Local Saturday - Loving, Remembering and Escaping

Fake news has struck again.  Or at least, bent-into-a-pretzel news.  Both left and right, I find that I am thinking once again of abandoning Facebook.  But, instead, I thought about what I did know to be true.  I decided to become serious for a few minutes today.

Virginia Welcome Center, I-81

But first, a picture.  Such a simple word.  Too bad it is in such short supply in our world, as we seem to veer closer and closer to war.

Yesterday was Holocaust Remembrance Day.  Our country remembered it by...oh, I am coming too close to becoming a political blog.  But someone on Twitter did not forget. 

What happens when the last of the Holocaust survivors die, I wonder?  

Today is the 31st anniversary of the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.

With two astronauts dying in the last month,  wonder if we in America will ever walk on the Moon, Mars, or anywhere else.  

So, I decided, with news overload to turn to other matters.  Perhaps it was a mistake.

Originally, I was going to blog today about the 81st birthday of actor Alan Alda, who, like me, is from the Bronx.  He is a good topic for a "Local Saturday", just one of many famous people from the Bronx.

M*A*S*H , a TV series Alda starred in, is considered one of the greatest shows of all time.

Here is a list of some of its best episodes.

But it is his after-M*A*S*H work he should be more noted for, and be continued to be noted for.


But then, yesterday, two actors died:  Mike Conners of Mannix fame, which was one of my spouse's favorite shows. 

And, Barbara Hale, perhaps most noted for playing the secretary of attorney Perry Mason, dead at 94. Along with Mary Tyler Moore and Noel Neill, Barbara Hale's Della Street character was a role model for me.

And then, this afternoon, I heard of the death, at age 77, of actor John Hurt.

So there is only one place where I can escape to.  My blog, which, in turn, leads me to a decision.

I am so close to becoming more political.  But I've resisted so far (well, mostly resisted - it gets harder and harder) because these times demand that we all speak out.  So, I may do just that, on one scheduled day of the week (perhaps Sunday).  I haven't made up my mind yet.

But, we also need a place to escape to.  And I believe, for many of my readers, my blog has become a few-minutes-of-the-day refuge.  We need that, too, just as much as we need those who speak out and put themselves on the line.

Which is why I've decided, for now, to keep trying to find the beauty in our world, and (mostly) stay away from politics.  I will try to concentrate on love, hoping that it will, in the end, trump hate.   I hope you will continue to join me, as my blog would not exist without you, my readers.

Thank you, every one.

Day 28 of #blogboost the Ultimate Blog Challenge.