by Barry Phegan | Apr 1, 2022 | Aging, Social comment
“What happens after I die?” “Lots of things, none of which will concern you.” I won’t be concerned after I die and wasn’t concerned before I was born. In between, concern seems part of living. Why am I concerned? Do concern, and its extensions worry and...
by Barry Phegan | Jan 16, 2022 | Aging, Living Life, Social comment
One luxury of aging is seeing current events in a longer time perspective, knowing that all catastrophes of the moment have deep histories. Human culture changed rapidly during my lifetime, and the pace is accelerating. Most changes are good, some not. We live...
by Barry Phegan | Jan 4, 2022 | Aging, Living Life, Social comment
At year’s-end I like to look back, remembering what happened, and look ahead, picturing what I would like for the coming year. A Good Year Despite challenges, 2021 was wonderful, starting with a new president who took Covid 19 seriously. On January 29 I...
by Barry Phegan | Nov 15, 2021 | Aging, Social comment
Over 70 years ago, as a primary school child in Sydney, I enjoyed sticking transfers — what we in the United States call a temporary tattoo — to the back of my hand. These were usually comic book characters or animals. We’d show them to friends and go “Oooh”...
by Barry Phegan | Nov 1, 2021 | Aging, Social comment
Freedom We toss the word around as if we know what it means. Each user has a meaning in mind, while listeners might have another. But I see a mounting impatience with cries for freedom intended to deflect our attention from antisocial behavior more accurately...
by Barry Phegan | Oct 15, 2021 | Aging, Social comment
My mother once recounted a story from my childhood. Just three or four years old, I had come across a dead bird, probably a sparrow, in our front yard. After examining it with earnest concern, I announced, “It’s lost all its interest.” She found that amusingly...
