Beautiful day for weather and for a MAGA critic

Is he really down for the count yet?

It's February and I didn't even need long underwear for walking my standard route. Rumors of cold arriving again after Wednesday have faded. So we're on a straightaway to spring with no winter-type duress in the works? No special strategy for planning outerwear yesterday (Tuesday) for yours truly. No project to get dressed properly. 

We can imagine we're in late March. Enjoy it while we can. No guarantee for next winter. 

A little segue here: a surprise too, with odds appearing to grow just possibly against Donald Trump's resurgence as national leader. Sure seemed to be tidbits in the news on Tuesday. I soaked it in, found it to be rather complicated. Or maybe I'm just tired of having to keep a scorecard through all this. How long ago was Jan. 6? Our legal system looks fragile and vulnerable based on how time plods on with Trump able to still assert himself. 

No Alina Habba in the news now. Trump always lines up lawyers. 

Perhaps all the king's horses. . . You know the rest. 

Having followed this soap opera for so long, I never assume the worst is over. There is a niche within literature called "alternate history." Southerners might wonder: What if the Army of Northern Virginia had played its cards better at Gettysburg? My thinking on the matter tilts quite the opposite way: What if General Meade had pursued the Confederates at Gettysburg, to really finish them off? This would be a suggested "alternate history," to the chagrin of many white Southerners. The South never had the resources to "win" the Civil War. 

Move to the present: What if Hillary Clinton had become president in 2016 based on getting three million more popular votes? I'm no "fan" of "Hillary" as we call her (to differentiate her from Bill) but she would have been in the standard mold. More or less governing from the center. Not a lot of flash, maybe, but stability. Instead we have all watched the USA end up on the precipice due to this "strange duck" Donald Trump. 

Of course we the citizenry empowered Trump even if he did not win the 2016 popular vote. Strange that we have continued taking him so seriously - perhaps the biggest mystery of all. At present we ought to be rejecting him with outright laughter, astonishment over how we let him get this far. 

Even though the Tuesday news appears to have sent his interests reeling, it is far from over. What if the entire Supreme Court was made up of Thomas-Alito types? What if? Where would we be headed now? We're still waiting on the Supreme Court. Nikki Haley is waiting. Her policies are anathema to what Americans should want. But would we not breathe a monumental sigh of relief to have a person of her sheer class representing the Republican Party? 

Remember when the GOP had normal national conventions just like the Democrats? There was reasonable order and decorum. Politics could often be dull. No chance of a Republican nominee doing such outrageous things as Trump has done. It was a party that nominated Bob Dole. The wisdom of a WWII veteran. A "RINO" in some respects but what is so terrible about that? Being receptive to compromise, as the Democrats currently are in the southern border proposal. 

And if the proposal fails, nothing? A vacuum so that Trump can storm back into the forefront with his outrageous rhetoric, finger-pointing and totally self-serving strategies? More months of being dragged through this? Leading to what for our cherished America? Or for our cherished Christian faith, so much of which has been co-opted and dragged along by Trump and MAGA? Christianity of all things, dragged into tawdry and disgusting territory, as a child could easily see. 

Well it has happened. It's too easy for yours truly to be a critic of Trump this week. I shared a cautionary note as a comment posted to a Yahoo! News article. This one got a fair amount of notice and reaction. Here's the comment I typed:

 

Point fingers at Republicans all you want, for all sorts of reasons. The fact remains that they have a real shot at increasing their power. And, Jan. 6 had a very real chance of succeeding. So we are truly at the precipice. If MAGA seizes real power will we start to hear about people getting put on trial with harsh penalties and maybe even the death penalty? Who would push back on that, because MAGA people never push back on what their leader wants. Would someone like me have to fear the authorities coming after him?

 

"John" responded:

The greatest lesson from Trump becoming President is to never underestimate the capacity of human beings to be dumb, ignorant and gullible.

 

"Kenneth" responded:

Brian, You have nothing to fear as long as you have never written anything even slightly negative about Trump. It won't be the Trump administration that you need fear, it will be the one that follows. 

 

"Corax" responded:

Why does this have such a familiar 1930s ring to it? Watch "Judgment at Nuremberg" from 1961. Actual trial transcript dialogue. It may be old, but autocracies and dictatorships never seem to go out of style, only the clothes have changed. 

