As 2019 ebbs out, the annual ritual of waxing nostalgic assumes center stage. One thing about keeping a daily journal is it makes one very aware of time in the sense of days, weeks, months and years that have passed. As this tailored ponderable undergoes its yearly evaluation, here are some items worthy of note….
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Five years of Reason Rest Stop
Just like that, earlier this month RRS celebrated its fifth anniversary of offering liberal news and views from the Mother Road’s most conservative stretch. Due to a larger endeavor taken on by Yours Truly, postings have declined considerably in 2019 and that trend will continue for the foreseeable future. That by no means should be…
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A look back in crisis
It has been a year of milestone anniversaries both personal, national and universal. While reflecting on some of them this morning I vividly recalled what happened forty years ago today on the other side of the globe. After years of undemocratic despot governance by the autocratic Shah of Iran, low popularity and critical illness necessitated…
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Selflessness above and beyond the call
What exactly defines heroism and what exactly is a hero? I have invested a lot of time over the years pondering these definitions. Lately though I have devoted a lot of thought to one of the oft used sayings in the current patriotic parlance, “All gave some. Some gave all.” After being made aware of…
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A marathon run
In the beginning of an undertaking the level of enthusiasm is often the greatest. Energy, optimism, emotion and resolve are usually at their peak, fresh and intact regardless of motivation. The feeling of euphoria pervading all involved provides that essential element of group cohesion, that being a sense of common purpose. Purity of cause, hopes…
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Getting ourselves back to the garden
This has been not only a hot and humid summer of commemoration but also one of reflection, introspection and inventory of character and values, if not of the collective then certainly of the self. Once more I find myself seeking refuge from the oppressive heat while trying to retrieve as many of certain fleeting memories…
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Tranquility Base + 50: The America of my youth.
The most unifying moment of the 20th Century was broadcast around the World live fifty years ago tonight. For a few days in July 1969, all members of the human species stood in awe of the most colossal undertaking in their collective history. That Sunday night, when Neil Armstrong climbed down onto the Lunar surface…
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A milestone reflection
On this day forty years ago my sea service officially started, my tour aboard a Ship of the Line which legitimizes my claim to the title U.S. Navy Veteran. Seeking to serve a cause greater than one’s self is often accompanied with adventure of the sort one would have otherwise never have imagined. Such was…
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America at D-Day + 75
In the history of the Republic, June 6th has been an iconic date on the American calendar ever since General Eisenhower committed the Allied Forces to the invasion of Hitler’s Fortress Europe in 1944. Although the World has since turned over too many times to count, the spirit of unity of all serving in that…
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Punching above our weight
Most of us learned early the cruel reality that life is not fair. Circumstances and boundaries not of our making or choosing often dictate an arbitrary ceiling regarding our expected professional, social and political achievements. Be it tradition, privilege of birth or plain dumb luck, the bar to clear in order to succeed is not…
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