Catching Up and Still Breathing

This is a big week for the WP. Tomorrow night, Tuesday, is the launch for THE POMEGRANATE. Come if you're in the Twin Cities, or you can watch the live stream at 7:00 pm Central Time. To say I am totally stressed out having to get up and read my own stuff is an understatement. I am not an onstage person; I'm a director, dammit; I tell people what to do. Yeah, I can act, but I hate it. Not my thing. Yeah, I can write lines and did for about a zillion years, but other than working with an actor to help them say it, forget about it. I am my own worst critic. 

There. Now you know my best kept secret. So if you want to see me freakin' out, by all means, come or tune in. It should be amusing at best. Painful at worst. 

But having this other life as author with a brand new fancy-schmancy website does not absolve me from writing The Wifely Person Speaks. It's like being schizophrenic: I have two very distinct voices - the one youse guys read every week, and the author's voice. And I must confess, I'm still struggling with that new voice. It'll happen. Eventually. I hope. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

I am pleased to report that the three sane school board candidates were elected, sending more nutty versions back into the ether. Truth be told, I was seriously worried about this. Schools are our last defense against ignorance.  

Long, long ago, in a
galaxy far far away...

A million years ago, we were toying with the idea of moving to Nashua, New Hampshire, and made a trip to see if we could find a house. One nearby town with gorgeous houses had rock bottom prices. That was a flag for Ziggy and me. What we found out was that the school board in that town had been taken over by raging creationists and they were trying to ban the teaching of evolution in the district. Since there was no open enrollment in the area, people were relocating in droves. Seriously. And they could not give the houses away because no one wanted their kids in that district. This wasn't just over a school board election, this had been going on for several years and the board's balance had turned. I would've put my house up for sale, too. Needless to say, I stayed in Minnesota, Ziggy took a flat in Nashua, and he ultimately telecommuted for several years. 

Now, the lunatic fringe running for school board here did not seem to be advocates for creationism, but their refusal to acknowledge the importance of science when dealing with a pandemic left me with a whole lotta other questions about other positions we might not have been privy to in the run-up to the election. Which may or may not beg a bigger question: 

Are we asking the right questions?

Possibly not because We, the People rarely ask questions of our elected officials. This is not something we're good at. And it's really not okay. 

As We, the People, head into the midyear elections, we had better start asking the right questions, the ones that provide sane answers to the needs of our self-interest. Like health insurance. Like parental leave. Like creating tax revenue streams based on taxation of those who can most afford it. There is a large segment of this nation that doesn't know how to frame those questions, much less how to determine elitist bull-hockey from boot-on-the-ground reality. That mindset elected a GOP governor in Virginia who pledged to ban critical race theory from the public school curriculum on day one....except critical race theory isn't a part of the Virginia public school curriculum. Well, I guess he solved that problem.

That kinda stuck with me for all the wrong reasons. It reminded me of the woman who was touting the great benefits she got from TrumpCare because ObamaCare was terrible and she never could get what she needed from her doctor but under Feckless Leader's plan her health insurance covered everything. "No other insurance needed!" she told the reporter. "I get everything I need from President Trump. He was right to take ObamaCare away." She had no clue that her health insurance plan was part of the Affordable Care Act. I can't help but wonder what she would've done had Feckkless Leader actually repealed the ACA leaving her without any insurance at all. This is just one more part about voting against self-interest that I just don't get. 

Meanwhile, back at the other ranch....

Our little town is getting ready for animal control season. Being we're on the river and have lots of ponds and woods, we also have an exploding deer population. You really can't trap and move a herd deer; it doesn't work that way. So every year or so, the city hired bow hunters to cull the herd. Yesterday, our amazing police chief posted the following on the community Facebook page:

While I am not a fan of bow hunting or any other type of hunting, having lived on the edge of a pond for some 27 years, and having hosted many, many deer families, I know the herd has to be culled periodically so that the majority can survive. Invariably, someone's knickers will get knotted over this, but they need to stand down. 

I think we all appreciate the humor and humanity that Chief Kelly McCarthy brings to our community. I mean, who else would post a picture of a harmonica write this? 

Help Needed!

On Monday 9/20/2021, a resident reported personal belongings were laying in the street. An officer located the belongings and while most of the items were miscellaneous toss-away house goods…

One item didn’t look like it was something the owner chose to depart with.

The officer opened a small instrument case, which housed multiple professional grade harmonicas. The case was personalized with some stickers.

Please share and ask around if anyone they know had their harmonicas stolen.

She's seriously good at her job, and we are lucky to have her. Next month, she will celebrate 5 years as our police chief, and I hope she's here for at least another 25. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

I'd really like to say "go buy my book," but enough already.

Instead, I'll say if you're reading the book 

and notice something weird with words requiring a capital V,

not to worry. We already know. 

It's getting fixed.