Aug. 9th is National Hug a Tree Day...

http://homepage.mac.com/amv12/.Public/mindfulmonday.mp4
[AUDIO]

Good morning,

This weekend I learned it takes 17 muscles to smile…43 to frown. I’m not sure how many it takes to blink back tears and swallow hard.

I paid attention in my high school history class. I mean I know Abe Lincoln chopped down the cherry tree, Denzel Washington was one of the first black men to fight in the Civil War, and Jason Priestly is in Tombstone…

…what? oh (mitty is frowning)

okay, I might not have paid attention early on but I did eventually learn... Apollo 13 was under the command of Major Tom Hanks.

No, really, this weekend I was surprised (and saddened) to re-learn today is the 62nd anniversary of the first atomic bomb dropping.


Hiroshima, Japan August 6, 1945

8:15am...

70,000 people died instantaneously from the force of the blast...imagine being hit by a force that equals the combined weight of 15 cars and a heat of approx. 4000 C. (The temperature on the surface of the sun is 5700C).

i can't.

Those were not the only casualties. Survivors and relief workers experienced radiation exposure ranging several miles out from the hypocenter. Many would die in the months that followed.

According to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, 140, 000 innocent people were dead by the end of December 1945.

(And today in America…It’s Wiggle Your Toes Day!)

My question:

How is it that we feel justified standing and shaking a fist after an attack when in the past, we, the U.S., have been such a fire breathing Godzilla?

I believe every loss of life is significant…our country experienced a HUGE loss in the 9/11 attacks. The suffering/grief of individuals cannot be quantified, BUT simply by the numbers the line reads:

Lives lost in 9/11 attacks-- 3,000
Lives lost in 1st A-bomb attack--70,000

("We're #1....we're #1!)

Interesting the difference in cultural response.

When I Googled: Anti-Americanism, Japan, atomic bombs

I found...only a few pop culture critics suggesting the Japanese filmmakers' Godzilla represented the U.S. We were fictionalized as a fire breathing monster whose relationship to the country would change from attacker to protector over the course of the films.

And...Toby Keith wants to give "the attackers," a big black eye…

#1 Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue!

okay, i say, here are my thoughts. suggestions.

Please let him sing his heart out but do not make him our Secretary of State…stop voting in unqualified public officials due to popularity or celebrity status…let not your vote become a reflection of your American Idol voting!

Second, invest less in heroes and idols…I for one need to reassess my pro-Einstein stance. Einstein played an important part in the development of the A-Bomb. Still an amazing thinker and peace activist...a stumbling point...he signed a letter urging then President FDR to move quickly on the development of a nuclear weapon. In 1933, Adolf Hitler was coming to power. Some physicists feared Germany might be working on their own A-bomb...

...this leaves me to wonder...

How much was Einstein acting on his own strengths (philosophy/theory) and convictions? And how much was he acting based on impassioned phone calls and other people bending his ear...with his ethics and morality already in the review mirror?

my thought?

Invest not too much comfort in your heroes and idols for they are human too.

On August 9th, a second bomb was dropped...over Nagasaki…75,000 more people dead.

11:02 a.m.

(taken from The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum)

"Like the primary target Kokura, Nagasaki was overcast
that morning. With barely enough fuel remaining to
reach Okinawa, The pilot and his crew had to pinpoint
their target in the course of only one run over the
city. By chance a crack opened in the clouds,..The
details of the explosion can be summarized as
follows..."

MINDBLOWING!!!

I can only think of one response. This Thursday, 11:02am hug a tree. Send out loving kindness to the mangled and warped trees (...and people) that managed to somehow survive despite the devastation. If you have the time today, check out:

http://www1.city.nagasaki.nagasaki.jp/na-bomb/trees/treese.html

Trees That Lived Through the Bombing.

...it wasn't long before green sprouts were seen
pushing their way up from the atomic wasteland. Some
of the trees that were thought to have died began to
shoot forth tender new leaves, renewing the hope of
suffering people.

and maybe have a mindful monday.

amanda