A New Hope

We are a couple of days away from 2016 being over and done with. And let me tell you, I'll be the first one in line toasting good riddance to it. It has been a tough, difficult year in our country and our world - one of the worst I can remember anyway. I try and be as positive a person as I can, but this year was a struggle to keep my chin up.

There were a multitude of racially charged cop/citizen shootings that created demonstrations and counter demonstrations. Throw on top of this the nearly weekly active shooter occurrences and it kind of makes one sick to their stomach. I don't know what the answer is anymore, but I'm guessing a good start would be less guns and more punitive measures on gun crimes. I'm no expert though, so this is just a thought. I just want it to stop. 

And of course we had a rash of high profile celebrity deaths this year too. For some reasons the ones that always hit me the hardest are the rock stars of my youth. This year saw names like Prince, David Bowie and Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, Glenn Frey and George Michael. I was never a huge fan of any of them, but they were all the face of my young generation, so it's a bit of an eye opener. When you're young, you kind of assume these guys are going to live forever. When you see the ages of some of them you kind of look over your shoulder to check for guys in long black robes bearing scythes. 

And then, don't even get me started on Carrie Fischer. That one slays me. 

There might have been one of the biggest election circuses that ever saw air time this past year too. I'm not sure. I can't remember. I bought in early to the candidate who got aced out (not naming names, but it started with a B) and when said candidate dropped out I was left with no good option. Another lesser of two evils election. It was divisive and ugly and long and drawn out. I for one am glad its over. Let the praying begin (and that would have been true for either candidate.)

To pile on to the craptastic year that was 2016, my wife and I have had a handful of health issues afflict our parents. Donna's father had a couple of heart stents put in today and her mother is struggling with worsening dementia. A couple of days ago my mother was admitted into a hospital for some lung related issues - a form of COPD. My wife and I realize we are of an age where this is the new normal. We will continue to love and try and help where and when we can. 

Because of the rough year we've had, the fear of the future is not really fear at all anymore. I can't wait for it, really. Last night I saw Rogue One with my daughter and the final line mentions that a data exchange about the death star gives the rebellion "hope." 

That is is a message I will ride alongside into 2017. 

Hope. 

Blogging off...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

National Poetry Month: Issue 18

In a rush, a poem from Richard Brautigan from,  The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster. A Good-Talking Candle                    by Richard Brautigan I had a good-talking candle last night in my bedroom. I was very tired but I wanted somebody to be with me,    so I lit a candle. and listened to its comfortable voice of light until I was asleep. Blogging off...
Read more

New Chapters

Image
 As many of you know I retired last week after almost 27 years at Waukesha County. It was a bit of a shock to some, in part because I am only 61. Nevertheless I'd given it much thought and talked it through with my family and determined it was time. I wanted to get out while I am healthy and perhaps more specifically just do something different. I am lucky enough to say I've loved my work over the past 37 years. GIS and mapping has been my passion since college and I was fortunate enough to get paid to do something I loved.  I'll be honest, while I looked forward to the date of retirement, I was not looking forward to the celebration. Like my daughter, who is more like me than not, I do not like being in the spotlight. While I've become more comfortable being in front of people in part because of my writing and its related promotion and readings, deep down I'm still an introvert with extrovert flares, as they say. But dreading it as I did, it turned out to be a spec...
Read more

Local Level Need

Image
A week and a half into retirement and I'm here to report that life is good on the other side. I've kept fairly busy so far, in fact when my wife was questioned by friends on "how Jim's retirement is going," she said, "He hasn't sat down." I think I'm still in the manic, must-get-stuff-done mode that happens when people get a week off of work. Gotta cram it all in. Well, I am starting to adjust to the fact that it will all be there tomorrow and next week, and if I don't get to all of it today, it's really okay. It's been a strange adjustment for sure, but one that I am beginning to appreciate more and more.  Before I decided to retire, one of the things I wanted to commit to was a regular stint of volunteer work. When I mentioned it to a friend who works for Frieden's Food Pantry, he suggested I look into helping in one of their four locations. They vary in the number of families that they serve, but they turn over a huge amount o...
Read more