"David" responded:

What is scary is that a lot of people in this country WANT a dictatorship, and the Republican leadership has enabled this.

 

"Richard Black" responded:

Scary thought and you really hit the nail on the head man. . .

 

"Daniel" responded:

I am an old veteran, let them bring it, there will be a lot of funerals on both sides. Death is a clear choice if that's what MAGA wants to do - it will be short-lived just as was Nazi Germany. I was good at war, I liked it, nothing would make this Old Soldier's day as much as putting one of these anti-Americans in a bag with a toe tag.

 

 "JoJo" responded:

Yes, you should be really worried about that horned "shaman" and his wooden sword knocking at your door, but there’s a way out. Vote red and you will be spared.

 

"CHUY" responded:

No because MAGA is not going to win.

 

"Was a Customer" responded:

Read the GOP Project 2025 plan if you want to know the horror story they have in plan for the USA.  

 

"WLD Rabbit" responded:

MAGAphobe.

 

"Carlos" responded:

Maybe they did before the giant Cheeto picked a fight with Taylor Swift. He’s about to find out what it means to be "swift boated."

 

A different "David" responded:

We can all do something about this in November. VOTE 

 

"Kristy" responded:

If you can't win then use fear tactics. People see through these lies brother.

 

"The Rational Libertarian" responded:

The sick irony is, the first ones up against the wall will be MAGA loyalists who just weren't quite loyal enough, or even just because Donald needed a scapegoat, or on pure whim for no reason but it's fun. Look at his list of enemies. It's all Republicans at the top. He doesn't want to lock up Democrats, he wants to go after all the Republicans who dared break with him. 

 

"Logic&Reason" responded:

People like us will have to start our own counter-MAGA movement and take our country back. We will have to become louder than them. 

 

"Lucky" responded:

They aspire to be like Russia.

 

A person identified with a series of hyphens responded:

1930s Germany all over. . .

 

"American" responded:

Who are you? 

 

Another "David" responded:

How do they have a "real shot" at increasing power after the chaotic House has the lowest bill passage in history, MAKING MORE HISTORY booting McCarthy, and Johnson soon to follow? 

 

"John" responded:

We all have something to be concerned about. Even the gun advocates. I've read many comments from them about an armed society protecting us from tyranny. What do they think they'd elect in Trump? Once in power with his anarchists heading every agency that remains, that "armed society protecting us from tyranny" could come back at them. Tyrants don't want an armed society. 

 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Hancock girls hoops frustrates MACA

Owls hoot!

The MACA girls basketball team got rather dismantled by Hancock on January 27. Our boys did fine versus Hancock. As for the girls outcome, you should know there is a very long background of Hancock outperforming Morris. My, spanning a great many years. 

In the 1980s, Morris was floundering in the high-profile girls sports of volleyball and basketball. There were signs of hope with the 1987 volleyball season. But much of the funk would continue. And now today, way forward in 2024, my it's a total throwback! 

The Hancock hoops regime of Dennis  Courneya could be subject for a book. Actually he wrote one himself. This was as he tried to resuscitate himself after getting in serious legal trouble. He spent time in prison. But our area's history should never overlook the phenomenon that was his Hancock girls basketball program. This was back when many tournament games of interest were played at our UMM P.E. Center, before so much action shifted to the south of here, mainly to Southwest State. Too far away! But that's the way it is. I don't have to make the trips. I sure wouldn't care to do so much driving at night. 

What could be more convenient for us in Morris than to have games at UMM? 

 

She can be long-range shooting whiz for HHS!

A head-scratcher?

I always thought there was something seriously wrong with Hancock outperforming Morris so noticeably in the major girls sports. I just looked at it from the standpoint of disparity in school and community size. I grew up here and always thought of Hancock as a quite smaller town, charming but smaller. So the odds would suggest our sports teams in Morris could handle Hancock in head-to-head, probably to the extent that such games might be considered scrimmages! 

I settled in with my job at the Morris newspaper. There I began noticing that something just seemed wrong with certain of the Morris programs. And the problems just persisted. I know certain other people saw this. Occasionally I got a hint of that but people were very guarded. I would say this was because of the "Peyton Place" quality of Morris. "You just have to know" certain things. But it was a very difficult pill for me to swallow. 

