HISTORY

On this date in 1865, a Union General read orders in Galveston, Texas, stating that all enslaved people in the state were free according to federal law.  It was in 2021 that Juneteenth (short for June nineteenth) was designated a federal holiday.

Every day each of us is living in what will be the history of future generations.  Children born in the next century will read about life in 2024, about our country's divisiveness, about the epidemic of 2020 that brought a global stop to everyday life, about artificial intelligence, fast food, current hairstyles and fashion trends.  There will be a day when people will talk about us like we talk about people who lived in the 12th century.  

Predicting the future and what it will be like, say, in the year 3000, is impossible.  We don't know the reach of human intelligence in the next 976 years.  There are unsolved mysteries from the past that scientists are still unable to explain.  They can come up with possible answers, but there's no certainty.  What may be a proven fact today may have a more rational explanation in the next millennium.  

Studying history in high school could have been interesting if Mr. B's class didn't depend on an A, B, C, D or F.   Every class we dreaded a pop quiz or the end-of-chapter test.  Instead of really understanding history, we were simply being programmed to remember stuff we didn't understand.  Anyway, that's how it was for me.  Now, I enjoy reading about the past....to a certain extent.  My personal interest goes back more to ancient Greece and Rome.  

Archaeology, digging up stuff buried in the ground, has always been an intrigue.  I still find myself wondering what's beneath the ground I walk on.  The adjoining field to Venny has a protected area where Indian artifacts were found.  Our next door neighbor lived in Israel for a period of time.  She and her husband were involved in digs there, and she has a wealth of interesting memories to share.  Listening to others share their amazing life experiences is an over-the-top experience for me.  Every morsel of understanding our minds can acquire, is like lighting a candle in the darkness.  

Last night I stayed up until 2 a.m., watching a 5-hour deposition of one of Alex Jones' employees.  Jones, conspiracy theorist and host of InfoWars, was sued for claiming the killing of Sandy Hook children was a hoax.  In 2022, juries in Connecticut and Texas awarded $1.487 billion in damages to families of the victims.  The court denied his attempt at filing for bankruptcy and instead ordered him to liquidate his assets to satisfy the award in damages.  By the time it was time to close the cover of my laptop and go to sleep, my brain felt like I was on a simulated flight to the moon.  

The day awaits, and it's lunch time.  Till the morrow, ta-ta.