In composing my series on the Overland Trail; in preparing other articles - at least in my mind; and in thinking about my now-only-annual road trip into the back country ... and in reviewing some of Gerard's works - I ran across this quote of his which seems appropriate to this place that I find myself.

I'm not so much interested in "discovering" new places anymore - I've been to most of those places that interested me ... and been to quite a few that fit "I'm glad I went, now I don't have to go again". A few "shortcuts" come to mind ...

I find I'd rather return to those places I once discovered for myself; the ones I passed by too quickly, or at the wrong time of year, or just those that stuck in my mind that "I need to get back here someday".

Looking at those numbers on my drivers license makes me realize "someday" is more or less now - how many more years left to put something off until I get to it?

A few I suppose, barring accidents - I'm pretty healthy for my age and can still get around like a crippled 30 yo.

We live in a small enough town that the contractors for odd jobs beyond my ability - this time installing gas service to a now-we-need-it new stove that was electric and will be dual fuel - are also friends. Sometimes age is forgotten and Dude and I started talking investments just yesterday. He was enthusiastic about purchasing some land that's not quite ready for development. "DT", he says, "This will be a great payoff in 20 years". He has early teenagers.

I could only look at him.

"Oh, Dude", says I, "if only I could plan on 20 more years ..."

So I swiped Gerard's quote and put it up on the header - just to remind myself ...

It was so much nicer having the luxury of saying "I'll get to it later" and having it be true.

"Sick Leftists Blame Trump For Plane/Chopper Collision"

"They’re claiming that because Trump fired some DEI TSA people a few days ago, this has somehow caused a helicopter to crash into a plane."

I try so hard to keep the hatred out of my heart ... but it keeps leaking there from my brain.

I suppose I could expend some effort to mention current events - seems that's what all the kool kids are doing. Trump seems to be keeping most of his election promises, so do the lefties.

We're still in the honeymoon phase though. It's not yet been two weeks and being the cynic that I am, I'm still waiting for the "forces of Democracy" to make their play. I think they truly believed that whore would win and haven't yet properly prepared for the mayhem they so desperately desire.

So, while I think Trump's doing what he was voted into office to do, and he's getting down to consolidating his power which he neglected to do the first time 'round, I do believe the fireworks show hasn't really gotten underway ... yet. Those people are not just going to roll over and let be. And the more successful Trump is in the beginning, the deeper the pushback will be when it comes.

The economy's in the toilet but everyone sees the market going up and up and up ... and figures the world is good. But it's someone putting latex paint on the old oil-based paint; looks pretty at first but it's going to peel off and make a bigger mess than it needed to be.

There are a lot of Obama-ites crawling around the edges that are out of Trump's ability to deal with - such as Lindsay Graham being up to his usual stab in the back activities; this summer could prove to be yet another reminder that Ol' Remus' advice was good: "Don't be there"

But so far - such a breath of fresh air.

Nice to see Milley may get his comeuppance. May his name become synonymous with Benedict Arnold. May his fate be that of Mussolini. May Fauci join him.

Hope for the best - just keep your powder dry in the meantime ...

Albeit long, long ago