And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus

... that it was too cold over the weekend to ponder any potential column topic in detail, so what follows is a stream of consciousness list of a number of things.
Iowans are famous (along with our northern neighbors) for claiming that they don't let bad weather affect their everyday lives. Well, with frigid cold forecast for Sunday morning, Jan. 10, I decided to vary from my habit of attending the 10 a.m. mass, and opt for the optional 4 p.m. Saturday mass. People are creatures of habit, and after years of observing, I know where certain people sit for that 10 a.m. Sunday mass. And I noticed quite of few of them had done as I did, and they were also present at 4 p.m. Saturday. So some of us do change.
After President Obama's latest plan to control guns, I noticed in one of the Sunday papers a whole page of guns advertised for sale at discount prices. It has been noted that the president is the best salesman the gun industry has, because every time he threatens some action, sales jump. He insists he has no plans to deprive owners of their guns. But those familiar with Hitler in Germany remember that he first took guns from the Jews, and then later expanded the idea to include all but his select few. I do not accuse our president of that motive, but apparently the thought is out there. That said, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to own some of those rifles with huge magazines. Military training? Target shooting? Nomenclature is confusing. Automatic rifles are illegal, i.e., the "Tommy gun" of Capone era criminals. My 16 ga. shotgun was called automatic, but I had to pull the trigger every time, as opposed to working a pump or bolt action. And every weapon used in an assault is really an assault weapon, isn't it?
The nationwide (almost) lottery jackpot was reaching astronomical levels, and folks obviously were investing heavily in ticket purchases, despite the odds. They also had money to buy tickets to the newest Star Wars. I have never seen a Star Wars film, not even in TV re-runs, and will not now. As my German paternal grandmother used to say about space movies on TV: "Ach! What impossible things." And while I have had a lotto ticket every drawing (same numbers) since the game started, I think of it only as a less painful way of paying taxes. Because without lottery money, the state would levy someplace else to get the money.
A welcome deposit into my mail box each month is the latest issue of Big River magazine. I have been a subscriber for several years. And even though I do not utilize the Father of Waters the way I did in my younger years, I still appreciate what the river has meant and continues to mean for counties like Allamakee, which it borders. Each issue seems to have at least one long article and a bunch of short ones proving that worth, and since it covers only the stretch of river from the Twin Cities to the Quad Cities, we are right in the middle of it.