Baby, It is cold outside.
The homicide rate in the city of Milwaukee was at 0 till Thursday, Jan. 17th. Than there were four homicides on Thursday, two more on Friday — both newborn infants — and now there are charges pending for two more. As the murder rate explodes, the cold weather deepens. Tomorrow it will be below 0. As the homicide rate increases, the temperature decreases. Like war, the homicide rate seems to know no borders of weather. The small heater in the sunroom struggles to keep the temperature in the 40’s and 50’s, since even the five-pane window inserts cannot keep out the cold. The cold, like death itself, seems unstoppable.
All we can do is to stay inside to avoid the cold or go outside dressing warmly. The victims of homicide seem to be defenseless children or young African American males who find themselves in the wrong place and situation. We cannot just stay in the house or turn up the heat to have the homicides cease.
My friend from Sierra Leone asked me today to drive her to the bus station to drop off a package going to Madison. As soon as I got to her house and was helping to seal the box with tape I knew what was inside. It was food. My friend had just returned from Washington D.C. for a memorial service for her brother-in-law and like all persons at this event had returned with lots of native dishes. She was sharing some of the food from her sister’s event with a cousin in Madison. The cousin had shared some food from another event with my friend’s sister and her sister wanted to return the favor. Food from Sierra Leone is generally “hot” in terms of spices so I am sure this sharing of food warmed her cousin. I felt privileged to be part of this sharing.
Tomorrow the Green Bay Packers football team will play in the championship game in the cold of Lambeau Field. I am privileged to part of the cold crowd that will be hot on fire for the green and gold of the Packers. Lambeau will be cold but full of excited fans. My son and daughter-in-law are sharing their tickets with me. Death can happen in hot and cold so all we can really count on is the generous spirit of sharing, a ride on a cold day, some ethnic food or a ticket for the Packers game.
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