2025 In Retrospect

When I attempt to review the year that has just finished, I am struck by the contrast between the comfortable little world I occupy and the chaotic real world of which my tiny piece is a part. I realize that I am fortunate to live in a wealthy neighborhood in a wealthy community, surrounded by other communities that are comfortable economically and stable socially, and that that environment clouds my perception of reality. I am astonished by the things that dominate the national news – masked storm troopers with assault weapons patrolling the streets of major cities; air raids on Syria, Nigeria, and Venezuela; antisemitic terrorism; families being ripped apart by immigration officials, etc. – things incomprehensible in my tiny world.

In contrast, my world is dominated by trivial events, the things that Gordon Jenkins described as “all the simple pleasures” in his classic popular song, “This is all I ask” (RIP Tony Bennett). It is very easy for me to focus on them as I review 2025 and leave the analysis of world chaos to wiser heads. For example, recently I was leaving the Parkway West at the Carnegie Interchange at dusk, when I spotted the tiny sliver of a New Moon setting in the West, with the steeples and spires of the Carnegie churches in the foreground. What a picture that made! If only I had stopped and taken a picture.

I certainly do enjoy the simple pleasures – spotting a red-bellied woodpecker or a yellow-shafted flicker on the suet at my feeder station, listening to “Saturday Swing Session” on WQLN Erie, watching a magnificent rhododendron blossom open up late in the Spring, being surprised by an email from one of my readers with an astute comment on one of my columns, hearing the Westminster chimes on my mantel clock, watching the “woods fill up with snow” on a winter morning – each of which greatly enhances my life.

Another contrast is between the national news and local news as generated on social media. I regularly monitor two Bridgeville Facebook pages and NextDoor Neighborhood, largely out of curiosity regarding which subjects are of interest to my neighbors. In our local world a major crisis is a pet-owner who failed to clean up after his/her dog or concern regarding the next organization to occupy the building vacated by Bob Evans. In the “simple pleasures” category, someone recently posted a marvelous series of photos of the Public Art Bridgeville sculptures covered with snow. The sculptures themselves are among my favorite simple pleasures; the photos were an excellent enhancement.

For years, Time Magazine has selected a “Man of the Year” and featured him/her on the cover of a late December edition. It would be interesting for me to imitate this tradition, limited to my tiny world. Conflict of interest prevents me from including my brother, my children and grandchildren, and my honorary son Kevin. Assuming the criterion is to honor someone who has significantly enhanced my life this year, who are the candidates? How about Wendy, our favorite Eat-n-Park waitress? Particularly solicitous to us nonagenarians, she is the epitome of their motto (the place for smiles). Or Ted, everyone’s favorite barber? He has navigated major health problems this year, including two knee replacements, but is back at his post dispensing philosophy and psychological therapy in between haircuts.

All the volunteers at my favorite historical establishments – Woodville, Old St. Luke’s, the Oliver Miller Homestead, the Bridgeville History Center – are strong candidates. I will simplify the choice by narrowing it down to three special ladies in Bridgeville – Linda, Leesa, and Laura. Flip a coin! Or how about Chris, our favorite usher and music aficionado at Heinz Hall? It is always a thrill to spot him in his emblem festooned tuxedo and get the lowdown on the evening’s performance. Then there is the young man Beth has engaged to shovel snow off my steps each time there is a storm; what a relief it is to have someone take care of that chore. And it is essential, otherwise, how could the anonymous Amazon Prime driver get to my front door for one day delivery of some necessity? These are only a few of the faces in the collage that represents my “Man of the Year”.

The bottom line of course is the fact that my world is populated by numerous basically good people. I have no contact with ICE or DOGE or MAGA or woke zealots. I would be hard put to come up with a finer group of human beings than the other six men in our Book Club or my immediate neighbors on Youngwood Road or our diminishing Bridgeville High School brunch group. How can I reconcile this with all the apparently evil people in the outside world? I can’t believe there is anything unique about our general neighborhood here in the South Hills; I suspect most neighborhoods are similar and that they too cannot understand the proliferation of heinous behavior that appears to be prevalent.

I do believe that much of the specific national and international chaos we observe today will eventually pass, but history tells us that it will be replaced by other equally horrendous behavior. Should we blame it on our leaders? Does power indeed corrupt? Or is there something about a free, permissive society that inherently encourages aberrant behavior? Two and a half centuries ago our founding fathers, emboldened by the philosophy of the Enlightenment, broke the pattern of peasants in fealty to nobility and made it possible for the common man to enjoy “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Somehow, we must find a way to build upon this and forge an international society that is as benign as our small local ones.