And eventually I did step over the line some, which must have driven certain defenders of the status quo nuts! They would have wanted the sports writer at the paper to be "in with them." This was after all "Peyton Place." The main power was held by what I'd call the "intelligentsia." They looked down their noses at people with more traditional perceptions. 

Any concern about our co-curricular performance would be met by two very hostile responses:

 

"We don't judge success by wins and losses!"

"Academics comes first!"

Allow me to be blunt in inserting that I don't give a rat's patootie about "academics." A pox on all those people. They have a way of making you feel two feet tall. Like you were ignorant, sort of Neanderthal. Well I certainly am a worldly and informed person. I have a college degree. And I was profoundly puzzled why Morris simply could not do better. 

Girls basketball and volleyball stood out as problem areas. But there was an undercurrent of inattention with Morris extracurricular, or let's just say the commitment was pretty token, lacking the real priorities that needed to be recognized. I mean, people were showing up for work on time. There was a pattern of losing to quite smaller schools. 

  

The watershed moment

Finally I think the community had "had it." This was with a boys basketball loss to Herman in the tournament at UMM. I was there. The leader of the staid established system in the Morris school fought back. Everyone knew he would, like following a script. The truly offensive thing was that the administration higher than him simply allowed him to do it. He should have been escorted off school property as the result of behavior exhibited at a banquet/program. 

But the top administration reflected the flaccid values of the "intelligentsia," a faction that had pretty substantial input from UMM. Today I think a lot of the UMM influence, culturally speaking, is gone. Anyone still working at UMM no doubt is just thankful to have a job. Welcome to the club! I mean, the real world! 

We had a superintendent who obviously could have done more. Let's name-drop: Fred Switzer. He had a reputation of having come to Morris to exercise his special wizardry with finances. He replaced a superintendent who according to legend was too cozy with the local bankers. Ah, there's a million stories in the naked city. 

Good with finances? Was he really so much more brilliant than the norm? I remember that at the time he finally left, a local community leader who was on the same page as me about these things, said "Fred did some good things with money but now it's time to do some other things well." That person's initials were W.A. He's still around.

 

Memorabilia

I still have my old "Hancock's at state in '88" sweatshirt in the basement. I have lost substantial weight so I think I could pull it on again! Should try that. That and my North Stars in the Stanley Cup Finals T-shirt from '91. 

It is important to remember that the Courneya-led Hancock team of 1988 played in the two-class system for tournament basketball. So it was a huge deal that they made state. It would not be the last time. I actually wrote an op-ed piece for the Morris newspaper at the time of the '88 accomplishment, a piece that crossed every conceivable line for community mores. The best way to describe might be to observe that I was like the boy who said the emperor has no clothes. 

The current Owls, a wrecking crew!

I scratched my head, in effect, over how Hancock seemed to be playing at a completely different level than the quite-larger Morris community. And this was not an isolated thing with 1988. The current buzzword might be "systemic." Could anyone have said I was really wrong? Well I don't think so. It's just that I got the "intelligentsia" of the community so mad, words cannot describe. I survived at the paper probably because my family had historical importance with Morris. 

Jim Morrison was always very calm and reasonable when assessing sports. He was never rabid about any of it - quite to the contrary - and maybe this helped. It may have helped from the standpoint that he was not going to get co-opted by the "intelligentsia" or the "clique" that acted like it hovered over co-curricular. What a prickly and ornery bunch that "clique" was. Very much protective of "their own." 

 

Who answers for this?

Morris brought in a girls basketball coach in the mid-1980s who had the creds on paper. It did not work out. I think that situation became a struggle for our school administrator Dennis Rettke, could have shortened his life expectancy due to the stress. He has passed on. We all knew he wanted to do something about the situation earlier than he did. The rumors had legs. 

And surely he wanted the right thing to be done, more so than Switzer would have IMHO. When finally the coach was let go, the newspaper had an odd way of reporting it. Or let's say the school board had an odd way of announcing it. I think I can put it pretty reliably: "The board voted to thank (name withheld) for her service and to tell her that her service would not be required in the future." 

Wow! Would never come upon such wording today. It was a split vote. At first there was supposed to be no vote at all. A friend I had on the school board was upset that the matter was taken off the "consent agenda." It should have stayed on the consent agenda but the "intelligentsia" and the "clique" still wielded too much power, and these miserable souls were able to get through to certain school board members, even Apostolics who don't attend games. 

