Picture This!

There was a time when I didn't think we'd ever be rid of the snow (snowiest in 100 years). We came within a few inches of an all-time record, but we fell a bit short. I'll be back to the picture on the right a bit later.

Right now, however, I'd like to mention The Week's recent (May 16th issue) half-page collection of views of the death of Eight Belles at the Kentucky Derby. ESPN.com's Pat Forde wrote, "As the racetrack and millions of TV viewers watched in horror, Eight Belles was euthanized by injection, apparently the first horse ever to have died at the Kentucky Derby." Apparently, according to the Washington Post's Sally Jenkins' citing of statistics, experts estimate 1.5 fatal horse injuries for every 1,000 starts. Of course, people are renewing the call for the banning of horse racing or at least major changes to lessen the numbers of injuries and deaths. That is nothing new, but with awareness raised by the massive coverage of the valiant efforts to save Barbaro, another horse very publicly injured at the 2006 Preakness, Eight Belles' killing was yet more powerful ammunition for those who want the sport ended. In my case, hearing about these two horses was bad, but seeing it was enough for me to never want to see another horse race again. With two horses peacefully grazing on the Berman homestead and a third boarded not far away, I am around horses enough to realize what wonderfully beautiful creatures they are, and to highly risk their lives with the goal to make money for others is unacceptable to me. Yes, Life happens (as does Death), but to see it up close and in living color is not what I want. I am sure there are many who feel the same way.

That said, I am going to take a leap of faith here and relate an interesting story. A couple of years ago, one of my students brought me a CD slide show to look at. As I was between classes, I put it in and looked at as much as I could. The pictures were taken by his father, who had returned intact (as much as one can) from Iraq. The first picture was of the giant hands holding the more giant crossed swords in Baghdad. The second shot was a building of some sort - typical Iraqi architecture. The third, however, was as far as I got. It was a picture of a leg wound; that's pretty much all I remember, and that's a good thing! Trust me on that one. Now we get to the point. Go to google and select images. Turn off the SafeSearch and type in Iraqi war wound. The first page of results should be enough. You have to see up close and personal the results of the war. My thought is that if seeing two horses ending up dead results in a call for the end of horse racing, seeing the results of the Iraqi war might just have the same effect - it certainly should! The current administration is doing an admirable job of not showing returning wounded and flag-draped coffins (about the only thing it's doing well).Some wars are better than others; this is not one of them! If more people saw what's really happening, maybe our politicians would hear from them and finally get the message.

By the way, the picture at the top? Would that make you want to live in New Hampshire? I didn't think so.