Please see postnote at the end of this post.

It has been another event-filled time in my life.  I was again orphaned on the internet, this time from Nov 22 – Nov. 28.  probably thanks to some denizen of the dark web, the real reason or identity or location of the perpetrator never to be known.  So I start over again. (“Arrival”, this posts title, seems a synonym for Advent, soon to begin, and appropriate as a header for this post.)

Yesterday, Molly sent her usual collection of poetry for the season.  I’m privileged to be part of her list.  There are a couple of pages: 2023 T-day. 

Kathy sent along an inspirational phrase passed along by a friend.  It is very appropriate for this or any season:

*

Molly had called me during Rosalynn Carter’s celebration of life.

I watched the entirety of Rosalynn Carter’s farewell in Atlanta.  Very moving.  Jimmy, her partner for 77 years, was in attendance and then in Plains, Georgia, their home.  They were and are heroes of mine: small town folks who cared for others for a lifetime.

The Carter’s represented the United States honorably and effectively.

My son and I visited Plains GA in June, 1977, a few months after the Carter Presidency began.  Plains was and remains  small town, much like those I was familiar with from North Dakota days.  We were enroute to Florida, and I at least wanted to see Plains, which is about 50 miles off the freeway.  There was not much to see in the small town (pop. about 500).  Carter’s were not there, of course; you couldn’t get close to the house; we didn’t see the school both attended; we did see the peanut warehouse.  This was before brother Billy’s escapade with Billy Beer.

Three years later, in January, 1980, I had a singular opportunity to sit at the Carter Cabinet table in the West Wing for a briefing.  Neither Jimmy Carter nor vice-president Walter Mondale were there that day, but it was still a unique experience.  The Carter presidency was friendly to public education.  I’ll add a photo from that day at the end of this post.

The post-presidency years were amazingly productive ones for the Carters, who were in their early 50s when their years in the White House ended. Personally, I think their positive reputation will live on, in some ways like Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.  Sure, Jimmy Carter had only a single term, but his accomplishments were many and were positive; and Rosalyn was by no means a casual bystander.  And they did not rest in the over more than 40 years  following the presidential years.  Their contributions to the betterment of humanity worldwide are well documented.  They showed up.  I last saw President Carter in person in Minneapolis, as he spoke at the 2015 Augsburg Nobel Peace Prize Forum.  He was about 90 at the time, and very impressive.

The Carter Center well represents the Carter’s legacy to this country.  Johnathan Alter’s book, His Very Best, about Carter’s life and work, seems very worthwhile.  Carter himself was a very prolific author.  I have a dozen of his books here.

Our country and our world can be grateful for their service.

POSTNOTE: 6 p.m. on November 22 was the last e-mail I received until Nov. 29.  If you sent an e-mail to me in that period, I’ll never see it.  There were increasing suspicious intrusions and ultimately Apple shut down, and then cancelled, my e-mail address.  Six days later I set up a new account, with a new e-address.

I’ll continue the blog, of course, probably essentially the same general frequency as before, but I probably won’t send reminders.  Best strategy, if you wish, is to check the archive (at right on this page) for the current month.  For example: for November 2023, click  HERE.  Scroll down, most recent is first on list.

POSTNOTE 2: Dec. 2: Subsequent to the drafting of this post came the announcements of the deaths of Henry Kissinger and Sandra Day O’Connor. both of the same generation as the Carters; both very prominent in their own niches.  I will stay with the Carters exclusively for this post.