Dear Friends:
I stumbled into a little league baseball game the other day. It was a delight. Coaches and parents
were yelling encouragement to boys and girls. Excited shouts of “run,” “get back,” “slide,”
“good swing,” “keep your eye on the ball,” filled the air.
A flood of good memories came to mind. I was also reminded of how much time is spent by
volunteers of all sorts. I hope we thank them often.
As we near the end of a crazy school year, parents and children are excited to get out of doors
and shed their masks. We who read lips will be so relieved. No longer will we have the
perpetual “I-don’t-understand” look on our faces, as folks mumble through their masks.
I know that there are some who would still like a mask-wearing requirement, even when on the
top of a twelve thousand foot peek with a stiff breeze blowing. I respectfully disagree. They
might also want a permanent ban on pogo sticks, skateboards and floating the canal in an inner-
tube. Each to his own, I guess.
It’s interesting to consider where children fit into a society’s hierarchy. In some cultures, kids
are at the beck and call of older people. They are the “go-fetchers” for older people, and it
doesn’t even have to be for a family member. There is also, unfortunately, great suffering
among children in many parts of the world.
Thankfully in our society, children rule. At least they do now. I don’t know when they passed
up adults in importance, but it happened. Things learned and wisdom gained can’t compare with
treasure of a child or grandchild. They’re on a pedestal, as it should be. If COVID had its way
with the same percentage of youth as it had the seventy-plus crowd, there would have been far
more outrage. Whatever could be done, would have been done. Every death is lamentable, but
losing a child is the ultimate pain. There’s so much they haven’t seen or done. I would not
hesitate a second to trade places with a youngster who was checking out.
Regrettably however, it does seem the older we get in our society, the more expendable we are.
There’s a vast resource of experience, wisdom and knowledge that is often untapped and
ignored. Maybe the problem is that we simply can’t hear the questions.
I don’t think I’ve been guilty too often of ordering children (or adults for that matter) to “go
fetch.” My boss says, however, that I’m never afraid to say it to her. Sometimes she answers the
way Tonto answered the Lone Ranger when asked to go into town and check things out, “Yes
Kemosabe.” He would do as asked, and often the bad guys would beat the snot out of him. I
imagine that if truth be told, once in a while both my boss and Tonto might want to say, “Do it
yourself, Kemosabe!”
Mayor David Ogden
