Guest Posts on County 10 are provided by contributors and the opinions, thoughts, and comments within are their own and may not necessarily reflect those of County 10.
My friend Don Ryan turned 90 this past week. As I often say to friends of my vintage when I hear of an older person’s birthday, “That’s getting younger all the time.”
Time is a fickle mistress, it makes demands, changes situations, and doesn’t offer many solutions, just a continuing series of ongoing problems. Despite these challenges, many of them unexpected, it beats the alternative.
Don has lived a full life and continues to do so. I met him for the first time when Sue and I were invited to the Marine Corps Birthday Party in November a few years ago, held by our local Marine Corps League at the Riverton Country Club. It was a fascinating evening. As I went to pay our dinner bill and bar tab, the gal running the bar said, “It’s covered.”
I asked who, and she pointed to Don. That’s his style, a gracious, generous Marine. You’ll note I didn’t write, ex-Marine, there is no such thing. Once a Marine, always a Marine, that’s part of the mystique of being in an organization that was founded in the Tun Tavern, a Philadelphia bar, on November 10, 1775.
Don was a combat Marine in Korea. I had the honor of writing his story early last year. It’s worth the read and I’m posting a link to it here.
To say that only those older than you have worthwhile stories is ridiculous on its face, every age can have a story, but experience has value, especially if you take the time to listen.
Covering sports, watching those cocky kids play ball, and seeing how they handle both success and failure is equally interesting, as is watching their coaches and teachers trying to get the best out of them.
Hearing their aspirations and views of life is even more so.
I get surprised at times when I’m traveling around the state and speaking with people. The talking heads would tell you that politics is the only thing happening in the world. Annoying yes, infuriating yes, self-indulgent yes, but far from the only thing.
I was tired one evening on the way home from a playoff football game between Dubois and Midwest in Natrona County. The Rams had a big lead that night, but the Oilers rallied with three touchdowns in the final 90 seconds to win 64-62 and advance to the 2013 state championship game.
I stopped to fuel up in Casper (who doesn’t when the gas is always 30 to 50 cents less than in Fremont County?) got a bite to eat and headed west.
I tried all the tricks to stay awake you learn in Wyoming. Don had relayed the tricks he used in subzero Korea to stay awake at night, but thankfully I didn’t have silent Chinese patrols sneaking up in the dark to motivate me.
I used the old methods, opening the window at 70 mph, smacking myself in the nose to make me sneeze (a good sneeze will keep you awake for 10 minutes), and even stuffing sunflower seeds into my mouth (you can’t fall asleep chewing whole sunflower seeds) but it wasn’t working that well.
I saw the lights of the “Bright Spot” at Hiland ahead. It was still open, so I pulled in for some coffee. The friendly gal behind the counter knew before I said a word, “Coffee?” she asked.
“Sure,” I said and nodded my head at a couple of locals having a beer at the counter.
As I pulled out a few bills to pay for the coffee she surprised me.
“It’s on the house,” she said. “Keep writing, I enjoy your columns.”
That was in a previous career when I wrote for the Daily Ranger, delivering a Sunday column each week for the big edition we used to print.
The point is, our circulation reached the tiny hamlet of Hiland, the “Bright Spot” as it was known. Digital delivery at County 10 surpasses anything we could have done when the Ranger was at its peak. Which brings me back to my friend Don Ryan.
Don sat down with Sue and me for a few minutes at his birthday party and shared a few thoughts.
“The things you write about are things I’ve done myself,” Don said. “It’s interesting when you mention finding old cabins, newspapers, and remnants of things when you’re out hunting and fishing. I’ve done it, and still do.”
Don is a full generation ahead on the path but pointed out succinctly something that everyone should realize if they take the time to look. There are wonderful things to experience right here in Wyoming.
I fear for most of the next generation, and my three granddaughters in particular, not because the world will be a worse place than it is now or was before. That will never change, evil is evil, and good is good, it’s always been that way, and always will be.
The fear comes from entering a world where reality no longer matters. Where the feel of the wind on your face, the chill of the night air, and the scent of sagebrush are all replaced by the glowing siren song of the digital world.
Virtual reality isn’t reality at all, it’s a mindless distraction from what is real, but it is catching on. You don’t see as many kids in the county fair, you don’t see as many in the marching band, on the football field, or working part-time jobs after school.
We’re encouraging an entire generation of young people to tune out, and it’s not the “Tune in, turn on, drop out,” professed by Dr. Timothy Leary in the drug-crazed San Francisco counterculture of the ’60s, it’s much more insidious.
How do reduce the digital impact on our children and grandchildren? It’s not easy, you have to compete with digital Soma (Soma was a drug used to control the masses in Aldous Huxley’s classic novel “Brave New World”) and its hypnotizing effects.
While it’s not easy, it can be done, and it starts with paying attention to these youngsters, talking with them, and getting their interest in the things around them. Kids always think they live in the most boring place on earth, that boredom is inside their heads, and why the digital glow is so attractive.
There is magic in a single blade of grass if you look closely, and the stories of older generations are riveting.
Don’s stories have motivated me to seek out others of his generation and write about their experiences. If we don’t, they’ll be lost forever.
Thanks, Don, and happy birthday.