Being a poker and prodder in my own history, I’ve had many “Monday Morning Quarterback” experiences with my own past. No, thank you. I don’t want to go back, but I’ve reached the point where I am not eager for change.
I like my life as it is. My wife, the cats, the dog, the kids, and my house and garden.
You know, after a life of tumult, you settle in. I’ve been to see the varmint, the elephant, and have been around the proverbial block several times. It has not been boring ( Trusms do exist for a purpose, you know!) I’d like to visit my friends and plant my garden in peace. For years, I took the Teddy Roosevelt quote to heart, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” And finally, I’ve made something of it that I prize and want to maintain.
So now that I have it where I want it, I feel worried that those nasty Disturbances in the Fourth threaten it ( I’m writing this on the fourth of May, so there is my May the Fourth be with you pun!). On the international and national stage, politicians seem eager to lead us into wrack and ruin, and inflation threatens my plans for an equitable retirement. It’s impractical to build a wall so high that the disturbances can’t intrude, and we lack the power or influence to convince the bad actors to cease and desist.
I find myself not so much in a time I’d like to freeze forever, as in a situation in which I wonder how I can preserve my family, and escape the terrors that are being created without any regard to the consequences.
Why do I say this? Well, yesterday I attended a performance of Mendelsohn’s Elijah. Somewhere in the middle, I drifted off into a contemplation on the wages of sin and the cost of prideful behavior ( the concert was in a Catholic church, so maybe that was appropriate!). I reflected that it’s not just the perpetrators who pay, but everyone around them, especially the innocent.
So it’s not so much that I want to freeze in stasis a perfect moment, but I’d wish to protect what I have from the consequences caused by extreme and overweening pride, stupidity, and plain idiocy on a national and international level.
Besides, I’m too old to master the techniques needed to build housing for the family from wattle and daub after the apocalypse!
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Scary times we live, indeed, Lou. I seriously have an emergency supply cupboard in the basement, and I renew and replenish it with long-shelf-life food and other survival items from time to time (I have to say, during COVID it came in handy.)
We do the same, and by the way, that was a great Cinco de Mayo post!
Great, I don’t feel too weird, lol. Thank you for reading my pist, Lou, so glad you enjoyed it!
*post
The autocorrect always messes up and doesn’t work when actually needed
I’m in the same place, Lou. I sometimes wonder if it’s because time goes faster now or if I just like it here. I think when we don’t know what trouble is, we have a different orientation to it. At this point? I know what it is and I’m grateful when I’m not in it
Being close to home gives keeps me happy with what I have.
Thesse days I’m the same.