Little Miracles add up

Miracle One

Not really much of a miracle but it shows the continuation of my progress toward wherever I’m going. The post-it notes on the wall above my computer desk are either new ones of some of the many I once had hidden away in the storage chamber that contains fifty years worth of my writings. The Notes on the wall are related to subjects about my history. They are dwarfed by a much larger selection of post-it notes on subjects of interest to me as I compile a book for running for Congress. My first one and the only book published was for a 1992 run for Congress. That one was meant mostly for raising money. The books I’ve been trying to put together for the past three legislative campaigns are for helping a fractured America think its way to some sort of salvation……strictly and Earthly salvation as heaven is a great shibboleth for those who have succumbed to fatalism. “The Apocalypse is coming. Run and hide! Oh, I forgot. Its the apocalypse. There’s nowhere to hide!”

Below on the floor is a project I’ve come up with since taking our grandsons to Washington DC. They form a series of “recollections” of past events that the Washington trip brought to mind. If I can put them together as I hope they would give me from six to eight columns for the Duluth Reader. I stopped submitting them well before the summer because the deadline was killing me. I have had a summer to build a backlog of things that must, simply must, be written. If I can get a couple weeks ahead of the darned headline maybe I can get into a reliable swing.

BTW (by the way) this post is also part of a swing. I’d like to post posts again in the blog. The problem even unproofread posts take time. The three I slapdashed in yesterday took over an hour of my precious time. That meant I only had an hour and a half to pass out my flyer encouraging people to vote for Alanna. I’m also sticking to my French learning while I think through how to elect her and once more give Pete Stauber the “hell” a strong willed Harry ought to give someone so deserving as a milquetoast who lets an egotistical, bragadocious Cretan pull him by self inflicted nose ring.

Next miracle

Yesterday on my short leafleting for Alanna I once again took some pictures from around my neighborhood to show my French penpal Adelaide.
I live in a neighborhood (quartier in French) with grand houses and I had never seen the back of this one with a magnificent view of the lake. Adelaide has been impressed with them and sent them to her son who is moving her grandchildren to Canada where he is attempting to find decent housing in a difficult housing market. My French comprehension continues to improve and perhaps I’ll be able to speak semi-fluent French to the French embassy staff in the event I can talk Minnesota’s Eighth District voters to send me to Washington. The miracle here? The beauty of Duluth. The ability to send photos instantly to France. Learning a new language at age…..now 72.

Next miracles

This is a picture of my grandson taking a picture of the Super Blue Moon reflected in Lake Superior. Claudia came home from teaching how to make bagels at our church and insisted that we go out and take a look at it by the lake. It was a short two minute trip well worth our while. I returned my pictures of the moon with my brother who sent me pictures of it from St. Louis……Modern tech…..what a miracle.

But the rest of the story is cool too. When Claudia left for her baking class I talked the boys into watching the movie based on To Kill a Mockingbird. I had started watching it with them when they were very young and Claudia went ballistic telling us it was inappropriate for children so young. So they had only seen halfway through it ages ago. I was as I am now all the time touched by the decency and humanity it showed and teared up all through it which astounded my younger grandson. If we had been able to chat about it before rushing off to see the blue moon I’d have told him it really was a wonderful picture. The author’s father, was a lawyer but he wasn’t Atticus Finch. He was just another Alabama racist. Its sort of like the reality of Donald Trump and the image his cultists have of him. I guess this is the miracle of an imagination.

Next Miracle

For some time I’ve shown some of my writing to my grandsons. They younger one began asking to see what I’d written about his Mother. I certainly have written and even published a few Reader columns about my children but I’ve been careful to shield them from anything too personal lest it cause them embarrassment. They were still in school when I began writing for the Reader. But they were the first subject I clung to when I began to test my writing abilities when we moved to our current house. My daughter was just starting first grade. I was self conscious about my writing ability so I pursued the most hackneyed advice given to all writers, “Write what you know.” In my case it was my family.

If you are able to read the text above it will explain how I approached what was to become 16 letters to my children over about a year’s time. I labored mightily over them to proofread and edit them. It was excellent practice but I still catch mistakes. So when my Grandson was disappointed that I couldn’t point him to more columns I remembered these four to six page letters from long ago. He read this one of which you can see the first page. He enjoyed it and wanted his Mother to read it. He told me he’d like to read the next one.

Not sure to which miracle I should ascribe this but I guess life is a miracle and that’s close enough.

and related to my attempt to learn French you can see a guide to using a bluetooth earphone. I have been singing songs as I deliver my flyers door to door but I like to listen to French. I decided to buy some wireless earphones and my wife suggested these which she just picked out with the help of our oldest grandson. This is a whole set of miracles. Learning, exercise, free political expression and modern tech all rolled up into one……..Damn as expected this unproofread post took an hour and a half to crank out. It required uploading photos and a little research as well as shooting off my fingers.

It was worth it.

NOTE: NO WAY I HAVE TIME TO EDIT THIS AND PERFORM MORE MIRACLES.

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