Say What?

Jennifer Knapp, Fallen I emailed Bill Bohline (lead pastor at Hosanna) this past week, not all that hopeful that we'd reopen the dialog we'd begun last October  but more so just to let him know that what concerned me then still concerns me now. Hi Bill, Is the time-out over? Am I allowed to speak again? A lot has happened since you stood before us on that Sunday in October and encouraged us to vote for the amendment to deny same-sex marriage...the amendment put forth by the guy who himself was divorced, making somewhat of a mockery of the entire proposal for those of us paying even the slightest attention. My wife and I lead a small-group at Hosanna even though I've left the church after our last exchange. Tammy still regularly volunteers on Tuesday nights painting the nails of little children whose parents visit the clothes closet. I would often be there to put 'Jesus' tattoos on little arms but that no longer happens for me. My wife and I were talking to...

I don't typically use my blog to discuss political stuff all that much anymore but I do want to make mention of some things for the archives so when I look back I can see where we were and where I was in my thinking. Talk about overplaying a hand. Same-sex marriage in Minnesota was (until very recently) illegal but that wasn't good enough for Republicans in our state. Nearly two years ago a Republican-dominated statehouse voted to place a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage on the 2012 ballot. Not only did that effort fail but an unintended consequence of the constitutional amendment was that it also caused a huge amount of support for its defeat which ultimately led to a new proposal to allow for same-sex marriage; a proposal which became law this past week. It's likely that same-sex marriage was an eventuality here but because of the over-reach of Republicans in our legislature it clearly came about much faster than it otherwise would have. Our politics...

I'm sort of geeky when it comes to yardwork. I keep a journal of when I fertilize, sharpen the mower blades, change the oil in my mowers, mow the lawn, plant the flowers and when the heavy leaf raking gets done. Don't ask me why, it's just what I do. I keep my yard journal out in the garage and was looking at some of last year's entries yesterday. By this time last year, I'd already fertilized twice and had cut the lawn several times. What a difference one year can make. I finally fertilized the lawn yesterday but I've yet to mow it. I suppose a part of my apathy (in addition to the worst spring season ever) is the fact that our porch project has taken over a good section of our backyard making it difficult to get the mowers around it all. I have a hunch though that this week will see me out there on the mower. Speaking of our porch project, Joe made some nice progress this week. I don't see much rain in the forecast so I think we can expect lots of activ...

We had four more controllers retire last week: John Manring, Lantz Wagner, John DeGrood, and Mark DeGrood. I mention these names and will continue to make mention of retiring controllers knowing that my blog is read by some retired controllers who will be interested in hearing about the latest to join their ranks. There will be so many more names to follow over the next few years. Mark and I have had such similar life paths. We both went to the same jr high and high schools graduating together, we both did four-year enlistments in the Navy and we both found careers as air traffic controllers with the FAA. I suppose I shouldn't have been too surprised when he moved into a home across the street from me 16 years ago or so. He and his family still live there today. He would like to have worked a couple more years but was forced out by the age 56 mandatory retirement rule. I think we'll both be a little envious of one another as he transitions to his new phase of life. I'll b...