Age is much more than just a number, Chris. My body assures me of it (and I get
AARP discounts.) <grin> At 83 years of age I sometimes feel as though I am a
young man trapped in an old man's body with no chance of a trade-in in this
life. Although I am actually quite healthy and can come and go as I please,
including driving myself, my wife succumbed to the ravages of a failing body
last November at the age of 82. We missed our 62nd anniversary by not quite two
months.
Like you I have seen a lot of changes over the years, unfortunately not all of
them for the better. I remember WW II. My father served in it. I remember the
drop of the two atomic bombs that ended it. WW II was supposed to be the war
that ended all wars. We sure got fooled, didn't we? I served in Korea and again
during the Vietnam campaign. We didn't learn a darned thing from our conflicts.
Once again there are wars that cover a large part of the world and there is
little hope of them ending. As long as any group is determined to manipulate or
subjugate another, conflict is inevitable. Over the years I have become a firm
believer in the fact that real evil exists and that we humans are being
manipulated like marionettes, while some evil puppet master pulls the strings.
I fear for my children and their children's children. I sincerely believe that
some not too distant generation will see Armageddon come to pass. Anti-Israel
forces will begin it. I see the next great war looming on the horizon and a
great future upheaval in the nations. There are too many maniacs in the world
today who are determined to bring it to pass and sufficiently deceived to think
that they will survive with their ambitions intact. IMHO, one has to be blind
not to see it coming. I don't think that I will be around to see it, but who
knows. Too many fanatics have access to the launch buttons. It will take
someone greater than all of us to keep the world from being destroyed by its
inhabitants. For me, his name is God. YMMV.
In any case, I doubt that there will be any Olympus cameras around to record
the coming events. (Obligatory Olympus content.) <grin>
Robert
---- Chris Trask <christrask@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I spent most of Tuesday afternoon at our Department of Motor Vehicles
> (DMV) getting my license renewed due to turning 65, which requires an eye
> exam every five years. While I was sitting in the waiting area for my number
> to be called, I thought about the whole idea about age just being a number.
> For the most part it is, but there are times when you are reminded that you
> are in fact a senior citizen.
>
> Of late, I've been reminded of many of the historical events that I've
> lived through, such as living in France during the Berlin Wall, the Berlin
> Airlift, the Algerian Uprising, the Secret Army Organization (OAS), John
> Glenn orbiting the earth, then the Kennedy assassination(s), etc., etc. And
> then many years later being part of the cleanup of Three Mile Island.
>
> And then along with my numerous near-misses while cycling, my mortality
> was underscored when this showed up in the news this morning:
>
> http://tucson.com/news/blogs/police-beat/bicyclists-killed-driver-arrested-in-nw-side-crash/article_8efffa0e-e1c2-11e5-892e-8b0dd5c73a1c.html
>
>
> Chris
>
> When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
> - Hunter S. Thompson
> --
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