We’ve entered a new age. There are cynics who might shrug and say they’ve been there done that, explaining they’ve seen new ages come and go. Still, they might remember that once upon a time they might’ve been harbingers of a new age. But that was ages ago and memories fail. Now they mindlessly meander toward their demise, blissfully oblivious to the harm being done to our country and to the planet. That’s the thing with new ages. They age…
Do you remember the Plymouth, Oldsmobile, or Mercury? How about the De Soto, Hudson, or Studebaker? Go back further to the REO Speed Wagon, not the rock group but the pickup truck. Think now of options travelers had “back in the day” about choosing an airline. Consider how many no longer exist, like TWA, Eastern, and Allegheny Airlines. On one flight from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia on Allegheny Airlines, I was seated next to a priest. We struck up a lively…
Right on, Jerry! I can’t support a totally socialistic government because people are too greedy, and it would never happen. Neither can I support a completely capitalistic system because all people need some help, some time. But can’t we all at least try to be kind and sharing once in a while? There was a Trumper today who was truly shocked and dismayed when his immigrant girl friend was rounded up and deported. What did he expect?
While reading Thomas Edsall’s essay “Is This Liberalism’s Last Stand?” in the New York Times, I learned a new term: Precariat. When I saw that precariat wasn’t on the Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, I concluded it was economic jargon, a brainiac term that only economic geeks are familiar with. But as I researched further, I discovered it’s not jargon at all. Apparently, it’s been in usage for about thirty years. Guy Standing even wrote a book about it in 2011: “The…
The idea of character has been on my mind of late. Character, of course, has multiple meanings, from a symbol to a person. It even can be descriptive as in “He’s quite a character.” Which gets at the most intriguing application of the term: a person’s character. Besides being one, everyone has one. We’re all characters with a character. A person’s character is not only descriptive, it’s also telling about their values, attitudes, and more. Some people are of good…
Like you (hopefully), I love America. What’s not to love about an old lady or man who’s 250 years old? Truth be told, there’s plenty not to love because like each of us, Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam are human. They’ve—we’ve—made colossal mistakes, but they’ve also done a lot of good and achieved feats no other nation in history accomplished. Think of it: There’s only one national flag “fluttering” on the moon. The countdown has begun to our semiquincentennial, the…
Thank you.
(Opening and concluding paragraphs) I’ll be honest: I’m reluctant to read memoirs. I’ve often found them to be inaccessible or irrelevant because their focus on an aspect of the author’s life is meaningful for a limited audience. So when a couple of friends encouraged me to write mine, I froze. “Why?” I asked. To which they replied with some prattle about how I’ve lived an extraordinary life. “You’re kidding me, right? Who hasn’t?” I retorted. No, my life hasn’t been…
My bio could be a list of pertinent decisions I’ve made and what they led to. Moreover, a list of decisions not made or left undone would provide another avenue to my soul.
June is Pride Month. The concept has become so ingrained in our culture that it doesn’t need to be explained. It’s often preceded with Gay or LGBTQ, but I prefer Pride because it broadens the scope beyond the sexual natures of Gays, Lesbians, et alia. For participants and supporters, Pride is a time to celebrate the dignity of LGBTQs’ personhood. For others, it can be a time of discomfort and even disgust. The two perspectives derive largely from how one…
If you’re a long-time reader, you likely know I occasionally delve into topics related to social interaction, human psychology, and related areas. Although I’ve studied them formally, what has schooled me best about the human condition is the same as what you’ve been schooled—educated—in: life. I’m operating on the premise you’re one who’s paid attention to interpersonal dynamics as you’ve coursed your way through life and have spent time considering—wondering—why a certain person or a group does and believes as…
Creep has multiple meanings and usages. It can be a verb, noun, or an adjective, as in “That creepy dude gave me the creeps as he crept near.” Creep can also be used to modify a concept like budget or age. Then there’s comfort creep, the slow, inexorable advancement of our push to make our lives cushier, which is the primary theme of Michael Easter’s The Comfort Crisis. In “Taking Stock of Our Comfort Zones,” I focused on how comfort…
To train for a marathon, I ran uphill from Georgetown, which sits at 8500 feet above sea level, on the bike path paralleling the highway. When I got to Bakerville at about 10,000 feet, I paused to sip Gator Ade and enjoy a banana. I then continued onward for another mile or two before reversing course and heading back down. I estimated I ran about eighteen miles, which seems a lot except a marathon is twenty-six plus miles. Once I…
Amen, Jerry! How do we know what we’re capable of if we never push ourselves to try new things? I truly believe the adage “what does not kill us makes us stronger”! I write this as I sip tea by a fire, but the difficult things I’ve overcome in my lifetime are the things I will forever remember. That are the things Im most proud of. Bodies and brains unchallenged tend to wither.