It was much ado about nothing, because administration should have simply been allowed to make the proper professional judgment, much sooner in fact. And then we all could have simply gotten on with life. But Morris was Peyton Place. And there I sat as someone who simply wanted to assess everything in a reasonable, rational manner. Not in Morris in the 1980s. We had some long-time teachers who thought they owned the place. 

We had married couples on the teaching staff which I think was a problem. "Synergy of relationships." They'd react to me by pointing fingers aggressively. "We don't judge success on wins and losses," and "school is about academics." 

Allow me to repeat: screw "academics." Let the kids have their fun in co-curricular and in my view that includes music and theater. Hey teachers, leave the kids alone. 

Dale Henrich, MACA coach

Today the Morris girls basketball coach is Dale Henrich. I have always liked him even though he has ties with the old clique. He was always nice and considerate with me. But I wonder some about the current program performance, don't you? So we're still underfoot when playing Hancock. Let's be glass-half-full and just compliment Hancock. I have mixed thoughts about that. I think it's time for the Morris program to get the lead out. 

I wonder what ol' Courneya is doing now. What an exciting chapter of Stevens County history that was. Apologists for the Morris system in those bygone times would cite the name of a star player or two with Hancock as if to suggest that Hancock's superiority was always due to special talent. We heard the name Lois Schmidgall for example. I wrote countless articles about the program. 

But credulity got strained big-time with the suggestion that Morris just never had comparable individuals. Because I'm sure we did. We needed proper leadership. I tried pointing this out and had to deal with severe slings and arrows. And if sports is really so secondary as the intelligentsia liked to point out, why did they always act so nervous and concerned when people tried bringing up the issues? Today I think the Morris school is fundamentally run quite well. Better than the City of Morris. UMM is struggling. But the MACA, MBA and MAHACA sports programs are quite the source of legitimate pride. Girls basketball maybe needs a little nudge. 

It's not a "systemic" thing like it used to be. 

 

A dud

As a footnote here, because it just entered my head, let me remind that we had three years with a coach named Steve Harter who I learned didn't even have the background to be a head basketball coach, was very unsuccessful, and was not even a pleasant person to work with. I told the mother of one of the top players about my difficulties with him, and she responded: "Brian, the reason you're having those problems is that he doesn't know anything about what he's doing." 

How could our school have been so clueless? The third year of that coach was when the C-A kids came over. What a shame that things were in shambles. This community is one that needs time to wake up and smell the coffee. Why did our community allow its school to become such a swamp? 

We had a coach here name of Ellen Hanson for one year, was very good, team was competitive. Had a background at U of St. Thomas, as I recall. I worked with her. But she moved on so quickly. Sometimes things do go right. Hey Morris school board, a broken clock is right twice a day! And to hell with the "softball complex."

 

Addendum: Hancock school music gets a big plug this week thanks to Morris newspaper. I don't think of it as Morris-Hancock. The paper is in Morris, the big county seat town. I think of Hancock having its "Hancock Record" for which I once did tons of writing, tons I tell you. 

Morris school parents should not be happy with this week's Morris paper. Is the Hancock music program really so super-duper? Getting praise while reading nothing comparable about Morris? The praise isn't based on any actual awards. It's all just puffy white clouds and puppy dogs. I included the following an an email I sent to Jim Morrison:

I personally heard the Hancock pep band last fall at Big Cat Stadium and I was impressed. And you know what I think the key was? People might not notice this or think about it, they just know if they like the sound. The key was the director herself playing electric bass, really giving a bottom to the sound and pushing the band. Otherwise the band was just typical.

And on page 2 there's another example of the Morris teachers bitching about their pay. You probably know that nothing irritates me more than this. Why is it that when a Morris teacher takes a leave of absence, they always want to come back? I thought they were getting such a raw deal here.

Morris paper is pretty small. And, in terms of the macro picture there is a new burst of articles about legacy media properties struggling and laying people off.

Now Donald Trump is saying publicly that Jerome Powell is "just trying to help Biden" with his decisions. This is serious stuff for someone like Trump to comment so bluntly about the Fed because the Fed is a very, very delicate matter. Normally this type of comment would be off-limits by major political figures, I guess in the spirit of "don't fight the Fed." We know Trump acts like a bull in the China closet, but when will this start to cause serious harm to the country?

