Mariann Edgar Budde – human beings

/0 Comments/in /by

PRENOTE: January 18, “A House Divided“, one week ago, I wrote: “Two days from now will be the inauguration of the U.S. President.  It feels, today, much like being in the eye of a hurricane.  All seems calm.  But no one knows for sure exactly when the chaos of the hurricane will resume and who it will damage worst or how.  The prudent persons have prepared for the worst, but if they’re unlucky the preparation will be in vain.  The hurricane is all of us.  We will determine it’s strength or weakness.  We’re all in the path of the storm.”

Add to the above, a tsunami, intended to demoralize and defeat – call it “shock and awe”.  Thus far, it has been worse than expectations.  This is a madman with a wrecking ball and the building permit to destroy.

Well, here we are.  There are at least 75,000,000 of us, and it’s time for us to get to work in small ways and large.  The bal is in our court.

There are those who think they’ll be unscathed and can sit this out.  How about their neighbor?  Their own children, people they know.  Everybody but the highly privileged are going to be punished, while being exhorted to accept the dream, never to be realized.  Trickle-down on sterooids.

I did four posts between Jan. 18 and today.  One is a family history piece.  Take a glance at them if you care to, and rest assured, there are more on the way.  Jan. 19; Jan. 20 “Inauguration Day”; Normand Collette (family history) Jan 24.

Here’s a place to start:  Mariann Edgar Budde 

Mariann Edgar Budde is Bishop of the American Episcopal Church and Pastor of the National Cathedral.  January 22, she addressed some very specific comments to the newly inaugurated President, and Cathy’s comments below, including the link to Bishop Budde’s thoughts, set the stage eloquently for the work ahead.

Bishop Budde spoke from the pulpit from the heart.  She is an example for all of us.    Cathy’s suggestion is right on.

from Cathy H January 23, 2025:

Beloved community,
Perhaps you have heard or seen the incredible prophetic and brave sermon that Mariann Budde gave yesterday at the National Cathedral.  It is in its entirety here but if you have limited time I encourage you to watch at least the last 4 minutes.
Back when St. Stephen’s [Minneapolis] was involved with ISAIAH, Mariann was the pastor of St. John’s Episcopal in Linden Hills [Minneapolis] and was already a force for justice.
This is the bravest thing I’ve seen in our country in a long time. To be on a national stage, literally facing the President and to call him out.  I think she was actually calling him in to the message of the Gospel.  I encourage you to watch it as a sign of hope and bravery. May we all be so brave.
President Trump has denounced her and the message and is demanding an apology which she has stated she will not give.
Because of her words, she is receiving death threats.  I am going to write a note of support and encouragement to her and I encourage you to do the same. Perhaps indicate on the back of the envelope a sign of encouragement so that she/the church knows it is not hate mail.
The address is: Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal Church House
Mount St. Alban
Washington, DC  20016

*
A real note with a genuine stamp to the Bishop is most appropriate.  It took courage for the Bishop to make the very public statement that she did.  The least we can do is to acknowledge that courage.  It can be very brief.  It will be appreciated.
Jeff shared a very interesting data-based column from the Washington Post.  It is here.  If you can open it, you’ll find it very interesting.

We are a nation of immigrants.  In my own case, one grandfather and all four great grandparents came to the United States as immigrants.  Being an immigrant, regardless of legal status, is not an abstract issue is not a foreign concept to Americans.

UPCOMING: I will do mostly brief posts on assorted related topics in coming weeks, and would suggest simply checking this space from time to time if interested.

Norman Collette, and Jean Nicolet

/0 Comments/in /by

My cousin, Norman Collette of Winnipeg, passed away recently, and his funeral Mass is on January 24, 2025.  Here is more information.

Norman and I share a root family at Oakwood-Grafton ND; going back to Minnesota, and Quebec.  His grandfather, Arcidas Collette (aka Alcidas) and my Grandmother Josephine (Collette) Bernard were two of the children of Octave and Clotilde Blondeau of Oakwood.  Norman grew up in the area of Ste. Elisabeth and Morris MB.  He and I have met in person more than once, but distance and being in different countries made more collaboration impractical.

