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Holiday Letter 2025
Here it is early 2026 already and I’m just getting to my holiday Letter. 2025 was long, significant, and hard. For all the things that were good and I’m proud of, it was a difficult year I was happy to put to bed.
The year began with the bustle of moving into our new home. Shae and I bought a 1910 turnkey house in Leavenworth, Kansas at the end of last year and because she is a wonder it was quickly unpacked and decorated. Our things merged nicely and we only had to purchase a handful of items to have a beautiful tricked out house.
Shae, being a photographer has a great eye for light, composition, and color and I live in a house way cuter and put together than I have any right to. I have made good use of the kitchen to put out mostly healthy, scratch cooking, increasingly on a budget as the year progressed.
We have a formal dining room and got a nice dining room table to match my grandma’s china cabinet. We put it to good use with game nights and monthly gatherings of friends and associates. Shae has the Illuminati card game one of my particular favorites and we had several great games. Shae and I played a lot of chess and then Carcassone this year.
I continued my election organizing with the https://newamerican.community We posted over 100 learn articles based on needs identified in a comprehensive survey. We made contact with lots of County party organizations and provided fundraising and technical support to 20 different organizations. The County Party Orgs have a lot of potential but need a lot of consistent mentoring and follow up to make qualitative capacity improvements.
We also fought troubled private prison provider CoreCivic, who sought to reopen their troubled facility as an ICE detention facility. They applied for a permit in February and I wrote a blistering op ed to the LV Times calling for the permit to be rejected. A couple days later they withdrew from the permitting process and announced they were going to reopen.
I continued to write op eds and helped form a local opposition group and worked with regional allies to encourage the city of Leavenworth to defend their land rights. Leavenworth sued and won a temporary injunction. CoreCivic sued and lost. Appeals are pending with a hearing in February and CoreCivic applied for that permit with hearings scheduled in the spring.
Being part of a movement that is the only local community to stop an ICE detention facility has been satisfying. Here’s a link to one of my op eds if you want to learn more: https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article303489741.html
Through all the organizing and activism I brought the Practical Guide to Building a Better World through the publishing process. I had a book release in Leavenworth and follow up events Columbia, Toledo, Farmington Michigan, and Bowling Green Ohio. You can get books directly from the publisher: https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world
I’ve had lots of media attention, more for the CoreCivic organizing then the book, unfortunately. The highlight was the NY Times coverage of The Pots and Pans March but my profile didn’t make the piece. I did get a nice profile in Voyage Minnesota.
https://voyageminnesota.com/interview/meet-mike-trapp-of-leavenworth-kansas/
The best book sales event I did was a training on working with homeless folks with the Missouri United Methodist Church homeless ministry team. It was a well attended powerful event and I got paid and sold a bunch of books. I have scheduled the training with the Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia for Saturday April 2nd. I hope to schedule more of those next year.
Last year we started Clear Creek Solutions LLC to manage the PAC. The consulting firm now pays the bills and the PAC is a volunteer effort. Our big contract is with Https: AnneforKansas.com Anne Peralker is an immigration attorney and moderate Kansas mom who is on fire to defend the constitution and the rule of law. She has a trust buster sensibility and when Kansas sends her as the first Democratic Senator since 1932 she will be the harbinger of the new FDR who will restore the federal system and address inequality and affordability.
In addition to the protest stuff I’ve been making the rounds doing some poetry and supporting the local arts. My gig work hasn’t paid as well this year and my savings are depleted so I’ve had to cut back. Shae has done well and is picking up the slack.
She took us and the boys to Chicago this summer and Seattle for Christmas. Aside from some trips to Columbia and a quick trip to OKC when Shae lost her brother and the book tour I’ve stuck close to home.
I stick with the gym and have had a year of physical training. I’m down to about 205, 15 pounds from my target weight and packed on muscle. I’ve corrected my posture and gait issues that were chewing up my knees. I’m almost bone on bone, but I hope to stay off knee replacements for another 3 years. I also resolved my fatty liver disease and have a clean bill of health.
