Vol. 81, January 2nd, 2024 Published a day early online
Happy New Year! Welcome, welcome, 2024. I’m so excited we get to spend it together. Here’s the kickoff Nighthawk.
A Warm Welcome
About The Nighthawk and Connection
Welcome to 2024, and welcome to The Nighthawk. I’m Josh, and I write this every week. Why? Well, I got to feeling lonely one day, and realized I wasn’t the only one. After reading news about the government trying to fix our lack of social connection with talking robots, I got all riled up and thought a news- paper would be a better way to connect folks. Why not write letters? The fun continues, 81 issues later.
We’ve got some cultural gems mixed in, a bit of history, a careful thought or two, quotes from the famous and obscure. The point is to bring you interesting things, and invite you to write back. I rent a PO box for that very reason. (You don’t have to write, but know you always can.)
This paper is sent to retirement homes through the area, and posted on my Internet blog. The community is growing. Most of all, it’s one little corner of the world that’s just plain nice. There’s nothing for sale, and nothing twisted. Mister Rogers sits on the imaginary board of directors.
So pull up a chair, and get ready for another year thinking together, corresponding, and treasuring what it means to be a person with friends.
You’ve got one here.
Quote of the Week
“Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish
the rest.”–Mark Twain
Nighthawks
(Hopper, 1942 oil-on-canvas)
One of the namesakes of this newsletter, this American masterpiece captures the loneliness of the big city...or anywhere.
Song of the Week
Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman”
The iconic opera premiered today in 1843. It’s one of the world’s best-loved–and haunting–operas, a tale of the sea, sacrifice, love, and the redemption of a pure heart.
Send Us A Book Recommendation
While nature slumbers outside, it’s the perfect season for tea and a book. What’s on your list? Send us an idea: PO Box 783, Rustburg, VA, 24588
Say “Green Cheese!”
Louis Daguerre captures first photo of the moon tonight 1839.
Here’s a “daguerreotype” from 1851, the earliest known surviving photo of the moon, taken by John Adams Whipple.
Write to Us!
The Nighthawk is a new old-fashioned way to connect, published weekly. You’re invited to write back, or just enjoy reading. Let’s have some fun! It’s a social paper! Send stories, etc to: PO Box 783, Rustburg, VA 24588 or Joshurban@protonmail.com
Letters from Josh
(A weekly update from Josh Urban’s adventures on the farm and in the city. #167)
Appearing in the Altavista Journal
Late Night Radio–With Josh Urban
A Brave New Year
Howdy, folks, and welcome back to the show! A Happy New Year to you and yours. I'm one of “those guys”, bopping up with a cup of coffee in each hand, yelling about pages of resolutions, fresh starts, and how they had dry erase boards on sale over at the big box store. (It's been exactly twice that anyone has described me as “laid back”–and they were lying.)
I like the clean slate of a new year, the big plans, choosing to believe the best is yet to come, that fortune favors the bold. But as 2024 dawns, I don't see how it won't be a difficult year.
The country remains divided, presidential politics are ramping up, and the election looms. None of the outcomes appear...calm. Throw in the rotten cabbage that Life has a way of hurling, and yikes! One cliché is true: this will be a year to remember.
So what do we do about it? I don't know. But I'm doing what I can.
Telling the Truth: This is annoying, difficult, and not always a good way to win friends and influence people. But I'm trying my best. Actually, I'm trying. And I resolve to try harder. The outcome is shocking sometimes. It might even lead to...
Breaking bread: The idea of eating with your enemies always tickled my fancy. Maybe if we catch it early, it can be less dramatic, a “rather tense coffee with raised eyebrows.” A friend with strong disagreements took me up on the offer, and we actually had a nice time. Strangely enough, we're both afraid of exactly the same thing, although with different actors. “Yeah, but your guys are going to be the end of America.” We both noticed how peculiar that was. We were both glad we talked. I'd like to do more of this.
Speaking carefully: Writing this column is such a treat. It reminds me of my radio days, hosting a tiny show out in Richmond. All alone in a room with a microphone, it was easy to forget someone might be listening. Sitting here typing this, it's a similar feeling. But people are listening. To me, and to you. I resolve to speak (and write) as carefully as I can in 2024. This doesn't mean I won't say dangerous things. Quite to the contrary. But I will aim to mean what I say fully, and stand behind it 100%.
Looking up: Sure, I'll be at the gym. But the spirit is finally important to me. I'll be trying to pay attention to where “up” is, and stumbling along as best as I can towards the light.
These aren't my ideas. (The Bible and Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life provide much food for thought.) They're not new. They seem almost pitiful in the face of normal life. And this year isn't shaping up to be normal.
But what role does the individual play in the bigger picture? What opportunities am I missing that I might not, if only I looked a little closer?
I visited a battlefield in northern Virginia years ago. It was empty, save a bitter January wind whistling around the ghostly cannons. How did this happen? The park signs explained the reasoning of the generals, the history books explained the causes and effects of bigger things. But missing was a footnote about us, the ordinary people. What could we have done to stop a slide into madness? I don't think today is a fair parallel to the late 1850's. But 2024 feels worse than 2019, and I'd like to do my part.
As I stood in that unforgiving wind on the historic battlefield, I wondered how I would write a column for a country paper on New Year's Day in 1859.
This is my answer to that question.
Catch you on the flip side,
Josh
Send thoughts and coffee invitations to P.O. Box 783, Rustburg, VA 24588 or online @RealJoshUrban