Fire Fatigue

A recent report on stress stated that a very high percentage of Americans lead very stressful lives, often losing sleep and taking medications for depression, headaches, and other ills caused by living with stress. Americans tend to work too much and relax too little compared to people in other countries. We are financially stressed, stressed by work, by mortgage payments, by family problems, politics, lack of healthcare, competition in everything, yadda, yadda, yadda!

We have our President and Vice President coming on TV every other day and warning us about terrorism, WWIII, and Atomic weapons. We see our soldiers getting shot at in Iraq and wonder why they are there. We see thousands of soldiers returning from battle without legs and arms and with terrible wounds, their lives changed forever, and wonder why. We wonder why our President vetoes healthcare for children which over 80% of the American people want but which costs about 15 billion more than he has decided he wants to spend on children's health over the next 5 years, while he asks for another 145 billion to spend in Iraq just for part of the next year, a war which is opposed by well over 70% of the American people.

And on top of all that, we who live in San Diego County must deal with the stress of watching TV reports 24/7 keeping us on top of what is happening to our neighbors because 400000 acres of the County burned for the last week.

While about 500000 people of the 3 million in San Diego county were asked to evacuate their property during the fires this week, almost every one of us was impacted in one way or another. If one wasn't in the path of a fire, and was lucky not to evacuate or worry about the fire itself, smoke and ash fell from the sky and permeated the air over much of the county. It did in Encinitas where I live and where I work in Del Mar. Every thing smells of smoke and ash inside and out.
Everyone knows someone who had to evacuate, or knows someone who know someone who lost a home to the fire . My wife's sister' husband's parents had to vacate their home and stayed with them for the week. When they were able to return to their neighborhood in Rancho Bernardo, their home was still standing but when they drove around the area there were 13 homes in their immediate neighborhood that had burned to the ground.

There are 3 million stories about life during the fires. I had gone through pre-op check-ups and counseling for a cateract removal in one eye that was scheduled for this last Tuesday. I had waited for a number of months to get it on the schedule with the VA. No doubt I had some stress of anticipation, but was glad it was going to finally get done, but with a phone call on Monday it was cancelled because the fires caused staffing problems at the hospital. Things have just not been normal with fires blazing around the county.

Living in America the last few years just seems to be filled with stress--that's for sure! I often wonder where one could go to escape such a stressful existance.

The conclusion I have reached is that our government leadership is at odds with the American people, and the American people are at odds with each other. There are few who are satisfied with what is is going on in their lives, and they don't know what to do about it. That is the primary cause of stress in America, and every other little stress like fire fatigue just adds to the pile. I guess I will go home and take a pill!