I have been connected to, interested in, or directly involved in politics since I was 5 years old, in 1952. My dad was a rubber worker and union official at Firestone in Memphis from 1938 (minus 4 years in the Navy soon after) until his retirement in 1978. He was a diehard Democrat.

I recall in 1952 that my dad was assembling political materials to pass out at work, to keep all the union workers voting Dem. He stayed a Dem until the day he died. He even had me helping him with it, so I was raised in a solid Dem family, and voted Dem until maybe late 20s or 30. Then I shifted to Repub for a few years, then finally became an independent, and mostly voted third party until 2020.

I never knew what my mom was, but I assumed she voted the same.

My sister, a little younger than I am, is also a die-hard Dem, even though she only has one issue: abortion. But she is so hard over, we can't talk politics at all.

At any rate, with that background, I was thinking today, about how many times a political view or implementation by either party made any kind of difference in my life.

I can't think of a single one.

Meanwhile, the Grand Canyon is absolutely stunning this time of year. Just spent 2 days there, before moving on today. Some of you guys maybe need to loosen up a bit and enjoy life while you have a good shot at it. Just a friendly thought.