Friday, March 11, 2022 3Brooklin Town Crier There's much in life I can neither explain nor rationalize. Around here, one is why not all intersections with lights have advanced turn signals. Another is the seemingly unending digging, filling, and digging again of holes to enable wiring for this and that. The latest one cut my cable. These of course are first world problems. So when my internet was sliced a week ago due to no wire "locates" for a backhoe operator to see, I was ticked but far from incensed. My phone functioned on LTE which meant I could still bring up CNN to update myself on the Ukraine disaster. First world meets the nether world. Unlike advanced turn signals and digs, however, the Russian invasion and the resultant suffering of the Ukrainian populace have affected me in ways I just cannot understand. It was like that on 9/11, too. I was in the school library meeting with my co-op students when the attacks occurred. In the evening, at home, I felt an overwhelming desire to do something, anything, to assist. Was it prudent, even helpful, let alone sensible, to drive to NYC and lend a hand? Aside from my sister-in-law's boss who was killed, I had no connection to the event, apart from being human. When my wife and I visited New York two years later, the gaping hole was still there. The cafe that fed and watered first responders had left its glass cooler locked and by the window, covered in dust, as a reminder. The tiny church where responders slept and ate allowed people in to see what it was like that day. Silence was broken only by my gasps. Nearby fences still had photos of long deceased relatives stuck to them along with messages like "Have you seen this man/woman?" For many months after, I wondered if, even from such a distance, I had some kind of second hand PTSD. Films of the planes crashing, interviews, and the movie about United flight 93 that crashed into a Pennsylvania field all shook me to my core. They still resonate. Oddly, I am anything but squeamish around injuries or blood or even my own surgical adventures. It's the emotional losses of others that leave me reeling. And now, again. It is such a terrible and empty feeling to be in the safety of Brooklin, of Ontario, of this wonderful country and not be moved, if not to tears, then as close as one can get. I can still shop anywhere and Amazon deliveries continue. My street is safe. I still function in my hockey development role and play once or twice a week, when the thrust and parry of trying to score seems the most important event in my life. The stories - and the incredibly brave journalists reporting on them - have once more shaken me. I try to imagine grabbing my wife, dog, and a few important belongings and walking for hours in frigid temperatures to safety while shells decimate the area. Cluster bombs. Thermobaric weapons that suck the oxygen out of you. My daughter's family is around the corner. What of them? What of my neighbours? Where do we go? How? Finally, I opted to send an organization money for Ukraine. It's a token. It's something. From one human to another, knowing all too well it could never be enough. Still, while I cannot make sense of the senseless slaughter, at least I know my reactions leave me more grounded. Piles of dirt in front of my house aren't so important. Less than half the picture by Richard Bercuson What's important these days? Brooklin Bafflers: by Liz Lowe Crossword Across 1 Language of Lahore 5 "Good grief!" 9 Light in a light show 14 Bookbinding leather 15 Turn bad 16 Suggest 17 Italian wine area 18 Donut-shaped surfaces 19 Bing, bang or boom 20 Type of time off 23 Catch a glimpse of 24 Delay 25 Trousers that end above the knee 28 False god 30 ___ chi 33 Bit of statuary 34 Blame 35 Length x width, for a rectangle 36 Behaviour that evades unpleasant realities 39 And others, for short 40 Set aside 41 Wealthy one 42 Faux ___ 43 Effort 44 Type of eubacterium (pl) 45 Debate side 46 Big story 47 The fruitless pursuit of something unattainable 54 More than fervent 55 Appraise 56 Hip bones 57 Like Bo-Peep's charges 58 Cast off 59 Lays down the lawn 60 Archaic spelling of cider 61 Couple's pronoun 62 Convene Down 1 Caspian feeder 2 Like some wines 3 Facts and figures 4 Of worldwide scope 5 Bars 6 A cartoon character created by Walt Disney 7 Halo, e.g. 8 Small amount 9 Arranged in a line 10 In a crowd of 11 Completely neat and clean 12 Apart from this 13 Bar order 21 ar, legally 22 Spill or splash clumsily 25 Prepare, as tea 26 Plantain lily 27 Killer whales 28 All thumbs 29 Water carrier 30 Extended family 31 "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" writer 32 Poetic feet 34 Gathering clouds, say 35 A political theory favouring the abolition of governments 37 Squeezing (out) 38 Caper 43 Walk unsteadily 44 Hightails it 45 "Crazy" singer Patsy 46 Fruity-smelling compound 47 Like some hair 48 Footnote abbr. 49 Approximately 50 Home to Honolulu 51 Balm ingredient 52 Fries, maybe 53 Bridge position 54 Bird of myth March Break Staycation? Send us your photos from around Town! editorofbtc@gmail.com