"Glen" is a word (an early lesson from Scrabble).

Many years ago when I was old enough to spell but too young to remember my age, I was playing Scrabble with Grandma Grandy (Mom's mom).

She formed the word "glen" with her tiles.

I said, "Grandma, you can't use names. That's against the rules." (She had a brother, my Uncle Glenn.)

She said "glen" was a real word. I didn't believe her, but a dictionary proved me wrong.

Grandma was an excellent Scrabble player. And she didn't even dock my score for an unsuccessful challenge.

[2014-07-20]

c0

The Osmonds in plaid leisure suits. Yes,
that was once considered very stylish.

We're all in the middle of a trend. As much as we think we're always at the end of one (which may be true), we're usually right in the middle of a bigger one. Music and fashion are the obvious examples, but those change so quickly, we can watch a few come and go in a single lifetime.

It's the long, lumbering trends that we think have been around forever that we don't recognize - the novel, movies, international travel and phone calls, American civil religion, vaccinations for childhood diseases, highways, the American Way, representative democracy, Protestantism, fundamentalism, Federalism, etc.

There's no guarantee any of those will still be here (or be needed) a thousand years from now.

[2014-07-25]

c0