Norman and I shared an interest in family history, and while Norman has now passed on, I think it is an appropriate time to pass along a new revelation about his and my first French-Canadian root, Jean Nicolet, who arrived in what is now Quebec in 1618.  The story is in outline and text form here: Jean Nicolet.  The information was provided by another cousin, Remi Roy, whose great-grandfather, Philippe, was our Octave’s younger brother; and whose grandmother and grandfather, Lottie Collette and Joseph Roy, married in 1913 at Ste. Elisabeth MB, the same community where Norman grew up.  The basic genealogy information is in outline form, but I think makes sense.  Remi also includes some narrative about Nicolet and LeBlanc (our connection),

An additional article about Nicolet from the Door County WI Historical Society is here.

The setting for the story:

The Collette family history is available on-line here, click on library, click books and scroll down to Bernard-Collette and Roy-Collette for the histories.

An earlier post, directly related, about Francois Collet, is here.  This post was updated Jan. 24, to include some information not previously shared.

The Collette’s in St. Anthony (later Minneapolis) MN is here.

Norman and I were from the same generation – I’m about a year older.  I’ve observed for a number of years that when our generation is gone, so will be most of the memories of the old days.  If you are reading this, and haven’t got around to recording memories for the future, now is a good time to start.  Years from now somebody will want to know what was life like back then.

Week One

/0 Comments/in /by

Best advice I can muster at the end of this first week is to not give up.  Find a few reliable sources, read enough to be informed, especially on your most important issues, then, most important, take some action every day, slightly beyond your normal horizon, and share….

Two of my most reliable continuing sources are Professors Heather Cox Richardson and Joyce Vance.  Under their names are a link to a post-inauguration post of theirs which as usual is informative.  I subscribe to them, and will recommend some others as well.  Support your media.  Some others this first week: Jay Kuo and Big Picture, Garrison Keillor,

In the mailbox Jan 23: Heather Cox Richardson and Joyce Vance.  I urge you to subscribe to these and others.

In the mailbox Jan 24: Heather Cox Richardson, Joyce Vance, Paul Krugman; The Big Picture; Joyce Vance

In the mailbox Jan 25: Heather Cox Richardson; Dismantling Healthcare

There will be additional posts the next few days.  Check back.

Inauguration Jan. 20, 2025

/0 Comments/in /by

The inauguration dominated January 20, Martin Luther King Day.  See a brief post on Jan. 19.

Jennifer Rubin says it as well about the inauguration as anyone, here.

Heather Cox Richardson January 20 column, here.

POSTNOTE: Heather Cox Richardson’s January 19 column,  is especially relevant to Martin Luther King Day.

 

January 19, 2025

/0 Comments/in /by

Tomorrow is the annual observance of Martin Luther King’s birthday.  His actual birthdate was January 15, 1929.  I’m always aware of how young he was when he was making a name for himself: in his 20s in Birmingham days; 34 at the “I have a dream” day in D.C. in 1963; 39 when he was assassinated in Memphis April 4, 1968.

Today is President Joseph Biden’s last day on the job.  A fellow blogger with much more of a reputation than myself, and a person I greatly respect, was unfairly critical of him (I felt) in their most recent commentary, and I did offer a comment as follows: “Sorry, I’m about three years older than Joe Biden, and I’ve watched this evolve over the years since your uncle walked down the escalator [2015].  Joe Biden did what needed to be done.  It wasn’t perfect – in the job he has there is never perfection – but I think of the alternative.  Keep, keeping on. Thank you for your witness.”

As is true with another hero of mine, Jimmy Carter, the light of history will be kind to the memory of Joe Biden’s service to this nation.

Other comments at this moment are superfluous.

Sat Jaan 18 2025 5 p.m. Washington DC photo from Carole A.  It was a chilly day in DC and there were few organized events at the mall.  Inauguration was two days later.  U.S. Capitol in background.

POSTNOTE: Heather Cox Richardson’s January 19 column, received overnight, is relevant to January 20.

