what to say

It is hard to imagine Chicago being cold. It was 98 today. I can't say that it is a pleasureable hot. The lack of an ocean breeze has become evident (and no the lake doesn't quite cut it.) Everyone prespires all the time. But, I do like that the hot weather forces you to interact with the elements. Unless you never leave an air-conditioned apartment, you will be affected by the heat. It is a forced equalization in a way.

I finally emailed my friend who was living in Beirut (Or atleast last time I heard, he could be anywhere really.) And again faced with the dilemma of what to say. What I feel is that I am horrified by what Israel is doing. But it is distant to my life. Beyond trying to empathize by following the news, reading over friends of friends emails, and imagining what it must be like, I don't really know. I haven't been touched by war directly. I feel so lucky for that. The immensity of that knowledge, the unfairness paralyzes me when I butt up against the undeniable fact that I benefit from U.S. imperialism. I don't want to wallow in guilt which plagues much of the left, but I know that I need to acknowledge it. Despite the tongue-tiedness, I still want to send a message. I want to communicate that I am worried to someone I care about. So I just end up saying, "I hope you are okay." and hope that suffices. I haven't heard back yet.