Political coverage and ads have taken a back seat…

October 29, 2012

Ellen/Reid: We have a little bit of Hurricane Sandy’s tail nipping at us this morning.  The winds are pretty stiff but not bad.  I can only imagine what the folks further east and north are experiencing.  It was fairly calm along the coast at Myrtle Beach over the weekend but the storm was offshore a few hundred miles.  All they had was some mild surf and a little rain.  But they really got tagged along the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Just a couple of weeks ago residents there were complaining that insurance companies were about to raise their insurance rates by double digits because they felt the impact of storms was unjustified.  I guess they’ve found out differently the last 48 hours or so.  You live along the coast and this is what you get and you should expect to pay for the privilege.  Why people build homes, even on stilts, so close to the water’s edge is beyond me.  That just tempts fate.  I suppose it’s nice when you’re having a gin and tonic on the ocean-facing deck when the weather’s balmy.  For the first time in a long, long time the TV was on this morning as I tried to keep updated on events and the latest storm news.  They showed a map of compiled reports indicating that every state east of the Mississippi was going to feel the impact of Sandy.  One of the unintended, but welcomed, side effects is that political coverage and ads have taken a back seat.

We had a good time on the beach.  Not quite beach weather but still good enough.  We didn’t do much other than lounge around.  We donned our rain gear and walked the beach on Saturday.  Hardly anyone else out.  Just a handful of people on a beach normally crawling with them.  People pretty much hunkered down. 

Felicia on the beach with Sandy at her back. Minimal waves, some flying sand and a storm parallel to us but several hundred miles offshore.

We stayed at the home of Felicia’s sister.  It’s about 500-600 yards inland and you take a golf cart down to the beach itself.  Myrtle Beach is redneck central but it was just fine.  My guess is the greater Myrtle Beach area must easily stretch up and down at least 35-40 miles of 3-for-$10 t-shirt shops and water parks and every imaginable eatery and store and tourist come-on.  It is overrun with people in the summer and if it’s not South Carolina’s largest tourist destination then I don’t know what would be.  It’s just bizarre in its scope.  For some odd reason, people sometimes refer to South Carolina as ‘South Cackalacky’ although I’m not sure where that came from or why they use it.  You could Google it.

But it’s back to reality this morning.  Bob Hall had one of his hips replaced last week and I’ve been in touch with Betsy so see how he’s doing.  Everything sounds okay.  Mobility had been an issue for him, not that he was in a wheelchair, but you could see over the last year of so that it was just hell for him to get around.  Hopefully most of that pain will subside now that the surgery is done. 

I’ve been summoned for jury duty at the end of November and it will be an interesting process.  One of our citizen obligations it would seem.  No sense trying to duck out or shirk the responsibility.  It just goes with living here.  I don’t recall either one of you having to serve.  Is that right?

Well, not much else to share this morning.  I’m writing during an early morning lull in my preparation of a morning item sent out for employees to see.  Lucky them.  Right.

The potential for change…

Ellen and a spooky friend. Ellen and Tim live in a St. Paul neighborhood of young families. And with young families come lots of kids.

In a few minutes I’ll take Betsy’s admonition to heart and take the first cautious steps in an effort to craft a new way, after nearly 10 years of the same old-same old, of writing to Ellen and Reid.  There will be a ripple effect in that whatever amendments are made in print will ultimately reshape this space.

To be honest about it, I am anxious about how this might go down.  But with anxiety comes the potential for change so you’re about to see if I’m up to the challenge.  Today’s letter will surface next Monday.

Last week’s letter might be the final installment of the old regime.  I’m still up in the air about how to treat Wednesdays (older letters to the kids) and Fridays (letters to my mother) but let’s just take one step at a time.

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October 24, 2010

Ellen/Reid: Rainy here for the first time in a while and it’s supposed to be for the next few days.  It won’t be enough to help my long-suffering tomato plant and the dwindling temperatures mean the little fruits will likely stay little.  But when you compare the 12 to 15 edible orbs this year vs. the single paltry fruit from ’09, I’d do it all over again, which I’ll do next year but probably with a larger pot and more, more, more Miracle Gro.  The container garden might grow too with the addition of cilantro and other herbs for cooking.

Henry and his posse of goblins. Unable to find a dog costume large enough to fit the beast, Ellen and Tim (and Henry) settled on a t-shirt to get Henry in the festive spirit.

Things are moving very, very rapidly at work.  I’ve been put in charge of a group of about 17 or so volunteers for the letter writing process, and the latest fire this morning is getting them all systems access so they can actually begin writing the letters.  Probably should have asked others to help earlier but training for the volunteers was on the front burner.  But I am glad to be in the mix of things for a change and will keep you both posted on what transpires (or has yet to transpire).  If nothing else it’s an interesting project.  It may throw something of a kink in my Thanksgiving plans in that I might have to tote my laptop up to the Twin Cities to be available for my volunteers.  I’ll keep you posted on that, too.

Your grandmother is sounding a little better these days.  She seems to be on a different course of medication and it appears to calm her down somewhat.  I’ve been calling her now every few days and it is good to hear her voice.  She always seems interested to hear what you both have been up to although she is uncertain where both of you live.  On the whole I’m glad she is in Grand Island and close to Ralph and Gayle.  It’s hard for them, too, to be on the ball with her nearly every day but it is better than her living in Omaha without family very nearby.  Somehow I’ve got to get to Omaha to retrieve some of those items that are in storage for you guys.  I’ll give my friend Pete a jingle to let him know of our plans, such as they are.

Played golf on Saturday with my singles group for the first time in many months.  It was fun and good to see the people again, although there were quite a few new faces I’d never met before.  On Sunday, Felicia and I rode to Myrtle Beach to check out a store and just get some wind in our faces.  Myrtle Beach seems a very hurried, fully-developed place where every other store offers three t-shirts for $10.  I doubt it would be the kind of place for either of you.  The only allure is really the water and the golf courses.  That is unless you like small theme parks and would-be zoos that let you look at captive alligators.  The beach is pretty nice although for miles and miles and miles in either direction the only thing you see is hotels and stores and condos.  Kind of depressing. They say during the high season the traffic is hell.  I believe it.

The local paper the Observer ran the article.  I’ve photocopied it from both of you.  The editor asked me this morning if I’d heard anything from any readers and the answer is: zilch.  But that’s how it goes for some of the more mundane topics like mine.  Now, if I’d called Obama a Muslim or Bill O’Reilly an honest journalist, those might have gotten some people’s dander up.  Still, the paper wants me to write another column in a few weeks.

Glad you both got away for the weekend.  Give me a call sometime so you can debrief me on what you did and who you did it with.  Ellen, I’m sure Afton was a hoot, and Reid the Bay area had to be just a riot with some of your friends there.  If you took pictures at the birthday party for Andy and Steph’s baby, send those to me.  I’d like to see her.

Well, this pretty much wraps it up this week.  Not much else is going on.  You’d know if there was.