The Constitution is the Law of the Land, but what it exactly says is a matter of debate. In Marbury v. Madison in 1803, Chief Justice John Marshall ruled the Supreme Court is the final arbiter when he declared, “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is.” Whether one likes it or not, it makes sense. After all, someone has to decide what the text of the Constitution and a law…
Not on topic, but adjacent –
May 28th through June 14th actual drafts and historic copies of The Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and five other documents will be at the Colorado History Museum on loan from the National Archives.
https://www.historycolorado.org/exhibit/freedom-plane
I enjoy your writing in the Littleton Independent Jerry my first time to comment on your page.
A dear friend recently shared the heartbreaking news about her daughter being diagnosed with a form of cancer. Having lost three siblings and several friends to the disease, I fully appreciate the toll it takes on the victim as well as on their family and friends. I now include the young woman in my meditations alongside a great-niece and four friends who are also fighting cancer. I read regularly about people in the wealthiest society in history who grocery “shop”…
Were we as divided on May 4, 1970 as we are now? That was the day when Ohio National Guardsmen fired on unarmed anti-war protestors on the Kent State campus, killing four and wounding nine others. I’ve been asked a version of that question multiple times over the past year, most recently by my niece, Bernadette, who is a military veteran, student of history, and keen observer of behavior. Her question struck me not only because of its timeliness but…
Sadly, Jerry, it would seem “we” are incapable of learning from history.
🙁
What about our “future epilogue”? History isn’t all gloom and doom. There are good times, there are bad times. History is an ebbing and flowing of some eternal tide and we are merely the sand crabs of life looking for a sane home on a vastly beach of sand.
The past is certainly prolouge. No one today considers turning the national guard loose on No Kings protestors. As the peaceful demonstrators wave signs and effigys of a president they detest at passing motorists, I hope they at least consider that in today’s Iran they would be beaten or killed for any complaint about their government.
Bill Mazeroski died on February 20th. It’s unlikely many Americans had heard of Bill, aka Maz. But Pittsburgh Pirate fans remember him much to their delight. As well as New York Yankees’ fans to their eternal dismay. For it was Maz who rocked the world of baseball with a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning of the seventh game of the 1960 World Series. It was the swat heard ‘round the world. On February 22nd, the American…
So there’s hope for the rest of us (those of us who aren’t Mickey Mantle. That’s good news. And maybe it’s really about not underestimating the power what one of can do, not just by being at the right place at the right time in the right batting order at the World Series, but in our small acts each day that we take for granted.
Jerry, we would have been 10 years old when the famous home run was hit. I remember it very well. The excitement was shared by everyone in the Pittsburgh area. For me it was an event that stood out since the adults’ reaction created a united moment with us kids – not the usual parental authority relation.
Fast forward two years to October 1962 – the Cuban Missile Crisis. Again we shared a common emotion with the adults, but this time it was apprehension and fear. It was hard to look to parents for comfort when their demeanor communicated uncertainty about what would happen, reinforced by storing bottles of water in the basement and, at school, we practiced hiding under our desks. A cousins’ family had a complete bomb shelter in their basement. Long ago events still vividly remembered!
I read JFK’s book, “Profiles in Courage”when I was in high school. I was impressed on the many Americans who sacrificed their very own lives and careers for doing the right thing. I am still amazed that we don’t seem to relish that spirit with all those “ hollow men” we call our leaders in Washington. BTW Jerry, maybe you could pen another such book to profile more who displayed the power of one.
The winter Olympics are near the top of my favorite sporting events. What’s not to love? Ski racing and ice dancing among the plethora of competitions. That includes hockey. I’m not a huge hockey fan, but the USA’s defeat of the Soviet Union’s team in the 1980 Olympics remains etched in my memory as it likely is for many older Americans. The American team’s victory had profound effects and repercussions beyond the Olympics. One was that it helped revive the…
Nice essay, Jerry. History has so many of these times when people met the challenge, even to vie for their existence. I believe in the American spirit and we stand tall and will meet the moment we were born for. Then, to quote Winston Churchill, we too can say- “This was our finest hour”.
3 Comments
Randi Ann Samuelson-Brown
August 20, 2026 at 1:01 pmLove this blog – it always gives me something to think about!
Melanie Mulhall
August 20, 2026 at 3:12 pmI have contemplated and used that quote from Pogo for a long time, and it is as true today as it was when Walt Kelly proposed it in 1970. (Until this post, I either had no idea of its origin or had lost the connection.) I have long joked that we spend the first half of our lives acquiring things and the second half getting rid of them. In actuality, it’s probably more like a 2/3 to 1/3 split. If I extend that thinking to this post, then whether we like it or not, and whether we were actively engaged or passively engaged, those of us in the last third or less of our lives have contributed to the problems we see around us, and it’s on us to participate in mitigating them. (Solving may be too strong a word.) Fortunately, if we have evolved personally and grown into at least some kind of wisdom, we’re better prepared for that than we were when we participated in creating those problems. At least I hope so.
Glenn Blanco
August 20, 2026 at 10:11 pmSorry I have not posted in a bit, but I do enjoy your essays in this series. After reading this one in particular, I feel that “We the people” are more like “The Wee people”. But, I will continue to slug it out just like those before me.