While writing this, Kansas is experiencing one of, if not, the most frigid months in history. I continue to think if we can just make it through this or whatever the latest new normal is that it will be smooth sailing.
I reminisce, as I often do, and this recollection takes me back to school days. I could never grasp or comprehend many things, but one thing in particular was Shakespearean literature. I wish I would have paid a little more attention to many of the subjects offered instead of listening to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones on my transistor radio. I do remember the most famous line taken from a play written by William Shakespeare titled “Julius Caesar.” In that play, a soothsayer or fortune-teller told Caesar “beware the Ides of March.”
This phrase has led me to more concern and consternation as we await spring rain showers, green grass, and blooming flowers. The Ides were an indicator to the Romans that it was the middle of the month. When Julius Caesar was betrayed and killed on March 15, it made the date and the saying infamous. While this is surely just “much ado about nothing,” smooth sailing is always imminent. There will always be perilous predictions and times of change and transition.
Changes and new developments seem to be coming at us faster and faster however. For a thousand years horses and oxen provided power and transportation. Then beginning in the 20th century the internal combustion engine began powering the world. Today, renewable energies and battery storage are growing significantly in their share of available power and energy. It will be so interesting and exciting to see where this ride takes us. Ironically there was a band named The Ides of March that had a big hit song titled “Vehicle.” That vehicle “would take you anywhere you want to go.” With new and developing technologies we can absolutely go anywhere we want to go. I look forward to what lies ahead as rural electric cooperatives engage in new ideas, know-how and technologies.
Terry Hobbs is the board president for Kansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc. He is also a member of Western Cooperative Electric’s Board of Trustees in WaKeeney.