I’ve read some great books. Four by my editor at Bread and Roses Adam Gnade, a book on military strategy I got a lot out of (I have to read Clausewitz), a book on Kansas petroglyphs, On Authoritarianism, Rules for Radicals (5th time or so) and other great books. My favorite was about Boss Tom Pendergast which was great in local history and practical politics.
Next year I am wrapping up at the gym and looking to improve my fitness with more activity and at the Leavenworth Community Center. I am going to do 4 weeks of Stoic spiritual exercises starting next Wednesday and inviting others to participate with me.
Look for at least a weekly post on developing virtuous habits and having a happy flow of life. I also plan to do more book promotion and continue to look for a career type job because of the insurance thing.
Thanks for sticking with me constant reader. I hope your next year is happy, healthy, and blessed.
Happy Interdependence Day
After a couple of hectic days at home we packed up and headed back to Columbia. We got a room at The Spa on Spruce, as the hot tub and backyard garden make it feel more like a vacation.
I did a podcast yesterday morning and had a campaign meeting with a Senate candidate yesterday. It’s exciting to open a second front on the war against authoritarianism with moving to fire a Kansas Senator who gutted Medicaid when he knows how devastating it will be to his constituents.
The podcast was heavy on CoreCivic, the troubled private prison we are working to keep from becoming an ICE detention facility back in Leavenworth. I’ll share the link when it comes out. Earlier in the week a story by the Marshall Project came out. The Guardian ran it so it was nice to get some national/international coverage. https://www.themarshallproject.org/2025/07/01/leavenworth-kansas-immigration-prison-fight
Today it was grocery shopping, hot tubbing, and off to the beach at Finger Lakes. Another family joined our picnic table while we were in the lake so we just made them part of our party. We’re going to catch fireworks tonight. We brought bikes to drive to the edge of traffic and park and ride in.
Tomorrow it’s a quarry lake party and a neighborhood festival. Sunday we make our way home. Things heat up at CoreCivic with the next hearing taking place at 10:00. Follow along for updates. Here’s a flyer on my book reading in CoMo. If you’re in the area you should come.
The Practical Guide to Building a Better World
I can’t believe I wrote a book. What was only an idea at the end of 2023 is this giant beautiful thing becoming more real every day. The milestones have come so thick I have not been able to celebrate each one. Today I want to acknowledge the ISBN #
The Library of Congress is under attack. The President fired the Head Librarian without cause and claims to have appointed the Deputy Director of Commerce, I think, as its head. The staff there point to the name and the fact that the president has no power over the Library of Congress and had two folks escorted from the property. The alleged new acting chief librarian has not yet tried to enter.
Having a book enter the Library of Congress has been something I’ve looked forward to as I moved my manuscript from rough draft to a perfected piece of physical media. I am not surprised that every good thing is under attack. A would-be authoritarian’s desire to control the Library of Congress is understandable. Preventing that misuse of power is baked into the system. We shall see what prevails.
Today, I still celebrate and proudly share my ISBN # 978-1-939899-86-6
You can preorder at Bread & Roses Publishing
https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world
Podcast and Book Preorders
There has been so much going on my head is spinning. Achieving some big milestones is huge but it still leaves you to manage all the change and the innumerable details that need to get nailed down when you succeed.
Before I get into that some of the eggs have hatched in the House Finch nest in the wreath on our front door.
All of the projects I have been working on seem to be coming together at the same time. At the New American Community we have been leading the local opposition to keep CoreCivic from reopening their troubled detention facility as an ICE detention center.
Through our work on the issue we came to know William Rogers a former corrections officer who has become a leader in exposing their understaffing and unsafe conditions for staff and residents. Mr. Rogers was kind enough to share his story on our first podcast episode.
https://newamericancommunity.podbean.com/
On the literary front Bread and Roses Press has The Practical Guide to Building a Better World at the print house. Presales are open and we should have books in June!
https://breadandrosespress.com/products/the-practical-guide-to-building-a-better-world
Thank you for support and follow along here or at Https://www.miketrapp store or Https://www.newamerican.community for the latest updates on the book, podcast, and organizing events and materials.
