I’m writing this letter in memory of all the wild songbirds and other creatures killed or maimed by cats. And three cheers for all the coyotes, pumas, bears, and rattlesnakes that live within our midst.

Fostering goodwill

My name is Dreah Rogers, and I am 17 years old. I have been in foster care for three years now. Getting new school supplies can sometimes be quite a hassle. But not this year.

On Aug. 22 several people from around the community donated their time, and money to help kids in foster care get the school supplies that they needed. Along with that, several ladies that work at Studio 10 came in to give all of the kids who wanted; hair cuts, trims, and helpful tips and hints on what do to their hair to help it stay looking healthy. Everyone who participated was very nice and generous.

I love school and I love shopping for the supplies I need for school but like I said, it can sometimes be more of a hassle than what it should be. And this year, I had a lot of fun. I got my hair trimmed, with a lot of information for upkeep (which I sometimes struggle with because my hair is fairly long). I got just about all of the supplies I will need for my junior year of high school, and on top of all of that, I got to pick out TONS of books. These are all books that were donated by the people in the community, and there were also a lot of clothes that had been donated too.

I would just like to say thank you to all of the people who helped make this night possible, and inform everyone who reads this, what a difference it is to a foster child, to do something as simple as donate some time, money or even some old clothes and books that are just lying around the house.

So thank you to the people at the Hood River DHS (Department of Human Services) and to everyone in the community who helped make this possible.

Elephant in room

How is it that intelligent people in this day and age have found no better way to solve international conflicts than by continually being drawn down the path of costly armed conflicts?

Of course we do know the answer. We just don’t want to face it — because we know it will cost us big time. We also know, deep down, that we are violating the one moral principle upon which every well-functioning family and community rests. That principle is simple respect for the life and well-being of the other. Had we exercised such human regard world-wide in the past century, I can assure you we would not be in Iraq today and fearfully awaiting the next 9/11.

At the foundation of every international conflict is the harbored resentment of the poorest members, resentment that they are being treated unfairly by the richest and most powerful members, resentment that they are not regarded as equals and are being deprived of their fair share of the world’s resources. In a family setting, that’s called “dysfunctional.”

The answer to this dilemma is obvious. But we seem never to face up to the obligations it places on us. We would prefer to concentrate the world’s wealth within our borders rather than share it in an equitable and generous way with those beyond our borders. Sure, it would cost us plenty to act so decently, but is that cost any greater than what we are paying already in blood and anguish on the world’s battlefields?

Why must we continually ignore this elephant in our living room and pretend we don’t know how to live in peace with one another?