Friday Follies...
We're on the eve of Memorial Day weekend 2008, and anyone that has the slightest inkling of what the REAL meaning behind Memorial Day is probably going to be taking some time to reflect.
And reflection is good.
Think of it as "food for the soul".
A way to remember.
As a preamble to my Memorial Day post (this Monday), I want to offer some "reflections" if you will regarding the current state of affairs in this fine nation.
---With the ever-rising cost of oil, we've been seeing a financial catastrophe looming, the likes of which (imho) has yet to be rivaled in past history. We could offer up the burning of Rome, or the fire-bombing of Dresden, or assorted floods, earthquakes, and other "acts of nature" as good examples. But what we have here has all the makings of a potential paradigm shift in the global status quo.
If we were to consider some of the possible ramifications of this oil crisis, the world could take on a very different appearance. We could be looking at fiscal collapse of national infrastructures. We're already seeing the house market dropping faster than a $10 whore.
We're also seeing prices rise astronomically, as these fuel costs are passed onto the consumer for every item under the sun (and then some). And when we stop to consider all the products we use in our homes that has some type of petroleum base, we find ourselves deeper in this quagmire of "need".
And what better way to defeat the "nasty USA" than by ECONOMIC means (that we have little control over)? That's for all you conspiracy theorists out there.
In our rush to preserve environments, save species from extinction, and attempt to keep the earth pristine, we've neglected our real needs, and supplanted them with our narcissistic wants. We had the chance to wean ourselves off of SO much oil back in the 1970s...and we did sat on our asses. We had the chance to develop alternatives to fossil fuels, build more nuclear plants, and pursue wind, solar, and geothermal power with an honest zeal for a true balance between nature and ourselves. And we just scratched the asses we sat on.
Now, we spend time reflecting on what "could" have been. We do this because we're no longer able to frivolously drive anywhere, anytime, unless we're willing to hand over a nice chunk of our paychecks to fill the gas tank to do so.
Nice wake-up call.
---I think about when I was a kid...no computer stalkers wanting to "meet" me, no camera cellphones catching us picking our noses (or worse), no video game babysitters, no MTV/BET crap soiling our synapses, and just a lot FEWER problems.
We had simple solutions TO simple problems, when we even HAD problems (like Cold War nuclear annihilation). But that's what being a kid was all about.
Take bicycles...can't get ANY simpler than that, right?
You learn to ride, and that's about it. My dad taught me (I started out on a 24" model of all things - NO training wheels either). And when he did that, it opened up a much larger world for me.
Your bike was many things...it was your motorcycle (with strategically-placed baseball cards in the spokes, which today's kids seem to lack the skills to mimic), it was your horse, it was your partner, it was your "best friend".
Yessir...all I needed was my bike, a stretch of pavement or a road somewhere, and my imagination, and I was off on another "adventure", as were the rest of us kids. And woe to those of us that did not obey the rules of the road. No getting in the way of cars by riding down the middle of the street. NO riding across other peoples' property - that was "Verboten"!
We figured as long as we respected some simple rules, we would be shown respect back. And aside from the rare case where some numb-nut didn't know HOW to drive a damn car, that pretty much worked for us all.
Being a kid in "my" day meant that you had a decent command of your imagination. Hell, you had to have an imagination, because many times, your parents couldn't afford anything else. And if they did, they usually made sure it didn't run on batteries ("...Because they cost money, son").
So we had toy soldiers (green army men), cap pistols, toy trucks and cars...and plenty of "brain activity" to make it all work.
Kids today all seem to have problems we never had. Many are "bored", others suffer from ADHD, and still others just have heads full of bad wiring. And yet...they have ALL this stuff at their fingertips. Now I know some will argue that my generation had the same things said about them by OUR parents and grandparents. Yeah, we do that...compare other generations to OURS. But never was it more pronounced than with today's kids.
MY parents had none of what my generation had, and they still made out OK. MY generation had little if nothing of what kids have to day...and WE (for the most part) turned out OK. But you really have to wonder about today's generation. Every past generation has used what they had available to them to make being a kid work for them. We can't seem to say that today. Today's kids have more problems than we ever did, and yet they have all this "stuff" to keep them from becoming that way.
Makes you think, right?
Makes you "reflect".
So when I have the luxury of a few minutes of peace and quiet, I like to reflect on things like this, among other things. If we never feed our souls, we can't satisfy the hunger that we never can seem to explain. When our stomach is empty...we fill it. Maybe not with the "best " food available (pizza, hoagies and cheesesteaks for me, please), but we are compelled to eat what we need to just to survive. It's instinctual. It's primal. It's necessary.
Would it be that we take as much time wondering how to properly feed our souls as well as our bodies.
Personal reflection might not be a pork tenderloin, but it sure beats the hell out of starving oneself in ways one cannot imagine. And like any kid, you surely must have SOME imagination in you to figure that one out.
---Now if you'll pardon me, I've got to go and see what the squirrels are up to outside.
Looks like my "watch-squirrel" found some new "friends"...and the Force is strong with them apparently.
Catch you on Memorial Day, but in the meantime...
Do have a SAFE weekend.