The Life Imagined

The Peanuts comic strip and television specials have been a part  of American life since the strip began running in newspapers in 1950, and they’ve generated memorable images and moments that have stuck with basically everyone who grew up with an awareness of them. Odds are good that even if you’ve never watched A Charlie Brown Christmas, you still refer to a tiny, needle-challenged resident at a Christmas tree farm as a “Charlie Brown tree” because of its similarity to the one that Charlie Brown makes a part of the gang’s Christmas play. Another memorable moment – and one that’s repeated numerous times throughout both forms of Charlie Brown media – is Lucy offering to hold the football for Charlie Brown to kick it. Ever hopeful that Lucy will finally hold the ball still so that he can successfully kick it long, high, and far, Charlie Brown always allows her to suck him in when she promises not to yank the ball away. . . and every time, he finds himself kicking air and landing unce...

Unless you’ve been living under a rock in the state of Georgia for the past week (and there’s a real possibility that this is true even if you have been), you’re well aware that the University of Georgia Bulldogs defeated the University of Alabama Crimson Tide in the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday, January 10. Georgia fans had been waiting patiently (?) for 41 years – or whatever portion of 41 years that they could remember – for the Dawgs to repeat the feat that they had accomplished by going undefeated and being voted the number one team back in January, 1981, and their celebration has been loud and proud. And if you happen to be a die-hard Georgia fan AND a die-hard Atlanta Braves fan. . . well, let’s just say that a whole lot of frustration has given way to a whole lot of happiness over the past three months or so as both teams made it over hurdles that some thought they’d never clear. For the record, even for those who aren’t sports fans, there’s...