I am indeed grateful for and deeply moved by your extremely kind and thoughtful reply; thank you ever so much, Mike. And you are so right that at our age the notices of our peers going to meet their Maker are coming all too frequently and too close together at that. The reminders of mortality, clearly, are not so gradually becoming ever more inescapable.
In regards to military funerals, my father had a magnificent one at Arlington National Cemetery in 1984 with all the extremely dignified pomp and circumstance we could possibly have hoped for. I was left with both the impression and the feeling that the entire procedure was in fact taken very seriously and not at all in a rote and tired manner. What a gift that was, most especially so for my mother.
Time in the service evaded me, Mike, as my eyesight without correction at the time was atrocious; without my glasses I was effectively legally blind. Somewhat recently I had new lenses implanted with which I for the first time have very fine distance vision; up close I still can’t make out a thing without reading glasses. On the other hand, I did live on military bases overseas until the age of eighteen, so I am not altogether unfamiliar with the general military milieu.
Thanks again, and the best of wishes to you and yours also.

• Kaiser

Kaiser —
Many thanks for your kind and thoughtful comments. Please accept my condolences on the passing of your wife’s brother. Unfortunately, though, those words are all too shallow and insufficient … but received all too often at our age. As for me, I am getting very tired of learning that the last time I said good bye to an old friend would be the last time I would say good bye to that old friend ….

Among other things, did you know that pre-recorded TAPS are now often played at our National Cemeteries? I attended an old friend’s services in December. It was “Military Precise” and the rendition of TAPS probably the best I had ever heard, flawlessly crisp and bright sounding. And having played the trumpet for years and TAPS many times, that was a huge compliment especially coming from me. But then I discovered that it was generated by a speaker in the bugle’s bell …. which I realized as I played back the video. I wish I would have had time to dust off my trumpet to honor my friend.

Kaiser, my guess is that you were in the service. And if so, you and all of our veterans deserve better … no matter how good the recorded version of TAPS may be.

In the meantime, enjoy your family and friends and life — Mike

It’s very good to hear from you again after all this time, Mike, and the fact that you’re still among the living is especially fortuitous. Since you were last here my beloved wife’s very dear brother and only sibling passed away completely unexpectedly and suddenly at the age of 76. Things obviously have not felt the same for us since then and needless to say we are on and off finding ourselves still working our way through previously unfamiliar circumstances and emotions. But again, welcome back!

I know what you mean about this year’s Mint product lineup. It’s as if Leonardo DaVinci had painted the Mona Lisa over and over again to the exclusion of all else. The Mint does have a lot of what might be called “pretty” coins on this year’s schedule, but in essence they are all simply repeats. The ASEs, for example, are minted every year with only a date change while the Morgan and Peace dollars, although admittedly interesting and attractive, are still only resurrections from the Mint’s past. What is lacking is an active imagination and a true sense of innovation; in fact, if it wasn’t for the American Women Quarter Series the Mint could well be said to be offering nothing new under the sun this year.

Don’t be gone too long this time, Mike; we miss you here.

While we absolutely adore our five grandchildren we’re allergic to babysitting.

Thank you, Antonio. Ever since I first read Dune I haven’t been able to get the concept of the “weirding way” out of my mind. It’s fitting that you should bring up the Quantum Realm in that its apparent properties suggest an elusiveness well deserving of the appellation “weird”, and there, I suppose, is as good a synchronistic point/line as any for the universes of scientific measurement and boundless imagination to cross each other’s non-existent barriers.

Maybe you need some toddlers to watch to give their mums a rest. Only kidding.

The Quantum Realm comes to mind. I like your weirding way also.

By the way, sam I am, I always follow your advice and take Old Lady Naps to recharge my aging batteries; no Energizer Bunny running around these here parts.

Kaiser —
I’m still alive but haven’t said much in the last few months because I am just not too excited about this year’s mint offerings.

But your doctor’s comment reminded me of the time my doc called me and said she (yes, a she) had some “bad news and worse news for me … and asked which I would like to hear first.” I said “ok doc, give me the bad news.” She responded “you’ve got one day to live.” I said “what could be worse than that?” She said “I should have told you yesterday.”

Stay well my friends … Mike

Jeeez, long time no encounter, sam “I am” tweedy. Keeping that Forrest running, eh?