Sometimes, like when I come up with a dispatch title like the above, I think, whooo eeee, I am going to have a good time with this title. Yessireee, this is going to be one of those writing sessions. Then, inevitably, I fall flat on my face. Well, maybe not this time.

I am wondering if we are again entering the dark ages. There is the literal thought – that is the one that occurs to me every year. It’s dark by 5 p.m., and I so I wonder if it’s going to keep getting darker and close in on us. The thought that further comes to mind is that we may never again see the sun. Yeah, we won’t last long if this happens. We’ll die, the cockroaches will die, the bedbugs will die, and the chiggers will die. Humans can’t exist on this planet without cockroaches, bedbugs, and chiggers.

There is also the figurative thought. I read yesterday that there is another Covid virus variant, this one is called Omicron. Who is it that comes up with these names? I wish it was me. I’d have called it the Omega variant. That seems more fitting than Omicron, which sounds like a substance that you’d use to clean the outer surface of your car.

Actually, in hearing about this, I had the realization that Covid is now really here to stay. It’s just going to keep mutating. And it’s going to just keep infecting people. It was discovered in South Africa. The powers that be are now issuing travel restrictions. Too late, cases of it have materialized in Hong Kong. The dark side of this is that this latest outbreak, and the one that preceded it, and the one that preceded it, could have been prevented. All people had to do was wear masks and get vaccinated.

Instead, it became a political issue, with those on the far right saying that complying with this commonsense advice was infringing on their personal rights.

As Walt Kelly’s Pogo once said, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” This statement is more applicable now than it was when he uttered it sixty years ago.

We may not be seeing the end times. But I think that in the U.S., we are seeing the collapse of civilization. I don’t know why they call it civilization because it’s the lack of civility that is at the root of economic, political, societal, educational, and environmental duress.

I have so many examples. Just one: Tonight I was out tending to the upper quadrant areas when someone fired off some firecrackers. They were so very loud. I immediately checked on Tinni who these days tends to be on edge and is in a small enclosure at night. He was slightly agitated – all I could do was hope that the revelers not fire off any more tonight. They did not.

Pete remarked that they were celebrating the day after Thanksgiving.

I am not going to put forth any more examples. We all have them. The dark ages are here indeed.

Next: 328. 11/27/21: Another Ice Age is Upon Us