Is The Third Time The Charm?

On Nov. 4, 2008, the United States will elect its 44th president.
It will most likely be a Baby Boomer.
If so, it will be the third consecutive occupant of the White House from our generation.
Which leads to the question: Is the third time the charm?
No matter what side of the political ledger you’re on, it’s probably fair to say the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have split our country pretty sharply. Divisive times, for certain. In particular, the past six years have been combative and, I’m sure historians will conclude, not real productive.
In 2008, can we change that course? Can Baby Boomers produce a leader who will bring our society together? Who will lead our nation down a better path? One that will solve our problems instead of creating new ones?
Can we travel through an election season without the political debate deteriorating into a bitter quarrel? Can we inaugurate a new president on Jan. 20, 2009 with the country feeling optimistic? With everyone pointed the same direction?
The thought comes to mind because this afternoon my wife, Mary, and I went to political events within walking distance of each other in Oakland for the two leading Democratic presidential contenders.
Campaign workers were opening a new office downtown for Illinois Senator Barack Obama, who was born at the tail end of our generation in 1961. Two blocks west, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, who was born at the dawn of the Baby Boom era in 1946, spoke to a crowd of more than 10,000 people at a “block party."
It was gratifying, even inspiring, to see the young volunteers smiling broadly at the Obama headquarters, gleams of hope in their eyes. It was equally heartening to see the mix of old and young listening to Senator Clinton’s vision for America.
It harkened me back to 1968. A time when our nation was divided over an unpopular war. When the incumbent president wasn’t running for re-election. When members of the Baby Boom generation were voting for the first time.
Vice President Hubert Humphrey was the establishment candidate for the Democrats. The contender who was trying to rid himself of any links to that war halfway across the world. Much like Senator Clinton.
New York Senator Robert Kennedy was the 40-something candidate who had a flock of young followers at his footsteps. He spoke adamantly against our soldiers fighting in a foreign land. Much like Senator Obama.
Humphrey wasn’t really inspiring. He portrayed himself as the experienced, competent candidate. Much like Mrs. Clinton.
Kennedy was poetic. Audiences hung on his every word. He was a fresh choice. Much like Mr. Obama.
While there is much to compare, let us hope the 2008 election ends differently than the one 40 years ago. In 1968, Senator Kennedy as well as civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were gunned down. That summer, demonstrators clashed violently with police outside the Democratic convention in Chicago. And in the end, Richard Nixon won a close battle over Humphrey and became president. Nixon would proceed to drive a wedge deep into this country, pitting generation against generation. He eventually would resign in disgrace.
Let us hope 2008 turns out differently. That a Baby Boomer ascends to the White House and rises to the occasion. That our third Baby Boomer president heals a divided and distraught nation. That he or she grabs the wheel of our drifting ship and boldly steers it toward calmer seas.
Let us hope the 44th presidency is something the Baby Boom generation can be proud of.

Drumming Along: Life After 50

Is there something you always wanted to do? Wanted to master? Or at least wanted to try?
Sing? Dance? Act on stage? Parachute?
Something you didn’t have the discipline to do when you were young? Or didn’t have the time to do when you were raising a family?
It’s too late now, you might think. I should have done that when I had the chance.
Perhaps you should think again.
Middle age might be the perfect time to take a stab at the craft or hobby that’s been languishing in the back of your mental closet.
As Baby Boomers turn 45, 50 and 60, there is no time like the present to take that passion out and give it a whirl.
That’s what I did a few years back.
I have always loved music. From The Beatles to Elton John to Maroon 5, I have tuned in to the rhythms of the radio. Unfortunately, I can’t sing. Can’t carry a tune in a bucket, as my dad says. My small motor skills aren’t the best either, so musical instruments didn’t come easy.
But the drums. That was something else.
Growing up, my neighbor, Rodney, played them. He had a drum set in his bedroom. I would listen to him bang the cymbals and hit the skins for hours in junior high and high school. Seemed like an instrument I might be able to play, but I never got the courage to sit down and try it.
That desire lingered through adulthood, but it was never acted upon. Then, a few years back, my wife, Mary, and I went to Sacramento to see her friend, Nancy Pepin, and her husband, Marc. He played drums in a trio. We watched him perform at a little club in Folsom. It was great.
Marc told me he too had always wanted to play the percussion, so he’d taken up the drums at age 50.
“I’m a big believer in the adage that it’s never too late to learn something new,” he told me. Fantastic.
A few months later, on my 50th birthday, my wonderful wife and my youngest daughter, Katherine, gave me eight drum lessons from a percussionist in Danville. So, I called up, made an appointment and went. He showed me some basics and gave me sheets of practice drills. I used up the octet of lessons, kept the sheets and banged the sticks on pillows and carpets at home.
It was fun, but it wasn’t really playing the drums. I mentioned my situation to my friend, professional triathlete Eric Harr. A few months later, on my 51st birthday, a drum set arrived on our front porch, courtesy of my good pal.
I assembled the drums quicker than you can say “Buddy Rich” and began to pound away. Almost every day. Eventually, I figured out the bare skins were too loud. So, I went to a music store and purchased muffs for the drums and cymbals, so I wouldn’t go deaf and my neighbors wouldn’t call the cops.
I play most days, usually in the afternoons when I’m home from work, Mary is at her job and the neighbors are awake.
It’s been an uplifting and soul-filling experience.
I urge my fellow Baby Boomers to do the same. Now is the time to try that activity you’ve always wanted to do. Doesn’t matter what it is. If you’ve had a desire, follow it.
This is a time in our lives to quench our internal thirsts. Improve our inner selves. Break open those unopened packages.
Lynn Friedman, a video editor at a television station in San Francisco, did so when she neared 50. She’d always had a passion for photography. So, she got serious with her camera.
Took photos at events. Took pictures of landscapes. Snapped shots of people. Now, she regularly has exhibits of her work at galleries. It was a way for her to bust out of her life mold. She urges other Boomers to do the same.
“We’ve been hunkering down at the video store for too long,” she told me.
So, give it a try, Boomers. It doesn’t have to be for money. It can be for fun. Or just because it’s there.
I have no plans to join a band or perform publicly. First off, I’m not good enough. Second, that would take the enjoyment out of it.
It’s simple pleasure. The drums sit in our front room. When the mood strikes, I do a few drills, then put on a c-d and bang away to the music. If my grandson Shea is visiting, he’ll sit on my lap, grab a stick in each hand and smack the drums he can reach.
It’s recreation I never thought I would have, but I discovered late in life is not a bad time to try it.
Actor Pierce Brosnan may have summed it up best. While talking about advancing in age, he told Life magazine in 2005, “I feel like an old lion with a wonderful sense of liberation.”
Pierce is right. So, let out a roar, Baby Boomers. Find out what will liberate you.