Aught Six

 

Not wanting to interfere with the traditional plans so many have for New Year’s Eve, we offered an afternoon of minor revelry with an Adios Oh-Five Open House. More than a dozen new friends dropped by for libations, nibblies and conversation in the middle of the day. The weather gods defied the forecasters giving us a spell of beautiful weather between deluges. We didn’t need to collect umbrellas or hang coats.

When all was said and gone, Denise and I watched Al Pacino try to flay The Merchant of Venice and then got into the hot tub under crystal clear skies. In the delicious warmth of the swirling waters, beneath Orion and the Pleiades and their iconic ancient Greek friends, we thought back on our first year together.

Denise and I met on Christmas Day of 2004 when we were both living in Marin County. I told her that I was planning to move to Monterey, probably in the spring, to open a radio station. So she moved in with me a few weeks later to see if she shouldn’t be part of that plan. My tiny digs -- about 350 square feet, and I worked out of my house -- fit us just fine, so that we moved into a house in Monterey at the end of April. It wasn’t as cavalier as all that, but it was almost as easy; we were meant to be together.

The radio station plan fell apart when the two fellows I had brought in to work with me stole the station. One had been my best friend for most of the past 24 years. It was at his house that I met Denise. But as my lawyer put it, he decided to sleep with the young man who had all the money. And my former friend’s plan to use the station to get himself syndicated nationally is less likely to be realized than if he hadn’t made that choice.

The anger at them has mostly dissipated, in large measure because Denise is such a dear person and wonderful companion. Her spiritual nature, intellect, and heart have enabled me to contextualize the, er-hem, challenges, and move forward. Funny how it took so long to find her, took so long to grow up to be ready for her. Not ha-ha funny, more like curious, or ironic...or what a waste, as in, how much more might have been accomplished had I been mature enough to couple with her several decades ago.

That kind of what-if thinking isn’t terribly useful, of course, and because of Denise I do less of it. I report it here as a guide and a goad for those who woke up late today and realized they hadn’t made resolutions for Aught-Six. That is, if you feel you need more resolve than simply to hang on for what will likely be a wild ride.

I’d like to think that this year will see Americans regain a mantle of responsibility and get our nation back on track, but there is little evidence that the majority of people in this country recognize such an obligation. My eternally-springing hope is that they will rally behind a true leader or cause, that most of those who live between sea and shining sea truly cherish the ideals that founded our great nation, and that they’ve been waiting for a catalyst, someone to follow who will right our ship of state and sail us toward our destiny as a grand world leader, following the shining star of integrity, compassion and purpose.

I don’t think it can be just a single individual this time. If the press didn’t tear down such a person, our recent history is too rich in violence to give much hope for a hero’s survival. And besides, isn’t it time we grew up -- evolved is a good word -- to a point where we showed the temerity to lead ourselves; to act in concert for the common weal. To be the heros of our own time.

One reason to choose that alternate route is the tragic dearth of bright, competent, honest people in the public eye who might take the reins. The Republican Party is depravedly corrupt; they used to stand for fiscal integrity and conservative moral values, and now instead of stand they lie. The Democrats are intellectual eunuchs who unashamedly supplicate for the table scraps of the same political offal.

The reason to feel that 2006 might still be a turning point is that the criminal incompetence that has shackled our government to special interests, and the mindless deference of the American people who keep them in power are man-made. When you take a broader view and appreciate that we are but a flicker of a moment in the vast history of time, you can entertain the possibility that we are not alone in this process. There is always the weather and a nice plague or two, a nuclear accident or unexplained miracle, that can put a turn in the road and move us away from what otherwise seems like an inevitable fall into the abyss.

If we all do our part, if we declare what we know to be just and hold ourselves to higher standards, if we at least lean in the right direction, it could just put the right amount of oomph behind a change in direction that will take us where we want to go instead of where we have shown we belong.

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.

 

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