This morning as I write, there is a soft snow coming down
outside of my window. There is a time in late autumn when the world seems
washed out of all of its color. Things seem all grim and gray. It’s a time of
the year when the days grow shorter and the world grows colder and this all
add’s to my melancholy. Then the first snows come and clean everything up. All
of the unattractive things get covered up and sealed away and our black and
white world of winter takes on its own persona.
Something else is happening this morning as I write. A few
weeks back I wrote a column called, “So God made a baby.” The story of my first
great grand child. Today my grandson’s wife is in labor with their first child
and another great grandchild for me. My heart has never been fuller then it is
right now, as I see my family growing. I thank God that I am still here on this
earth to witness this and experience these children being born. When I look out
the window at this winter wonderland today, I can only say, “What a beautiful
day to have a baby.”
My columns are published weeks after I write them. So by the
time you get this Pat and I will be in Arizona for the winter. Leaving
Minnesota and my family here is never easy but I have a family in Arizona too,
so for me it’s a chance to spend time with them also. In a perfect world--
would it be that we all live blocks from each other and spend Sunday afternoons
with hot dishes and Jell-o with vegetables in it, and real whipped cream on
top? That’s the world I grew up in, in Staples. No one ever moved far from the
nest over there. But for some of us as we grew up and branched out, so did our
boundaries and now-- even though many miles separate us, we just don’t seem
that far away. I write from my heart and the biggest part of my heart will
always be In Minnesota, so my columns will continue.
So it’s a New Year in a vastly troubled world, filled with
mistrust, violence and threats around every corner. Drugs and immorality abound
and we ask what kind a world, are we bringing these babies into? But is the
answer not to have babies and give up on the world. Well that’s kind of like
throwing in the towel. NO, I have a better idea. Lets just quit doing what we
have been doing and get back to the ideas this country was founded on. The
Democrats lost this last election because they were more concerned with culture
and social issues that affected one percent, then they were with the real
issues that affected most of us. I’m no big fan of the man who got in office
and yes he scares the hell out of me but that’s what happens when you breed
that much discontent. Lets hope cooler heads will prevail in Washington and
they start thinking about where this country is heading and what kind of a
world we are leaving for these babies that are just coming into it.
I want to wish Happy New Year to all of me readers. It’s
such a pleasure for me to be able to talk to you like this. We need to look at
2017 as three hundred and sixty five pages in a new book. One more chance to
get it right. Lets leave our flaws behind us and let’s dwell on all of the
potential we do have, to get it right.
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