New Years at the Beach

I would have never imagined this as a kid growing up in Chicago. It's December 30th, 2006, I'm at Myrtle Beach to welcome in the New Year, and it's almost seventy degrees! We sat out on the beach for over an hour this afternoon. Now, granted, it was in the fifties in Chicago today, which brings us to that big chunk of Antarctica I read about falling off into the ocean.

While we sat there on the beach soaking in the sun, the sounds and the human entertainment, my wife asked my thoughts on the possibility of our children not being able to be doing what we were presently doing in the future for fear of being instantly burned to a crisp.

I have to admit, the first thing that popped into my head was this picture of all five of them as charred crispy critters. How horrific! But then I stopped and realized, except for the occasional short beach trip, these kids don't much see the light of day! My daughters, hunkered down in there suburban houses chasing kids and pets until they're ready to drop. My son, step-son and step-daughter who I'm convinced might be vampires considering the hours they keep. Sometimes I think it would be days before the news got to all of them that the world as we new it had ended.

So, here we are in a new year. Global warming is just a myth...right? Maybe we need to re-elect Al Gore?!

Politics of the South

So...here I am...a mid-westerner in North Carolina. A blue in a red state. Growing up in the Chicago area I didn't know there was another political party. It seemed but a myth to me. I now realize that it was my sheltered childhood that kept me from coming into contact with one of those mythical creatures. Republicans. My parents loathed them. Avoided them at all costs (which wasn't difficult since there were probably only a bakers dozen in town).

The politics of the South is different. Democrats until Johnson's Civil Rights initiative in the '60s. People here with virtually nothing will vote for the Republicans who will take what little is left, purely on the basis of fear. Fear of gays. Fear of abortion. Fear of terrorists. Fear of immigrants. Fear of African-Americans. It is a frustrating thing to watch. They don't look for someone who might help pull them out of the lower levels of society and better there condition. Instead they look backwards for a way to keep at bay the things they fear.

Lemmings...

...and in the beginning...

We were brought into this world, this country, this place upon our fathers' heroic return from war (WWII for you non-history buffs). I grew up in a well-to-do suburb of Chicago. Cream puffs we were called by our favorite high school English teacher. We were never going to get old. I subscribed to the Who's anthem..."hope I die before I get old".

SURPRISE! I'm still here!! Mom! If your looking down at your baby boy...I made it! Cruised past forty. Rolled into fifty. Still kicking and screaming my way through.

And it is here I will start my share. My thoughts on all things right and wrong. Up and down. In and out. For better or for worse. So help me God. Amen!