Summertime and the Living

Well so many desert dwellers have left for the mountains and the seas I have increased my reading quotient. For whatever I have been studying the rise and fall of empires, Romans, Greece, Mesopotamia, Eygpt etc. We in our travels have seen so much left of these civilizations in archeological museums. It is a wonder that these populations have left so much to be studied and to wonder at. Our own country is relatively new but powerful, and we have been a force for democrasy just as Greece was. It seems we have tried to make changes in so many countries whose politics have been in turmoil since the time of the Greeks. Right now I am in the middle of a book about the Athenian navy which really caused their expansion and began a movement upward for the common man. Seems like they also turned their backs on leaders who had served them well but then became unpopular and were ostracized. Yet we all have common basic needs.

Today got away from all that and went to golf. Just me and a club and a ball and the various worries that torment many of us on the fairways and greens. At least these are troubles that I can work on. Perhaps not change, But work on. With others who have similar interests and needs. Next item to work on dog training with new gentle leader leash and new training hints video, Going to see How to Train a Dragon this afternoon to see if that gives us any ideas about approaching our schnauzer Fritz or at least developing a sense of humor about same. After that some bridge and maybe we should learn to play chess. I once did that as a form of therapy with brain damaged children but now that my own brain is becoming damaged and wearing out, I don't know how much if any I remember.
Also I'd like to see some large outdoor chess games in parks like we saw in Europe. I don't know why they haven't emerged here. Maybe chess pieces could be made out of recycled materials or something.......Maybe.........