Rememberances

In speaking with the kid this past weekend, she suggested that I write a blog about John Lennon, who died on December 8th or 9th back in 1980(?). She asked me if I remembered the day, and I do remember, because it happened on a Monday and I was watching Monday Night Football with my dad in Dunwoody. Howard Cosell came on the air and notified the viewing audience that John Lennon had been shot at the Dakota apartments on Central Park.

I remember the sad feeling I had when it happened. It was as if a part of my childhood had been removed. Of course, when you add JFK's assassination, RFK's assassination, MLK's assassination, Watergate, the Viet Nam War, there were quite a lot of significant news items that occurred in my childhood. And those were just the ones that I really remember. When the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, I don't think I was aware of it. I don't remember much of the Prague Spring and the Soviet Crack-down afterward. The building of the Berlin wall was beyond my tender years. I do remember the capture of the USS Pueblo in North Korean waters. I don't think the death of John Lennon really measures up to those news items.

And I don't particularly like the song, 'Imagine.'

It does make me think of one significant news item which occurred when I was in law school which is somewhat forgotten. I specifically remember when the Soviets sent troops into Afghanistan in the late 1970's. Of personal significance, the response of the President was to cut grain shipments off to the Soviet Block. That drove the price of soy beans way down. I remember my dad had sold his soy beans the day before the day the Embargo was announced. We felt lucky that day.

But I specifically remember being very sad for the Afghan people and outraged by the actions of the Soviet government to enter with troops into another country and take over militarily. The idea of a large country like the Soviet Union (for all you young people, what the Russian Republic used to be) running roughshod over the civil liberties and freedoms of another country is still troubling. Of course, our country has now basically done the same in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the other hand, the motivations of the two countries are quite different. I guess.

At the same time, the actions of the federal government to fight the actions of the Soviet Union with a grain embargo impacted parts of our farm income in ways that I don't we really expected. When the price of soy beans dropped the day after the notice from the President, it brought home how the actions of the government can specifically impact the citizens of this country in the most innocuous manner.

Who would have thought that the determination to stop grain shipments to the Soviet Union would effect the price of soy beans in Northern Tennessee? I suppose that farm economists would have seen that happen, but I don't think the executive branch really foresaw the total result of their actions. It was only later that the President realized that he had to make concessions to the farmers to protect their individual economy.

There was a very good article in Time on January 21, 1980. I looked at it again this afternoon. It really talks about all of the facets of the situation. It even talks about how the different administrations dealt with the pressures exerted on the Soviet Union to leave Afghanistan.

This morning I took advantage of the opportunity to drive down to Pine Mountain and meet with some borrowers for a closing. The weather was somewhat typical for December in Middle Georgia, the temperature hovering in the low 70's. The humidity was dry and the terrain between Griffin and Pine Mountain was delightful. It really made me want to play hooky this afternoon, if not for the fact I have plenty to do otherwise. A short trip to the beach in the panhandle of Florida would be nice. Ah, Apalachicola! Eating oysters and drinking a cold beverage would be quite lovely on the waterfront. Watching the pelicans sit sleepily on the docks and the gulls flying crazily hither and yon. Watching the sky turn colors from fair, fair blue to oranges and pinks to purples over the gulf while the sun goes down. Sharing that with my wife.

Hard to beat.

I had a discussion about age with my stock broker this morning. He had noticed that I will turn 52 on Wednesday, about 8:55 in the morning. I told him about the weekend I turned 40 back in 1996. We stretched that out for several days. Three parties in a row. The celebration never seemed to end.

But when the subject of 50 rolled around, I was content to let it roll on by without any hoopla. There didn't seem to be any point.

Now, Cindy, on the other hand, wanted festivities and spectacle. And I think we gave her that. Now she is trying to avoid the consequences.

The decoration and tidying of the house continues. I think we have the living room and ante chamber about completed, although the Christmas tree is still in the carport sucking up water. The dining room (formerly the den) is near completion. Our bedroom is in better shape, though not near complete.

The state of the upstairs rooms will remain unresolved until further notice. I don't want to make Cindy grimace anymore.

It is truthfully too d--- hot for this time of year. I would appreciate a little cold temperature and precipitation around here. They are getting their share in the upper Midwest. Meanwhile, the farm ponds and other assorted bodies of water around here are looking rather depleted and dry.

Its not the global warming, but the global drying. I've already got plenty of towels and a decent hairdryer. As the song goes, "I could stand a little rain."