Friday has arrived again. The neighbors are clearing brush. Mylo barked, and the little boy barked back. He is working like a little champ. Our trash removal is over a week late. Their Trash Day has been a movable feast for months. Usually from Thursday to Saturday. Now we have passed Thursday twice and no big truck. In the halcyon days of my youth, our trash man collected his money at the front door once a month. He was a pleasant old man, and he announced who he was when he knocked, ‘Garbage Man!’

We move forward in some ways and take two steps back in others. Now we are thrilled to hear a human voice on the other end of the phone. Sometimes it is hard to tell AI from a human. For efficiency’s sake, we have traded humanity. It was not long ago that a checkout person took care of our purchases in the grocery or department store. Lowes in our town has no checkout staff. You are basically on your own with minimal help. The AI experts all agree that millions of jobs will be lost to the emerging technology. They go on to say that people will have to be retrained for open jobs. This has the ring of a Marshall Plan that has not seemingly started.

The future is a bit frightening in its rapid change. We seek the familiar. Brooks Pond on a June morning. The Mowers are mowing. Plans for a pre-4th of July Cookout Saturday. Jonathon bought Brats. The unchangebul is comforting. Mr. Beaver is working on his Damn. The sound of mowing and weedeating is fun if your are not the one doing the work.

‘Welcome all come in and kick your shoes off and take your coasts off and throw them in the corner,’ Willie said with a big smile. ‘We are going to play a few numbers for you,’ Willie continued. ‘My friends are passing around some fine smoking if you know what I mean, Willie winked. ‘I know the news has been upsetting but we are not here to think about that,’ Willie strumed a cord on his well worn guitar. He sang the song I’ll Fly Away and tears came to many eyes in the audience.

‘We interupt this program to tell you that Russia has fired 100 nuculear warheads at the United States…all should take cover immeadiately,’ the newscaster said through a quavering voice.

Willie lay on the stage with wires protruding from his chest and head…