I had the privilege today to be with my grandchildren at a baseball game– their first. The Hartford Yard Goats– yes that’s correct –defeated the Portland Sea Dogs 6-2.

How much did the boys– ages 6 and almost 10 –enjoy the game? I’m not sure but after the final out there was a special opportunity for them and hundreds of other children to run the bases inside the stadium.

We adults lined up with them and there was no impatience, no cutting in line and everybody knew they were going to get their turn. Race, religion, wealth made no difference, everybody knew they were going to get their turn. There was no talk of politics, nor abortion or gun control. I didn’t see a MAGA hat or hear a “Let’s go Brandon.” Neither was there a mention of Black Lives Matter or LGBTQ rights.

As I stood there watching the kids circling the basepaths I had an insight as to why this was such a moment of respite from a world I no longer feel optimistic about. It was the kids! All of us who had brought them or their parents into this world were putting them first. We were happy to be seeing them having fun, to know that they were safe and glad that we were able to give them this memory and to be giving it to ourselves as well.

And then I had an epiphany. If doing something this simple for our kids made us feel we were doing something right, why shouldn’t we have those responsible for making decisions that will impact our kids’ present as well as their future have to make those decisions in front of their kids and grandkids?

Yes, I mean if a member of Congress wants to vote for or against sane gun laws, then have them do it with their youngest offspring sitting on their lap. If they want to vote for or against important policies to deal with climate change, then do it with those who will be most impacted right there with them. I dare any one of them to explain why kids shouldn’t get to be part of this– get to see and hear the reasoning and decision making up close. Might some be embarrassed to have to reveal their priorities to their progeny?

Or maybe our politicians should have to run the bases and if their kids can beat their elders around to home plate, then the youngsters should be allowed to cast the votes!

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“The problems of deafness are deeper and more complex, if not more important, than those of blindness. Deafness is a much worse misfortune. For it means the loss of the most vital stimulus–the sound of the voice that brings language, sets thoughts astir and keeps us in the intellectual company of man.”

— Helen Keller in a letter to Dr. James Love in 1910

In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Thomas Hobson worked as a licensed carrier of passengers, letters, and parcels between Cambridge and London, England. He kept horses for this purpose and rented them to university students when he wasn’t using them. Of course, the students always wanted their favorite mounts, and consequently a few of Hobson’s horses became overworked. To correct the situation, Hobson began a strict rotation system, giving each customer the choice of taking the horse nearest the stable door or none at all. This rule became known as Hobson’s choice, and soon people were using that term to mean “no choice at all” in all kinds of situations.

–From the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

I listen to music a lot and for no particular reason this morning I thought about whether not being able to hear or not being able to see would be the heavier burden for me. Finding Helen Keller’s opinion today has cinched the choice. I’d want to hear even though it’s indeed the ultimate Hobson’s choice.

I don’t consider myself a spiritual person but music and what it can cause me to feel is the strongest piece of evidence that can be used against me defending my self assessment of remaining devoid of spirituality.

Music is a form of nourishment and refuge for me in the sense that it makes  life both worth living and enduring. Obviously, events in our country and the world today seem to be leading us more toward darkness than light. It’s no great insight on my part that in these times it’s important to cherish and cling tightly to the things we love and the values we hold.

If you’ve been a reader of mine since the beginning of the COVID era in 2020, you know I collect stories like someone else might collect stamps or coins. I call them stories but they’re memories and I guess I’m lucky enough to have a good memory but here’s a fresh one from this week.

On his 6th birthday last March– our younger grandson and I were both born on St. Patrick’s Day but 69 years apart –I bought him a pocket size transistor radio. He was fascinated by mine and how you could pull out its antenna and turn its dials to instantly survey oldies music, sports talk and gospel preaching. About a week ago Harvey heard a commercial on his radio…

Harvey: “Mom, there’s a store in Rockland that has everything you need for Father’s Day!”

And yes, Mom and Harvey went there and I don’t know what they got but I’ve heard it was everything they needed for Father’s Day.

I used to listen to music on my Zenith transistor radio with a leather case or my parents’ Magnavox console with a built-in phonograph. Now, I download it from Apple and find it on YouTube. Here are three pieces I listened to this morning. And yes, I would rather be blind than not be able to listen to them…

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“Let’s leave aside the stories of Trump’s emotional derangement, such as his throwing food like a bratty toddler. It isn’t an actual violation of the Constitution to be a whiny, immature jerk.”

— Tom Nichols writing in today’s The Atlantic Daily

Below is a link to a list compiled by a publication I never heard of until today– McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. It’s a publishing house founded nearly 25 years ago by the author Dave Eggers. There are over a thousand instances of statements and acts by Donald Trump on this list for you to judge for yourself  that have been compiled chronologically by seven writers entitled… 

LEST WE FORGET THE HORRORS: A CATALOG OF TRUMP’S WORST CRUELTIES, COLLUSIONS, CORRUPTIONS, AND CRIMES

They start in 2011 with his false claims about President Barack Obama’s nationality and education and end with his late night pardons to Steve Bannon and his other allies on the last full day of his presidency and his leaving the White House the next day without attending President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

In between are chronicled the horrors committed by Donald Trump the private citizen and President Donald Trump, who may not yet be considered the worst American president in history (James Buchanan seems to be the leader so far in the clubhouse.) but the final accounting is still a wreck in progress.Dayenu is a song that is part of the holiday of Passover– the sort of Jewish Thanksgiving that celebrates Moses leading the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt to the promised land of Israel

. The Hebrew word dayenu means “it would have been enough for us” and in this case for God to have just granted the Jews their freedom from Pharaoh but the song has many additional stanzas enumerating the other gifts God gave the Jews. At the conclusion of the mention of each of them we say in unison dayenu!

When you start reading the history of deplorable, immoral and illegal things Trump has done as both a citizen and a serving president, feel free to utter dayenu. So many of them would have disqualified him from even running for office in a time not so long ago. What the hell has happened to our country?

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-complete-listing-atrocities-1-1-056

“We now know what we need to know about Trump. These revelations should also convince millions of people who were willing to give Trump a second chance to rule that he is too mentally unstable ever to be allowed again near the machinery of government…

— Tom Nichols writing in today’s The Atlantic Daily

DAYENU!

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