Pioneer Day Musings

I started a new post this morning, focusing on politics, but it got out of hand. Let's leave it at I am reading some really good thought-provoking stuff. If I put together the provoked thoughts in little article-blurbs, I'll let you know and you can dare to request them, but I won't foist them on you as a post. Since this week is the 24th of July, it is a good time to reflect on the pioneers. It can be as discouraging as motivating to contemplate all they accomplished in difficult circumstances. So I like hearing the occasional story that reminds me they had weaknesses that they struggled to overcome. This gives me hope, thinking that they weren't perfect, but still achieved worthy goals. Lorenzo Hill Hatch's diary reveals some of those glimpses. He was a pioneering ace, and his journal records many dramatic stories and grind-it-out hardships. But there are hints of emotional difficulties as well. Lorenzo was on his own while still in his mid-teens. His journal, written long after the death of his parents, mentions his uncle, who appropriated the few earthly goods that should have gone to Lorenzo. You can almost hear Lorenzo's teeth grinding decades later when he writes "He'll have his reward" as a (repeated) punctuation to the recounting of his uncle's misdeeds. It is not for me to judge Lorenzo, but when I think that my Great-Great Grandfather had a tough time letting go of the hurt and anger over an earthly miscarriage of justice, I feel a closer kinship to him as I deal with events that ought not to be. And I get a smidgen of hope that although I may not be able to do things (forgive and let go) better than he did, it may possible to do them faster than he did. Just a Pioneer Day thought. Love you all!