George and Superior Visits

George on Thursday and Superior on Friday 

visits went well last week.

There was deeper discussion about issues in George.  We all have some issues that are important to us and we are in general agreement about final outcomes that we would all like to see.  The discussions focused more on how to get there within the governmental systems that we have.  Or maybe it can be better said that we have to work on changing the systems that we have in order to guide them toward the long-range outcomes that we would desire.  We are a society that wants things fast and I could see the frustration increase when we talked about working over a period of time.  We must remember that the journey in getting there is part of what shapes the trip and the outcome.  Layovers and weather delays can frustrate us when we are traveling.  If we dwell on the problems we won't enjoy our trip after we arrive at our destination.  It is better if we take some time to remember the problems, plan better for the next trip, and then move on to enjoying our arrival.  At least we made it safely and can use our experience and common sense for future reference.  I could also see some fear of the unknown in the eyes of the people I talked to.  This involves the idea of taking more responsibility for our own area rather than relying on large agencies with faceless voices on a phone or text from an email.  We have gotten used to someone else taking care of all of our needs, wants and desires, if we only pay the price.  But the price to keep going down this road is increasing and the system lines are becoming blurred because we all have
some small "morsel" that we get for our circumstances.  The ideal world to me has no one fearful of losing their "morsel" by telling their government, it's agencies, workers or politicians something that needs improvement.  Then, young or old, man or woman, rich or poor, we can begin working together on the better solution for everyone's benefit.

The Softail Saloon at Superior was a great place to meet people and I thank the staff and patrons for their warm kindness and hospitality.  There were people there who I found had similar interests to mine in our free time.  I talked to a farmer who had attended several auctions in the past where I was the auctioneer so he already knew who I was when he walked in the door.  This has been one of the most pleasing things to me for the campaign, meeting people and reconnecting with those that I don't get to see regularly.  We did talk about our state government too.  A lot of the talk was about the resurfacing of Highway 9 going on between Superior and Spirit Lake.  We watched a lot of traffic going through with the guidance of the pilot car.  I stopped at a couple of other places as well and found everyone to be friendly.  Even more friendly after I explained that I wasn't a typical politician type, just a common man from this area like everyone else who had made a decision to try to help make our area and state a little better than when I arrived.  The common thread here was asking if I thought it could be done.  You already know my answer is yes, if we work together and remember that we won't change things overnight.  Keep aiming at better, we can all achieve it.