“Live your life in a manner so that when you die the world cries and you rejoice.” – Native American Proverb
During our lifetimes we say goodbye to many people, family, friends and those we only know by name and fame. This is natural and normal. Death takes all of us at some time in our lives.
Those of us who have seen a lot of loops around the Sun start noticing the increase of “names” as we keep living our lives. The slope of life makes sure of this. The longer the slope the more names we recognize with the R.I.P. after them. Of course, this does have some limits, if you have completed almost one hundred loops, there are very few close friends left around to celebrate another year of breathing.
Now is the time for Baby Boomers to start popping up daisies in the fields. We were a large bulge in the expansion of population following WWII. We also had a great number of names who had fame. Some, like Soupy Sales, were of a previous generation. Some, such as John Belushi, are of the Baby Boomer generation. We mourned their passing a while ago.
Now we are starting to see the end of the last generation leaving us and an increasing number of our own generation too. Just by having a large number of Boomers means we are going to see a lot of names in the obituaries and even the front page, and it will increase for years after us early ones have left the playing field.
I salute the very last of the Greatest Generation, my mother, the Silent Generation, and the first wave of the Baby Boomer Generation. Long may you live.
BB, great title and good message; however my first thought upon reading was how brits laughed & rejoiced at the birth of that infamous balloon which now will reside in the london museum. no doubt the real baby cried each time it floated into sight.
cnn:
BB, your message on the passing of generations also reminded me of the poem “spring and fall” by gerard manley hopkins:
Márgarét, áre you gríeving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leáves like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! ás the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you wíll weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It ís the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.
good and bad people come and go yet the circus clowns are always with us
the hill:
It’s Arkansas. It’s already moved from Bill Clinton to Asa Hutchinson. A move from Hutchinson to Sanders strikes me as a baby step in comparison.
pogo, it started going bad in AK with the paterfamilias huckster. there are small signs FL may go the other way.
the wrap:
Excellent article BB
Over the weekend many passed who had once been part of our childhoods only to realize how close in age they seemed to our present.
old spanish proverb: lo que un tonto hace al final los sabios hacer al principio*
the guardian:
*what a fool does in the end the wise do in the beginning [in re masks and social distancing, not the vlad vaccine part]
passing thought on that maga party threat: he has a lot of leftover hats, tees & mugs on the shelf he needs to sell
Now that we’re into Generation Z, what’s next? AA?
Jack, just got around to your tunes yesterday. Delightful. Thanks, as always
These generational designations will change with time. i call Gen “Z” the “Tik Tok Generation”.
What i said to Jack that wasn’t true about Senatorial seditionists i do believe is true about the previous White House occupant- ignore him and he will go away.
Biden is demonstrating what leadership looks like, thank God.
Pressure is mounting on McCarthy financially, politically and publicly.
The media
BlueB… thanks for that column.
I’ve lost 2 people recently… both males and about 15 yrs older than me. Neither was unexpected… but it hurts nonetheless. The list of widows I know is growing.
It does make me focus more on what’s truly important in my life.
Ha
So I took the time yesterday to read George Conway’s lengthy OpEd at Wapo about the post election legal realities for Dumbass. An excellent read for those with the time and inclination. It’s got so many quotable blurbs I’ll just give the following:
George, from your pen to god’s eyes.
BB
Your mom and I must be the same age
this is a wonderful tribute to her.
Rob Portman remains a jerk and a coward
BB – That was beautiful. Sometimes I wonder if it’s easier or harder with big families like the Kennedys. So many to lose, but so many more to support each other.
Republicans are just looking at all of those folks who are no longer in the Social Security system. I only had one parent and one grandparent out of four who lived long enough to get Social Security.
More covid at the office.
I was born on May 5th 80-years past. The wars in Europe and Asia were creating an export market that was lifting our country from its depression. We were oblivious. My memories of the war include going with my mom to get ration books at a service point adjacent to a library; the death of Mr Roosevelt, “the President has died…” ‘Parachuting from the plum tree in our back yard. Celebrating the return of my Uncle Bill, our only relative to serve. He also went to Korea in 1950. He lived a full life dying at 102-yo a couple of years ago.
Great article on the Presidents who have lost children and spouses.
A Short History of Presidential Grief
KGC = my mother is ninety-three.
Flatus! So good to see you again!
Your Cleveland Browns did pretty good this year.
Waiting. Just waiting. Waiting for the pandemic to end, given that we’ve lost a YEAR due to that incompetent, game show host. Waiting for the game show host to NEVER be able to run for any office again, including dog catcher.
