KEEPING UP
The nation’s voices have been heard! And a female media person will moderate one of the Presidential debates, after all! Why? Because 200,000-plus citizens across the country signed petitions screaming EQUALITY!
Finally, after major broadcast media outlets, such as NPR, CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC, followed by national print media (The New York Times and USA Today), talked and wrote day after day about what a completely disrespectful (not to mention rather ignorant) “slight” it was to ignore half the voting citizens of the country, the stuffed shirts who filled the panel on the Debate Committee reconsidered their original choices for the Presidential debate moderators to include a female journalist.
It was announced this week that they have chosen Candy Crowley to moderate at least one of the Presidential debates that will be nationally televised. Who says persistence doesn’t pay off? It may not be much, but it’s at least a start! When half the voters in this country are women, it’s definitely time women have a voice in asking the questions and leading the way.
HAIL TO THE CHIEF!
Congratulations to former long-serving mayor of Fargo, Bruce Furness, who has been chosen as the 2012 Legacy Leader. First serving on the Fargo City Council, then for four terms as mayor, Furness had a front row steering seat during the most recent years of growth for Fargo, both economically and geographically. Furness also led the charge in making Fargo a Charter city within North Dakota, allowing Fargo’s Commission to set its course of independence from state laws. Mr. Furness will be honored at the FM Chamber’s second annual meeting on September 20th.
MOORHEAD COUNCIL
CHICKEN TO DEAL WITH CHICKENS?
Apparently, the Moorhead City Council has delayed any action on how they will “deal” with farm animals living and laying in the city this year. Mark your calendars, for the next time this wing-nut idea will be considered will be in January, 2013.
COOLER WEATHER = CRICKETS AND HOWLS
We have finally turned off our air conditioning and for the first time in two and half months, I have been able to enjoy the sounds outside my office window. Crickets. I’m not sure what it is about working or sleeping to the tune of hundreds of crickets rubbing their itty-bitty legs together, but it certainly is preferable to the roar of the air conditioner! We live in an older home, built before the 1960s. Central air would require new duct work and an extra ka-zilllion dollar expenditure we are too stingy at this point in our lives to make. Not to my disappointment, I might add. I look at it this way: when we have only three “hot” months out of 12, I really cannot see the monetary logic. Especially when who knows what each summer will or will not bring? Remember last summer? I don’t remember anyone complaining about the heat last year! As I recall, we turned on the A/C two times. I loved it, primarily, because I’m not a huge fan of air conditioning. It messes with my sinuses, and I miss having fresh air blow through the house. But most of all, I miss the howls of neighborhood dogs and the chirping of crickets.
In our first house, the sounds of summer were the neighborhood kids running around the neighborhood on bikes and trikes, or running through the sprinklers and seeing who could make the longest continual slide on the “slip and slide,” or booking it to Alm Park, only a half block from our house. As night approached, one of the signals for our two that bedtime was near was when the crickets began to chirp in a steady rhythm. We were in that house for over 11 years, and watched our children and many of their friends grow from toddlers to teens.
Our present neighborhood has only two small children, and as their mom is a full-time, stay-at-home mom, my guess is that those two are in bed (as ours were) before the stars are fully blinking from the sky. As much as I loved staying home with our two children, it was total bliss knowing our children were tucked in and we could still spend a couple of hours of peaceful relaxation together before hitting the pillows ourselves.
Personally, I have no idea how two-parent families manage the daily grind of work and family responsibilities for 16 or 18 or more hours a day, month after month for years on end —only taking a two- or maybe three- (if they are lucky) week vacation to recharge batteries, totally relax and enjoy whatever decompresses all the stress that builds. Maybe that’s why we have a national obesity problem and hypersensitivities to –well, you name it! The experts are blaming obesity for women, in particular, not only on eating too much and lack of exercise, but also on dysfunctional hormones! Who the heck’s hormones wouldn’t be screwed up working a full-time job, taking care of “x” number of children, trying to be a lover, friend and partner and still have a half hour to simply listen to the crickets? Ever watch ants outside scurrying to build their community “hill?” It’s almost enough to make a person wonder what we are “evolving” down to.
BELATED HAPPY AUGUST BIRTHDAYS to: NICOLE VERDE, CAROL ASHEIM, MARK REIMER, RHONDA REIMER, and BAMBI GRANT!
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