Some days I want to stick my fingers in my ears and scream, “LA, LA, LAAAAA,” until I have no breath left in me. Today is one of those days.

Lately, I try to watch less news and read less of the doomsday posts that appear on social media. It’s not that I don’t want to know what’s going on in the world. It is that what’s going on the world feels overwhelming.

I want to be like Master Sergeant Shultz on Hogan‘s Heroes and yell, (younger readers won’t get this reference) “I SEE nothing. I KNOW nothing.” Unfortunately, my daughter’s daily routine includes turning on the evening news, and it is hard not to hear what they say as I walk through the room.

Every newscast reports a new disaster, some escalating threat, more unfairness, less human compassion, unbelievable horror, more, more, more BAD NEWS. It’s enough to break a heart. Pardon me while I pause here, LA, LA, LA!!!

For example, today listen to the news and you’ll hear that North Korea is doing its best to develop the capacity to deliver a hydrogen bomb to America, while world leaders argue about what to do about it. They debate going to war like that is actually a logical option when nuclear weapons could very well come into play. LA, LA, LA….

Then there is the still unfolding flooding tragedy in Texas, coupled with still unfolding flooding tragedies in other parts of the world. I read that record flooding affected 40 million peoples’ lives since June. That’s 40 MILLION.

Oh, and we have the Tesla guy predicting that Artificial Intelligence will cause World War III and possibly the end of the world as we know it. Since that’s probably not going to happen in the immediate future, I’m putting that way down the list of new stuff I should fear.

No, there is a much more pressing fear, Hurricane Irma. Forecasters say it is likely the most powerful hurricane ever to form in the Atlantic. As I write this, they have no clue where Miss Irma may decide to land, but Florida is a real possibility. If you scan Facebook, I’m sure you’ll find someone posting that Covington County is directly in its path.

And, if that’s not enough bad news, today the White House announced that 800,000 people whose parents brought them here illegally as children might need to get out. Never mind America is the only home they know. Forget they had nothing to do with coming here illegally. They have six more months and then maybe yes, maybe no, they get to stay in the only place they know as home. Yes, this is the priority in the midst of all the other stuff. Seriously? LA, LA, LA!!!!

I’m not going to write about the nurse arrested because she followed protocol and protected patient privacy. Let us not delve into healthcare, or arguments about climate change or whether or not groups that demonstrate with Nazi flags have some good people marching with them.

I can’t press my fingers tight enough into my ears nor do not have enough oxygen to scream LA, LA, LA loud enough to make the chaos that seems to be part of life right now disappear. So, what’s a girl to do?

Now I know some folks say chill out and stop watching stuff that upsets you. Others will tell me not to worry because God is taking care of everything. And, there’s probably a group that will say liberal people like me are why we have all this going on and I need to change my way of thinking/voting. (I refuse to accept blame for hurricanes.)

I don’t know if any of that that works for me. So, I’m going to do the only thing that does seem to give me any relief. I am walking outside, sitting on the grass under the blue sky, petting my herd of purring cats and humming la-la-la-la-la quietly to myself.

 

Nancy Blackmon is a former newspaper editor and a yoga teacher.