i love morris: Within days of another Christmas

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Within days of another Christmas

Here we are, the Williams family in St. Paul, late 1950s, full of the standard Christmas cheer. Dwight Eisenhower was president. Was the University of Minnesota-Morris even on the drawing board yet? Here in Morris we had the "ag school," a treasured chapter of our history. Dad taught music at the U of M-St. Paul School of Agriculture. Then he came here for the inception of our new liberal arts college. I don't think Mom was employed in the '50s. She had duties related to yours truly. I had the duty of squeezing the bag of margarine to get the color into it. Older people might remember that. I guess the dairy industry wanted people to know that margarine was not naturally colored like real butter. Do I have that right? There was a "dot" on the bag which when squeezed dispensed the color. I remember we did our grocery shopping at Applebaum's. We had some nice friends in St. Paul like our neighbors the Woodwards, can never forget them.

" 'Twas the week before Christmas." We're approaching the magical date. Maybe you open gifts on the Eve. Maybe the next morning. For a while as a little kid I assumed everyone did it on the Eve. I imagine kids are restless during the night if they're anticipating opening gifts in the morning. Either system is fine of course.

The family type of Christmas is buried in my memories. Just fine to have it there, as it is such a rich thing. Memories of my family getting together with my uncle Howard and his wife Vi of Glenwood. The two families got together for the very special holidays like Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving and New Year's. Each family would host.

Howard and Vi never had any children. I'm an only child as I have been reminded often through my life in a disrespectful way. But I carry on.

Since those many years of the family Christmas, I have forged ahead with a different routine. So I compose an original Christmas song, have it recorded at a Nashville TN "demo" studio, enlist the help of a professional for getting it on YouTube, and then share links with a number of people. I share the links with a personalized message for each recipient, usually brief, sometimes not so brief.

In a spirit of candor I must reveal now that the Christmas of 2023 ought not be seen as particularly happy across America. The reason is obvious: we have the leader of one of the two major political parties having gone from being scary to ultra-scary. News reports this week clearly indicate that this sociopath is full-on now with his Hitler-type rhetoric. I am merely pointing out what is right in front of us, what permeates the news if you truly consult with the news.

I put my Christmas lights out for only a few days, now they are down. All Christmas will mean for me is that stores will be closed. I will be unaware of the day's spirit, uncaring. My caring is for the future of this country, particularly all its young people. My generation will pass before long. My high school class had its 50-year reunion this past summer.

I did not write a new Christmas song for this year. I do have several such songs in the "bottom drawer." I certainly could have shared one, but there is no joy to be felt in this time of national peril when our nation may well be going down the road of 1930s Germany.

The Republican Party could have put a stop to this. Now, even with the rhetoric of their top guy approaching Hitler proportions, they are falling over themselves to make apologies for him, to equivocate on their normal values. This is a party that didn't even have a platform the last time around. The "platform" was whatever their leader was saying. This is more than dangerous.

A nation that allows this to happen should not be observing Christmas. It seems bizarre and perverse that we are.

I did not have a new Christmas song recorded, but I did have a song recorded. In case you're interested, my new song is called "Morris, Minnesota." It was put on YouTube just on Sunday.

Most of you would not want to give me credit for having talent at anything. I might invite laughter. But I share here for your consideration my song called "Morris, Minnesota." You'll also see a lot of photos that I have posted from my Flickr account. I took these photos with my trusty old "Canon AE-1" film camera. A "film camera!" Isn't that something?

Here is the link for my song. Go ahead and laugh at me.

https://youtu.be/cW9CNvxJPJA

In the category of gift-giving, I am not derelict. Maybe y'all will respect me just a little if I tell you I wrote out a check for $2000 for the MAHS band activity fund. This will help make possible an enriching spring trip for the kids, tentatively to New Orleans. Again I encourage people to consider "matching" my gift. Or even half that amount! Just go see Natalie at the district office and she'll prepare a nice little receipt for you, helpful for your tax purposes.

The days are gone for yours truly to celebrate the holidays with family. Or, with the three small dogs we had through the years. But I need not feel alone. I'm sure there were people in Germany who at least felt privately that Hitler was a madman right out of hell. I feel the same way about Donald Trump. Maybe I'll be arrested at some point and sent to a "re-education camp." World history is full of such perils.

I grew up in times when our two political parties both exuded basic virtue, when Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan could be amicable at the end of the day. That America is gone.

I live in West Central Minnesota where the churches are predominantly pro-Trump. Where we have a congressperson who voted against certifying the 2020 election results, and who now will not even answer my questions about that. The congressperson could in fact be taken down by someone from the political right, a 100 percent MAGA type named Steve Boyd. I see him coming on strong, likely to be our new person in Washington, where the MAGA forces might once again turn to violence to seize power.

God help us. Or maybe we do not deserve help. God is judging us.