On the failed border deal, I think Republicans outside of the Deep South are starting to worry, that the Deep South crazies are defining the party too much. Kevin Cramer was quoted in that vein yesterday. Deep South still wants to win the Civil War.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Bring on the "Swifties" for Super Bowl?

Taylor Swift (wikimedia)

Maybe a part of us can still laugh about how everything seems to get viewed through a political lens. Why not the Super Bowl too? This American symbol of indulgence and excess is a about to happen again. Just a game? Sigh. Many "conservatives" are airing the concern that pop star Taylor Swift is a Democratic Party operative. Will the Super Bowl be "rigged?" I mean, to borrow a term that has often crossed the lips of the national GOP leader? Rigged? The rigged election? 

A rigged Super Bowl to ensure that Travis Kelce's team the Chiefs win, to set the stage for Swift's endorsement of Joe Biden? I cannot fight all this any more, but I did submit a comment to Yahoo! News:

 

Has this whole issue now ruined the Super Bowl? I mean, will the outcome now be tainted by suspicions of political influence? What if the movers and shakers atop the NFL are Trump supporters? Would they try to ensure that the Chiefs lose? Absurd? Well, look at the people that this article is about. This man named Donald Trump has infiltrated all aspects of our lives, even something innocuous as a championship football game. Someday books will be written.

 

My comment got a response from someone who goes by "Panama." This individual clues me in on a little more perspective:

Super Bowl 58 is now between Taylor Swift and the Swifties versus Gavin Newsom and the DeepStaters.

 

Plumbing history

People talk a lot about the four Buffalo Bills Super Bowl losses. Hmmm, what other team has the distinction? Really seems remote back in time now. I mean, two stadiums ago for us. Even middle-age adults would require a primer about "the Met." Winter's presence was so visible there. Did not seem arranged very well for the sport of football. 

Bud Grant - you're surely familiar with that name - would readily say football was not the priority at the Met. It was baseball. Minnesota was so ready to abandon Met Stadium back in 1980. A little depressing, because the Met was a total breakthrough for this state when it was built. It literally opened the door for being big league. It was built for that express purpose. 

But my, we had to wait. Minnesota has such obvious big league status today. Not sure why this was not true through the 1950s. But we marked time with the Minneapolis minor league team making the Met its home. The Met opened for play in 1956. Is there anything more obscure in Minnesota history than the five years that the Minneapolis Millers played there? 

Sad too how the Millers descended into total oblivion once it was official that "the bigs" were coming here. So the Met got us all quite infatuated in its early years. We would cite 1965 as exhibit No. 1. 

I personally would rank 1962 as quite even. Twins were in just their second year in 1962 and blazed forward with frequent wins. Big problem was that only one team in each league advanced for post-season. It was "the pennant" or bust. 

How America likes winners. Our raison d'etre, quite, and I'm suggesting that it's to a fault. 

So the 1962 Twins were not able to overtake the dynastic New York Yankees. But our fledgling team took second in the ten-team American League. This in the team's second year of existence in Minnesota. The team came here from Washington D.C. where it had largely floundered. The Senators improved some in 1960 but not in time to stay where they were. 

Legend had it that Minnesota might have gotten the New York Giants or Cleveland Indians. Any of these options had potential excitement and success. Metropolitan Stadium afforded at least short-term financial advantages for a team settling there. The team could exploit that to augment its roster, as Cal Griffith did with his Twins. 

So we were nothing short of a shining jewel by 1965. Really, we all should have pinched ourselves to see if we were dreaming. 

The luster began to come off both the Twins and the Met. The public is demanding and fickle with entertainment. Quite the truism. Remember when "Country Music Television" was a fad? The Twins were holding their own in 1969. It would have helped if we could have won the American League playoffs against Baltimore. 

I had the sinking feeling we were not going to win. We got swept. That did not pull the rug out from enthusiasm. The removal of Billy Martin as manager got people upset. We were so spoiled we forgot to get adequately excited about our 1970 division championship. The manager was Bill Rigney who today is a mere trivia answer. We got swept by Baltimore again! 

Griffith failed to find enough good new players to replace the aging ones. Not that the 1970s were without highlights. But here's the deal: the Vikings swept to No. 1 in our hearts most decisively. Even with their secondary status at the Met, my they galvanized Minnesotans. 

