MaryAlice Musings and More

I woke up to the radio talking about the superstition stories that are told about the "hauntings" in the capitol. One story has clapping heard in the empty senate chamber. Other's have statues moving, and conversations overheard. This is another day the ties us in such an old way to life and death, people and souls returning for the day. The spirits being unsettled, and what we did to try to appease and honor them. I read that Sweden does not "do" halloween, although they recognize All Saints Day starting on November 1st. I will miss my grandchildren's costumes although I am sure I will hear stories about their loot, and there will be many negotiations to have more than one piece of the candy at a time, and where all the candy will go and to whom! They have so much fun with their friends and the costumes (they are a surprise I don't know what they are, but they will put them on for me tomorrow!)...so we can all imagine our tricks and our treats....

There sure are alot of naysayers out here in D.C. They are feeling as if McCain will pull ahead. They are seeing many horrible attach ads on Barack Obama, I am glad we don't have to see them every 5 minutes of TV air time! My time with folks from around the US has been good, we are working hard to identify policy priorities and innovations. My room is lovely, the night sky is clear and I am off for political buttons tomorrow!

What a night! My very long time best friend Lonnie lives in Philly, and "she who never cared about sports" is a Philly fan, she knows stories about the players and just loves the team - amazing and now they won! One more team breaks the drought. Obama goes right to the people, and we hope the folks who were waiting for the World Series, just took a breath! And I am looking out of my corner hotel room windows on two sides of my room, and just soaking in how much I love our Capitol. It was in in 1987, when I was here for the Gay Lesbian March on Washington that I got this incredible clarity --- this is MY capitol, even if I am queer! This is my capitol, even if I opposed Vietnam, knew my country's leaders lied to me, no matter what this is my country. Whatever innoculation took place then it has never left. I never get tired of coming to Washingon, DC. I had great fun bringing my daughter and her friend to DC, I have smiled and beamed at the stories that my daught...

I am heading off to DC (unfortunately it doesn't seem like it will be much warmer there than here in MN) tomorrow.  I am participating in a round table with selected "thought leaders" discussing future policy direction regarding disability and employment.  I will see some of my professional friends from over the years, and I am sure some new faces.  I want to be passionate, clear in my purpose, creative and fully present for this experience.  I have been envisioning a world where we are all able to be honored and rewarded for contributions and abilities.  I want us to support each other in creating independence and acknowledging our need for interdependence.  I want to be clear who is profiting from what, and who is dependent on who as we identify how our structures help or create barriers for people to get the supports they need to participate fully.  So here's to moving forward and creating some discussion papers that I hope will inform and engage the new administra...

Tonight was the Annual Meeting of my local Food Co-op.  I have a long history with cooperatives.  When Sasha - 2 Year Old Daughter, Peg - Partner, and I moved to Madison, WI in 1976 -- we were about 2 blocks from the co-op.  It was  a one-room downstairs of a converted house, lots of bins, NO processed food, NO SUGAR, member owned and controlled.  A few years later the Co-op moved to a much bigger site, just as close to our home - Sasha and I volunteered on Sunday mornings for a couple of years.  It was something that we did together and she loved to put food on shelf and most especially to use the marking gun that put the price tag on the box/can/etc.  She loved it.  Over the years where ever I have lived, I have joined the Co-op -- I have lost track of how many memberships I have.  Lots... It is a way of life for me, this consciousness about my food, where it comes from, how it is produced, and the notion of being an owner - a part of the business.  Our Co-op is a little over 5 years...

Oh how I love the Bryant Lake Bowl (www.bryantlakebowl.com) - ,  it is a place where I have been over many years, with many different people.  It is the first place that my grandchildren went bowling, they thought all bowling alleys, served organic foods and they could get rice and veggies.  Today my friend Pat and I decided bowling would be a good way to start off the week!  We had both been doing fix up and other tasks around our homes and thought a few games in the late afternoon would be great fun.  Today has been one of those fall days that is a true reminded of what is to come in Minnesota.  The winds were howling early this morning, they woke me up,  there were strong gusts and it was predicted that the wind could be over 50 mph, that is some wind.  Mid-morning the winds were still blowing and it started to snow,  nothing stuck but it was the real thing - snow - October 26th.  It was a good day for staying inside, and I was feeling bad for the door knockers out there doing the ...

For the past week I have felt the closeness of today - the anniversary of the death of Paul Wellstone, his wife Sheila, his daughter Marcia, driver Will and staffers Tom and Mary.  I remember when Paul was first elected to the senate, I knew one of his staffers Bea -- and everytime I would travel to DC for business, I would stop by, sometimes with a purpose to discuss some policy or bill, but mostly what kept me coming was just a moment to say, have some soup in the senate cafeteria with friends, and enjoy the view watching as Paul and other staffers and whoever else would dash in and out of the office, down the hall, the elevator moments....Paul made me so glad to have him as my senator, and when I left MN - I still stopped in and was even more glad to have him be our senator for our country.   I was fortunate to just have a tiny glimpse and encounters with Paul Wellstone  personally, but what I was more fortunate to have, what we were more fortunate to have was him as a teacher, as a...