Readers respond: Reflections from a city dweller

Opening up thought

I continue to find such peace, beauty, and delight in two photos from last year: the light of “Holiday hope” in the Dec. 19 issue, and the depth of color in “Pumpkin delivery” in the Oct. 10 issue.

It is reassuring to me that The Christian Science Monitor is embracing articles such as the Oct. 24 cover story, “Moral support: How we raise a ‘good person’ in fractured times.” Alex and Kate Brophy, immigration attorneys specializing in LGBTQ clients, are teaching their children “to be kind to others ... and to help them have the understanding that life is complex, that society is complex, and to appreciate our differences.”

May I end with a quote by the founder of the Monitor, Mary Baker Eddy: “Let us serve instead of rule, knock instead of push at the door of human hearts, and allow to each and every one the same rights and privileges that we claim for ourselves.” Thank you for your role in opening thought during such a challenging year as 2022.

Josephine Thompson
San Diego

Listen to the people

The Jan. 2 & 9 cover story, “Citizens’ advice to Congress: What we would do,” was a genius of an inspiration for a story. I thoroughly enjoyed it and believe the Monitor should feature it monthly. Better yet, send copies to Congress. Maybe sense and cooperation could begin to be restored.

Leslie Leggett
Bristol, Vermont

The real northern Rockies

When I saw the Dec. 19 article, “In the northern Rockies, winter snows bring a flurry of hope,” I thought, that’s an interesting title. A piece about the Canadian Rockies! Nope. Turns out “northern Rockies” means Montana, United States.

I share just to remind our wonderful Monitor editors and contributors that the “northern Rocky Mountains,” for many of us, are in Canada. It doesn’t feel very inclusive to your truly “northern” international readers to refer to the northern Rockies as Montana! 

Kate Gibson Oswald
Kelowna, British Columbia

Transporting a city dweller 

I loved “In the northern Rockies, winter snows bring a flurry of hope.” 

The article transported me right to the edge of a backwoods creek. I almost felt the Montana winter cold sneaking in onto my toes through my boots and wool socks. The descriptions of the mountains, woods, and evening dark, along with details of the region’s species, helped me, a city dweller, feel connected to the western Montana cycles of nature.

The way the writer treated the topic of hope – hope for a good, long, cold, and wet winter; hope for the deer, fish, and birds and to find their habitats intact and maybe a little restored since the hot, dry summers before; hope that maybe the ponderosas and the valley meadows will get the dampness and moisture they need to flourish – gave this urban, greenhorn wilderness lover a feel for ice crystals forming on browned-out wild grass and at river’s edge.

The article also sparked insight into the realm of what could be, of what might just be – despite the reams of data, and the well-intended, seasoned naysayers’ prognostications cautioning against getting our hopes too high.

It’s the kind of story, especially at Christmastime, that I think does a lot of good.

Tom Hundley
Seattle