Month: July 2025

On Patriotism

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All week long I’ve been seeing polls on patriotism.  Apparently, the Millennials and Gen Z aren’t patriotic.  Okay.  But why would they be?  Patriotism implies pride in a nation.  But we aren’t a nation.  We’re at least two nations, probably more.  Maybe these younger people are proud of people like them whom they feel are good people who believe in the right things.  And in fact, for many of them the right thing is globalism.  So, the “nation” they believe in isn’t a nation at all.  It’s the borderless “family of humanity.”  Instead of pride in the history and people of this “nation” they are deeply disturbed by the Europeans who settled and built America.  All they see is theft from the indigenous people and the enslavement of the Africans.

So where does that leave the rest of us?  Well obviously, we have no solidarity with people who despise us.  They aren’t our countrymen because they feel no allegiance to this nation.  Their allegiance is to a future in which the memory of this country’s birth and rise are eliminated and anyone who shows up here is just as much an American as people whose families built it.  What we have is the story of America as a legacy for us and our children, at least the children who aren’t in the globalist camp.  We need to pass along the legacy and the understanding of what a remarkable accomplishment the European settlers achieved.  They took a wilderness and turned it into a magnificent patchwork of farmlands and cities and industrial might and communities of strong intelligent people who invented amazing things that had never been seen before in the history of the world.  And made their home the envy of the old world.

Right now, patriotism isn’t something that most people associate with 21st century America.  Maybe it will be necessary for a separation between those who love this country and those who are ashamed of its history.  Maybe we must split into two separate nations before there can be a patriotic rebirth in the United States.  If that happens, I think it would more quickly solve our problems.  It doesn’t appear as if any other ending will provide a solution to the division that has grown up within our ranks.  We no longer believe in the same things.  We no longer are the same people.  We are moving in two opposite directions.  It would only make sense for us to live in separate countries.

Maybe the current battles over deportation of illegal immigrants will inspire California to decide on secession.  It would require a constitutional amendment and possibly more.  But if they were willing, I think the rest of the country would go along gladly.  Who knows?  Maybe the rest of the west coast and the Northeast would join with them.  And Canada could act as a northern link between the coasts and maybe a few other states like Illinois and Minnesota could join them.  It could really work.  They’d be rid of us and we’d be much happier without them.  And then both new entities would be free to come up with their own version of patriotism.  And boy would they differ.

Happy Fourth of July 2025

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I learned a lesson about planning.  It should be associated with thinking.  I had an auto maintenance appointment that I wanted to get done before last week’s big trip.  But because I’ve been distracted by unfortunate circumstances, I couldn’t get an appointment on time (bad photog!).  I said, “Well give me the appointment next week.”  So, I pick the day before the Fourth of July!  Well, you know what’s hard to get to work on the day before a long holiday weekend?  Auto-mechanics!  A one-hour maintenance job keeps me waiting there for four hours.  The sad part is I could watch all the lined-up cars sitting there for three hours and then they were all done in the last hour.  A nine o’clock appointment for a mechanic who’s showing up at noon is kind of a sad situation.  Of course, some people started flipping out at eleven thirty and by 1 pm they were demanding the site manager be summoned for the maintenance clerk’s summary execution.  Of course, the site manager was on vacation until next Tuesday but it was a noble sentiment.

Being old I realized my own culpability in the whole idea of scheduling something involving waiting for the day before a major holiday.  I tried to do some on-line stuff over their customer wi-fi network.  But I got bored so instead I watched the people.  It had a certain entertainment value.  I guess the thought that I had was there are definitely two kinds of people.  The kind you would want in a lifeboat and the kind who will get thrown overboard.

Later on, we had one of those thunderstorm/hail storm/minor tornado/mini-monsoon downpour thingies here today.  It had been very hot and muggy and just walking around the yard was a major effort.  Then all hell breaks loose, the power goes off, the dogs go insane and suddenly the air is twenty degrees cooler.  And we’re watching from the window and saying isn’t it great to watch this from inside?  And it was.  The trees were whipping around and the sky was full of water and ice and the clouds were moving fast.  And then in fifteen minutes the sun was out again.  Well, no trees came down and the dogs calmed down so I went for a walk.  The air was sweet and there was a strong breeze.  Just an interesting kaleidoscope of weather.

And now we have the Fourth coming up.  Sitting in the service station watching their television I saw a news item about how some of the more progressive towns and cities were replacing their fireworks shows with a swarm of drones forming shapes in the air and changing colors.  It looked so incredibly lame and so sad I just shook my head.  The newscaster went out of his way to say how much more environmentally friendly and carbon neutral the lame drone show was than a fireworks display.  And I thought, this encapsulates the difference between people who enjoy life and people who do what they’re told is good for them.  These are the same people driving Priuses and getting their fiftieth COVID booster shot.

Well Happy Fourth of July.

I Feel Like a Phoenix Rising Over Arizona

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The suffering is over.  The waiting is over.  The only thing I have left to do this week is get the oil changed on my car.  I can read, write, watch movies, sit in a hammock in the shade (well, if I had a hammock), write poetry (not good poetry), plot the overthrow of the Dunwich town government, laugh in the face of death, learn to play the piano; you name it!

Great Caesar’s ghost!  I’m exhausted just reading that list.

So, emerging from my forced isolation I see that nothing of note has happened in the last five days.  The endless jousting between the press and the Trump administration continues and Trump slowly accumulates small victories from the courts and larger ones from the Supreme Court.  Good!  I’ve declared victory (for the most part) and allow the world to slowly become Trumpified while I get on with my agenda.

I finished my re-read of the last third of my book and came to a few conclusions:

  • I like the writing. I like the way it reads.
  • I like the story line. It moves forward.
  • There is something missing to allow the story to end satisfyingly for all the threads of the book.
  • So, the good news of the first two points makes it worthwhile for me to tackle the bad news of the last point.

As I earlier stated it was weird to read the book after a good long time and read it as if I wasn’t the writer.  Of course, I knew the plot but the writing seemed fresh to me, like I was reading it for the first time.  Now, I did make some edits and even made some small changes to the wording during this read.  But I’m good with what’s already done.  So, I’ll kick around a few ideas to see which one makes the ending most satisfying.  Good.

The summer has gotten amazingly hot and humid.  And this has drawn the grandchildren to want to swim in the pool.  And this year the water is perfect.  Perfectly clear.  No algae.  Good pH.  No leaks.  There are a few small cracks in the liner above the water line.  So, I bought a patching kit and I will attempt to fix them myself.  If I botch it, I’ll call in the professionals and they’ll overcharge me but make the problem go away.  But it’s good to see this expensive hole in the ground get used by someone who can enjoy jumping in and swimming around.  I think in the fourteen years I’ve live here I’ve gone in once.  Oh well.

So, let’s see where Trump’s “big beautiful bill” is in a few days and where the various wars are in a few weeks.  But I’m ready to enjoy the seasonal weather and do some cooking out with friends and relatives and enjoy the only true summer month in the otherwise blighted New England calendar.  Because remember, July is the only month in which measurable snow has not fallen in southern New England.  That makes it sacred.  Enjoy.