Last Hurrah...

Hey, children of the greatest generation.

Those of us born just after the close of WWII.

Our parents grew up in the depression, won the war, came home, and went to work building a better country for us and all who come next.

Hence, Greatest Generation.

Right now, it appears that our generation will depart this orb having used and abused the gift of freedom, leaving behind a huge mess.

Our offspring will hear, “Hey kids, sorry about the mess. Clean it up!”

We’ll be forever known as the TOO MUCKIN’ FUTCH FREEDOM generation.

***

I was born in ‘47.

My father, Frank Smyth, served in the Pacific, preparing to attack the Japanese mainland like D-Day.

Truman dropped the atom bomb and attack plans were no more.

PHEWWW…!

I owe my existence directly to ‘Little Boy’.

Had Frank stormed the beaches as planned who knows if he would have lived or died.

If he came home alive after a grueling amphibious assault would he have ever met Doris?

I guess we are a true nuclear family.

There’s more to the “Little Boy” story.

Frank was among the first troops to enter Nagasaki on foot.

When I asked him if the stories about there being human plasma projected onto walls like vaporized shadows were true.

He said, “Yes, but they were no deader than the little Japanese babies with a single bullet hole in their head.”

We didn’t talk much about it after that.

I had Uncles who came by in the evenings to try beating Frank at Poker.

They really came to tell each other war stories.

Frank listened and collected their $$$.

He hardly ever said a word about the war except as a history lesson.

WWII was a thing of the past.

He taught me that poker is, in fact, all about making the other players want to give you their $$$.

Lull the opponent into wagering foolishly out of frustration with your laconic style of play.

Just that extra second makes the moment yours.

All that said, it’s time for one last hurrah.

“Being American”

Here’s some actual intelligence.

Political upheaval historically starts with boatyard chatter in a barroom near a beach.

The American Revolution is a perfect example.

Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms smuggled through such locations fueled the revolutioaires.

Our new nation quickly established ATF to regulate and monitor these tools of change.

Revolutionary leaders remembered how they did it.

There’s no chance they’d allow future upstarts to turn the tables by using their own tricks against them.

On the revolution front...if ya want the moon...demand the stars.

acclimate.earth