Last night I missed a stair, rolled my foot, and ended up with a solid sprain. I hit it with RICE which has given me some unexpected time for reading.
I had picked up Steve Wiegenstein’s novel The Language of Trees. It’s the third of four (so far) in his historical fiction account of a utopian community in the Missouri Ozarks. I’ve been savoring the series with a little pause between each one.
It hits all the right notes. I am a long student of American utopian communities in general and Missouri ones in particular. I had read the founder of the Oneida Colony John Humphrey Noyes’s excellent history of American utopian communities when I was a first semester freshman and it made a big impact on me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Humphrey_Noyes
Steve Wiegenstein is also a fan. When the Columbia Men’s Book Club read his book of short stories he came to the meeting to talk about his book and he ended up joining our esteemed body. Being with friends with Steve makes reading his stuff a treat but the books stand on their own.
I love the Missouri history and geography and this book covers the very short and very brutal time when the old growth stands were cleared in 20 years. As devastating as the Civil War in many ways, I’m looking forward to learning something as well as exploring an important and sad time in history.
What I like most about reading Steve is his keen insight into the human condition. His characters are flawed and real and he captures the awkward struggle of navigating through life with the dialectics of our dreams and commitments and societal expectations and the yearnings of our hearts as well as anyone putting pen to paper.
You should catch the first book of the series for sure. https://www.stevewiegenstein.com/
The Language of Trees
Last night I missed a stair, rolled my foot, and ended up with a solid sprain. I hit it with RICE which has given me some unexpected time for reading.
I had picked up Steve Wiegenstein’s novel The Language of Trees. It’s the third of four (so far) in his historical fiction account of a utopian community in the Missouri Ozarks. I’ve been savoring the series with a little pause between each one.
It hits all the right notes. I am a long student of American utopian communities in general and Missouri ones in particular. I had read the founder of the Oneida Colony John Humphrey Noyes’s excellent history of American utopian communities when I was a first semester freshman and it made a big impact on me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Humphrey_Noyes
Steve Wiegenstein is also a fan. When the Columbia Men’s Book Club read his book of short stories he came to the meeting to talk about his book and he ended up joining our esteemed body. Being with friends with Steve makes reading his stuff a treat but the books stand on their own.
I love the Missouri history and geography and this book covers the very short and very brutal time when the old growth stands were cleared in 20 years. As devastating as the Civil War in many ways, I’m looking forward to learning something as well as exploring an important and sad time in history.
What I like most about reading Steve is his keen insight into the human condition. His characters are flawed and real and he captures the awkward struggle of navigating through life with the dialectics of our dreams and commitments and societal expectations and the yearnings of our hearts as well as anyone putting pen to paper.
You should catch the first book of the series for sure. https://www.stevewiegenstein.com/
Holiday Letter 2024
What a year it’s been. The New Year found me in San Diego celebrating with my friend Steve from grad school. I always feel like, if I haven’t seen you for a long time when I do we’ll pick up where we left off and we did.
The La Brea Tar Pits have been on my list of things to do since I was a kid and they did not disappoint. I traveled on to the Bay Area where I stayed on another friend’s boat in the Berkeley Marina and also visited friends in Concord.
I was traveling in a Dodge Grand Caravan that had been given to me to support my homelessness work. During this phase of travel I started to work on my book The Practical Guide to Building a Better World. I began with an outline of each chapter and finished that in the first two weeks of the year.
After visiting friends I went back to travel, dispersed camping, hiking, seeing the sights and finding time to write. I had memorable visits to Death Valley and the surrounding area before heading East.
Chapter 1 was written as I more or less drive across highway 40 across Arizona and New Mexico. I stopped at a lot of ancient sites and took a deep dive into Petroglyph National Monument. I stayed a few days in Gallup which I’ve always liked and spent a day in Canyon de Celle which had also been on my list for a long time.
I stayed in more motels then usually because it was fairly cold for van sleeping. Between completing 28 days of stoic philosophical exercises and building in a routine of exercise and writing I accomplished what I wanted to on the trip.
