The Reader did publish my column. I began it by writing a bit about the Reader’s publisher Bob Boone. I wondered if that might lead to its being scotched but no, Bob is a big boy and could manage the tiny bit of scrutiny I directed his way. Although to be honest, calling Bob “distracted” was hardly the worst thing you could say about a fellow. I plan on attending his annual soiree at the Duluth Depot tonight for the first time. All of us “columnists” are invited. I’ll see if he gives me a hard stare.
Actually, I wrote the column in hopes that it would give both Bob and his readers my excuse for not becoming a very dedicated reporter of Duluth’s politics. My druthers, as any of my blog’s readers can tell for themselves, is to heap abuse on the big shots in the national scene. I have to live with the locals and that can be uncomfortable. Golly, one of the locals I’ve nitpicked turns out to have become part of my extended family. We are suddenly both great uncles to a little fellow that is new to the world. Yet our relationship is not the closest. I heard that after the recent election he told someone he was so tickled with the results that he could “do naked cartwheels down Superior Street.” How can you hold a grudge against anyone with such a whimsical a sense of vindication – especially a family member?
Besides writing, or at least writing well, with all its fact checking is time consuming. The post I never bothered proof reading a couple days ago, despite a promise to do so, took 45 minutes to compose. It would have taken another 45 to edit it to my satisfaction. I’ve got several more such posts in mind for today but composing them and doing them justice would take several hours. I only have so much writing in me and as I’ve repeated ad nauseam I’d like to write a book more than daily posts. In fact, yesterday I sat down for several hours and cranked out three pages of that book about my Grandfather. That was just the rough draft part. If I did this every day for the next five months I’d have 450 pages to edit. That would take just as long but I’d like to have a book ready before the centennial anniversary of the battle in September that resulted in my Grandfather’s being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
So, I will do a disservice to a subsequent post about the School District and then see if I can crank out another three pages for that book – concerning my Grandfather’s attendance to a Missouri academy/college in Parkville Missouri. Today he’s one of the schools most illustrious graduates. Ah, but thats for the book not the blog.
