Opinion

This week, I’m sharing a column written by Jeff Tolman, a Greybull native, retired Washington lawyer and judge and very talented writer. He sent one that was similar to me a year ago and I loved it, but didn’t find the right time to use it.  It will resonate with longtime Greybull residents.

I grew up with May 30 as the “official” Memorial Day, and it still is stuck in my mind. So the yearly change of the national celebration slips by me.
I was awed by the 600,000-plus poppies put on the national memorial, celebrating all those brave men and women who have given their lives in defense of our country. A poppy for every veteran. I would love to see it--in technicolor. And the veterans who served and had the luxury of returning from the wars were remembered and celebrated also. Their stories were inspiring.

There are days — and honestly, some weeks and months and years — when I really wish I could wake up and be 5 years old with glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling and an orca whale painted on my bedroom wall again. This is one of those weeks. No, months. Quite possibly, it’s one of those years. And so when I sat down to write this week, I started thinking about what I really loved when I was 5 and if any of it would be relevant to write about… I liked horses, dinosaurs, hunting newts in the creek and playing pretend in the woods all by myself until dusk.

How far would I go to save the planet? There are limits, and I deem taking only cold baths and eating bugs or “lab-made” meat as far beyond “what I should do for my country, or for my planet.”
Now, I agree we can be more thoughtful of our excesses in almost everything. We waste a lot, throw away too much.
But don’t touch my thermostat, in the summer or the winter. I refuse to sit around and watch TV in a sweatshirt, covered with a blanket--although a blanket does feel good, even in my toasty warm living room.