More Thoughts on the Passing of 2025 and What 2026 Will Bring

By Geoff Page

2025

The Rag’s editor-in-chief challenged Rag writers to provide “thoughts on the passing of 2025 and what the future portends.” That’s a big Magilla because it was a year like none other in my three-quarters of a century.

I’m not a pessimist or an optimist, some of both. But, this year, it was nearly impossible to have any sense of optimism. However, two important, positive things happened this year in my personal world. My little girl got married and a dog bit me.

By “little girl,” I mean my 32-year-old child who is beginning her seventh year in the legal profession. I did the big walk down the aisle and it was more emotional than I had imagined. It was a great experience, seeing her so happy. I’m not a fan of the institution of marriage, as a rule, but that day was an exception.

After a long professional career as a construction claims expert, I had managed to avoid ever owning – or wearing – a suit. I wore one that day and it felt right. I have a new son-in-law now that we all like and is a perfect fit for my girl.

Much as I love my girl, I will say I don’t envy parents who have to go through weddings for multiple daughters. There is this level of stress…

The dog bite was not pleasant when it occurred. It was an accident involving a befuddled old dog in the midst of an ill-advised dog treat group at Dog Beach. The old guy bit me in the confusion as I tried to extricate my then-new dog. He was old but his jaws were strong enough to bite through both sides my thumb. Although it appeared to heal rather quickly, superficially, a problem developed inside the thumb joint.

Urgent Care sent me immediately to the ER and they hospitalized me for five days before operating on my thumb. Yes, this whole thing was about a thumb, or at least I thought so. It was actually as much about my astronomical blood pressure readings. I remember the faces all turning to me in unison at Urgent Care asking if I felt okay, did I have a headache, did I need to lie down? I was like WTF is the matter I feel fine, my thumb hurts.

The result of that dog bite was positive. Faced with the numbers, I knew I had to come to terms with a problem I sort of knew I had but did nothing about it. No need for all the details. Good changes followed. The saddest thing, though, was putting down my life-long friend, my buddy, my pal, Salt Cellar. I keep Salt around, but he looks sad as he gathers dust.

Outside of my personal world is a total shitshow from this city government to the federal government. We all know that, so need to rehash it all.

I’m not one who believe humans are inherently good, not al all. Humans have the capacity for good, to be sure, but the stronger instinct is the opposite. I love reading history, the only drawback to it is that much of history contains violence. Want to have your belief in the goodness of people challenged? Read the histories of the Middle East or Africa or just about anywhere.

Some people like to believe that this country, our fellow Americans, have always wanted to do the good thing. No, a reading of our own history belies that idea. But, we have been trying to do better for about 100 years or so.

This country has tried to correct many of its failings, like giving women the right to vote, civil rights, worker safety, environmental laws, and on and on. Efforts have been made for many years to improve and protect life. It was a positive trend that has had fits and starts depending who was in the White House.

That positive trend took a major hit with junior Bush because of what his personal war did to the economy. Imagine what Al Gore might have done with all the money Bush wasted on the wars in Irag and Afghanistan.  And now, trump is looking for his own war.

This year was a huge step backward from years and years of progress making life better for everyone. Everyone. What happened?

What happened was that the worst side of humankind came out and voted in the idiot in the White House. Why? Because he made empty promises to people telling them that they – personally – would benefit financially if they voted for him.

It was all about “me,” the word “everyone” was nowhere to be seen.

I am amazed at how low so many people are willing to go when someone dangles an imaginary dollar in front of them. And, when I say how low, I mean how can a person, with any shred of morality in their bones, defend the actions of that miserable excuse for a human being in the White House?

It has been an awful year for so many people powerless to affect what is happening. The one positive I see is that trumpers are waking up. It’s kind of like a sci-fi movie. The zombie followers are zapping to life when something trump did affects them negatively, personally, the common refrain being, “Hey, heyyy…”

There are signs of a backlash next year, signs anyway. What we can be sure of is a tsunami of shit from the White House as it attempts to deal with the negativity.

Another positive thing, sort of, is knowing that groups like this eat each other eventually.

If you put a bunch of undomesticated dogs into a pen, they will turn on each other, despite being the same.  People with no scruples do not make great partners and associates. They will turn on each other in a moment. This will be their eventual downfall but it takes time and they do a lot of long-lasting damage in the meantime.

What does the future portend? A fight between the forces of good and evil basically. Hopefully, enough of former trumpers snap out of it so that reasonable people take back the government at the mid-term elections. If that happens, it will be like getting up off the canvas after a knockdown, only much stronger.

The foundation under this White House may be shaky. We need to shake as hard as we can.