Last evening I was surprised with a phone call from someone out of the past. It’s always a good feeling to visit with someone like him and share memories. I have had other phone calls like that; not enough perhaps, but then some are better than none. As soon as they hang up my mind conjures up old times that I wish I would have mentioned, but there is always the promise of a future visit.
I’m always amazed how a memory can lay dormant in my head and how it can be dredged up from the muck with a simple reminder. It makes me wish, too, that I had read more when I was younger instead of following my errant ways which were a waste of time. Honest literary or historical allusions written by authors who knew what they were writing about greatly enrich the thought process. (Unfortunately, the GIGO principle might apply which simply translates to "garbage in, garbage out.")
I can’t help but think of our president who has stated in a less than glib manner that he’s never been much of a reader. I believe his ignorance, naivete, and inability to speak in complete sentences can be directly related in part to that. Dave Letterman’s humorous clips on Great Moments in Presidential Speeches show FDR uttering his "... only thing we have to fear is fear itself," JFK in his "Ask not what your country can do for you..." and Bush the Junior muttering duncelike syllables. I do hope the next president will dignify the office a bit better.
