That is enough of a break. I am refreshed now,
and if one closes down shop for an extended period in respect for the victims of every
meteorological catastrophe that comes along in this new
Anthropocene geological epoch, then the shop is likely never to be open again. What is the only viewpoint from which such things are viewed as "catastrophes" after all? Why, the anthropocentric point of view of course. I doubt that a bird, just before he is thrashed to death by the winds, regards what has befallen him as a "catastrophe." Neither does he regard himself as a "victim." He certainly does not regard it as a manifestation of God's justified wrath. Rather, he writes it all off as just another cost of doing business as a bird. If he gives it any thought at all. Which I concede is even more doubtful.
Today I wish to pass along yet another
anecdote relating to my hero,
Lázaro Cárdenas, one of the youngest
generals to fight in the Revolution of 1910 and President of Mexico
from 1934 to 1940. The source of this anecdote is another great man,
Cossío del Pomar. Cossío del Pomar, a Peruvian painter, writer, and
historian, lived in San Miguel during the thirties and forties while
in political exile from Peru. I know not why he was exiled from
Peru, but he probably deserved his exile for getting mixed up in
Latin American politics in the first place. He was probably lucky
that he was not shot.
