Sunday, December 10, 2017

Random Thoughts: On #2017, Remaining Hopeful & Looking Forward to #2018



It has been quite a year--at times extremely challenging.    One thing that rattled me  this past week was receiving this from my Son's High School Principal this past Thursday Night:

Dear Wolverine Parents,

I want to make you aware of some information that school administrators learned of just a short while ago.  There is reportedly a rumor circulating among students and our community by word-of-mouth and social media that there could be a shooting on our campus tomorrow, Friday, December 8th.  As with all such information, we will always take every precaution.  Therefore, this information has been communicated to Sheriffs, the Sheriff’s SMART Team, and the School Resource Officer Sheriff assigned to our school, and we will have an extra law enforcement presence on our campus tomorrow.  At this point, Sheriffs are investigating, but there is no specific information or identified origin of these rumors; therefore, it is likely that this is an unfortunate prank which has spread in an effort to disrupt school.  However, in an abundance of caution, the investigation is ongoing.  Although I believe students will indeed be safe at school tomorrow, I personally want to provide you with the information we have at this time.  If you or your child have any additional specific information on this matter, please contact law enforcement immediately. We want to do everything possible to fully investigate and to identify the origin of these rumors as quickly as possible.  Thank you for your cooperation and support.


It underscores the apparent "New Normal" that we have to contend with.   From what I gathered, many parents elected to keep their children from school--there was a  major Police Presence and thankfully there was no incident.   

What continues to sustain my hope is being witness to Community spirit in Action.   One highlight for the year for me was to join the Laguna Niguel Holiday Parade as I marched with the Scouts of El Camino Real.   I released a write up on it to the El Camino Real Community Website that is available by clicking it here.  

As I also worked away being supportive of The Daily Outsider and helping with the Virtual property curation for the week, I caught Al Jazeera as it had a very poignant show on the Nobel Peace Prize and the fact that ICAAN won.   For me, the interviews with the survivors of the bombing at Hiroshima was quite moving.    



It was great to see a "snapshot" of all the images that CNN put together- from the poignant moments of 2017-even though CNN and others really gave the Media a black eye over the past week.      I had the opportunity  to capture some of the more poignant moments thanks to Facebook as I work to wind down a challenging 2017 and gear up for a hopeful 2018 in despite the profound challenges before us including a potential recession here in California.



As I close out this final edition of my "Random Thoughts" for 2017, I can't help but continue to be optimistic even though there is a bit of chill running through my spine in terms of whether I am naive or not--I see no choice but to be optimistic and hopeful.  

Onward to 2018 with all its' possibilities.....



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