It Doesn’t Get Better
Literally, as I wrote this title, I realized that these words can move in many different ways. But I decided to stick with it because I am of two minds this morning anyway. I will start with the negative and move towards the positive. I had a real toss and turn night last night and I wish I could attribute it just to my sciatica and lower back discomfort that I have been trying to shed for a bit over a week. The truth is that I have found a reasonable way to lie down so that it doesn’t hurt, but if I take a long time to fall asleep, it eventually starts to flare up. The secret is to fall asleep naturally before it does that, but that just didn’t happen. There are times when I can identify things that are troubling me and other times, like last night when I have non-specific thoughts that rumble around in my head and keep me from falling asleep. Generally I am a record breaker at falling asleep and then weak on staying asleep, but last night was an exception. I did watch the Biden press conference at the close of the NATO summit in D.C. and that was yet another chance for everyone to put Biden and his state of fitness under the microscope. Everyone keeps hoping that Joe will definitively either suddenly get stronger/younger/forceful or else fall apart totally and make it crystal clear that he can no longer lead the nation. That would be very convenient for us all because we all want more certainty than life seems ready to deliver to us.
When George Clooney made his statement about Biden and his need to step down, he made a point of reminding us that the one battle none of us can win is the relentless passage of time and the ravages it sooner or later inflicts on us all. Joe Biden is as close as we have on the national stage to a foreign affairs expert. His years of chairing the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Judiciary Committee, as well as his eight years as Vice President and 3+ years as President have schooled him particularly well in the foreign affairs of our nation. That was on display for a solid hour at the White House yesterday as he answered questions in an unscripted manner. The problem is that he simply no longer has the stamina and presence to project a reassuring and totally in-command presence on stage. He stumbles, falters and leaves some thought dangling. He is not crisp. He was never great on stage due to his stutter, but he was good enough to let his intelligence and command of policy and facts carry him through. That’s not working anymore in an environment where his age-related competency is under serious challenge. The debate may have been “a bad night”, but as Clooney said, it doesn’t get better from here. This critically important election issue is not going away and it needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.
But back on the hilltop, which is where I started my thought process this morning, life is good. I may not have gotten the best night’s sleep, but the next three days seem like they have a lot of good things to offer. To begin with, the kids got back from Disneyland earlier than expected last night. They were more than beat. Charlotte’s watch told her she had walked 35,000 steps the day before, and by any standards, that has to be tiring. So, I woke up this morning with Evelyn wandering out to say hello to Buddy and to search out some breakfast, while Charlotte sleeps in. Kim and I are off to a Garden Club event this morning, and then I have to go get stretched out before our fun-filled afternoon. We are borrowing the neighbor’s pool for a swim and then everyone (15 or so family members) are coming over for pizza and salad to commemorate a visit by my Phoenix-based niece and her family.
We are double booked since Kim has another jazz singing performance at the nearby cafe, so she and I will run over to do that while the gang devours the pizza. Hopefully we will be back in time to see a bit of them…and maybe even have a bite of pizza too. You see, it was just announced that inflation fell to 3% and that June is first months since COVID that prices have actually gone lower than the month before. It doesn’t get better than that.
This weekend also falls into the category of “it doesn’t get better” because we are all going to a San Diego Padres baseball game (versus the Atlanta Braves…which used to be my team when they were in Milwaukee). I got us sweet seats on the terrace level behind home plate, where they bring you your hot dogs and Crackerjacks. We have yet to see the famous PetCo Stadium, which everyone raves about, so that should be interesting to see how big sports venues have changed…or not. Then, on Sunday, we are going to the Hotel Del Coronado for an evening on the beach around a roaring fire pit. They tend the fire for you and bring you s’mores fixin’s to enjoy while you watch a big movie screen with a fun summer movie. This Sunday they will be playing Grease, so we can all regret the passing of Olivia Newton John and the aging of John Travolta..
How action packed is that for a weekend? A Master Gardener lecture, a hot summer day swim, a family gathering with pizza, a jazz ensemble performance, a Major League Baseball game and a lazy beach party complete with a classic summer movie and roasting marshmallows. There are plenty of things in life that just get worse and worse and never get better, but every once in a while, something comes along and we have to remind ourselves of our good fortunes. And sometimes it all happens with your darling granddaughters. It truly doesn’t get better than that.