Monday, Monday

I am taking care of my grandchildren more frequently these days, now that paid work has slowed to a trickle. If money were no issue, this is probably what I would choose to do much more than I have been able to do in the past. That and stay attentive, day to day, to my teens and their lives.

What the generation once removed from their parents has to offer to our young ones is something that some social scientists believe is almost completely responsible for human progress. Until recently, none of us lived long enough to be relevant.

Now we do.

But if it is true, that what we have to offer matters, what exactly do we have to offer?

For my grandchildren, it is my penchant for collecting things, so far. My collections of pennies, stones, seaglass, photos, books that seem to most attract them. Perhaps in future years, if I am here, it could start to be my stories and writings.

I don't know.

Truly, I am clueless. When I look in the mirror I see only an old man, whose dreams have much more often been dashed to bits than realized. I am not bitter, so I hope that does not sound bitter. But life has not exactly measured up to what, even a few years ago, I'd hoped it might.

That's just me. And this is about them, the young ones.

In his speech today, President Obama talked about global climate change. That will affect my kids and their kids far more than any of the other political issues now so controversial in Washington, D.C.

Well done, sir. Now please do something about it.

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