Today is the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl. I didn't even think of it until I was watching The Hour this evening. That seems like a terrible thing. It never ceases to amaze me how geography puts such a layer of indifference upon things. Not that I think everyone should mope around dwelling on all the terrible things in the world. And I don't know what anyone can do about anything...but I think we have a responsibility to be aware.

Not to get all philosophical here, but the TV is still on in the background and I just paused to catch the interview with Robert Munsch. He thinks society is a construct. He says, look at the Congo, things fall apart.... My child came home with blood running down her face, someone smacked her with a branch and called her a "nigger"...This is interesting. I've become much more optimistic about people and society lately. My upbringing (paranoid mom) taught me to trust in no one. Actually, only trust in God. Which I still do, but I don't actually view society with that much cynicism. Working with the public each day has actually improved my perception of people for the most part. So when I hear about truly awful things perpetuated by not just individuals but groups of people, I'm baffled and stricken with horror that retribution has not come their way. All those Russian politicians who let surrounding communities act as guinea pigs, not warning them, as people actually traveled closer to see the beautiful glow on the horizon, as families continued to swim and use water from contaminated waterways...Some areas will be closed to human habitation for 900 years.

What can I say. How can words express? They can't...

An astonishing collection of photographs by Robert Knoth, soon to be published can be found online at http://www.pixelpress.org/chernobyl/index.html I sat looking at these pictures with tears running down my face (one of them is posted above)...this picture had the most subtle power. The images of some of the children and babies are truly terrible I should warn you.

On the lighter side, Russia fascinates me, last week I the tail end of an excellent documentary called Moscow Freestyle (go online and watch an excerpt). English teachers from all over the world working in Russia...

P.S. my blogspot spell check does not recognize the word Chernobyl- that's America for you. And according to the newspaper, I can't spell so I wiki'd the word and apparently there is a Russian and a Ukrainian spelling (the other way is Chornobyl). I am assuming both are correct...