A House Divided

/3 Comments/in /by

PRENOTE: In early December I sent a brief query to a good friend who’s long-time on the e-list for this blog.  I didn’t hear from him, which caused me no concern.  A few days ago, I decided to follow up, and in fairly short order came a reply from him – it appeared.  It was from his son: Rich and his wife, Jeanette, had died in an automobile accident in mid-October.  Obituary here.  It was a shock.

Two items worth your reading time: Heather Cox Richardson Jan. 17, 2025 and Laurence Tribe and Kathleen Sullivan.

*

The January 16 Minnesota Star tribune front page photo was of a divided Minnesota House of Representatives.

You’ll note one side of the House chamber is empty; the other filled.  It is a power dispute between the Democrats and Republicans, equally split.  The rest of that story is not relevant here.  The picture displays the insanity of divided government, and ironically it is happening in my own state; and playing out in the United States government as we speak.

Two days from now will be the inauguration of the U.S. President.  It feels, today, much like being in the eye of a hurricane.  All seems calm.  But no one knows for sure exactly when the chaos of the hurricane will resume and who it will damage worst or how.  The prudent persons have prepared for the worst, but if they’re unlucky the preparation will be in vain.  The hurricane is all of us.  We will determine it’s strength or weakness.  We’re all in the path of the storm.

I will not predict what the incoming President will say, though the temptation is strong.

This is a good time to remind myself and all of us that the population which he has chosen to lead is all of us, in all of our infinite varieties.  We are not two tribes in two distinct camps.  We are everywhere, friends, neighbors, relatives….  Here’s my illustration from years ago which I think remains as relevant today as it was in the 1980s when I sketched it.  All of us are each the tiniest of dots on this casual sketch I drew near 40 years ago.  I arbitrarily decided where I was on the illustration.  For your own information, where are you?  And what does that mean, going forward.  You and I and everyone else are the United States of America.

Today is the 25th anniversary of my retirement from 27 years representing public school teachers.  If you wish, here is my reflection on competition and cooperation as I witnessed it in my years in public education: Dick B Reflections

Probable next post on Jan 20 Martin Luther King Jr. day

Previous post here, which will a ‘file cabinet’ post about the upcoming administration.

Starting Monday night on MSNBC Rachel Maddow will host her show  for the next 100 days, emphasizing happenings at the White House and environs.  Her show is at 8 p.m. CST.

I listened to President Biden’s final address to the nation and to the entirety of his full hour interview with Laurence O’Donnell.  Both are well worth your time.

Forward

/7 Comments/in /by

As of Jan. 2025, here is the final vote for President.  I highlight the Kamala Harris vote as Harris and Walz were my preference.   I am only a single voter, but over 75,000,000 others voted as I did.  Individually we lack strength; working together in various ways we are strong.

January 20 is inauguration day.  I am not sure of my writing schedule, but at this moment, I want to offer access to a review of the recent past, and some simple suggestions for the future.  Most likely my inauguration post will be January 18.  It will be a recollection about trading conflict for cooperation.

In the days remaining in January I hope to offer some brief data points which may be useful to you as a citizen.  Just check in once in awhile to see if there is something new.  There is a “weather forecast” of how the incoming administration will act, but until it actually hits we won’t know what the “weather” will actually be.

In the interim, know, especially, who your local Congressperson is and his or her contact information.  Ditto for your U.S. Senators, state Senator and  Governor.

Get to know those who represent you, and communicate respectfully – as you would like to be treated.  Remember, you are not their only constituent.  For example, your congressperson represents about 700,000 citizens including you.  For good or ill, the U.S. Congress is, and state legislatures are, “we, the people”. They are “us”, not “them”.

Know who all of the other elected representatives represent you and their contact information.  Voters are the boss, and also ultimately accountable for their choice.

Attend at least one local meeting, such as City Council, of school board, if for no other reason to see who your representatives are, and how government works.

