After noting that I had yet to lit drop yesterday I steeled myself to do just that. I got in four hours (19,000 steps) covering a portion of Duluth Heights and was greeted by this not so little arachnid at one door. I got the willies when I saw him/her and subsequently dropped my literature when putting it in the screen door. It had the leg span to cover a fifty cent piece.
Compare it to the key lock.
I’m used to seeing large spiders in the early fall but they are more often orb spiders with fat abdomens. This looked like a baby tarantula. In either case they live precarious lives as a favorite bird snack.
So far I have covered most of my imediate eastern part of town and felt like I was getting a pretty good reception. That only improved as I moved west to the Denfeld area but this Central Part of town seems even more sympathetic. They know they and their children have been shortchanged.
At one door I met a woman as she was leaving her car and she asked if I was “lincolndemocrat.” That was very gratifying. We had a long talk about bullying at her daughter’s school which I’d never heard of and of grade school children sending emails to her daughter telling her to kill herself. Remember the last post about the counselor bemoaning the loss of so many counselors from her early years? So how did this mother deal with this issue. She reluctantly informed the schools then took her child out despite being a third generation Duluth public school student herself.
The current school board’s policy is to adopt an articulate but mostly symbolic anti-bullying policy and then sugarcoat some grim realities…..realities that are the direct consequence of cannibalizing classroom money to the tune of $11 million dollars annually to pay off loans to build new schools.
I told Chuck Frederick, the Trib’s editor, yesterday that I won’t be upset if I lose this election. That is the voter’s choice and I have other things to do. I also told him that I will never forgive myself if I don’t work my fingers to the bone to win reelection. That’s true too. In 40 minutes I’m scheduled to donate my 101st pint of blood. When I do this I’m always told to go home and avoid any heavy work. Today I will test that recommendation by resuming my leafleting of Duluth Heights despite a painful limp that I suspect comes from an undiagnosed bone spur in my left heel. Its a good pain and I’ll take plenty of liquids.
Tonight at 5 I will attend a school board candidate forum put on by our high school students. I’m looking forward to that.
BROKEN RECORD ALERT: You can donate to my campaign here.
