This year has been trying, to say the least. I'm sure most of us look forward to the new year, 2021, with high hopes of better times. There were a few good things that came from all the ills of 2020. These can be counted by the individual. Some of us suffered from illness, stress, and frustration with issues beyond our control. Others stayed status quo, observers intent on seeing what came to pass. Some used the time to be more productive while in quarantine or isolation they set forth on a quest to produce something of value and interest to themselves and others.
What you did in 2020 is your business. What was right for one is not always right for all. We are engaged in a political firestorm, no matter which side you choose, some will disagree and some will agree, there's even some who's apathy toward the occurrences in the world will cause other concern.
I do not judge. I do not force my beliefs or opinions on others. On occasion, I may express my views, but do not expect others to see the world the same way I do. For whatever you may think, I'm glad we live in a society that allows us to have the freedom to do all that we do.
As writers we can express ourselves in many forms. I choose to use the printed word, or electronic print media, to express myself. I do it through fiction. But, it is not fictional as I wish all of you, HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I'm attaching an email, some of you may have received from Bruce Haedrich. I hope you enjoy.
Happy New Year everyone!
As
the year closes I'd like to thank you all for the messages, notes,
articles, musings, and thoughts you sent my way in 2020. All of it
lightened up my email box and I learned a lot. This is such a wonderful
way to stay in touch despite being physically separated.
Although
we've been through quite a bit this year, from a historical
perspective, it is not nearly as grave as many of us have lived through
already. Think of the destruction wrought by two World Wars separated by
a cataclysmic drought and world Depression. I'm reading the book, Republic of Wrath,
by James Morone which tells the often violent history of the U.S. from
Washington to Trump. Our politics has always been rough and today's
divides are nothing new. We've had politicized Supreme Courts, murdered
politicians, graft, ballot stuffing, and race-based anarchy from before
the Civil War.
Unfortunately, much of what is going on was predicted in my novel The Fifth Generation War.
I am working on the third book of the trilogy. Since my characters are
in control of events I'm wondering how it all turns out myself.
In 1859, one year before America's Civil War began, Charles Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities. In it is one of the most famous opening lines in literature, it goes:
It
was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it
was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the
season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of
despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were
all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in
short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its
noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for
evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
Despite
our caustic politics, COVID pandemic, the virtual world of lies and
deceit, and the difficulty of separating fact from fiction, in many ways
we are also living in the best of times. For my second book of essays,
flash fiction, and short stories I wrote the following poem. It captures
my thoughts about everyday life.
In the meantime, Happy New Year to you all! See you next year! Bruce
Wondering
Bruce Haedrich
Every morning when I awake
I’m hit out of the blue,
With lucky stars all around me
In every shade and hue
For instance the first thing I do
Is take a little pill
It keeps leukemia at bay
Now those cells cannot kill
Fifteen short years ago people
Did not have that option
But now a small pill can save lives
And I’m a lucky one
I have breakfast of toast and eggs
Or sometimes cheese and fruit
My choices are unlimited
This you cannot refute
It is because supermarkets
Would make King Midas blush
A cornucopia of goods
Each day is there for us
Next I am off to pickleball
A fast-paced racket sport
I’m thankful I can play a game
And run around a court
During my shower I wonder
If people ever think
Where does this clear water come from?
It’s good enough to drink.
The truth is two billion people
Have no running water
So I don’t take it for granted
I’m thankful, as it were.
Then I sit at my desk to write
Stories of saints and crooks
I love it here among my friends
Who roam around these books
My wife wants to go out to eat
And so I go with her
We end up at Captain Eddie’s
Where I order flounder
And as we wait I wonder how
This fish has come to me
Is there an unending supply,
Of flounder in the sea?
After our lunch then we go to
One of those big box stores
Again I’m flabbergasted by
The goods within those doors
Now most of it is Chinese made
And bought with a credit
If we’re not paid to make this stuff
How can we afford it?
But one thing’s so vast that I can’t
Comprehend it at all
Is our place in the universe,
And that the earth’s so small
Our sun and our fellow planets
Are hurdling through space
And yet they all, plus all those moons
Stay in their proper place
Without this fine arrangement we
Would not be here at all
We would not have the warming sun
Or life-giving rainfall
We’d not have any complex cells
Which all living things must
Have in abundance or we would
Never been more than dust
This all comes to us by design
From when all-time began
So yes, there is a deity
Who has a master plan.