 

The Metrodome, Minneapolis

On to the next phase

Time marched on and the big league movers and shakers realized "the Met" had served its purpose. It would have to be abandoned. I'm old enough to have written news articles about deliberations that led to the "old" Metrodome. 

I strain to type "old." I remember it was seemingly miracle-like. We went from having shaky conditions with the weather to the weather literally being a non-factor. 

The national media wasn't sure it wanted to take the Metrodome seriously. That was annoying. The term "homer dome" made it seem like home runs were cheap. East Coast commentators liked to find amusement when our lively artificial turf played tricks sometimes. Most famously that was with Harold Baines of the White Sox! The chauvinistic East Coast media had no problems with strange stadium quirks out where they lived, e.g. the "Green Monster" of Fenway Park. But we were Midwest. 

I must say, the old chauvinistic impulses have faded, are largely if not completely gone. I think there has been a democratizing effect of the new media. Hooray! 

 

Jiffy Pop!

I have written songs about Met Stadium and Target Field. Oh, I have a song written about the great Metrodome but have not had it recorded. Maybe sometime. I describe the Dome as "looking like a Jiffy Pop so huge." 

Fans are so fixated on today. Can't blame them I guess. I simply have the idiosyncrasy of wanting to appreciate historical background, items that many people might consider "trivia." The past teaches us lessons. 

Joe Kapp (pinterest)

The Vikings played in their first of four Super Bowls when the "Met" was their home. That was the Super Bowl that did not have Fran Tarkenton as quarterback. CW is that there was no excuse for the Vikes to lose that game. But I guess it was ditto for the Colts versus the Jets too. 

Vikings were at their peak of glory in the 1969 league championship game versus the Browns, on one play. Gene Washington streaked down the field. The defender falls down. Joe Kapp sent the ball long downfield right on target. And the crowd goes wild! 

And the Met crowds really could be wild. The popular imagery is of rows of fans wearing snowmobile suits! Legend has it that bottles of booze could be passed along. Important to note that social drinking was quite approved then, was fodder for considerable humor. Nat at all like today. 

The charismatic Kapp took his Vikings to the Super Bowl against the Chiefs and coach Hank Stram. Just as drinking alcohol was accepted then, so too was the occasional ethnic joke. So Stram along the sidelines made what was considered to be a witty comment, about how our defense was like "a Chinese fire drill." Ouch. We lost the game. 

Our other three Super Bowls would have Tarkenton as QB. He went 0-for-3. Most certainly ouch. 

And now we have another Super Bowl coming along for 2024. 2024! Where has the time gone? Vikings not in it this year. Chiefs versus 49ers and we have the political or pop culture twist. The Swifties! I'm sure the NFL just loves this kind of side story. And we most certainly eat it all up. 

 

Vic Power on pedestal!

I like thinking back to the 1962 summer, when we all could have been vaporized as result of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Twins had Vic Power playing first base, Camilo Pascual throwing his curveball. And our new Twins gave the Yankees a run for their money! It doesn't get any better than that, really.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

We stretch our luck if donning shorts now

Image from Flickr shows "brown" nature of our winter.

A fine winter for those who may have broken down and bought a snowblower, eh? The attitude to take is this: it's an insurance policy. 

We might grimace when writing out insurance premium checks. A friend who is a retired banker says "insurance is something that costs a lot of money and you don't ever want to use it." 

Problem is, sometimes you think you're eligible for coverage and then presto! The insurance company determines you're not covered. Like for me in the aftermath of the big derecho, as I thought I might get a little help - I really would have been happy getting just a little - and finding out my homeowners policy "doesn't cover trees." So I faced a pretty substantial expense. Ah, being a homeowner. 

As time goes on, you might appreciate more the arguments that it's better to rent. 

I have been "bequeathed" some issues like a property that got over-planted with trees. But God bless my late father who I'm sure reasoned that trees had value on an otherwise windswept prairie. So look out when opening one of your "storm doors" as it could get caught in the wind. You all know we can get winds right out of hell here in western Minnesota. But it's a universal for Minnesotans: to focus on the weather. 

So right now, anyone having finally gotten out the checkbook for a snowblower might curse some. Out of the blue comes this incredibly mild winter. But we're supposed to complain when the opposite happens, right? We make our rounds unimpeded by the usual winter. Human nature being what it is, we find other things that annoy us. 

