After hearing of the attack on the U.S.A., I looked out of the window at the birdfeeder and realized the drama, the male power struggle is going on right there. Yes, this is the type of world we live in, various hormones ruling the animal world.

Which brought me in touch with Weltschmerz and child memories from WWII, in the Netherlands, occupied by the German army.

I remembered how as a little girl, I was walking down the street, my mother holding my hand. A German soldier was walking towards us. On approach, he picked me up and held me tenderly in his arms, put me down and walked on. I must have been a substitute for his little girl at home in Germany. A lesson in compassion.

Who is the enemy, who is the foe? The English bombed a vast, densely populated area of The Hague, the city I was living in. They missed their target, the site where V2 missiles were launched to England, they merely made a mistake and thousands were killed in the spring of 1945. I was told they were our friends.

The Germans did not bomb The Hague, yet I was told they were the enemy. Puzzling for a child, is it not? A lesson in relativity. Yo-Anka Light