This is a short entry today.  Most of the country is talking about the riot at the Capitol in D.C. last week.  I figure enough people are doing that so you don't really need to read somebody else rambling on about it too.  I'm more thinking about what this year holds for us.  We have a new president coming in and as with every president from the Democrat Party those on the far right are yelling how the sky is falling, that Socialism is on it's way.  Which oddly enough is what has been said with the last two Democrat Presidents, Clinton and Obama.  I don't think we went full socialism then, unless I'm missing something.  Biden is far more centrist than either of those two, so it probably won't happen over the next four years either.  My thoughts?  Meh.  Whatever.  Change happens slowly in our country because of our constitution, government institutions, and our judiciary.  That slowness is a wonderful safety valve.  Politicians can promise all they want, but huge changes only happen slowly and it makes it possible to alter direction since things aren't happening that fast.  So I am not worried with the current state of the USA.  My friends on the far right hold a different opinion and as long as they still want to be friends with me in this ever-polarizing world, I will remain so.  At least for my part.  That's been the saddest part of these past four years - rage between friends, family members, etc. - generally caused by believing what politicians and conspiracy theorists spout.  Quick to judge, the information age we live in doesn't seem to allow time to reflect on the words we say.  I make my living as a web application developer, so I live in this space a bit.  But I have to say that most of the time I hate it.  The vitriol you see online by people you know is shocking sometimes.  You know they would not be that way in person.  But the feeling of annonimity allows people to be more rude than they normally would be.  People still deserve respect as people and not deserving of name-calling and label-baiting.  So I try and act as I would in person, the way Christ wants me to treat fellow human beings even if they believe radically different than I do.  I'm not always good at this, but it is definitely my goal.

The best thing so far about 2021 is that my daughter Amy who lives in Germany and ministers fulltime with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) will be home in less than two weeks.  The older I get the more precious time is with family.  She'll be with us for three months as she has to be out of Germany for that long to renew her work visa.  She's bringing a "friend" with her (more on that later) who is a German citizen.  I've been trying to learn German via DuoLingo and a German For Dummies book, but wow am I at the old-dogs-new-tricks place.  I started earlier in the year because I want to have some conversational ability when we eventually return to Germany.  I don't know though.  It's not looking too good from where I sit.

Anyways, the other thing will be a new year of riding.  I would very much like to do the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route this year, but there are other things that could preclude that from happening.  Much like last year, I'll just have to take things as they come and not let my plans get too involved.  Flexibility is probably the key word for 2021.  So we'll see how things turn out.