The recently purchased van bids well on our journey. It is treated as any vessel of passage would be: as in traditional sailing, it is a she, and named for a notable. It is called “The Honorable Van Heflin” and we refer to her as ‘the Van.’

It is a wonderful event to have young, bright children and partners visit the Phoenix home rented for our reunion. They are full of energy, participating in life as each day comes to them, and brimming with the chutzpa necessary to succeed professionally and personally. We have the next three or four days together to create a permanent bond to hold us together until whenever.

Each couple is at a turning point in their lives; marriage, career and new home await their return to their homes. We will meet again in spring for a Hollywood style wedding and reception.

But other issues crowd in as the mariner enjoys his family. The news has bristled with many significant events that have occurred as mariner was in passage to Phoenix.

It is an unexpected abuse that recently accepted Middle East immigrants have generated a significant rash of sexual assaults in several European and Nordic countries. Strict, routine checks for terrorist associations cannot screen for intentional abuse of local women. Perhaps cultural behavior is more an issue than “terrorist incursions.”

Mariner spoke to his alter ego Guru to understand the Donald issue. It seems that the 2016 election will not be the pristine change of direction one imagined. Given that many cultural and political issues are in turmoil, and that there remains an intransigent resistance to future change, one must perceive that a step of cleansing must occur which may or may not extend beyond 2016 to 2024.

In his role, Donald may play a significant role as a reagent. A reagent is any chemical that loosens dirt and washes it away as soap may do to laundry. It may be a benefit for the extreme right to cast its votes for Donald only to see the votes emulsified and washed down the drain. Of course, as many reagents do, Donald could win the election and further scrub the old school politic away at the cost of four years and unnecessary conflict. However, whether or not Donald quickly performs his role as cultural reagent and loses in 2016, the paradigm shift in American politics will be well under way.

Mariner will produce the bettor’s sense of all this in the next post.

Ancient Mariner