The packed nature of the fairgrounds would indicate that people had no problem paying the healthy price for seemingly everything. I make this price judgment as a person in his late 60s who has seen considerable inflation in his time.
Cash still rules at the fair. In our regular lives outside of the fair these days, "plastic" has come to the fore, more and more. I think it makes people more nervous when they actually do handle cash. Or, write out a check. "Let's see, what year is it?" Have you had to pause occasionally about that? We don't think as much about what date it is, not as much as when we habitually wrote out checks.
I get more nervous about my cursive handwriting too. "Is it good enough?" As we take for granted more and more "typed" data in our lives, we can feel more uncomfortable about doing or reading the cursive thing. Have doctors gotten the memo with prescriptions?
I noted that the 4-H fair foodstand relied more an adults doing the work this year. We can all recall when it was the charming little kids scurrying around with their notepads. I saw a few little kids, maybe the ones who had demonstrated they could really handle the responsibility: figuring the prices, giving change. It really does take mental precision.
So in this new age in which we are not conditioned to using cash/coins as much, the bar maybe needs to be set higher. I had older people waiting on me mostly at the 4-H foodstand. The experiences were good. As for the kids who could really handle the work, a tip of the hat to them. Any one of us could struggle doing this.
It is now Monday morning after we got quite a bit of rain overnight. Coolness prevails in the air, yes. But a check of the forecast shows that some quite hot days remain this summer. It's a relief to note that; the cold weather time of year seems interminable.
I have a cousin who lives in Hawaii. I have sought an update on how she is faring over the last few days. I did this by contacting her brother. These two cousins of mine are Debbie and Kenny. They are among five children in the family. It's a family with which the Willliamses have a complicated history. I got separated from these kids for many years. There was an unpleasant marriage breakup of the parents - that explains it.
We got somewhat reacquainted as the calendar turned. Kenny in particular wanted to restore connections. He's retired and living in Idaho. He stresses that he and wife Susan do not fit the stereotype of Idaho being far right wingers! Stereotyping is always foolish. We in Minnesota are not all obsessed with hockey.
So I exchanged emails with Kenny in connection with Debbie of Hawaii. Debbie is my age. You know of course that the Hawaiian Islands have been ravaged by fires. Many souls have lost their lives. We say a prayer for all who have been affected.
I'm lucky in that my cousin Debbie appears to have been located safely! Kenny Reports:
Hi Brian,
Have not spoken with Debbie in a while. She lives on Oahu, not Maui or the big island (Hawaii) so I would guess she is not affected.
If I hear anything different, I’ll let you know.
Such a tragedy at Lahaina! I’m afraid the number of folks who were killed is going to rise as they search the burned out buildings.
Take care…
Ken
Time passes and our 2023 Stevens County Fair is now in the rear view mirror for memories.
But we can always count on some constants: the start of a new week means there is a continued droning of news related to the ex-president Donald Trump. My friends are sick of me alluding to this. But why shouldn't I? Trump is at the forefront of our public life, still. Looks like he could be elected president again no matter what comes down on him legally.
We should all continue paying attention. What a wonderful situation we would all have if he could exit the public stage, no longer be a candidate for president. He would be a menace for all of us. If you like him, want to fight for him, then what the heck is wrong with you?
It is Monday morning and I'm coming off a weekend when I skipped church. It is so disturbing with what has been happening to First Lutheran Church in Morris. It was once a total faith leader locally. Of late it's hanging on, only, more like a little social club than anything. And it really is little.
We know our community of Morris gets challenged during summer, people going to "the lake" mainly. But two weeks ago, I don't know why anyone even bothered opening the doors on Sunday at First Lutheran. It wasn't worth the trouble. We have no pastor now. Even with a dynamic pastor our problems would not go away, and that's because we are ELCA. That's trouble in terms of getting support. The ELCA is considered "liberal." Could this become like a kiss of death for First Lutheran?
So two weeks ago we of course had no regular pastor. We had a "fill-in" clergy person, I guess from the Sunburg area. No problem with him, he did fine. Where was our keyboard player? She was "gone." This is Morris where the phrase "we're going to be gone" should be on the water tower. We hear of this all the time. And in summer, so many people who work in education institutions can be "gone" too.
Why bother trying to have church on a Sunday like this? We did have a fill-in keyboard player who I was informed was from Hancock. She too did fine. "Lois" the name.
First Lutheran at present does not have a choir director. Laura Wiebe left because that's what so many UMM people do. They are transitory. Before her, Brad Miller of UMM was our choir director. He too "left." Can anyone bother to stay here and make a commitment? Or to pass on the "lake" life just a little? The latter seems gospel for a lot of people. This is the prevailing theory for how we came to lose Prairie Pioneer Days. How does a gala event like that just disappear?
How does a church like First Lutheran end up in a semi-comatose state? Maybe I should strike "semi." Why bother trying to do any of this?
The last straw?
To add insult to injury two weeks ago at First Lutheran, there was no coffee hour. No one bothered to think about it. Well, this is Morris in summer. No coffee hour? Isn't that sacrilege? Isn't this something that I consider when writing my occasional check to the church?
When I give $ to the church, I understand that some of that goes to support foreign missionaries, which I don't even approve of. And then my church turns around and drops the ball for coffee hour, which is a service that I use and appreciate.
Maybe I could try Faith Lutheran of Morris, "on the other side of the tracks." Things appear to be going better there. I suppose if I'm seen there, people will think "oh, Brian is ticked off at First Lutheran." Really, all ELCA people ought to feel brethren. If I go to Faith, I'll sit in back and try not to talk to anyone. If I go to coffee I'll sit by myself and not speak unless spoken to. There's a good chance someone would want to talk to me.
Memo to all you people who really want Trump to become autocratic ruler of the U.S.: I predict you'll start changing your tune real fast. And then you'll find it's too late. Remember, we have a congressperson here who wants Trump to have absolute power. She voted against certifying the 2020 election results. If she had gotten her way, what would have resulted? An "investigation" that would have gone on for God knows how long.
And Trump might have continued being president since. Continued giving huge tax cuts to the very wealthy and multi-national corporations. Michelle Fischbach would be happy, presumably. And you all elected her.
There's a big new song being celebrated by MAGA now: "Rich Men North of Richmond." So now the Civil War is coming into the picture. MAGA resents rich men north of Richmond. Trump happens to be a billionaire from New York City. He "sells" himself as a populist and all you lemmings can't even see that.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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