Be extremely vigilant about mis- and dis-information and be very cautious about what information you pass along to others.  Disinformation is a major crisis in our country, and we have good reason to  expect it will get worse.  If something is too good (or bad) to be true, it probably isn’t true.  If the reporter is known to be dishonest, the safest course is to believe nothing at face value.  This is a matter of common sense.  [The January 13, 2024, Weekly Sift is well worth your time.  I recommend subscribing to this.]

So long as I am able, I plan to continue these blogs, which are frequent and on assorted topics.  Regular visitors know me, some from long experience.  If you’re new, check me out.  I’ll add you to a subscriber list if you request.

Here are links to my last two months posts, most recent first, including if applicable the number of comments (in parens).  I find the comments very interesting and informative and look forward to them:  Jan. 11, The Felon; Jan. 9, Farewell, Jimmy Carter (8); Jan. 8, Pacific Palisades (9); Jan. 6 Politics (8); Jan 4 Larry Long; Jan. 3 Politics (3); Dec. 29 Jimmy Carter (7); Dec. 30 Bob Dylan “A Complete Unknown” (15); Dec 25 “Away in the Manger” (9); Dec 12, A House Divided (7); Dec. 9 Syria and the rest (5)

Next planned post: January 18, 2025.

COMMENTS (more at end of post):

The Felon

/0 Comments/in /by

Yesterday, a man with residences in New York, Florida and other places, was convicted of 34 felonies in New York State, subject to appeal later.  He apparently will be the first President inaugurated in this country as a convicted felon.

I’ll leave to Joyce Vance and the man’s niece to comment.  Joyce’s commentary is here; Mary’s here.

Personally, I feel Judge Merchan dealt with an impossible situation in the most appropriate way possible.  The debate will be incessant.  The convictions, of course, are only the tiny tip of the iceberg of the legal residue of his time.  There will be plenty of time to remember those.  The fog will lift….

I am a fan of the Rule of Law.  I’m not a lawyer, but much of my work was, as I often describe, “with, around and against lawyers”.  Without differences of opinion about what laws mean, there would be no need for lawyers.  Without lawyers, arguably, there would be no laws.  The matter of living in community is difficult even in the smallest context – the family.  The larger the circle, the greater the potential for problems relating to justice.

The man convicted yesterday was not a victim; rather he was a recipient of the consequences of his own deeds.  No question, he has some unlikely magnetic pull: 77 million of our fellow citizens voted for him and his pick for vice-president; only 75 million for my preferred candidates, Harris/Walz.  Don’t forget that four years earlier, 81 million had voted for Biden/Harris, to 74 million for him/Pence.  Don’t ever forget the very real and very positive legacy Biden/Harris leave behind as accomplishments the last four years.

Remember as we go forward, there are 1.3 million practicing lawyers in the United States; and over 30,000 Federal and state judges.  Judge Merchan, yesterday, said that during the trial there were 33 other trials in various stages in the same courts building.  Behind the spotlight are infinite numbers of very good  lawyers and judges (one of who is Merchan).  You probably know some lawyer, or maybe even some judge, in person.  They are people too.

In a nation of nearing 340,000,000 people with a near 240 year history, the potential for differences of opinion are infinite.

I have frequently made reference to a booklet published in 1959 by the American Bar Association for Law Day.  I offer it again, here, for your education.  It is in four parts only because my scanner was not behaving itself at the time.  It totals 50 pages.

(1) Law Day Am Bar Assoc 1959 (cover to 17); (2) Law Day (2) Am Bar Assoc 1959(18-24); (3) Law Day (3) Am Bar Assoc 1959 (25-43); (4) Law Day (4) Am Bar Assoc 1959 (44-52).  My favorite is “Law in a Treehouse World” found on page 49.

POSTNOTE:

As noted above, my career was “with, around and against lawyers”, dealing with issues related to employee relations and negotiated contracts.  What I learned, I largely learned on the job.  One of the abiding insights was an awareness that the only criteria about the ruling of a judge or an arbitrator or similar was “does the ruling make sense?”  Anytime I heard a lawyer utter the word “clearly”, I was pretty sure things were not all that “clear”.  On and on.  The word “evidence” early on came to have meaning; it was much more than a complaint.  It is easy to get irritated with rulings and procedures and appeals, but all of these are well grounded in Law and legal tradition.  And there are mistakes made.  The members of the fraternity of the law are the ones who have the interesting conversations, I’m certain.