Flatus, glad to see the rumors were untrue (just kidding – none were circulating). Regardless, welcome back. Yep, the Browns did well this year. Love to know what your take on Baker Mayfield is. And Tom Brady, well, he’s still Tom Brady – but I digress.
I’m enjoying reading the articles in the Post and Times about the dispute over the filibuster and Mitch trying to exact a pound of flesh on that issue in order to agree to the organizing rules of the Senate. I may have missed it, but I don’t recall any significant discussion about Senate Rules when Mitch took the majority leader position in 2015. But maybe I was just busy.
Doing a little light reading recently and ran across this in the Lancet – “Thus, reinfection cases tell us that we cannot rely on immunity acquired by natural infection to confer herd immunity; not only is this strategy lethal for many but also it is not effective. Herd immunity requires safe and effective vaccines and robust vaccination implementation.” Just kidding about the light reading crack, but Scott Atlas can take this and shove it up his ass. Shows why radiologists (nonpracticing at that) shouldn’t pretend to lead pandemic response.
wapo:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1353674829283655680
pogo, mitch’s coin toss game called “heads i win, tails you lose” with chuck to settle the 50-50 problem for senate rules.
BB
your mother is not a boomer
However. She and Mr Cracker are the same age. Is she 1928. Born the same year Micky Mouse. In is younger years Mr C was a commercial artist at Western publishing and they did all the Disney books
The seven living generations of Americans: The Greatest Generation (born 1901-27), The Silent Generation (born 1928-45), Baby Boomers (born 1946-64), Generation X (born 1965-80), Millennials (born 1981-97), Generation Z (born 1998-2010), and the burgeoning Generation Alpha (born 2011-25).
KGC – right Mom is not a Boomer she is of the Silent Generation. She is who I was thinking of about living so long that you no longer have many friends left alive. Only a couple cousins her age are still alive. We have several younger first cousins still kicking around. She jumped on the internet early and is very good at Adobe Photoshop, if you get a picture from her you might be surprised at who she added or changed in it.
My favorite from yesterday.
Nice job BB-
I really like that “loops around the sun” image, it would explain my dizziness when I stand up too fast.
A theme song for this post –
I remember listening to this in Taos at age 17 , and being 70 was so far away, I was certain I could never see that loop.
“Men plan, the Gods laugh”
Yup.
The A&T R.R. fight –
The Tennessee Pass rail line is seen near the abandoned town of Gilman near Minturn. In a Jan. 20 meeting, the Minturn Town Council expressed concern with a plan to revive the rail line. (Special to the Daily)
New Tennessee Pass railroad operator pitches Minturn: ‘We are seeking a public partnership’
An estimated $287 Million dollars to rehabilitate the line for freight trains. My plan for the line creates 100’s of new jobs up and down the valley at a fraction of this cost.
One does not buy a $2.5 million home in Colorado , and be happy with RR tank cars passing by.
Colorado Midland & Pacific is on a charm offensive with the small town councils. They started at the top of the pass. Near Vail, these people are not country bumkins .
I am working up the valley from Canon City . With an email pitch.
Shara Cassidy of the Colorado Midland & Pacific is my huckleberry.
I found the top dog , and his PR woman out front , ……. Now to write the best pitch of my life. And make the same pitch I’ve been making to city governments , only updated. And my case get’s stronger everyday.
My idea is not that far fetched, These people run tiny railroads for a living.
https://rgpc.com/
The Third Way –
This is how we do it. Two bull elks locked in combat , a cow stands by waiting for an answer. A 3rd much younger bull sneaks out of the trees.
“Will You Wear A Mask? I Ask“
(Notice the red cap on the critter who won’t wear a mask.)
OM, excursion trains are a thing in WV. Google Cass Railroad. Trust me on this- there is NOTHING else in Cass, WV.
Pogo –
This is 160 miles in the Heart of the Rockies.
This is not a toy .
What’s the per unit cost of the pedal cars? How much to rent for a day? Who will own them? Where will they be stored in winter and how much will that cost? How much liability insurance will be required? How much start-up capital do you need?
The Battle of Blue Licks Kentucky
The last fight of the American Revolution.
(No one told them the war was over)
My mother became a genealogist in the late 1960’s.
One of her most favorite ancestors was this man , our kin that had this connection to this battle.
For a genealogists linking one’s family to a big thing is very cool .
I knew this headline for years , but never learned the story .
