Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/dick-bernard/page/15/)
I “watched” the State of the Union address in its entirety last night. The word is in quotes, because, while I sat in front of the TV, I mostly watched with my eyes closed.
In other words, I listened, like one would be forced to listen in pre-television and instant analysis days which in historical terms are really very recent.
I woke early in the morning of Martin Luther King Day, January 17, 2011. The purpose was to publish #314, which is here.
In front of me was a note from my spouse from a couple hours earlier. It deserves to be presented, above, as I saw it.
On screen were a couple of e-mails about Duvalier’s return.
One year ago today — it was Sunday, January 10, 2010 at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis — I was privileged to hear one of the most powerful messages for justice I have ever heard.
The event is described in a blog post I did at the time. You can access it here, and it speaks for itself.
January 2 I was going through a box of old papers and came across a somewhat ragged green high school folder kept by my first wife, Barbara.
Leafing through the contents I came across an envelope, above, whose cover and contents need no embellishment.
On New Year’s Eve we had the final Christmas gathering of a few family members who’d missed the earlier get-together. When they left for home, the 2010 Christmas season was officially concluded, and New Year’s Eve was winding down to the New Year. I suppose it was about the stroke of midnight in Iceland, perhaps, when my day ended. Cathy was on the phone with a friend. Continue Reading
Wednesday, December 15, we attended Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis…
Friday morning, December 17, I was at the Post Office early, the better to beat the rush.
Even given the good timing, there were still a dozen or more of us in line, with one postal worker on station (two stations vacant).
1913 Christmas Card
Peace and all best wishes for a wonderful Christmas season and a Happy New Year in 2011. Continue Reading
Nearly a year ago, January 12, 2010, at 4:53 p.m. Haiti time, indescribable horror descended on Port-au-Prince and the mountains south of Haiti. Estimates vary, but as many as 300,000 lives were lost, and more than 1.3 million were, in an instant, left without homes. Government buildings, including the iconic Presidential Palace, were destroyed.
En route to church this morning I passed within blocks, as always, the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis. It usually stands out when viewed from Interstate 94, but today it was hard to pick it out: overnight the roof collapsed from the weight of the snow from yesterday’s blizzard. Continue Reading
My daily hangout for morning coffee is a very busy place, more or less the “crossroads” for the commuting class in my community — a community which would be considered fairly prosperous and definitely middle class.
I am at my station every morning, so I can see the comings and goings. I’m just a creature of habit, I guess.