In my memory, my most coveted award was something the Oppenheimer law firm legal eagles called the “Greek Grappler Award”, which they granted for a few years to a most deserving (said with tongue firmly in cheek) recipient.

One year it was me, and it was a few pages of a legal transcript from a hearing in Federal Court in St. Paul that earned the “accolades”.  I don’t recall the exact year, but probably somewhere around 1980.  The right-to-work people were attempting to skewer part of Minnesota’s bargaining statute, and I was one of those subpoenaed to produce every piece of paper and other record in my possession for examination in Federal Court.

I was not practiced at archiving memos, etc., but in the end I had a pretty good collection, I think, thanks to a couple of great secretaries.

That was the easy part.

My qualification for the “Greek Grappler” was the time of my testimony, in which I was doing my best to be truthful, but apparently flummoxed the Big City Lawyer attempting to skewer me.  His mistake was thinking that I actually knew something that I really didn’t.  I was working day to day, doing the best I could.

In the end, the case ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court and the Union prevailed and the ruling stayed basically intact for about 40 years.  I’d like to think it was me who made the difference, but the Greek Grappler award brings me down to human level….

The Law is a search for truth, and even those who thing they’ve got a winning strategy to escape and evade it are not always correct.

 

Farewell, Jimmy

/0 Comments/in /by

Today is the celebration of Jimmy Carter’s life at the National Cathedral in Washington DC.

December 30, 2024, I did a post about President Carter, and this week, Chuck Woolery sent me his comments. which appear in the comments section of the December 30 post, and which I recommend to you on this date, as both a tribute to Jimmy Carter, and an invitation to action as a citizen.  Scroll down to the long comment “from Chuck”.

Farewell, Jimmy.  You showed up.

*

The funeral service is over.

Here is a photo from the second time I saw Jimmy Carter in person, at the Augsburg University Nobel Peace Prize Forum, Minneapolis, March 6, 2015.  He was 90, and he gave a great talk, focused on Human Rights, as I recall.

Jimmy Carter, Minneapolis, March 6, 2015

COMMENTS:

from Dick: a question came up from someone about Jimmy Carter’s religion (Baptist) and where the funeral was held (the National Cathedral in Washington).  Over recent history, so far as I know, state funerals for Catholic President (Kennedy) was St. Matthew’s Cathedral in D.C., and for others – apparently all Christians to date – at National Cathedral (Episcopal).  To my knowledge there is no rule, nor even necessarily a tradition about this practice.

from Norm:  Just a beautiful service and memorial to President Carter and to all of the values that he and America stand for!

I do wonder, however, what President Obama and President elect, Trump, talked about when sitting side by side for two plus hours other than where is the bathroom! 😬😂
Carter was everything that Trump is not, nor ever will be nor ever plans or wants to be!

response from Dick:  It was a powerful tribute to a great President.  About the past-presidents, understood.  What I think we fail to realize these days is that power folks at every level, every working day, have to deal with people they don’t agree with about impossible issues that they can’t avoid (I’m being kind).  Remember Truman’s “The buck stops here”?  It’s part of the job of President in a pluralistic society; or Governor, or Senator, or House member….

We lose perspective these days because we don’t have to sit next to somebody we disagree with.  We can curse at each other screen to screen, and not face a punch in the face!  In an hour, at this same screen, I’ll be joining a zoom call during which I’ll probably be asked to say a few words.  It’s just a book club my cousin asked me to participate in.  I’ll see some of the people.  Except for her, I’ll know no one.  Not everybody will be seen, you know the drill.  Compare it with what you describe, two of the most powerful people in the world sitting next to each other at a funeral knowing that they’re on national television before probably millions of people!  All they know for sure is that they might be on television.

What we have to recover is the ability to be civil with people with whom we disagree.  This isn’t easy.  Both sides have to be willing.

