Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow...

Beginnings and endings tempt us to look forward and, to balance things out, look back. Trouble is, backward is a lot easier than forward. The territory between reflecting and predicting is vast and treacherous. I bring this up because, with another New Year’s Day behind us, we are at the dawn of a new decade. That’s a fascinating expression. “Dawn of a New Decade.” It sounds as though we are somewhere between “The Fall of the Roman Empire” and “The Rise of Skywalker.” 

Of course I wonder, as you surely do, what’s waiting for us during the next ten years. Probably the most accurate assessment about the road ahead comes from that fount of philosophy, Yogi Berra, who said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” Yogi pretty much nailed it right there.

Even tomorrow is a guess. Take weather predictions. Nothing is ever a sure thing. Only “probable” and “educated guesswork.” You’ve heard this before: “There’s an 80% chance of thundershowers tomorrow morning, so take your umbrella.” That means, in my interpretation, there’s a 20% chance of no thundershowers. That’s from folks who have the latest in weather predicting technology at their fingertips. 

It’s really all a guessing game, isn’t it? Not to get into politics here - a volatile and divisive game - but pollsters often predict a certain candidate will be elected and then - whammo - surprise! The long shot or the dark horse finishes first. Someone who was counted as down and out is back on top. Sports abounds with predictions, from sportswriters and commentators to the guys at any sports bar. The World Series, the Stanley Cup, the Super Bowl - pick any athletic event. Except wrestling. Those winners are pre-ordained.

Barack Obama was elected in 2008, beginning an eight year run through much of the 2010 decade. “The end of racism in America” became the headline. We all know how that turned out, right? Donald Trump was in the middle of a 15-season run of “The Apprentice” on NBC. Who could have predicted where that would take us. Closer to home, consider the Redbirds. They won the World Series against the Texas Rangers in 2011. Off to a great start, but then struck out the rest of the decade with no championships. The less said about the Rams, the better. 

Here’s the point: Very little in the past decade gives shape to the next. Challenges and opportunities will exist; outcomes are uncertain. Something additional about the year we’ve begun seems like a challenge: to maintain a 20/20 vision of events to come. Which, of course, is impossible. Like the weather and the upcoming baseball season, it’s anybody’s guess. Unless you find the answers in Tarot cards, tea leaves or George Lucas.

Cape San Blas, Florida. Photo by Gerry Mandel

A few years I was on the Gulf Coast of Florida. As I walked the beach one afternoon, I saw a little girl playing in the surf. She frolicked in the water while the waves continued to roll onto shore. Occasionally she’d stop and watch them, and I wondered if she saw the waves as identical, an endless succession. Or was she looking for the next “big one.” Her mother called her in and I continued to wave-watch, fascinated by their rhythm and endless repetition. All the waves are different, and yet we find satisfaction in their similarities. But part of us wants to see that next "big one."

As the days flow from future through the present to the past, we can get lulled into the idea that they’re all the same. That we know what’s next because we’ve seen what just happened. Hollywood has a firm hand on the future. It’s call The Sequel. You liked “Star Wars”? Here are eight more episodes. Spiderman? No end to Spidey in sight. Same for Batman and Harry Potter. 

Which brings us back to today. It’s a rather unsettling place in time, I believe. The next decade will be nothing like the past decade. We have the power to influence if not totally change some of the events awaiting on the horizon, some of them close to home. The only thing for sure is we know nothing for sure about what’s ahead. Yogi was right. And so was Abraham Lincoln. He said, “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.” Maybe that’s all we can handle.

This column originally appeared in

County Living Magazine, Early Spring 2020.

I wrote it in February. 

The idea of a worldwide pandemic and

all of its manifestations never entered my 

mind. I leave things like that to Stephen King.