 

Stretch your legs

People who like to take walks are quite impacted by the nature of the winter we happen to have. It is a blessing to have good enough health to walk a fair distance on any given day. The activity is recommended for nearly everyone for health reasons. 

(youtube image)

All the talk through the media about the onset of very mild weather got yours truly to overreact on Monday. I put on shorts and then was about to put on my usual extra layer for my legs. Then I thought "wait a minute, might not even be needed." 

I remembered my days as an active jogger/runner, how on many winter days I felt no discomfort doing this activity with bare legs. This avocation of mine basically spanned 1982-1992. The body in rapid motion helps fend off the cold. 

How "rapid" might I be today? Not sure, as I do not set standards for how fast I might jog. On Monday I had incentive! I covered my whole route and partly with a jogging gait. Partly. Many of you might see me along the bypass as I'm headed back toward home. Pedestrians are pretty conspicuous out there. 

 

After the sun sets

Back in my running period I'd even be out in those environs after dark, something I would never do today. I wouldn't do it today because of the risk of being accosted by law enforcement. This happened to me once in my post-newspaper years when I was no longer an active runner. So I was walking. Not the sharpest judgment. The law enforcement person was in an unmarked car. And would you believe, I did not respond to him at first? I remained walking! I could claim that I could not be sure it was Mr. Policeman. Who was it? 

Well I had to weigh the distinct possibility that it was Mr. Policeman, lest I end up in one of those confrontations where Mr. Police gets overly aggressive and I then try a lawsuit, end up in the news. Would be nice to get money but who needs the ignominy? And if the authorities decided you deserve money, it would mean you have been demonstrably hurt. And who needs that? I think the law enforcement person ended up recognizing me. He ended up rather genteel if that's the right word. 

The amicable discourse ended up brief and uneventful, the way it should be and the way law enforcement always wants it, really truly. But I filed it all away. Here's a theory: there is a fair amount of residential development close to the bypass now, in places that were totally wild and pristine in my younger years. Like when I was a jogger/runner. (I used to feel defensive saying "jogger" because it brought less pride than "runner." A foolish thought to have.) 

 

It's relative (wink)

How good a runner was I? As a testimonial for myself I'll suggest I was good for my size, my stature. The lowest I ever got in weight was 160 pounds. That's very light for my frame, not at all light by the standards of the top runners. Let's use the word "wispy" for them. I'm happy for all the prowess they show. I cannot mirror them. But maybe they should stay indoors on windy days. 

My how the wind can sweep across the flat terrain east of Morris. We see all the new townhomes out there. Oh, and there's a couple new opulent residences that have gone up a little further from the bypass. Best to locate further away so you aren't subjected to the sound of "Jake brakes" applied by trucks on the bypass. 

East of town is the place to develop these days. As for the west, I think the ground is too wet over there. There is no biking/walking trail to the west. 

 

An asset

(mild MN winter scene from facebook)

The trail is most certainly a magnet where it is, east of our community, actually connecting our community on the southern end. And there was an attempt made to have the trail extended! It would have gone out to the golf course. I was informed that a grant request for this was rejected. I have strongly encouraged that efforts be renewed to make this reality. The trail is a great way for this community to make up for how we are not a lakes recreation community. 

I hope Mayor Kevin Wohlers is paying attention. Congrats Kevin on the concern you showed about Prairie Pioneer Days fading away and just dying, I mean in its established form. So incredibly strange considering that the community's movers and shakers were so proud of its establishment once. I remember so well because I was with the Morris paper. I frankly went out of my way to pay attention to the efforts. A little bias at play, pro-community bias. 

So then years later the event as originally established bites the dust? Many things are hard to explain. One by one the various features of PPD just started disappearing. In its heyday, so many people and organizations pitched in. So pro-active with the impulses, just common sense, I would say. Maybe any thoughts about renewal died with covid. And covid is not exactly in the rear view mirror, or so we are told by media. 

Looks like the current week is going to be mild as heck. Next time I wear shorts for a walk, I'll be more comfortable. I try breaking into a "jog" now and then. It doesn't feel at all natural as it once did. But I think it was a good defense vs. the cold on Monday. See you out there. I most certainly see Sharon Martin and "Goldy" out along the trail. Great place to meet people's dogs. Oh, and the people too!

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilluy73@yahoo.com