Grateful: You know what I’ve decided?

I’m grateful to be alive when I am.

I’m a nostalgic type. I like to fantasize about the periods I’ve missed and wonder how it might have been to live in an era not plagued by some of the things we currently have to deal with.

But I’m a realist. I know that every era was plagued by something.

And I got reminded of that this memorial day. As I was deep-frying the hot wings and my brother was grilling up carne asada, he made the passing comment, “You know that today we’re going to eat like kings? Better, actually.”

I know enough history to know he’s right. To past eras where peppercorns were traded as currency, the Frank’s Red Hot Sauce I used on the wings or the cumin-based marinade we used on the meat would have been unheard of.

Fact is, if we dined with ancient kings, we’d probably find the food bland. And probably dry--they didn’t have a handy food thermometer, like I’ve got, that allows me to pull that meat out of the oven the moment it hits the right temperature, keeping it from cooking (and losing moisture) one second longer than it needs to.

Came across a similar quote to my brother’s a couple of days later in an old issue of Analog. Something about how the average schoolkid today knows and understands truths the ancient Greeks would gave given their right triangles for.

Yeah, it’s true that the folks who have their heart set on messing things up for the rest of us are now able to do that in ways we’ve never dreamed of before.

But I’ve got to tell ya, for right now, I’m grateful for what I’ve got.