Desert Messenger

12 www.DesertMessenger.com September 16, 2020 You don't know how good you've got it READER'S OASIS BOOKS 690 E. Main - Quartzsite (one block east of Family Dollar) By Jackie Deal You don't know how good you've got it until you meet someone else who's got it worse! I'm sitting out a Level 1, expecting Level 2 at any minute; yes, I'm talking about the forest fi res ravaging Oregon. They've evacuated about 10 miles east of us. The smoke and ash are so thick you can't see a block away. I can't see my favorite mountain that rises right behind my place. It's another in the strange feel- ings recent events have caused. Life is suspended. All that exists, outside my window is a world of gray, cold, uninviting. Maybe this is how a gold- fi sh feels in his little bowl of water! I'm packed; my "To Go Bag" is in the trunk, my car full of gas. And where would we go? Well, let's see: there are fi res to the North of us, fi res South of us and fi res East of us. Guess that leaves West to the Pacifi c Ocean! (Yes, spell-corrector I'm capitalizing them because they're so important!) About an hour ago I met a young woman buying piles of clothes at the Thrift store. "Are you from Nonpa- reil?" I asked. "Yah", she said, "and I only got out with the clothes on my back when they evacuated us." I've got a pair of jeans and a couple of shirts, sweatshirts etc. in my trunk. Nothing fancy, no dress-up clothes. My next-door neighbor in Quartzsite comes to Oregon for the summer just like I do. I live in an Es- capees co-op park in Sutherlin, Or- egon and she works at a campground at Detroit Lakes, Oregon. They were evacuated, Level 3. She got in her motor home, her son in her car and they headed west. Fires were burn- ing on both sides of the highway, trees were falling across the highway. Things were so bad her son drove on ahead to see if it got better. He came back, "Mom, its worse; turn around. We have to go back." They headed back east only to run into State Troopers, "Lady, you turn that RV around and get out of here! It's worse the way you're going now!" They made it back west through the inferno to safety but they hope never to do it again! The ash has tapered off; is that a good sign? The smoke is worse, visibility is nil. Yesterday we had the most beau- tiful sunset at 2:30 p.m. One good thing: the smoke has blocked the sun and the high 90s temperatures we were expecting haven't materialized. In fact it's cold: low 50s. What's ahead, I don't know. I'm writing this, going to email it and only time will tell. Have we got it good or not? By Jackie Deal My friend is worried. I'm con- cerned too. It seems we've lost the three Cs. Caring, concern and com- passion. We seem to have replaced them with spitefulness, name calling and hatred. Not even of our enemies but of our brothers and sisters. OH, Yah, negativity has ruled before; anybody re- member the aftermath of the Vietnam War? Now, during the Pandemic and pre- and post-elec- tion, caring about others seems to be low on the list of important things. Better to rant, rail and rag than to seek com- promise and caring. My friend found a song from the 1960s that she thinks holds the an- swer. Maybe you remember it? Come on people now, Smile on your brother, Everybody get together, Try to love one another, RIGHT NOW! The song has a very long and suc- cessful history. "Get Together" was the second single released from the Youngbloods' debut album in July 1967. It became the de facto anthem of the "hippie movement" and it remains the Youngbloods most well-known and successful song to this day. The song was originally recorded as "Let's Get Together" by the Kings- ton Trio in a live performance in March 1964. Many prominent popu- lar groups have recorded the song. The most notable recording came in 1967, when the Youngbloods re- leased their version under the title "Get Together". It was used in a ra- dio public service announcement as a call for brotherhood by the Na- tional Conference of Christians and Jews. The Youngbloods' version, the most-remem- bered today, was re-re- leased in 1969, peaking at number 5 on the Bill- board Hot 100. Just think of the social boundaries this song has spanned: from "hippie" to Nat'l. Conference of Christians and Jews. Perhaps it has a message we should consider. In his book, "The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho has the shepherd boy, San- tiago, say, "the world we live in will be either better or worse, depend- ing on whether we become better or worse. And that's where the power of love comes in. Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are." Are we striving to become bet- ter than we are or are we smugly tearing each other down? Can we heed the plea to love one anoth- er? RIGHT NOW! "Come on, let's get together and love one another. RIGHT NOW!" Right now...

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