Butterfly

Marialice and I watched the Spanish art hit The Butterfly last night. The story of a small boy in a Galician village in the year before the Spanish civil war. Small stories of the break down of civility and unity caused by passions of order versus freedom, traditional disciplined order versus unruly democracy. We were moved by the struggle in a young man's heart, the impact on a divided family, and the instincts of a mother to protect her home, even at the expense of breaking her husband's heart. It is good to see the history of a nation rent in two by a struggle between polarities because it reminds us that no matter how uncivil our political process becomes - the center still holds. I wondered aloud whether that would ever cease to be the case - whether on side or the other would consider its position so inviolate that it would resort to open hostility and violence in order to guarantee its ascendancy. Though I'm tempted to characterize actions by either side as such, I'm not sure they qualify. Looking at Spain in the 30's makes me realize that we are sooo far from that in our country. And for that I'm glad.