InDepthNH.org (http://indepthnh.org/2021/12/30/having-a-donner-party-christmas/)
Susan Dromey Heeter getting her holiday cheer on with a cup of coffee and some sprigs of holly in this file photo.
By SUSAN DROMEY HEETER, InDepthNH.org
It’s lovely to think in extremes, bright sunlight followed by torrential rains, packed streets filled with people followed by COVID-19 emptiness. Perhaps it’s not lovely, perhaps it’s more interesting. And today, dear musers, I muse joyfully on the extremes of watching a Donner Party Documentary on Christmas Day.
As my little family and I sat around on Christmas, presents unwrapped, prime rib enjoyed, we opted for an afternoon movie viewing. We argued about titles, debated over award winning films and then decided on a 2003 PBS documentary about the Donner family. I’d seen it before, had been riveted and thought – now THIS is the one to watch on a cozy Christmas day.
And for those of you not familiar with the Donner Party, let’s just say, it would not translate to “Fiesta de Donner.” According to Wikipedia, “The Donner Party was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.”
Mishaps puts it lightly. There were wrong turns, misinformation, murders, hypothermia, madness and, the greatest of mishaps: cannibalism. Did I just eat someone’s leg? That is, dear musers, much more than a mishap, but literally a life choice – to live or die, to survive or not.
As we watched the documentary, gasped and gagged, the Donner Party put all into perspective. Don’t ever listen to a guy with political ambitions who has not done his homework, who tells you to take a short cut, who talks up a quicker way. (Lansford Hastings was a jerk.) Pack LOTS of snacks and blankets. Take the bus and go to EMS or REI before you travel – even if it is 1846 and hand warmers have not been invented. Try to avoid eating your friends.
Certainly, life is going to lead you off course. That, well, is life. We can’t always stay safe and sure, sometimes short cuts seem like a good idea. BUT, Joyful Musers, stay safe. Stay the better, if sometimes longer, course.
And musers? The Donner Party documentary does put all into perspective, if you need a pick me up, or just a realization that, “hey, it could be worse” do watch the Donner Party documentary. I muse joyfully you will, in your snug warm pajamas, with a bag of chips, as the snow flies – outside.
We depend on your support. A generous gift in any amount helps us continue to bring you this service.
On Thursday, December 30, 2021, DHHS announced 1,580 new positive test results for COVID-19 for Wednesday, December 29.
See the list here: http://indepthnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/partialEES.pdf By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org Defense attorneys are scouring the partial Laurie List that was made public Wednesday searching for police who may have testified against their clients but failed to disclose discipline for dishonesty in their confidential personnel files.
By MICHAEL DAVIDOW, Radio Free New Hampshire I recently wrote about the death of Bob Dole, whose honorable life was nevertheless marked by some of the same rhetorical excesses that still stain the Republican Party today (in a much worse form than that stolid man from Kansas would have ever countenanced). Another pair of recent deaths are causing me to look at the other side of our nation’s political divide.
Listen here: https://feeds.podetize.com/ep/L2O2HShYe/media Wayne D. King By WAYNE D. KING, NH Secrets, Legends and Lore Take a trip back into history with your kids, your students, your friends and neighbors with this fantastic collaboration between author Beverly Stoddart and educator Ann Welch as they describe their collaboration built upon the extraordinary stories of journalists from United Press International in the latter half of the 20th century.
On Wednesday, December 29, 2021, DHHS announced 1,165 new positive test results for COVID-19 for Tuesday, December 28.
InDepthNH protects independent journalism that holds government accountable to the people. Our investigative reporting prompts civil discourse that spurs citizens to action. We reveal wrongdoing, corruption and influence-peddling while giving voice to the disenfranchised. InDepthNH fulfills the press’ watchdog role as envisioned by the founders of our democracy.
We depend on your support. InDepthNH.org is published by the New Hampshire Center for Public Interest Journalism. A generous gift in any amount helps us continue to bring you this service.
Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News.