 I do wonder what the incoming President was and is thinking.  He’s not known for the kinds of behaviors President Carter was being eulogized for, or how Jerry Ford, Andrew Young, Walter Mondale and others are remembered as being.  Not only that, he has the additional self-imposed burden of coming into office under a pretty dark cloud.  No need for details.  You know.

There are interesting days ahead, to say the very least.


from Molly:

I listened to part of President Carter’s memorial service today.
It reminded me of the following brief poem by e.e. cummings.
Blessings,
Molly
——————————————-

a great 
man 
is 
gone. Tall as the truth was who; and 
wore his 
… life 
like a … 
sky.

           e.e. cummings

from Cindy: I view Jimmy Carter’s passing and funeral as the last great act of service and patriotism that he could provide to our country. Besides taking the spotlight off the orange man for a couple of weeks, his legacy stood before us in stark contrast to what we are about to face in the While House. I dare say that everyone there, save the Trumps, was in total agreement with what all the speakers had to say and the beautiful music shared with us. DJT was there so he could finally be on TV again, and miss-nose-in-the-air looked as though she’d rather be anywhere else. The memorial service was a beautiful event, filled with memories and humor, history and personal stories. I was reminded of much of his legislation that I’d forgotten or was barely aware of at the time. Rest in Peace, you Gen Z-er!

from Flo: We’ve often missed everything on our TV and radio, but service was so poor this afternoon that we couldn’t even get on the TV or our computers – System Wide Failure. All’s well now. Such is life in the fast lane. Just wish the news could be better all around the world!

from Dick, January 10, 5 a.m.: I watched the service at the National Cathedral yesterday morning.  Heather Cox Richardson does an outstanding writeup of what we all witnessed, here.  Late in the day came the Supreme Court decision that another ex-president can be sentenced today in New York: the first president convicted of a felony ever, I gather.

I looked through my photo file from the second, and only,  time I saw and listened to Jimmy Carter up close and in person, March 6, 2015.  (The first time was truly memorable, at the. old Minneapolis Auditorium, in 1978, when Carter came to defend the decision to create the Boundary Waters Conservation Area, and support a local candidate for Congress.  I recall a packed house with lots of people carrying “STOP” signs, and enroute into the hall having to walk through a phalanx of chanting people in grocery bag masks protesting the Shah of Iran.  Some memories stick….  Jimmy is at peace; to us that wish as well….

from Fred:  I am a longtime reader and supporter of American Heritage magazine, home to the best journal on American history since its inception. Perhaps I have forwarded a copy before but thought you would like this tribute, in the form of past articles about Jimmy Carter. Upon learning of Carter’s death, I thought of you and folks like you, Carter included, who untiringly expend great energy in advancing peace in the world.

The magazine is free, donations accepted, and has a searchable library of past articles. It is a great resource for almost any topic.
Jimmy Carter was truly a great American. I saw him but did not meet him when he was in St. Paul working on a three-house Habitat for Humanity on the lower east side where Dave and I taught.

Pacific Palisades

/5 Comments/in /by

Last night, we learned of the Pacific Palisades fire not long after the residents of Pacific Palisades itself.  That is the nature of today’s instant communication. world wide.  As I write, the city sounds as if it has essentially been destroyed.  At moments like this, one feels helpless, whether on the scene or far away.

Yes, fires are common, and floods, and on and on.  We tend to treat them as routine.  They are not.

The first thing I did last night was to fix, for myself, where Pacific Palisades was.  I knew it was part of Los Angeles metro, which is immense. Here is the Los Angeles Times reports which I presume will be updated often.  Thanks to on-line maps, here is the city and environs.

I actually know very few people in California, our nations most populous state with near 40 million people.  It is easy to say, “not my problem”.

We are all part of a greater community which is the entire planet.  Not only are we part, but we are all interconnected to an extent one could have not imagined even 50 years ago.

