New Shoes in the Rain

It's Wednesday and my home area has finally reached the point where we can no longer see our breath.  Unusual here in Kentucky to have temps so cold throughout the day, but, well, weather ain't what it used to be... I think I mentioned here that my current position requires consistent travel, and most of it is by car.  However, I'm traveling to the furthest edge of my assigned territory next week and it's really too far to drive.  So I'm flying. It's been about a year since I flew regularly for work.  Have been on flights twice for leisure and family occasions since then, but this is very much the hurry-up-and-get-there-because-we-have-things -to-do travel. On top of that, I'm flying through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, one of my least favorite intermediate destinations.  But that's a connection, not my final destination.  Truth be told, I love Chicago.  Probably not as much as New York, but I'm really fond of that city. So...

Friends, if you've been living away from the media for a while you wouldn't know this, but there's a big hullabaloo in the British royal family right now. It seems that the younger son of Prince Charles, who is not technically in line to assume the throne, is, with his wife, the American actress Meghan Markle, about to "step back" from his primary duties as a senior member of the Royal Family. And people are going bananas. I agree with so many folks online and elsewhere who question the American fascination with the Royal Family.  I suppose I'm intrigued, but mostly from an historical perspective.  I've enjoyed "The Crown" on Netflix as well as "Downton Abbey" in its various forms, and Winston Churchill is one of my favorite historical figures to learn about and study. But back to my posit--why do Americans have such a curiosity about the Royal Family?  Is it because we don't have the same system here--a monarch who rules be...