Jacket from the 2013 Boston Marathon. Its the colors of the Ukraine’s flag.
What happened to me in 2021? Did I get old in just one year? Was it malaise brought on by the pandemic? Was it the death of our last two parents, Richard T Howard and Rani S Tara? Was it an undiagnosed condition that, over the course of a year, has put me in the emergency room 3 times, in the hospital for 4 days and every third day throws my digestive system for a loop?
It has been hard to give up all the activity, the running, the cycling and the swimming. I’ve placed my membership at Rolling Hills gym on hold for the second time.
I can still write. I write this in my jacket from the 2013 Boston Marathon. The jacket had hung in my closet since 2013 because a) the memory of the bombs was too painful b)I don't like people who brag and c) the colors are so garish. But the blue is the flag of Ukraine.
As the pandemic news gives way to war news, the stock market swings wildly and people say “buy gold.” The Great Resignation continues. One event after another is cancelled. We don’t care for the last president or the present one. Nationalism is on the rise. Racism is rising. A record number of guns are being bought. Women's’ rights are disappearing. Are all these things connected? Should we worry?
Are we, as old Grandpa used to say, "going to hell in a handbasket?"