Today, it is a massive fire in Pacific Palisades, California.  A short while ago it was another massive fire in Lahaina, Hawaii; catastrophic hurricane damage in the east, especially North Carolina; last year Canada, on and on and on, everywhere.  We are not alone.  We are among 340,000,000 Americans and 8.2 billion on planet earth.  This is where community expands from individual, to town, to state, to nation, to world.  We’re all in this together wherever we live and we need the infrastructure locally available to help our neighbors in need, wherever they happen to be.  After all, we could be next.

*

Important note:

Beginning tomorrow morning, and especially for the rest of the month of January, I will have frequent and generally brief posts relating to current events.  First will be on the occasion of President Carter’s service Thursday morning.  I will not be doing the usual notification to the mailing list.  The daily posts for each month are accessible here.  For posts by month go to the archive space at the right on this page.  Jan 3 & 6 are previous posts in January, 2025.

COMMENTS (more at end)

from Ed:  The Eaton Canyon fire in Altadena CA is burning out of control in our old neighborhood. We lived in Altadena from 1972 to 2002 until we moved to MN when I was hired as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Metro State. All our old CA neighbors have been evacuated and one of the schools has burnt to the ground. This is an unusual time for the fire season, which usually occurs in October and November.

We are lucky in MN, just cold weather and some snow.

from Brian:  Good points!  I grew up in the Houston/Galveston area, and we had our hurricanes!   I’d watch trees blow over.


from Michael: Yes just unbelievable and surreal. All The local TV stations, all Last night of them, have coverage of what’s happening as of course I see on Fox News. They cover it quite a bit, so I’m sure some readers are seeing some of the craziness on TV nationally.

For perspective to anyone who might read this, I live in Redlands California, which is I imagine about 35 miles from downtown LA on the 10 freeway. I do have a daughter who lives in Los Angeles off of Sunset Boulevard. I was speaking to her last night and they were packing things to evacuate, but felt That it probably wouldn’t happen. We both were wondering how much the winds were going to kick up as they were predicting last night, they were supposed to get stronger at 10 o’clock at night and of course they did so we knew it would get worse but I felt and still do kind of feel that they’re going to be OK as they are just a little bit away from Pacific Palisades.
Anyways, I am certainly safe and OK as I am 30 miles from all that but the winds here in Redlands are pretty strong. They were 60 miles an hour just west of us last night and today I have a few trees that were in barrels if you can imagine that actually blew over so I could very well understand if a fire started anywhere, how dangrrous these winds really can be that they could spread a fire in an instant
I haven’t heard from my daughter this morning, but I am assuming that she is OK.
Whole neighborhoods burning to the ground certainly hard to watch. My goodness!! So very sad.
And you are going to hear about the lack of homeowners insurance here as it has gotten so expensive and many companies wouldn’t even give you a policy—much like auto here—-so people forced to get some kind of state insurance which is very limited in coverage. I keep thinking now about after the fires are out. This is just going to be a devastating cost, and because of those insurance concerns some of these people are not going to be able to rebuild.
Anyway, will hope for the best, thank you for your concern. Hello to the group

from Dick, Friday morning Jan. 10:  Today at my usual coffee, the ‘church guys’ were conversing at the next table.  I wasn’t eaves-dropping, but the course of conversation in general terms seemed to be talking about dilemmas of things like insurance coverage, a perfectly reasonable item of conversation.

As usual, I left early for my daily walk around the indoor soccer field.  A are-haired lady came in about the same time as I did, and we shared the usual good-morning.  We don’t know each other.

Very briefly, as she began to walk, she said “I just moved here from LA, and I have friends who lost everything”.  It was totally unexpected, and impossible to address as she was walking away at a faster pace than I.  I could identify her by her coat collar – it was chilly inside as usual – so I thought I’d see her a round or two later.  I stopped and fished out a piece of scrap paper and wrote a note to give her when she passed me by.  Here it is:
I never did see her. which only means she may have been there for only a single round or two.  And of course, I don’t know her.  Such is how life is.  We all make assumptions about our unknown neighbor.  The chance encounter was a learning opportunity.  The note goes into my wallet in the off-chance that I’ll see her again, and sort of recognize her….