"April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain." ~ T.S. Eliot

Siege on Waco, TX: 1993

Oklahoma City Bombings: 1995

Columbine School Massacre: 1999

Virginia Tech Massacre: 2007

Mid-April Tornado Outbreak (largest in history): 2011

Boston: 2013

Explosion in West, TX: 2013

I'm not going to lie. It's been a helluva a week in this country. We're all on edge. Yesterday was improbably chaotic with reports of poisioned letters being sent to our political leaders (And I use the term "leaders" lightly, Senate. But that's a story for another day.), suspicious packages investigated EVERYwhere, and bomb threats. News outlets, in their rush to be first with the story played fast and loose with the facts (What are we coming to?), only adding to the confusion and chaos. And then last night, this horrific explosion in Texas. I just can't imagine. I am reminded of the terrifying days just after 9/11 when each new day brought more concerns and chaos. I told someone then that I felt that the whole world was holding its breath. I feel that way now.

It's seeping into my family. We're overworked and tired and everyone is cranky. I just couldn't post the post I had scheduled for today.Eliot was right, April can be cruel as the earth surges towards renewal. I remember being baffled by that concept when first studying the The Waste Land in school. Still, anyone who's experienced a tornado in the south or mid-west, mud season in New England, or, dare I say, allergies in Virginia, knows just how cruel she can be! And yet, the promise of rebirth, courage and renewal remains. It has to. Where else would we be?

“There is only one way in which one can endure man's inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one's own life, to exemplify man's humanity to man.” ~ Alan Paton

On days like this, small things on the scale of life become writ large.

A nice afternoon for a run.

First responders rushing in to help.

Marathoners stopped, quite literally, in their tracks. Thrown off their stride. And then striding to hospitals, offering to give blood.

Hours and miles of training, stopped short.

Runners racing for charity, for friends, for loved ones. A day of jubilation. It should have been.

I'm struck, as always, as I scrolled through some images of the day, the horrible day, at the sight of all the people helping each other, touching each other, holding on to each other. Man's humanity to man. Nothing can take that away.

april is the cruelest month {still + life}

oh, boston {still + life}