“They saw their injured country's woe;
The flaming town, the wasted field;
Then rushed to meet the insulting foe;
They took the spear, - but left the shield.”
―Philip Freneau
.
And by a prudent flight and cunning save A life which valour could not, from the grave. A better buckler I can soon regain, But who can get another life again?
Archilochus
The heroes –– and the victims –– of the American Revolution, the War of 1812, Westard Expanson, the Civil War, World War One, the Depression, World War Two, Korea, Vietnam, et al. must be spinning in their graves like tops to see what a stinking mess WE have made of our once-great heritage, despite the painful sacrifices and tremendous achievements they made for OUR sakes.
______ MEMORIAL to a WAY of LIFE NOW SADLY DEFUNCT: ______
Sonce I am partially-sighted, and therefore a bit disabled, a neighbor of my same age, but in better shape, very kindly offered to retrieve my mail and bring it to my frint entrance. The floweriing vine at the mailbox, apparently, grew too fast this spring, and blocked access to the box. She kindly offered to trim the vine for me. Here's what I wrote to her:
Very nice of you to offer, _____, but you shouldn’t have to trim my shrubbery. I thought the “groundskeepers” were doing that. Apparently not. so, If you really want to, please be my guest.
As you know, my activities are very limited. I only do what’s important to me, personally, these days –– and not enough of that, I’m afraid. It’s a shame that merely paying a large sum each month to the “landscapers" is NOT enough to ensure good service. [I have to TELL them to do everything outside of basic mowing, or it doesn’t get done.] "Playing dumb" makes life much easer for them, I’m sure.
Someday, I’ll tell you how beautifully things worked when I was a child and a young man. From what I can see the country has gone to hell in a handcart in the past sixty years.
The garbage collectors walked into our side yard EVERY DAY in all weathers to pull the cans out of the ground where they were neatly buried, emptied the garbage into their truck, then replaced the cans. EVERY DAY.
The mailman delivered the mail TO THE DOOR. –– EVERY DAY.
The laundry was SENT OUT in bags with a checklist, then returned "spandy clean" and neatly folded in BOXES twice a week.
The milkman came and DELIVERED milk, cream, butter and eggs, and took away the empty bottles to be sterilized at the plant and reused.
The grocery store DELIVERED whatever my mother ordered over the phone.
We were NOT “rich,” we were just middle middle-class, and we rented the ground floor of a two-family house when my life began.
The COST of LIVING then was less than ten percent what it is today.
You can HAVE “Progress.” I think it stinks on ice. };^)>
All that may sound like a "fairy tale," to y yiungsters out there, but I assure you it is perfectly true.
So while we are remembering our Fallen Heroes and Victims of Past Wars with gratitude, let us ALSO remember our Fallen Way of Life which suggests to me that the great sacrifices made in the past by our military, Alas! were probably made in VAIN.
4 comments:
The heroes –– and the victims –– of the American Revolution, the War of 1812, Westard Expanson, the Civil War, World War One, the Depression, World War Two, Korea, Vietnam, et al. must be spinning in their graves like tops to see what a stinking mess WE have made of our once-great heritage, despite the painful sacrifices and tremendous achievements they made for OUR sakes.
______ MEMORIAL to a WAY of LIFE NOW SADLY DEFUNCT: ______
Sonce I am partially-sighted, and therefore a bit disabled, a neighbor of my same age, but in better shape, very kindly offered to retrieve my mail and bring it to my frint entrance. The floweriing vine at the mailbox, apparently, grew too fast this spring, and blocked access to the box. She kindly offered to trim the vine for me. Here's what I wrote to her:
Very nice of you to offer, _____, but you shouldn’t have to trim my shrubbery. I thought the “groundskeepers” were doing that. Apparently not. so, If you really want to, please be my guest.
As you know, my activities are very limited. I only do what’s important to me, personally, these days –– and not enough of that, I’m afraid. It’s a shame that merely paying a large sum each month to the “landscapers" is NOT enough to ensure good service. [I have to TELL them to do everything outside of basic mowing, or it doesn’t get done.] "Playing dumb" makes life much easer for them, I’m sure.
Someday, I’ll tell you how beautifully things worked when I was a child and a young man. From what I can see the country has gone to hell in a handcart in the past sixty years.
The garbage collectors walked into our side yard EVERY DAY in all weathers to pull the cans out of the ground where they were neatly buried, emptied the garbage into their truck, then replaced the cans. EVERY DAY.
The mailman delivered the mail TO THE DOOR. –– EVERY DAY.
The laundry was SENT OUT in bags with a checklist, then returned "spandy clean" and neatly folded in BOXES twice a week.
The milkman came and DELIVERED milk, cream, butter and eggs, and took away the empty bottles to be sterilized at the plant and reused.
The grocery store DELIVERED whatever my mother ordered over the phone.
We were NOT “rich,” we were just middle middle-class, and we rented the ground floor of a two-family house when my life began.
The COST of LIVING then was less than ten percent what it is today.
You can HAVE “Progress.” I think it stinks on ice. };^)>
All that may sound like a "fairy tale," to y yiungsters out there, but I assure you it is perfectly true.
So while we are remembering our Fallen Heroes and Victims of Past Wars with gratitude, let us ALSO remember our Fallen Way of Life which suggests to me that the great sacrifices made in the past by our military, Alas! were probably made in VAIN.
G_d Bless Our Troops!
God bless Mr. Yaxley!
God bless Donald Trump!
God bless the Freedom Caucus!
God bless the drive toward Self-Determination!
GHod bless Freedom of c choice!
God bless Freedom of Association!
God bless the quest for Benevolent Leadship!
God bless Freedom from Domination.
God DAMN toxic Popular Culture.
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