New View Askew

Solstice 2021    The Greatest Day of the Year Most people that know me know that the winter solstice is my favorite day of the year. No, seriously it is and has been for a very long time. Why? Because it is the beginning of the end of the miserable darkness in the northern hemisphere, that's why! (Don't ask about it's evil twin in June.) My happiness comes at a cost however. T o explain why, I like to share stories, stories that might teach a lesson, perhaps warm the heart and hopefuly hasten the return of the sun. (But don't hold me to any of that.) I have cranked out a lot of stories over the years but sadly have been too busy to do so this year. (What, you think you can just whip one of these out in a couple hours?! To quote a very good friend of mine, "I have nothing to do and still can't get everything done.")  But fear not, I have reached back to update and share one from several years ago.  I hope you find it reassuring.  Behold. Enjoying the Solsti

  My oldest daughter recently sent me something that, at first blush, is perfect for a leaf watching meditation and it certainly is that. Of course, as you will see, this verse can mean different things to different people and for many different reasons. As for me, as a lot of people have noted, I've had a pretty negative outlook for quite some time (although sadly as one looks around my country, I may have good reason.) So this lovely piece was very timely because it forced me to have an attitude check that I definitely needed. It may not negate the things have made me feel so sour but it reminded me that it's easy to let the minutiae of modern life take on a role well beyond their actual importance.  It said, "Come on, pal, it's time to step back and get a grip, focus on t hings like family, friends and how you are living your life instead of crap you can't control." Alrighty then! Obviously and most importantly this contemplation also speaks to the biggest

Can anyone who has watched the movie “Braveheart” forget that scream by William Wallace at the end of the movie when he is being eviscerated by the king’s men? Having recently watched the movie again, it started me thinking a lot about the word "freedom" and what it means to we Americans. As a country we have a unique relationship with and devotion to freedom - we REALLY love it! Freedom in its many forms is enshrined in our Constitution which is both a cause and an effect of that love. In fact, we have gone to war many times to protect it and spent vast fortunes and countless American lives to help others have or keep those same freedoms (although with varying degrees of success in either.)   Over the centuries that our country has been in existence we have grown from thirteen colonies with 3 million people (almost exclusively white Europeans - and their slaves, of course) living on farms, to a country of fifty states with a very diverse, mostly urban population of over 33

   . . . Sorry, Too Much Time on My Hands “Have you pee’d today, Mr Pederson? (she pronounced it “PETERson”) asked the nice nurse.     Me, “No.” “Have you farted yet, Mr Pederson?” asked the kindly nurse’s aide. Me, indignantly “No, I have not passed flatus!” Welcome to potty training, age 73. And welcome to recovery from surgery. Recently (Jul 28th) I had a  major and fairly complex surgery on my lower back. I used to joke that what I lacked above the shoulders I made up for below them. Ooops, not so much anymore. But allow me to back up to the beginning of this tale of woe. About a year and a half ago I started gimping around with some stupid pains in my right leg. Luckily, since it happened in FL, nobody actually noticed given all the other geezers gimping around. So like any proud guy . . . I ignored it.  But not for long. Finally, just to make Mrs Dear Leader happy, I visited her FL chiropractor. (The gall of her, getting mad at me for complaining but not doing anything about

  Baby Boomer Presidents I’m a baby boomer, as are most of my friends along with about 20% of the American population. You know, this huge group that, as Ken Dychtwald so elegantly put it, is moving through our society like a pig through a python - and many of us are now staring at the tail! Something recently dawned on me. We had four consecutive presidents from my generation (before we backed up one generation for the current one.) That's  28 years of baby boomer presidential leadership: two Democrats, one Republican and an “Other.” Surely, we can draw some conclusions about how they did now.   So who are these guys?                         First, Bubba .     If you advertised for the position of baby boomer president, William Jefferson Clinton  (young, born 1946) would probably be precisely the kind of person that you would want. From a humble background, he was highly educated, fancied himself a visionary, new age thinker and was a brilliant politician. He out-thought and out

    . . . Bad Combo! Insult to injury for Father's Day? Father’s Day and the summer solstice, on the same damn day! I wonder if there is a hidden message or meaning to this  . . . "coincidence." Everyone knows that Father’s Day is the least important of all the made up holidays. Don't believe me? Then how come all the FD greeting cards say, "Dear Dad . . . Who Cares, XoXo?!” Also, you can count on one hand the number of times you see a kid waving and yelling “Hi dad” on tv, it’s always “Hi mom!” And that’s okay, that’s the way it should be, dads are meant to toil in familial obscurity. We can’t compete with a mother’s love so all we can do is try to compete with brute sincerity - and the occasional game of hoops or playing catch. A dad’s love may not make for clever Hallmark cards but that doesn’t make it any less real (just a little less obvious.) So we get this one day a year to pretend like we are an equal partner in the hearts of our family and what happens?

 Part I Warriors Helping Their Neighbors Memorial Day this year has special significance, it’s the 50 th anniversary as an official national holiday that is dedicated to honor those who have died in service to their country. As such it is among our most solemn and saddest of holidays. Yet this year there are two great events to actually celebrate. First, after 20 long years, all our troops will finally be home from Afghanistan! I have shared before my thoughts on the futility and senselessness of nearly all wars and especially this latest one, the longest in our history. (See Part II below) As a retired officer with 28 years of service and a participant in three such wars I feel some license to do so. At the same time, I pay the highest honor to my fellow vets and current members of the military who have sacrificed so much for so long. Welcome home, troops! This Memorial Day we have something else to recognize. While we pay homage to those who have served in the military, it is