by Roxanne -

Christmas Past

Oakbrook Center Christmas Tree

This post begins a series that will look at Christmas past, present and future. Part of it will be a bit of memoir, part of it will be current experiences and part will be envisioning the future. These posts will occur throughout the Christmas season until it ends in January.

I’d like to begin with Christmas Past. One of the best experiences of my life was being a parent. While I know this isn’t the best choice or even possible for everyone – it was a good experience for me. And one of my best memories as a parent was the annual ritual of taking my oldest daughter, when she was maybe five to ten years old, Christmas shopping at Oakbrook Center, at night. Some years it would even be snowing as we walked outside, from store to store. The giant Christmas tree was lit in the center. Christmas music was playing. Her eyes sparkled as we walked along, crunching the snow under our boots.

One thing I remember was hoisting her up on a stool at the make-up counter at Marshall Field’s (now long gone). The sales woman put a bit of blush on her cheeks and gloss on her lips. My daughter beamed – such a grown-up thing to do when you are young! Leaving the store we sampled colognes and hand creams, looked at jewelry and scarves. She chattered away as we walked along.

The purpose of the trip was so that she could do her Christmas shopping. Some of her gifts she had already purchased at her school where each year they held a small Christmas bazaar. Here children could shop for their parents, siblings and grandparents. But some gifts needed to be purchased at the mall. She had saved her money for the gifts she had in mind. She was careful to select gifts that would actually be used and enjoyed. Sometimes she also helped me pick out gifts on my list – but that was not our real reason for being there. Mostly I simply enjoyed being with her, watching her shop, and seeing winter and the Christmas season through her eyes.

For me, that was the amazing gift of parenthood, being able to see the world brand new, through the bright, wide eyes of your child.

You may also like The Jewelry We Keep and What Is Your Story?

by Roxanne -

Winter Solstice

http://fotki.yandex.ru/search/winter/users/cadi-1986/view/746903?page=1&how=week&type=image
Photo: Winter in the Mountains,fotki.yandex.ru

We are nearly at the winter solstice. Darkness yields to light. Sort of a seasonal new year for those of us in the northern hemisphere.

We light candles.  We rekindle nurturing friendships. We bring light of all kinds into our hearts, our minds, our lives.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can not overcome it” (John 1:5).

by Roxanne -

True Cost of Gun Ownership

Michael Olenick’s post The Lesson of Newtown – Time to Charge for the True Cost of Gun Ownership (posted on NakedCapitalism) offers a pragmatic solution to the “gun rights or violence” dilemma. Olenick writes,

Rather than parsing the Second Amendment one more time there is an easier approach, one typically favored by conservative gun owners for other public policy issues: end cost-shifting. Force those who chose to own guns to bear the full cost of the mayhem their hobby unleashes. Ending the gun subsidies will eventually end the gun violence.

Olenick notes that,

This solution does not violate the Second Amendment: people are still free to own all the guns they want; they just have to pay full freight for the cost of guns to society.

Further he explains how his solution also leverages the right-wing’s propensity for use taxes:

Right-wing politicians seem to have equal zeal for taxation based on use and against cost-shifting, so it will be interesting to hear them defend why non gun owners should subsidize the massive cost of widespread gun ownership. I can’t wait to hear the Tea Baggers explain why the cost of open gun ownership should be externalized to the families of the slain children, those who survived, and all the other terrorized first graders, teachers, and parents in the country.

I realize that to many people their guns are precious. Guess what: I think my first-grade daughter is precious too. . . I know it’s brazen but I’m even willing to say our kids are a hell of a lot more precious than your guns.

Read all of his post here. The fact is that ethically, all rights are not created equal. Our right to life, safe schools, safe homes and safe neighborhoods trumps others’ right to own weapons.  Gun ownership violates these basic human rights – at a huge cost to our society. Gun owners should bear this cost.

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