For just 16 dollars today, I brought home a peach tree for the backyard. So it joins the two apple trees, the pear tree, the fig tree and the grape arbor I've already put in there. Guess I have a thing for fruit. I think it comes from my childhood visits to my grandparents' home, where they had apple trees, pear trees and grapes. Alas, they had no figs. That was an acquired taste.
Imagine trying to fit a seven-foot sapling into the backseat of a Hyundai -- a Hyundai already stuffed with, well, stuff. I rolled down this window, that window, moved things around and after much exertion, succeeded in wedging the poor thing inside, partially. Then I drove home at 35 miles an hour, to keep the wind from ripping off the leaves and branches that were hanging out the window.
Driving that slow made my Sweetie happy but I about went crazy. Did I ever tell you that I don't like driving slowly? And I'm sure the people behind me felt like, well, felt like I usually do when I'm stuck behind some idiot who thinks gas pedals are only for decorative purposes.
I bought a book today from the library. I couldn't believe that they had it there. It is an evil book, or at least, it was written by a very evil man.
Mein Kampf. The ravings of a man who set in motion the murder of six million people and launched a world war.
This was an actual 1940 edition -- printed when the dictator was still alive and dictating. Before his syphilis finally drove him into helpless insanity. Thus the ominous preface by the English translators:
"Both the international situation and certain publishing exegencies have dictated the preparation of this book at a far higher speed than we would have liked."
Why should I have such a filthy book in my home? Because millions of people listened to this man and followed him. And therefore it is entirely possible that such a man could rise to power again, somewhere, anywhere, where people are intellectually lazy, careless with their freedom and seduceable by the promises of a demagogue.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
New fruit and dead monsters
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12 comments:
I think you are dead on about the book. It helps to read about these people for future reference and to understand how the mind of a monster works.
Wow, you have such an early edition!
Not interested in selling it, are ya?
I keep a copy of The Communist Manifesto. Don't see anything wrong with that. It's important to know one's foes, though not enough.
ECD,
As a person who has not had a kindly decade from other drivers and their propensity for gas when slow is called for, may you carry a tree in your car always.
The book is knowledge, and knowledge is power. Even negative knowledge allows the evil to be opened to the eye.
*shrug* it is but words on paper; it is what the words come to be to the reader of them that amount to their value or lack thereof.
Peace
mark
Peach, apple, pear, fig and grape sound far-away and strange to a girl who has banana tree, mango tree and neem trees in her backyard. How do these sound to you? :-)
I wanted to comment about the book, but I see that three others have said it before! I shall only reiterate.. knowledge is always interesting, good or bad.
How do we come to this book from a peach tree?
We need to know the enemy and recognise evil. Putting it out of sight and out of mind does not make them cease to exist. It is better to understand and be prepared.
Janice: The monster begins his book: "Today I consider it my good fortune that Fate designated Branau on the Inn as the place of my birth."
I am sure that Branau on the Inn feels differently about the matter these days.
So the megalomaniac even associates his very birthplace with the cause of so-called Aryan supremacy, which was to begin with the "reunion" of Germany and Austria.
Trisia: Nope, no sale. I'm a hopeless pack-rat, remember?
The Walking Man: I really enjoy your comments and your insight. You've had a life story which very much intrigues me. It reminds me, somehow, of the Bob Seger song, "Roll Me Away." 'Bout a guy who just keeps on moving, from the High Plains up into the Mountains, getting away from it all.
Girl of Destiny. Welcome to Isis! I hope that You will always feel welcome here. Believe it or not, as a teen I lived in Hawaii for a few years, so I know of banana and mango trees. Banana "trees" are great because they grow so fast, they always seem to be producing fruit. Whereas, a pear, apple or peach tree only produces fruit once a year.
Of neems I do not know. Are they spicy-sweet like mangoes or creamy-cool like bananas? Or something totally different, like a guava or a lychee?
We come to this book because I am an insanely curious person who revels in a diversity of daily experiences. In other words, my days - when they are good days -- are deliciously unpredictable.
LGS: You are so right. It would be nice if Hitler and his theories were merely a dusty page in history. The fact is, he didn't invent anti-Semitism, nor did it die in that bunker with him. It is a disease that still threatens not just Jews, but the entire human race -- as did the Shoah (the Holocaust).
I think I would like to read this book. and to find it in a library? amazing, you have luck with the books.
Have you read this book before?
It interests me what his mind was thinking actually.
as to the garden and fruit trees. That was always my dream! for a long time I was occupied with my future of having a little house with lots of fruit trees, garden, just the picture perfect from my childhood. I don't have a small house, I don't own a house, but finally I have shrubs that produce fruit ( forgot the names) and lots of flowers. why do we wait for our perfect future? when it might never come as all except the present moment, is just an illusion?
Lots of bumble bees and other flying objects in my garden and I love it!
What prompted you? Was it the fact that his birthday is tomorrow? You're so right that it could happen again, and has....
Beware the prolific fig tree! We planted a few some years ago. One in particular, a honey fig, is now huge. It is in full leaf already and I'm in terror that it will yield as much fruit as last year.
The figs are best when you pluck-and-pop [into your mouth that is!] They taste of sunshine, but, so many! Make friends with your neighbours, NOW!
Ela: Eh, there are probably better books to read, honestly. I read a few pages but probably won't read it cover to cover anytime soon.
I have to get through ancient Rome first. Which had its own murderous battle with the Jews, incidentally.
Molly: Believe it or not, I didn't know until I read it in the book that this week is the monster's birthday. It was sheer coincidence that I found that book in the used book pile yesterday.
Wow, last year I got maybe six little fruits off the fig tree. I'd like to be in Your predicament!
I'm sure there are better books, I'm just curious of what did he said. Let me know if you could read the whole book or if it is just a crap of an ego.
I am reading "The power of now" by eckhart Tolle. I had this book for nearly five years in my possession and couldn't read it..until now. I guess I'm ready:)
ECD
ha ha ha ha don't look for the book anytime soon. To me it has just been a path that I walk one foot after the other, one day to come to the end of my evolution through my mortal life...*shrug*
Bob Seeger, a sorta fan, like his work a lot, don't own any. He used to play high school dances around here while waiting for his break, so I saw him live and raw many times. Another native son gone wild. I am his Rambling Man after my own heart.
Aleichem Shalom
mark
Glad your tree made it home safely! Seems to me it not only will give fruit, but already gave a lesson in patience :)
Glad the book made into your hands rather than someone more gullible or sinister.
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