Wisdom By Age

After a rather shaky history lesson from their ancient abuelo, more like a rumor session about these parts, my grandchildren scampered down to the creek yesterday morning. Soon, shrieks of joy filled the valley.

"Gold! We've found gold!"

But I didn't hear them clearly. From my perch, I thought they were shouting: "Bones! We've found bones."

So I proceeded to explain to the one grandson who had stayed behind that when animals die in these hills, their bones eventually get washed down to the lowest point, which in this case is a creekbed.

He nodded indulgently, no doubt amused by this unrequested digression.

Anyway, as the others emerged from the underbrush and ran back up to the house, I retreated to my room for another nap, my main activity these days.

Before repose could occur, a granddaughter burst in with something in her hand. "Oh did you find a bone?" I inquired sleepily.

No, Grandpa, look at this. It's gold."

***

You know that reporters have been feeling just as cooped up as everyone else when you see the headlines these days. "How to pee outdoors" or "It's not just you, the fireworks are everywhere."

I'm going to take a wild guess that the instructional article about peeing had as its target audience  females because men pee outside all the time. It is practically the essence of manhood.

So the advice I have for female friends who find themselves in this dilemma is beware of what weeds may be in your immediate vicinity.

Privacy is preferred, of course, but don't let yourself inadvertently brush up against a plant while finding the properly discreet place. It might be poison oak.

As for the fireworks endemic, nobody seems to know what is going on, but we've been noticing it for weeks back in the Bay Area, and according to reports, Boston, New York and other cities are experiencing the same thing.

"Boom!" It happens hour after hour. What's behind it all? July 4th is still a ways away.

***

You live by social media, you die by social media. That's what they say.

For weeks, Tik Tokers and K-poppers were doing their thing, which in this case meant signing up for Trump's Tulsa rally last weekend with no intention of attending. The President's campaign team fell for the ruse, predicting 100,000 or even 1,000,000 people at the event.

According to the Tulsa authorities, fewer than 6,200 actually showed up. I guess the campaign folks were dancing to the wrong playlist. They shoulda known:


"Livin' on Tulsa Time"

Well, there I was in Hollywood wishin' I was doin' good
Talkin' on the telephone line
But they don't need me in the movies and nobody sings my songs
Guess I'm just wastin' time
Well, then I got to thinkin', man I'm really sinkin'
And I really had a flash this time
I had no business leavin' and nobody would be grievin'
If I went on back to Tulsa time
                                     --Daniel K. Flowers


Of course, the President has never heard of Tok Tok or K-pop. His social media preference is Twitter. So he got doxed. 

Speaking of Twitter, Trump is unhappy with the platform that has been so good for him because of things like this: "Twitter on Tuesday put a warning label on a tweet from President Donald Trump in which he warned if protesters tried to set up an "autonomous zone" in Washington D.C. they would be 'met with serious force!'"

C'mon, you can't talk like that. Bating an already angry group with an obvious taunt meant to get them to do what you want them to do so you can use force against them is the not the way a leader should act.

Knock it off.

Meanwhile, OAC easily won her primary for re-election as Congresswoman for parts of the Bronx and Queens. As a rising young star for the Democrats, she is also a strong progressive voice in a party that hopes to win in November through moderation and centrist appeal, i.e., Joe Biden.

Should the Democrats prevail and win the White House and perhaps even the Senate (their advantage in the House is assured), there will be fissures in the future between the progressive and moderate wings of the party.

This already happened in California, after it became a one-party state. Democrats routinely win every statewide office, but the winners differ from each other on many policy fronts.

OAC is a democratic socialist. Other successful party officeholders can be described as conservatives. So even if the GOP disappears nationally like it did in California, my point is there will be plenty of ideological alternatives within the one party that remains.

That's one scenario. Another is that Trump wins.

God help us with that one.

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