This is such an odd time. It is less than 3 weeks until our presidential election, and most everybody just seems haggard. But not everybody. Not our youth. They have not been hindered by the realities that wear on the rest of us, and I remember that age. The age of certainty. The age of all the answers. I miss that age. I remember a magic trick from years ago that facilitated me… right up until the moment I was shown how it was done, and then, with my eyes opened, that trick seemed very shallow. I had been fooled. Sometimes I feel that way now. Like I’m being fooled. Our youth are still trying to figure the magic trick out. When they realize that they have been tricked, and their eyes are opened, they are going to be pissed. It will be too late.

This has been such a hard year. When I look back on earlier generations, I have great admiration for the trials, and hardships they endured. And I wonder what today’s generations are capable of enduring. I have lived through a good many presidential elections, and the question has always been the same. Every election. Every single one of them. Who will win? That question isn’t in my top three questions. Not this year.

• How long will it take to count the votes?
• How bad will the cheating be?
• Will the loser accept defeat?
• Do you think the election results will cause citizens to rise up against one another?
• Will this election cause a second revolution?
• How will we survive this chasm that separates us?

I don’t know where I’m going with any of this. Maybe I’m just trying to clear my head. We were notified last night that a family friend passed away, alone and in a hospital, from this dreadful Corona virus that is deadly to some, and almost undetectable in others. Dying is said enough in itself, but isolated from family is a sad and tragic way to say goodbye to this world. They are predicting a new surge this winter, and I don’t know if I am sicker of this unfair election or this virus. It seems like being eaten alive while on fire, and trying to determine which is more painful. Yep. That’s my healthy frame of mind right now, but this too shall pass.

So, for now we run to and fro, here and there, buying and selling, and hoping for the best. Managing this virus the best we can… as we have for the biggest part of the year, and many of us have laid away a modest amount of food, just in case mind you, that something dreadful come of all of this. As far as answering the question of what this generation can endure, time will tell.

ws