QUESTION: Looking forward, looking back

There was major flooding in the city of Rensselaer, just across the river from Albany, a couple weeks ago, and the mayor blamed it on some controversial development taking place a few miles away. I was practically struck dumb (yeah, hard to believe, I know) by the comment of someone I know: "Now the blame game begins." It didn't feel like a "blame game" at all. It was historic flooding that closed the train station from Rensselaer to the next stop to the south, Hudson. SOMETHING happened. We should talk about it, don't you think?

There seems to be a certain mindset - I don't know of it's an American process or not - that says, "A bad thing has happened. Let's not dwell in the past, but let's move on," even before one can grieve or understand the loss.

But wait. Your house in California burned. Again. You're going to build a THIRD time. I saw at least one home owner say that on the news this fire season. But it's not just YOUR decision. Building in a know fire zone means resources are put in place to contain the next fire. Can we talk about this first?

Likewise, building in a flood zone. I think I mentioned in this blog about a town that after the historic 1993 floods on the Mississippi moved the whole town to higher ground and was spared the devastation that its neighboring towns experienced AGAIN in 2008.

I am fascinated by Greensburg, KS. Devastated by a tornado in 2007, it is rebuilding as a 'green' city.

Certainly, there are implications of this thought process dealing with interpersonal relationships, where someone who is wronged is told to "get over it!", usually too quickly for my taste.

So, my overly broad question: when do you look forward, and when do you reflect on what happened to see if maybe, just maybe, this needs to be rethought?
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Because it's been hanging out, an orphan

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And just because:



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