Fast forward, I am driving the lower 48 in an 18 wheeler with email on the QUAL COM.
At night , I see this marler ……………. “The Battle of Blue Licks” >>>>>>
I snake my 53 foot trailer into a place it should not go .
I email mom , ……………… “Guess where I am ? ”
Turns out this man she loved so much , did not fight in this battle , he married a window from this battle , and she came with 8 children.
I learned so much from that ,
I took my mother over a very little known road out of Crested Butte, at the top was a “Ghost Town” . The only thing that remained was a cemetery,
She pointed out all the young mothers , and babies dying in this far away place.
Blink-
Go see for yourself , book a trip –
https://www.railexplorers.net/locations
Are you working with that company?
Blunk –
No , I have a burr under my saggle.
…probably only need about 12 miles of track, that’d be a 4 hour excursion, which is probably the limit of most tourists’ patience. Could probably pull in $8k of revenue a day with full bookings, i’d guess you’d need somewhere between $300k-$500k in start-up capital. Storing those things in winter would really hamper profitability, but it looks like they’re getting away with it in RI🤷♂️
Good luck
…figure out a monorail bike design and hello DOUBLE PROFITS🤯
Blink –
I have had this burr nearly 8 years , I built a full scale model .
Blink –
Stay online.
Real beauty of where we are , we could invent a whole new rail road.
I am talking about building America’s Largest and Longest Tourist Attraction.
i get it- the logistics and liability would be a nightmare
You have no idea how how cool this will be.
The cars have roofs with solar panels , At night , they all roll back up the hill , an electric motor is the down hill break.
These people are the leaders .
If they add a solar roof, and battery pack with a motor.
Drop the ped power .
We’re off to the races.
There are a lot more rusty rails beyond this .
There would be so many robberies on a 160 mile stretch, vandalism and sabotage would be a huge problem, kids would flip those things off cliffs, people would be shitting along the tracks, etc., which is why a contained system makes the idea viable, assuming these existing companies are profitable🤷♂️
Ok, not trying to be a dick, these are questions for which you need answers when you submit proposals. i’m down for a fun afternoon in the Rockies, though
A word about my model –
I saw it as being very light. Bike parts, not train parts. That way 2 men could lift it off the tracks , camp and fish , while traffic rolls by.
This fishing aspect , coupled with an electric rolling camp.
Is the cherry on the money.
The entire ride
The 4 hour Trip
The drop off and pick -up.
The Moonlight Ride
It’s an entire new type of rail road rolling over some very old bones.
f
Blink-
A new way to shit in the woods , we’ll solve that too.
Hey, I wuz just throwing an idea out there. People stand in line to get on these trains, and while the Cass train is a steam locomotive, hardly a toy, not all are and not all run from the beginning to the end of the rail line they operate on. For instance, here are 10, in various configurations, lengths and types of trains. I don’t care whether you think it’s a bad idea – but it’s a proven idea with a ready tranche of customers. There might be the same or even greater opportunity for your pedal/solar vehicles, and if your pitch is successful I hope so. Definitely a novelty.
My dad died , and I took-off, …………… the last time to Colorado. To Salida. To kiss my ghosts . That was 7 years ago .
Mainly I wanted to see Peter Simonson again . The best man I ever met.
We had dinner , and I crashed at his place.
This is where I got this burr under my saddle.
Funny how long a seed lays dormant.
This one is very ripe.
Mag-lev front and rear struts with a single central direct-drive tire
Eh, make it a recumbent sled and you don’t even need struts
ok have fun✌️
I lived in a sheep shack in “Smeltertown” , a suburb. of Salida. On the bank of the Arkansas River.
In the last bones of the past . I paid $5 Bucks a month, when my landlord saw I was going to stick .
He raised it to $10.
I cut my teeth in Smeltertown.
I was rather fucking good , and I made a lot of things people I’ll never know still love my work today.
Being alone in Bob’s Thunder Dome is driving me crazy.
Trump has crashed , alone, and a loser.
His pup tent is about to be blown off he volcano .
I think he’s in a dark room , watching porn, and sucking his thumb.
Not plotting his “comeback !!” He never lost , that was part of the grift.
Comeback Kid will be a very hard sell.
The first chum is in the water.
He knows what is coming a lot of cans with a butt load of worms.
The GOP in the senate is well aware of the canned worm problem. That’s leverage .
A dead porn star in a ‘speef lab” burnt down in Jersey .
It is a pickle , the GOP laid down with dogs , and a new breed of fleas.
NEW THREAD