home

Home > Dispatches > Daily Dispatches 2020 >Daily Dispatch #20

January 20, 2021: Happy Days are Here Again

This seems like a more appropriate title than say, “Let’s See What Tomorrow Will Bring.” This is because the former is about the present moment and the latter is about the future. And as we all know, the future is a fiction. So is hope. Yes, hope is an illusion. Saying you would like this or that isn’t going to get it. The same, is true of prayer. I often tell people in dire straits that I will send positive energy their way because this better speaks of immediacy.

“Happy Days are Here Again” was a 1929 song: the music by Milton Ager, and lyrics by Jack Yellen. It appeared in the 1930 film Chasing Rainbows, and in 1932 it was Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidential campaign song. This song is now 82 years old, so I suspect that few remember it.

However, history repeat itself, making this song, popular or not, applicable to today’s political events. We now have a new president and vice-president, two individuals who won the election honestly. They seem like honest, intelligent, and respectful human beings who will get things back on course.

When Obama was elected, people were hopeful that the political situation upended by George Bush would be righted. This time around, hope in the minds of many of us is feeling like an illusion.

I read this morning in the Alaska Daily News that President Joe Biden is going to affirm that oil drilling will not take place in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. The leases, up for grabs a few weeks ago, didn’t sell. However, the former administration was intent on pushing drilling ventures through anyway.

And, the best sign of all, was that today, inauguration day, there was no violence. I suspected that the adage, unity in numbers, held true. They could not mobilize and attack 50 state capitols. In order to defeat the enemy, you have to have organization and large numbers.

I have been dubious about the blanket statement that we live in a democracy. But maybe we do. Trump was voted out. If he was a self-appointed dictator, no one anywhere would be singing Happy Days are Here again.

I did not spend my morning in front of the computer screen, watching the swearing in and associated festivities. It was tempting. The cabin was warm, and I did want to stay put. My rationalization may have been that I was seeing history. Well, I got the gist of what was going on by glancing at the New York Times headlines.

Instead I got outside and went for two trail rides; on the first, I took Raudi and Tinni, and on the second, accompanying Pete who was riding Tyra, I rode Hrimmi. We took the dogs with us.

It snowed yesterday, and the snowplow had not yet gone around the neighborhood loop. I tacked up Raudi knowing that I was taking my chances. Sure enough, the plow went rumbling past. After it made a second pass, going the other way, I began walking the horses up road. The plow was parked in the intersection. A fellow was shoveling sand out of a side hopper onto the road.

Raudi and Tinni were visibly concerned. However, neither attempted to get away from me, quite impressive considering home and hay were in the opposite direction. The driver moved on and we walked to trailhead. I mounted up and had the first of two incredible rides.

As I rode along, I attempted to remember the lyrics to Happy Days are Here Again.

Next: 21. 1/21/21: The Mean, Lean, Covid Vaccine

Horse Care Home About Us Dispatches Trips Alys's Articles