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| (photo by B.W.) |
The second we get a taste of freezing, my zinnia flowers in front will be instantly "zapped." They have been beautiful as usual this summer. They continue a tradition that my late father started. He had another trait of appreciating trees. Maybe in a previous time this was nice. But the property has gotten overgrown and I have had Craig Beyer over several times.
Yesterday afternoon (Wednesday) was an ideal time for soaking in the "Goldilocks" weather of early fall out along the biking/walking trail. I will remind y'all that the city has tried to get a grant approval for extending the trail system. Out to the golf course, or so I've heard. At last word the answer has been "no" on the grant request. Those who'd favor this might "work on" the appropriate local officials to try to get this idea through.
Morris is not a lakes recreation community so we need to build on whatever other natural assets we have. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Lake Crystal could be transformed? But I guess it's not in the cards. So people still seek to "escape" Morris for the Alexandria area so often. I feel no such pull. But it seems rather the norm, especially among the more well-heeled among us.
Morris gets so slow in summer, I was concerned over this past summer that I might show up for church at First Lutheran and find maybe just 5-6 people in the whole building. That fate did not arrive. Right now the church appears to be stabilizing again. We have been sort of "at the edge." We have the reputation of being "liberal" in a variety of ways. We listen to public health experts on covid. We take climate change theory with 100 percent seriousness. We are inclined to support women's reproductive health rights.
All these things would seem to go against the grain in 2023 America, unfortunately. We have no problem with gay people. And we certainly are not a hangout for the MAGA crowd, heavens to Betsy no. There are other churches locally that fit the bill quite well for that.
I have reached the point of almost giving up waiting for the end of MAGA. All my rational senses have told me it's really crazy and irrational. But it's out there and has been giving off an odor for so long. It has been incredibly stubborn - I've never seen anything quite like it. So I repeatedly try to explain it, so I can at least rationalize the grounds for why so many people have been taken in.
Are so many people really so vulnerable to being drawn into a "cult?" Is that human weakness really so pervasive? I recognized Donald Trump as a total charlatan from before he was elected in 2016. I have felt a little restrained trying to point this out. I have had friends drift away. Maybe I am a little "liberal." But I do strive to be fair-minded.
I will listen to an intelligent conservative any time who wants to cite real facts. Conservatism definitely has its place.
Democrats be damned for how they have had this alliance formed with teachers unions. I am convinced that the Democrats lost the Virginia governorship because Terry McAuliffe was tone-deaf about this. So he campaigned openly with the national union head in the days leading up to the election.
This affinity with teachers unions has been an Achilles heel for the political left. The political right was too stubborn for too long resisting basic gay rights.
Is it possible that now, finally, Trump's accumulating legal troubles will slowly penetrate the brainwashed minds of MAGA? Get through to the parishioners of certain Morris area churches? I have identified a couple of these before. I imagine some people will be pissed off if I do it again. Why should I care really?
I have not yet checked the news this Thursday a.m. Of course there will be another "batch" of headlines focusing on Trump. We'll see little thumbnail photos of him as if we need reminding of what he looks like. The cloud continues to hover over all of us.
All this while our congressperson Michelle Fischbach apparently feels we must focus on the possible impeachment of Joe Biden. Really truly. I have been on her email list for a while, although I "unsubscribed" just the other day. I had had enough, had come to know what she was all about. She voted against certifying the 2020 election results. She thought there might have been "voting irregularities."
Aren't there standard legal channels by which objections on this front can be made? Weren't there in fact a number of failed lawsuits? Something like sixty? So when all that failed, the conservative crowd sought to take matters into their own autocratic hands with the coup attempt.
What's the matter with all you people? Couldn't you all see the abject outrageousness of all that? Evidently you couldn't. Whither the future of the United States of America? Y'all will miss democracy when it's gone, I guarantee it.
My current podcast on "Morris Mojo" reflects on last Saturday's U of M Gophers' football win over Louisiana Lafayette. The link:
"Out Here in Morris"
by Brian Williams
(sung like a school "fight song")
Out here in Morris
We will always get it done
With a college that implores us
To work hard and have our fun
Go Morris!
Out here in Morris
We will work to victory
So let's all join in a chorus
And fulfill our destiny
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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