Mood:
don't askTopic: "Let Them Eat Cake"
Frodo once stood at the end of an old concrete pier at a place called "Rainbow Beach" on a lake called Pontchartrain. Prissy and Gumbo, companions at the time laid by his side as he fished for the mysteries of salt water. "Rainbow Beach" was largely deserted then, because during the days of segregation it had been the area designated for "Coloreds Only." It was run-down and deserted, not atypical of most things in the City of Orleans, eventually. Frodo enjoyed the solitude for his fishing, and it allowed him to think about those who once frequented the place, and to weave their experiences into that of a Hobbit.
Gumbo began to bark, and Prissy sallied forth to greet interlopers spilling onto the beach behind Frodo. Several dozen Vietnamese men, women, and children-in-arms, waved to Frodo as they chattered away in their native tongue. Frodo waved back, and joined his canine companions as they intently observed the activity. The refugees from a violent world unfurled a long and heavy net, and began to form a human chain as they dragged it into the surf. Soon they were a crescent of human beings jointly moving toward the shore, and as they emerged one-by-one from the water Frodo was amazed at the catch in the net. Frodo and friends walked back along the pier in order to observe the catch.
The halflings smiled as Frodo approached, and they began to hold up fish to Frodo, offering him gifts from their catch. They evidently assumed that Frodo had been luckless in his fishing, and that they were willing to share with one of those who now shared their new home in Middle Earth. Frodo graciously declined, but he made a point of smiling and shaking hands with his new neighbors, willing to share all that they had.
Today Frodo watches the City of Orleans in despair. He listens to those who speak in anger, and his heart breaks for those who have lost all of what they have known. Frodo seethes as people with whom he has walked are shuttled like cattle from place-to-place, and line-to-line, yet they remain thirsty, hungry, worried. Orcs abound with weaponry seized from a "downtown" Wal-Mart. Men of Gondor or Riders of Rohan are under siege, and badly outnumbered. Promises, promises, promises are made, and still the innocent suffer.
In the end it will be another human chain which forms and provides bounty enough to sustain. Frodo will not be surprised to find Vietnamese fishermen bringing their catch to help those whose land they now share. The bond between those with little to give crosses all boundaries. How sad that the rest of us have learned so little.
Posted by loveysdaddyga
at 9:27 AM EDT
