Of course this winter has gotten long. But it's like this every year? No two winters can be judged exactly alike. But over the long term there really is a norm. Stuff evens out? Maybe.
My mailbox got frozen shut Wednesday morning. At the time I noticed, I don't think our road had been plowed yet. My neighbor to the east appears to have been out of town. This morning (Friday) I noticed their driveway is drifted over. It dawns on me: if their mailbox got frozen shut, I wonder if it even got unfrozen yet. I used simple hot water to solve my issue. Maybe I should check theirs.
My neighbor to the west blew out my driveway. Much appreciated.
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| Doesn't it feel like this now? |
Shall we pine for the old days when more judgments were based on common sense and wisdom? There were pluses and minuses with all that.
So it's Friday which always feels good even among those out of the weekday work habit. I was in the habit up until mid-2006.
To elaborate
Let me say that my lack of a snowblower is not due to being lazy or cheap. And I may change that situation any year, take the plunge. But a snowblower is a bulky piece of equipment that I'm sure can break down. It's yucky being around stuff that needs gas and oil. So I'm not lazy. As for being cheap, perhaps some concession toward being guilty.
I would have been happy to pay to send a token of affection to a female on Valentine's Day. It's important to specify "female" in our present day. Discussions about gender have been going over my head, and I say that as someone who really does follow current events.
Young people born as male need to stick with male sports teams. I cannot fathom the counter argument. So I break ranks sometimes with those of a progressive political stripe.
I'm progressive in our community full of naysayers on that. The naysayers test my ability to state that I am more or less a Christian. The winter has seemed long and burdensome for me because I brush-blocked my way through Christmas. That's a football term. A brush-block is a less than hearty block thrown by an offensive lineman.
Maybe I should say I paid lip service. I wrote my annual Xmas song and did so with enthusiasm, but more for songwriting than for Christmas reverence.
Christianity has developed problems in our America of 2023. I have ruminated on this before, multiple times I guess. My critics would say "fine, we'll go on worshiping without you."
Yes, and surely the vast majority will go on voting for Donald Trump and others of that strain. Jeff Backer, though he doesn't represent us in Motown anymore - he of the "no" vote on condemning violence at the capitol. So Backer and his supporters would be good with a violent overthrow of the U.S. government. Trump is now talking of firing squads and even the guillotine.
Still I'm certain I cannot talk any of my MAGA acquaintances out of their devotion. They'd smile if I brought it up. A smile of dismissiveness. "Oh, isn't that cute." I know of a retired and actually quite venerated Morris schoolteacher who is like this. I got the impression he'd be fine with a person being elected Senator from Alabama who had credible accusations of child molestation against him. You see, all that matters was that the candidate was a Republican.
That's the kind of people who make up so much of my environment. We're in rural outstate Minnesota. But it did not used to be like this. We tossed out our Democratic congressperson, Collin Peterson. Peterson was so shaken by this new environment that he couldn't bring himself to act like a reasonably proud Democrat. I would much rather he had gone down with dignity, not trying to pretend he was something he was not.
The "killer" of Peterson's campaign was a photo, a simple photo, brandished by the reactionary crowd: Peterson standing there and smiling next to a smiling Nancy Pelosi. That's all it took.
So on came a new congressperson who voted not to certify the 2020 election results. Based on all this, based on how so much of the Christian faith got mobilized to support MAGA, it is hard for me to feel good calling myself a Christian.
Yes I wrote my Christmas song, enjoyed sending YouTube links to a great many people, many of whom were from my past when I circulated as a Morris Sun Tribune representative. Do I miss those days? Well of course I do. It's not good for me to ponder if I could "do it again." I'd be tempted to say "yes." But I'd be like the retired general character in the movie "White Christmas."
Remember when he sat down with Bing Crosby, and he had Crosby read a letter to him? The letter to the general was from a military higher-up. The general had inquired about "getting back in" to some extent. The general was nervous about reading the response. Crosby started out "Why you old (son of a gun)." I think he only got as far as "old." The general had him stop. He knew what the message was going to be.
So the scene sticks in my head as analogous to yours truly. How many thousands of feature photos had I taken through the years? And I was incapable of taking just one more? I'm incredulous. But like the general I must acknowledge reality and the facts. "Why you old son of a gun."
Epilogue
OK I ought to wrap up my day's thoughts here, but wait, I did not disclose who the recipient of my Valentine's token would have been. Shall I? Am I at risk for doing so? Might I get the "El Kabong" treatment? That's an old character from the "Quick Draw McGraw" cartoon. Fewer people will remember that. It was actually Quick Draw's "alter ego." He'd smash his guitar on the head of wrongdoers.
I do court such a risk. But the person with whom I would have shared my affection is Wanda Dagen.
"Kabong!" Maybe. Wanda recently had her students put on a jazz concert at the MAHS concert hall. Oh, she and I are already friends. Is that level of friendship wholly satisfactory for me? Not really. But "Mongo just pawn in game of life." That's Alex Karras from "Blazing Saddles."
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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