From Sunlight to Shadows

At 73, this Labor Day weekend makes me wonder: How many summers do I have left?

I don’t miss the heat or humidity of summer. I miss the sunlight—the early sunrises, the lingering evenings. A metaphor, perhaps, for life’s stages.

Leisure reading is fading. Only 16% of Americans read regularly for pleasure—down from 28% in 2003. In the UK, just 41% of parents read daily to toddlers, compared with 64% in 2012.

I wandered into a Barnes & Noble last week, my first visit in over a year. Chairs and cozy nooks were gone—B&N is all business now. I left without a book. Even their sale couldn’t entice me; I balk at paying more than $20 for a hardcover.

On my nightstand:

King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution—A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation by Scott Anderson
Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus by Elaine Pagels

Haruki Murakami once wrote:

“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.”

Mortality hovers. I don’t fear death, but I do fear dying. Sometimes I feel like a man with his head beneath a guillotine, staring at the blade. I’ve been fortunate with health, but around me I see friends whose luck has run out. The blade will fall on me too.

Meanwhile, the U.S. falters. Ineptitude, cowardice, hubris—displayed daily. A recent New York Times photo showed India’s Modi with Putin and Xi, a tableau of shifting power. It captured the failure of American diplomacy and leadership. One man bears much of the blame: Donald Trump. As summer declines, so does America as it retreats further into the darkness.

Summer Requiem

“Nobody on the road / Nobody on the beach / I feel it in the air / The summer’s out of reach / Empty lake, empty streets”

Boys of Summer, Don Henley

73 summers have come and gone. How many summers do I have left?

Summer inspires so many remembrances of lost family and friends who shared picnics, swimming, birthday parties and vacations. Though summer fades, my love and gratitude for the joy shared in those moments never do.

Life is what is measured between summers.

The gentle sound of ocean waves softly lapping against the shore calms my heart and soothes my soul.

As summer fades, I find myself yearning for the waning light, the warmth it brings, and the endless possibilities it once promised.

Oh, if only I could capture the memories of my youth—riding a rickety boardwalk roller coaster, savoring the sticky sweetness of cotton candy, stealing glances and shy smiles on the boardwalk, and diving for a spike in a game of beach volleyball.

Summer inspires the beginning of so many love stories. There is no better season to be in love.

I am a child of summer, born under the sun’s warm embrace, comforted by soft breezes that once swayed the curtains as I napped in peaceful contentment.

Senescence: Round 4

A shower of passing thoughts and thunderous ruminations…

With apologies to Rodney, five jobs where you don’t get any respect:

Epidemiologist
Eagles football coach
Governor of a largely populated state
New host of Jeopardy
44th U.S. President

Summer is coming to a close. I won’t miss the heat, the humidity or the mosquitos. I will miss the early dawn sunrises and the late dusk sundowns.

On deeper reflection, I have lived through 70 summers, how many summers do I have left to enjoy?

The French showed more resistance in 1940 to the German invasion of their country than the anti-vaxxers have demonstrated to the invasion of covid in the United States.

Long running TV Talk Show in the 1960’s and 70’s that would not last 13 weeks today: Dick Cavett.(That’s no reflection on Cavett, it’s a reflection of our culture and the limited sophistication and education of today’s audiences).

RIP Markie Post. She was a beautiful distraction on one of my favorite comedies in the 1980s, Night Court.

Celebrity whose death affected me the most? John Lennon

Current Five Overrated Sports People and Events

Pickleball ratings
NBA Draft
Dallas Cowboys
The Process (not Embiid but the tanking by the 76ers)
Sports Talk Shows (worst show is Undisputed with Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharp)

While I enjoyed the Gold medal victories of the U.S. Men and Women’s Basketball Teams in the Olympics, I became a fan of the 3 on 3 Women’s Basketball competition (also won by the U.S.)

Two late Summer 2021 Book Recommendations:

The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis
The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, A Temptation and The Longest Night of the Second World War by Malcolm Gladwell

Another 1970 high school classmate passed away recently. My class had 481 students. Based on what I know, approximately 10% of my class has passed away in the 50 years since graduation. Given our stage in life now, it’s possible that 50% of us will die within the next 10 years.

Health, opportunity and time. The older we are, the less certain and smaller window to take advantage of them.

With possible apologies to W.C. Fields, I’d rather be living in Philadelphia than anywhere in Florida.

Beach Read Recommendations: Summer 2021

With the start of the summer season, in addition to reaching for the sun tan lotion, many are looking for a good beach read. I have listed a few of my favorite novels that I recommend.

Picture by Karolina Grabowski (Pexels)

Dear Committee Members (Julie Schumaker) I found this book very funny about an acerbic professor in a small midwestern college. The recommendations he writes for students applying for jobs and post graduate school are hilarious.

Epitaph :The OK Corral (Mary Doria Russell) Historical fiction centering on the interesting lives and legends of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.

The End of October (Lawrence Wright) This novel was written prior to the Covid 19 pandemic. Amazing how much the author got right about what actually happened.

Talk to Me (John Kenney) How one man’s public fall from grace leads him back to his family, and back to the man he used to be.

Fleishmann Is In Trouble (Taffy Brodesser Akner) Adventures of a man recently separated with two kids and a missing wife trying to figure out the rest of his life.

Babbitt (Sinclair Lewis) A classic. Written in 1920, this satirical novel about a man’s midlife crisis easily applies to today.

Forever and a Day (Anthony Horowitz) James Bond novel about his early spy adventures.

The Last Days of Night (Graham Moore) Historical fiction. Young lawyer thrown into one of the biggest legal battles in business, the patent around the light bulb.

Conclave (Robert Harris) Scandal, violence, sex, deception…and this is a novel about a papal election.

Our Souls at Night (Kent Haruf) Sentimental story about two elderly and lonely people dealing withe past and trying to work out their futures. Not my type of story generally but very compelling.

Disclosure (Michael Crichton) I literally did not put this book down until I finished it. A married male executive charges sexual harassment against his female boss, who also used to be his girlfriend. However he is being set up as a scapegoat in a corporate power play. Lots of corporate hijinks, politics and deception. Michael Douglas and Demi Moore starred in the movie version.