Shrill

Shrillness fills the airwaves lately--and you can hear it in breakfast lobbies and in clusters of people outside the Comfort Inn.

Last night I listened to a woman holding forth to a bunch of men so loudly you could hear her all the way down the parking lot.  "Those damn Democrats ask for an investigation and they are never satisfied! I don't care if Kavenaugh did it or not, he's President Trump's pick and he's our president and we should all get on board with him.  That woman was a *$%#&  liar!"

Then I turned on the radio this morning to where NPR can usually be found on my dial, and I heard similarly strident and shrill voices from the religious right, minus the constant cursing of the bleached blonde in the Comfort Inn parking lot. 

We have never lived in a more divided country and feelings are high on both sides, but the shrillness factor on radio and TV is enough to make you think that's the entire mind of the world.

I'm ready today for a meandering drive through the countryside of Highway 11, dipping into the Blue Ridge Parkway for the air of silent trees,

I read this last night in Joyful: 

"In Japan, an activity called shinrin-yoku--literally, forest bathing--has been promoted by the forest ministry since 1982.  The practice, which involves simply relaxing in the presence of trees...has been shown in several studies to increase the activity of natural killer (NK) cells, a type of white blood cell critical to immune system functioning particularly in the body's defense against cancerous and virally infected cells."

Let the talking heads spout their opinions and blast their shrill anger all day long, but it makes me want to take a bath in trees!