Opinions

A recent visit to my hometown involved my usual tour of former homes and other familiar places. This is a slice of pure nostalgia sprinkled with both dismay and amazement at some of the things that have changed since I lived there.

Now that Memorial Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and the graduations are out of the way, we have time to sit back and think about what those observances mean to us. They are about people in our lives, their achievements and the contributions they made to the world in one way or another. While most such celebrations honor the past, graduations are more about the future. Granted, the graduation ceremony itself recognizes accomplishments and celebrates the completion of a stage in learning. Graduation is also called Commencement, and that word means “beginning.”

I seem to watch more television these days than I once did. I suppose it’s because I’m not as busy– physically, at least, though my mind continues to flit around like orioles in the orchard and has me believing I’m busy even if I’m not. I used to hear television more than see it. I’d catch the news while I was cooking supper but it was mostly audio– the video consisted of mere glimpses, and continuity was spotty since the remote was always in someone else’s hands. Today, I get control of that little black box and am allowed to sit and watch every minute of a program.

It’s been a busy few weeks for us– we visited Sabra’s parents in Denver, my parents in Chicago and our daughter in Indianapolis.
Some notes from the road:

How many times have you promised yourself you were going to do something “someday” or sooner? I’m afraid I’m not very good at keeping promises to myself– I am pretty conscientious about promises to other people but nobody knows if I renege on the ones to me– except me. These are promises based on a guilty conscience, I suppose. Those things I KNOW I should do but tend to admit only to myself. The sort of things you’d want to change about yourself but don’t tell anyone else about because you’re not sure you’ll live up to them.