Day 2359 - Memorial Day

Memorial Day makes me think of my parents. They both served in the Navy during World War II. Neither of them was career military, but their service mattered to them in a way I never fully understood. Tom Brokaw was right when he described people like my Mom and Dad as the Greatest Generation. They had a determination and sense of purpose that has not been seen since. When I reached the age where men serve in the military, I had very ambiguous feelings about Vietnam. I've had ambiguous feelings about war ever since. People like my parents didn't feel this ambiguity. They knew with absolute certainty that the Germans and the Japanese must be defeated and that's what they did. The world is different now, but it isn't necessarily better. We've lost that sense of purpose that made my parents generation so unique. On days like today, I remember how special they were and wonder if we will ever see anything like them again.

It was a beautiful day today, but it didn't really seem like a holiday. Janet went in to work after we gave the dogs their morning walk and I ended up spending most of the day working on a new writing assignment. I could have waited, but the client said this was a time sensitive job and I still like to be responsive. The park was full of picnickers this afternoon, but I had no desire to join them outside. Sitting in an air conditioned house and writing seemed to make a lot more sense that working in the yard and getting bit by hundreds of mosquitoes.

May is gone. Only one more day left. I'm a Gemini with a birthday in June, but I'm not really looking forward to it. Birthdays just remind me how old I am. I wish time would slow down a bit. I still feel like I've got places to go and things to do, but I could easily spend the rest of my time doing laundry if I'm not careful. Maybe tomorrow I'll be filled with a sense of purpose. I could use a sense of purpose. It wouldn't have to be the same sense of purpose my parents had, but anything would be beneficial at this point. I need to aim for something more realistic than making Dot young again but more ambitious than cleaning the car.

We're going to try to resume Dot's water therapy this week. That's a little ambitious, but not too much. Dot has been getting stronger and we've got to try sometime. We'll also be meeting with the dog walker who is going to be helping with Dot while Janet is on vacation. I could use a vacation too, but now is not the time. Until that time comes, I'll amuse myself with discovering more efficient ways to clean up dog poop and experimenting with different ingredients in my morning smoothie. I've got fresh peaches this week.

Ollie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1622

On my way to the gym on Sunday, I often listen to the TED Radio Hour in the car. The show starts at 2 PM, and by coincidence, that's usually when I leave for the gym. TED talks are one of the few things I continually find interesting. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, but these wide ranging talks can be about virtually anything. I always learn something. I wish there was a station that ran these talks non-stop, because they are a lot more interesting than listing to Hip Hop, old 80's rock, or ads from mattress stores. Today's talk was about fear and I listened to a fascinating conversation with astronaut Chris Hadfield as he explained what it was like to be strapped to the top of a rocket when the odds were about 1 in 35 that it would explode.

The odds were much better that I'd have a good workout today. I'm getting stronger now. I'm sure that having a fully functioning liver again helps. If I can manage to find the time to get back to my goal of three good workouts a week, I imagine I'll really start seeing some progress. Something is always better than nothing though, so for the moment, I'm trying to make the most of my once a week schedule.

I wrote my monthly essay for my writers group this afternoon. Why this afternoon? Well, the deadline was today. Like I've said many times, I'm very deadline oriented. Without a deadline, I'd probably do nothing. I'm skeptical of people who tell me that they are motivated by simply loving what they are doing. That isn't enough for me. I need a deadline, combined with the fear of public humiliation, to find the motivation I need.

The neighbor's new cat returned to our yard this morning. It's a shame that Dot has such a strong prey drive, since the little cat is very friendly. I think it has decided that it would rather live with us than with the people next door who adopted it. I've got to figure out how to convince the neighbors to keep their new cat indoors. If this is going to be an outdoor cat that is attracted to our yard, Dot will eventually hurt the cat, or hurt herself. She is much too old and frail to be chasing cats.

We had burgers and home made potato salad for dinner. It seemed like a perfect meal for a three-day weekend. I'll be the first to admit that I've led a fairly sheltered life. Like many baby boomers, I spent my life living between major wars and never served in the armed services. The period between the Vietnam War and the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was probably the longest period of extended peace in our country's history. It's easy for people like me to forget what this Memorial Day holiday really means. My parents both served proudly in World War II. They had something most of my own generation lacks. Patriotism wasn't just a word to them, it was a way of life. In honor of their service and of the service of the thousands who continued to fight and die after them, I hope that we can all agree to start treating our veterans better. It is simply unbelievable to me that prisoners at Guantanamo Bay receive better medical care than many of our own veterans. Maybe this Memorial Day holiday, we can finally decide as a country that the time has come to do much, much better.

Ranger is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 1001 - 9/11

I wonder why the bad memories are the most indelible? While many of my most pleasant memories have faded away, I'll never forget the day the dogs and I were attacked by another dog and Dash was almost killed. I still vividly remember hearing six shots right outside my front door back when Janet and I were first dating, as police shot and killed an intruder in the neighborhood. Although it was many years ago, it seems like yesterday when I sat alone for 45 minutes in the mortuary with my Dad shortly after he died. 9/11 is like this for me. On a Tuesday morning eleven years ago the unthinkable happened and I will never forget it.

That fateful day changed our lives in ways that most of us still don't fully appreciate. An innocence was lost that morning that I don't think will ever be recovered. That was the day that privacy became an anachronism as well. We don't even question the cameras on every street corner now. We don't question being poked, prodded and scanned at airports. These intrusions have just become part of life as we know it. The two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan didn't really accomplish much, but they did set the stage for something much more effective.

Robotic drones were developed that quietly observed everything and just as quietly eliminated the bad guys one by one. Nobody seemed to mind the drones. They have been so successful that they are starting to be used domestically. The border patrol uses them. So do some police departments. As technology improves, these drones will continue to get smaller and more sophisticated. There will be a day when the drones are as small as mosquitoes and will be used to quietly poison their victims. No bombs required. I have mixed feeling about all this. I like the idea of being able to selectively and almost invisibly eradicate evil, but it puts a huge responsibility on the folks flying these things. We are still human. One day, a distraught controller will go rogue and use a drone to kill his ex-wife and then everything will start to unravel.

When I took this picture of the New York skyline looking out my hotel window at the UN Plaza in the mid-1980's, the world was a simpler place. I wish I could go back to those days. I was much less cynical when the twin towers were full of life. I couldn't afford to go to Windows on the World, but I liked to ride the elevators to the top of the towers and look out over the city. The last time I was in New York, I just looked down at a deep hole and mourned.

Shadow is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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