the good old days

As an old Champaign beer-drinking buddy of mine was fond of saying, nothing is as good as it used to be, except us.  There is always a trend to look back to some former time and be nostalgic.  By the way this has been going on throughout history, even back when there was no history people were thinking back on some time when things were better.  Of course if we go back in history we have fewer gadgets and we don't live as long, but that doesn't seem to matter so much.  This is just my opinion but it seems to me that the recurring theme in all these good old days fantasies is that people were better then, they were nicer to each other, they were more honest, they were less materialistic, and more concerned with human values.  But surely history tells us otherwise, if you go back in history you do not find people getting nicer and nicer.

Make America Great Again is not a new phrase thought up by Trump, it has been used throughout our history in various forms.  Because, because Americans think, without thinking much about it, that there was a time when America was truly great, and that something happened, somehow we were betrayed by, well folks of the opposite party or their ilk, and now we have to go back and undo that change so that we can make everything right again.  This is something we feel in our bones, but if we go to the history book we can find no such time.

Age is the suspect.  When we are young we are loved and cared for, as we grow older we are cool and dashing, and later maybe we are doing even better financially and all, but you know, we are no longer cool, and cool becomes something unintelligible that those stupid damn kids are up to, and our hair goes white or we lose it altogether, and we need glasses to read the fine print and we can no longer boogie boogie boogie all night long like we used to do. 

So here's a thought experiment for the dawgs.  If you get to use any age or any time, what would you want to go back to?  For instance would you like to be in your 20's in the 90's, or in your 50's in the 60's?  Or pick any age and then pick a time before your time, the roaring 20s, the civil war, when knights were bold, that glorious time just after we discovered fire but before that damnable wheel entered the picture.


Oh I am a big fan of O Winston Link, have three or four of his books on my shelves right now.  But have you heard the story of how he got himself a trophy wife, and then a trophy locomotive also, and then a guy to care for the engine, but the guy cared more for the trophy wife and they ended up locking him in the basement.  Beautiful photos though. 

I have been to Union several times and they have yards and yards of trains and trains.  One of the best things I like about it is all the old guys swarming the engines fixing things up.  They all had, I imagine nowhere jobs, pushing a pencil or clacking keys in some dusty office, when all they really wanted to do in life was play with trains, and now that they are retired that is all they do and they couldn't be happier.  Their good old days are right now Jack.