Aceh, land of desolation and hope.

Today I was in tears, a woman from Aceh province lost all in the Tsunami, I did not need to understand her language to understand her sorrow... At the same time I saw USN SH-60 Seahawk helicopters from the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) delivering aid and this within a week of the disaster, unprecedented even though some say it was late. I personally think it is amazing that aid has reached this disaster area so soon. As one that has served in the armed forces I know how long some things take to get organised and to me it is a miracle that one of the world's superpowers has responded so rapidly while waging a war on two fronts against Terror. I salute every person doing there bit however small for this tragedy.
Photo from above link... Go, Golden Falcons!
Lyrics for today are from Pink Floyd, High Hopes as performed by Gregorian Masters of Chant. Their new CD The Darkside is brilliant by the way.
High Hopes
Beyond the horizon of the place we lived when we were young
In a world of magnets and miracles
Our thoughts strayed constantly and without boundary
The ringing of the division bell had begun

Along the long road and on down the causeway
Do they still meet there by the cut

There was a ragged band that followed in our footsteps
Running, before time took our dreams away
Leaving the myriad small creatures trying to tie us to the ground
To a life consumed by slow decay

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
With friends surrounded
The night of wonder

Looking beyond the embers of bridges glowing behind us
To a glimpse of how green it was on the other side
Steps taken forwards -- but sleepwalking back again
Dragged by the force of some inner tide

At a higher altitude with flag unfuried
We reached the dizzy heights of that dreamed of world

[Instrumental Interlude]

Eneumbered forever by desire and ambition
There’s a hunger still unsatisfied
Our weary eyes still stray to the horizon
Though down this road we’ve been so many times

The grass was greener
The light was brighter
The taste was sweeter
The nights of wonder
With friends surrounded
The dawn mist glowing
The water flowing
The endless river
Forever and ever
Quite a few words to consider in the light of current circumstances...
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne (1907 - 1979)