1914, Pork with mashed potatoes, gravy, and vegetable, 84, and Churchill

These days, whenever we have a question about almost anything, we simply "Google" the answer. How simple life has become. No need to burden our brains and memories with facts and details when all we need do is tap a few buttons on our cell phone. Need to know when WW1 began? What is the  blue plate special on the lunch menu at Mel's Diner? How old would Elvis be if still alive? Who said, "The greatest lesson to know in life is that even fools are right sometimes"? All so very convenient and being able to get an instant answer is fun.

But there is a down side. Gone are the days when we could take pride in all the stuff we knew. Now the question is: Do we know anything? Every time I watch one of those college campus interviews or man on the street interviews, the interviewees seem clueless. This seems especially true regarding America and its history. The simplest of questions seem mind boggling: What happened on December 7, 1941?  Who was president during the New Deal in the 1930's. What year did Columbus land in the new world?

       Maybe this stuff is no longer important. The world is changing so rapidly that it’s difficult to even know what to teach today’s kids. They certainly need to be creative and adaptive to an ever changing world, so maybe learning about history has no current value. Maybe we just don't have the time any more as we are so self-absorbed in the now.

And yet, I believe there is much to learn from our ancestors and from studying the past. How can our culture continue when it’s members have little or no knowledge of what it reveres? The humorist Sam Levenson once said,"You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself." This suggests a wisdom in studying history.

Outside of the National Archives building in Washington DC,  there are two statues I revere. The messages on them are dear to me as a student of history:

"What Is Past Is Prologue"
The second statue outside the building has a man holding a book and a scroll. This one says, "Study the Past" I believe in the verity of these statements.

By the way, we had lunch with friends, Joe and Justine Hammond, at Mel's Diner in Ft. Myers. I had the blue plate special, and it was great! If you want to know what I had, Google it!