By Peter Landry
TOC
Chapter Forty-Two: No Thorns, Just a Rose: 1991
The First Gulf War broke out when Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait with a view to its annexation; that was in August of 1990. On January 12th, 1991, the Congress of the United States passed a resolution authorizing the use of military force to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait in concert with a number of nations including most of its neighbors represented to be "the largest military alliance since World War II." The war ended "100 hours after the ground campaign started."
"[It] was marked by the introduction of live news broadcasts from the front lines of the battle, principally by the US network CNN. The war has also earned the nickname Video Game War after the daily broadcast of images from cameras on board US bombers during Operation Desert Storm." (Wikipedia)Meanwhile, closer to home, on February 18th the Provisional Irish Republican Army exploded bombs in the early morning, at both Paddington station and Victoria station at London. On March 13th, the United States Department of Justice announced that Exxon has agreed to pay $1 billion for the clean-up of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Oh! Yes - That May: the first Starbucks Coffee outlet was opened in California. On July 25th, British astronomers announced they have found what appears to be an "extrasolar planet." [An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun. Over 2000 exoplanets have been discovered since 1988 (2062 planets in 1310 planetary systems including 507 multiple planetary systems as of 5 February 2016).]
As for other events: That October, Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton announced he will seek the 1992 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Also, that October, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee interviewed both Supreme Court candidate, Clarence Thomas and former aide Anita Hill, who alleged that Thomas sexually harassed her while she worked for him. (Margo and I followed the details.)
In the meantime, the Cold War was receding into the past. That December the Supreme Soviet met and formally dissolved the Soviet Union.
So, that's the background. As for me; I was totally relieved, loving and being loved by Margo and my family. The pictures tell the story. Please do look at the pictures, they cover-off a busy year, including: camping at Kejimkujuk; and from Acadia National Park, Maine, to Mt. Philo, Vermont. (A diary was kept.) That summer we drove up to Kennetcook, there to pay a visit to the farm upon which Margo was raised.
And, of course (Hear the Brass Horns), Melissa was born on January 11th.
As for music: On November 24th, the group known as "Queen," its lead singer, Freddie Mercury, died from "pneumonia induced by AIDS." The songs of the year that took my attention, were: From a Distance, Bette Midler; Someday, Mariah Carey; More Than Words, Extreme; Baby, Baby, Amy Grant; (Everything I Do) I Do It for You, Bryan Adams; and, Because I Love You (The Postman Song), Stevie B.
As for movies: I was not watching them, I suppose, because not many come to mind. The 5th ranking film listed for the year was The Silence of the Lambs. I might say, as an aside, that as popular as the movie might have been, it was lost on me. I enjoyed Thelma & Louise.