle all my various commitments to home, work, and family well enough that I knew I was still in there, fighting.
I’m not sure what fighting looks like right now.
Remember how I said, above, that looking outward makes no sense? I am struggling with what’s happened in Minnesota, as two people who shouldn’t be dead are, and while there’s some dispute about the first tragic death, that of Renee Good, there’s not a whole lot of dispute regarding the death of ICU nurse Alex Pretti. He went to another woman’s aid as he didn’t like it that five or six ICE officers were holding a rather short and slight woman to the ground and beating her. They’d pepper-sprayed her and they pepper-sprayed him, but he managed to help the woman up…only to get tackled himself, and then shot several times. He had a gun tucked into his waistband but did not draw it. (There are multiple angles of view, enough so that AI — artificial intelligence/images — shouldn’t be a problem here. They were posted in real time, too, when it happened, and witnesses confirm what happened along with a doctor — a pediatrician — who attempted to help Pretti stay alive.) He had a legal permit to carry a firearm (I’m not sure why he felt he needed it as a nurse, but it was his right), so all the nonsense about him carrying a lot of ammo and such and supposedly being an agent provocateur or whatnot is ludicrous.
Milwaukee, which is the biggest city in Southeastern Wisconsin (or all of Wisconsin), is the next city that’s going to see more than it wants to of ICE. This worries me.
Before anyone asks, I support ICE’s legitimate mission of going after the “worst of the worst” criminals and putting them in jail where they belong. (I also appreciate a secure border policy.) People who’ve overstayed their visas do not count in that category. American citizens do not count. Folks with green cards do not count. Families should not be split up, and mothers and children should not be going to different places.
In Renee Good’s case, she may have run over an officer’s foot. That is painful. But it does not warrant a killing. It warrants being put in jail and having her day in court. She would be alive that way and justice would perhaps be served at some point.
As for Alex Pretti, I don’t see where even sending him to jail for a few hours until he bonded out was necessary. But if they had wanted to do that, at least he’d be alive. (To see on the various videos — no, I will not link to them — that he rose to his knees despite being shot, only to be shot even more times until he ended up on the ground again, makes me extremely ill.)
The actions of ICE in Minnesota are making me ask this question: Are we still a nation of laws? Or are we only a nation of vigilante justice?
So, as I wrestle with my own issues — finance, health, where am I going to live, am I doing the right thing in the right way, etc. — I’m also watching as my country seems to be imploding.
It’s Introspection City all the way around. And I have to admit, I don’t like it at all.
Just Reviewed Lars Walker’s “Troll Valley” at SBR
Folks, if you enjoy something that’s different — out of the ordinary — interesting, often moving, and literally something I’ve not seen anyone do before, you should go read Lars Walker’s TROLL VALLEY. A mixture of Norwegian folklore, 1900s Minnesota, and Christian apologetica, Walker’s hero (literally named “Christian,” though he often goes by Chris) is a young man with a deformed left arm and hand who believes no one will ever love him due to his differences.
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, which is Norwegian “fairy Godmother” Margit (one of the huldre folk) keeps telling him. But his unusual family, full of a crusading mother who hates alcohol, tobacco, and meat, his weak-willed father (a good man, but without enough backbone to stand up to his wife), his unrepentant sinner of a twin brother, Fred (born with two good arms), and his “sister” Sophie (raised with him, but not formally adopted by the family), just hasn’t been able to show Chris that he’s a good person who deserves the best life has to offer. Or as Walker would no doubt put it, Chris is a Christian like any other and he deserves to believe in God’s love rather than dwelling so much on how all men are sinners.
TROLL VALLEY is strongest as Christian apologetica, but it’s still a good Christian-inspired fantasy (please forgive the pun). Its historicity is excellent, its sense of place is very strong, and the detailing of this novel is superb.
But if you’ve already read my review (link is right here), you know I “only” gave it a B-plus. The main reason for this is because I felt the balance was off in a few places and that Chris needed more internal monologue, especially when he started to spiral downward. Reviews like this one are tough to write, not because the book isn’t good — it’s extremely good or I’d not give it a B-plus — but because I saw that with just a bit different of a focus, it would’ve been an easy A-plus.
Nevertheless, TROLL VALLEY succeeds at showing a window into the early 20th century and is based on Norwegian folklore, something that I have to admit I’d like to see a whole lot more of as very few novelists have delved into the Norwegian culture (nor have many dealt with any of the Scandinavian countries/folklore). This focus makes TROLL VALLEY intriguing, different, interesting, and quite humane, which is why I enjoyed it so very much.
Now, go read my review already!
Barb Caffrey's Blog 