VOLCANIC EVENT
To witness a significant shift, a divi-
sion of perception, can be hard to accept
for some when it truly changes. For others,
it’s just another event without significance
or meaning in the nexus of life and death.
My way of relating the recent event in our
country to something tangible and mean-
ingful in my life follows like this.
Mount St. Helens’ eruption was vio-
lent, the energy release was felt through-
out the world, just as this election has
been. The mountain showed signs of an
inevitable massive eruption years prior to
the May 18 explosion. On Nov. 8, we wit-
nessed something many will be shaken by
for the rest of their lives. Significant events
shape who we are or what we are or were
becoming, so in that respect I am grateful.
I have heard many state that if Trump
was elected they would move to Canada or
elsewhere. If that is your will, so be it. I sup-
port your choice to leave or stay. I wrestled
with that very idea myself. My decision is
to stay and let the air settle awhile. I expect
that with such turmoil there will be interest-
ing and horrific events not far in the future.
We will witness and have active participa-
tion in those outcomes. That’s why I am
staying. After Mount St. Helens erupted,
many said it looked terrible, ugly and awful.
Some living close to the mountain
moved far away, far from what they per-
ceived to be a dangerous violent destruc-
tive enemy. Others stayed and rebuilt their
homes and continue to live with the moun-
tain as their neighbor. They have accepted
Loowit for what she is, a strato-volcano
which will occasionally blow up as it did
in 1980. If you go up to St. Helens now, it
is just as beautiful to behold as any of its
many sisters. The one difference is Loowit
has a scar now, a tattoo on her north flank
to indicate who she is within the Cascade
system. The Cascades are a young family
of mountains, volcanoes that are incredible
to witness just as our country is.
A volcanic eruption is like an elec-
tion. Some are violent and include the
destruction of parts of the main players
(Lincoln, Kennedy and other assassinated
candidates) while others go on rather un-
eventfully. Our recent election, I feel, has
been rather ugly to behold and might be
for some time. I have faith in knowing that
following destruction, often, not always,
comes a calm, a beauty, balance.
Jonathan Guske
Eugene
4 GRAMS
for 3.5G $$$
DAILY
THANKS, TRUMP
One thing The Donald has done for us
throughout the long campaign is to broad-
en our vocabularies.
Think of it: Words like narcissist, mi-
sogynist, xenophobe and demagogue have
slipped into common parlance right along-
side racist, bully and pussy.
Mike Helm
Eugene
LOOKING BACK
Election 2016: Hindsight is 20SAND-
ERS20.
Rick Blake
Springfield
beads
fro
ld
Kudos to our next CIC, POTUS, Don-
ald J. Trump.
He pulled off the biggest con in history.
He played the fear card on the Ameri-
can sheeple like a Stradivarius (if Stradi-
varius had made dog whistles or bull-
horns).
He exposed to the world the truth of
the “Ugly American.”
After the party of “I hope he fails”
managed to plug the toilet of our democra-
cy, Trump as the biggest, greasiest, shiniest
turd, was able to rise to the top.
America’s chicken hawk karma has
come home to roost.
The next four years will be a test to see
if love can really trump hate.
If not, I think Mother Earth will flush
the toilet on her own.
Michael T. Hinojosa
Eugene
or
FLUSH THE TOILET
m
a ro
und the
w
2833 Willamette • (541) 683-5903
www.harlequinbeads.com
@EUGENEWEEKLY
eugeneweekly.com • November 17, 2016
7