All Things Bubba

Fall is my favorite time of year. The seasons don't change in Hawaii, and I'm still not quite used to it here in the northeast. Winter is too cold and snowy, summer is too hot and humid, spring is messy, with too much mud and too much pollen. But autumn in upstate New York is beautiful. Cool and crisp weather, sweet apples ripe for the picking, and of course, the stunningly gorgeous foliage.

But autumn is also a little sad. In pagan tradition, the "Day of the Dead" was the day the year died. The dark, dreary winter looms ahead...and baseball season is coming to an end.

It's weird to have the Yankees not even make the post-season. I'm still watching games, but it's odd, because I don't care who wins. Very different from previous years, where I was chewing my fingernails off during the post-season.

The Reds' season ended with a whimper. Andy Phillips did not play at all the last week. They let him go home to Alabama for the last series against St. Louis, for the birth of his first child. I don't think they even put him on bereavement leave. They just let him go. Andy is arbitration-eligible, but the odds are the Reds will cut him loose. He'll probably be happy to go, since it's clear that he won't be getting a lot of playing time when Dusty Baker is filling out the lineup card.

I confess, I've been a bit distracted from baseball the last week or so. The financial crisis - the credit crunch, the bailout that didn't work, the stock market collapse - is like a car wreck. It's horrifying, but I can't look away.

Berke Breathed, former TU student and Bloom County cartoonist, announced that he's pulling the plug on his current strip, Opus.

“30 years of cartooning to end. I’m destroying the village to save it. Opus would inevitably become a ranting mouthpiece in the coming wicked days, and I respect the other parts of him too much to see that happen. The Michael Moore part of me would kill the part of him that was important to his fans.”

I know the feeling. I think we're headed for some bad days ahead...no matter who wins the election. Very bad days. Possibly worse than the Great Depression bad.

No, I'm not expecting the Rapture or anything. But I think we are witnessing the end of an era. I think we'll look back on the 20th century as a golden age of wealth and ease; the future will be considerably poorer and more difficult for most of us.

Perhaps even for baseball stars like Derek Jeter. Where do you put your money, if you are as rich as he is? There is no safe haven. Stocks, bonds, gold, commodities, real estate - all tanking. The FDIC only insures bank accounts to $250,000 - pocket change to the Derek Jeters of the world. Foreign banks are suffering even worse than American banks.

I don't have that kind of problem, alas. But I am seriously considering cashing out my retirement accounts, paying the penalty, and putting it all in the Bank of Serta.

Labels: The Greater Depression