OPINION | MIKE MASTERSON: Fateful collision


It happened this time of the year 20 years ago. I was dressing for work when I heard two sharp "bangs" on the patio glass door with the reverberating force of a sonic boom.

Taken aback, I waited and listened a minute. But there was nothing else.

So I strolled into the next room to see what had caused the racket. Looking through the glass into the backyard, there was nothing that seemed like the obvious cause of the noise. Until I looked down at the concrete patio.

Through the thick door glass I'd meticulously polished earlier that week, I saw two seemingly lifeless robins lying separated with only the outermost tips of their beaks touching in a kiss.

Believing robins mate for life, and they likely either had a nest or were creating one nearby, I found it both odd and tragic this couple would have struck the glass together and instantly fallen to land in such a poignant manner.

It appeared as if they had died together in the instant they unknowingly slammed headlong into the door's crystal-clear illusion of a reflected outdoors. That sort of thing unfortunately happens too much with birds.

I decided to leave the pair as they lay for the time being, hoping perhaps they were only knocked senseless and would recover before too long.

After 10 minutes I returned to the door and was heartened to see the male standing, wobbly, over the other, staring down with squinted eyes as if waiting for her to open hers and rejoin him.

As the minutes ticked away, it became clear to me she hadn't survived. Yet he wasn't ready to give up on his partner. He continued to stand shakily above her until his squinting eyes noticeably opened and cleared.

I left him to his final goodbyes and returned to the door after several minutes.

He had finally given up his hope and flown on alone, realizing life would have to go on without her. Only her feathers ruffled by a soft breeze gave movement to her form.

Opening the door for the first time since their fateful collision, I gathered her cooling body in my palm and carried her to a spot beneath the largest oak in the backyard. Gathering a hand spade, I dug a 6-inch-deep hole and laid her inside.

This experience will remain with me until I'm laid to rest because I'll always see it as a metaphor for this brief life we share that too often is taken from us when we least expect it. Don't waste a minute of your time here in anger, hate and resentment. Carpe diem, my friends.

'Liberal world order'

Again proving the adage that even old dogs can be surprised by new information, Gregory Rountree and others wrote the other day to take me to task on my screed over President Joe Biden's economic adviser saying, in response to a TV reporter's question about why gasoline prices are staying so high, that it was vital to preserve the "liberal world order."

While I've certainly heard the term "world order" referred to many times, this was the first time in 75 years I'd heard it referred to as being "liberal." But hey, when one is mistaken, they should say so.

Rountree was among several who sent a graciously worded message to set me straight about the origins of this term. As a result, I feel somehow wiser and a bit sheepish for never knowing about the "liberal" world order across all these years.

Based on accounts I saw of Biden's adviser's well-publicized comment by those who also questioned the "liberal" reference, I don't appear to have been alone in my ignorance. Here's how Mr. Rountree graciously educated me and now all of us:

"Mike, FYI. Here's an article from the Army War College, not exactly noted for their "liberal" positions: warroom.armywarcollege.edu/articles/liberal-world-order

"'First and foremost, the liberal world order is an ideological order, based on liberal ideas and values that include open and free trade, liberal democratic governance, universal human rights, collective security, international institutions, and the rule of law.

"'Though these ideas are shared with many Western countries, the United States remains central to the project. When the liberal order was created, Western countries were in ascendance; now non-Western and non-liberal countries are in ascendance challenging how global the liberal order will be.

"'As the international system continues to change, both liberal and non-liberal states will determine how bounded the order will be. Those states that have benefited the most will have to determine how much they will fight for the institutions that support their economies and security.

"'But to do so, those states will have to decide what to keep and how to defend, adapt, and continue the liberal world order's institutions and regulations in the changing international system.'"

Thanks to Greg, I feel better educated. How about you valued readers who also may have misinterpreted the meaning behind the "liberal" world order as opposed to the world order?

Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.


Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at [email protected].


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