My little French Bulldog, Louie, is sick today.  An unexpected trip to the vet, and much scrubbing of walls and floors, and I hope that he will be much better tomorrow now that he has had some medicine.  It means that I will sleep on the couch, however, on the alert for a quick trip to the great outdoors, if need be, during the middle of the night.  I am hopeful that I will sleep.  The good news is that I finally had a TV hung on my wall last week, so if I can’t sleep, I can get comfortable and watch some tube.  As opposed to when I was young, there are actually shows being aired during the middle of the night that might teach me something.

Which leads me to tonight’s question.

Question:  Is there something (a person, a cause, an idea) that you want to investigate more fully in 2015?

I want to learn about everything. I hear about at least three things a day that I wish I could delve into more. Politics, history, religion, current events, biographies.

Two topics that are currently on my list to learn more about are from the 1970s:  the Vietnam War and the peace deal between Begin and Sadat. I recently read a history of Jerusalem, but it ended after World War II and the formation of Israel. So, I would like to learn more about events that followed, hence the interest in the peace accords.  And I just haven’t learned much at all about the Vietnam War, but my step-father fought in that war.  I would like to understand more about the politic situation that led to our involvement.

Menachem Begin, Jimmy Carter, Anwar El Sadat

I was a child of the seventies, and I kinda remember the turmoil of the times.  I remember the gas strikes and adults talking about inflation.  I remember Walter Cronkite being the news anchor.  I remember the news talking about people losing their jobs.  But I really didn’t pay attention.  It was elevator music to my young life; there was simply too many other things to think about, like learning how to do cartwheels, reading Encyclopedia Brown and Nancy Drew books, pretending that I was Wonder Woman, dreaming up new adventures for Barbie.  Though I did love, love, love a good Schoolhouse Rock.  They just didn’t make one about the Vietnam War.  They should have asked Creedence Clearwater Revival to write one for them.

I’m glad that I wasn’t paying attention to what was going on.  That wasn’t my job; my job was to be a kid.  My job wasn’t to be concerned about the economy, or peace treaties, or presidents resigning.  I hope that kids today have the same opportunity to be innocent of the wider world, at least for a little while.  The time comes far too soon when our concerns extend beyond the walls of house.  Enjoy ignorance as long as possible.

But now as an adult, it’s time to learn that which I did not learn.

Plus all those other things that strike my fancy.  And my fancy is struck often.