Coming back through Kansas I visited Shae who I’d been talking to during my trip after starting dating before I left Leavenworth for an epic road trip last November. It went well and I returned for a Valentine’s Day date and she and the kids visited me in Columbia as well.
I had left my job to travel and write but I did some homeless outreach work and related case management in Columbia in the Spring for a couple of months with 4-A-Change. My brother John has taken over the business since I left Columbia but as he was between case managers I helped out until he could hire someone and I helped train them.
It was timely as I wrote my chapter on social service delivery doing the work. I had some modest successes and showed I could still do it. I also did training on case management for volunteers with CoMo Mobile Aid and Loaves and Fishes and later for the Flourish Initiative while I was steeped in the local resources.
Mostly though I was struck by the increase in homelessness and the difficulties at finding housing. I also noted a lot more seniors out there. It’s getting tougher and meaner every day with services increasingly strained.
My romance with Shae continued to blossom and we took a romantic weekend to Excelsior Springs. Our spending time together led me to staying over more until in retrospect we were living together.
Adjusting to family life was a nice transition and being a writer is a good lifestyle to relocate for your relationship. I kept on pace with the book and over the summer I found my voice for the book and began telling more stories versus technical details on building positive change.
We started to look for a property to buy but we struck out on finding the right live/work space for her photography studio. We did find a great historic home and we closed on it just before Thanksgiving.
I finished my manuscript and began to edit. A month or more of that and it was off to the publisher. We’re through the copy edit and initial cover design. We should be having presales together shortly after the holidays and should have books in the spring.
We’ve been packing and getting ready to move early in the next year. It’s very exciting.
I also reconnected with some old campaign staff and organizers who were excited about the book. Together we launched a political action committee called the New American Community to support my organizing and to promote localism. We’re claiming July 4th, 2024 as our born on date.
We supported some house candidates with fundraising assistance and built a digital fundraising operation. We have been preparing materials as well as doing some election advertising around the overall disappointing national election. Mostly though we’re building for the long haul.
Our goal is to identify, train, and support an organizer in every county in America, all 3,153 of them. We’re starting with the hard ones first. Our big campaign for 2025 will be to outreach and organize with county parties.
We believe that especially in very Republican areas organizing to win an election every 2 years is not the best strategy. We would like to see county parties organized as community benefit organizations working to meet the needs of their residents whatever that may be.
Think Nationally, Act Locally is our motto so we’re starting in Kansas where we received a promising welcome from the state party. We’re also talking to Missouri leadership and have been well received where we’ve been able to make contact.
Tomorrow Shae and I fly into Detroit to spend the holidays with my family and friends. New Years will find us in our new home celebrating a late Christmas with the boys.
On a personal note I’m down 62 pounds since my 2023 high. After returning to Leavenworth I joined a gym and hired a trainer to work on my posture and gait. I have been discharged from treatment for my liver and my sports medicine doctor who was addressing my knees.
Life is good and I’m excited to see what adventures 2025 brings. The move, the PAC organizing and book tour promise another year of consequence and travel. I hope this year your holidays are safe and bright. I will close with an important message from Batman.
It’s been a busy time and I haven’t had a chance for an update. I wrapped up my job in Leavenworth 9 days ago. I have been bringing most of my stuff back to my house in Columbia, Missouri and brought in the last load Wednesday evening. In addition to unloading and some unpacking I cleaned house and made a good part of Thanksgiving dinner. Except for not making enough time for getting active minutes it has been a good productive couple of days.
I had a couple friends over and they brought the rest of the dinner and we had quite a feast. I put the most effort into the green bean casserole. I made my own fried onions for the topping as well as a white sauce from scratch. I used canned green beans as using them up was the impetus for the dinner.
I also did a turkey breast. I made an herbal rub out of local minced garlic, fresh rosemary and sage out of the garden, thyme, lemon juice, & olive oil. I cooked it in a cup of Northeast Kansas vignole from Z&M Twisted Vines and cooked for 1 1/2 hours at 350.
In addition to setting up my stuff I’ve been getting ready for my next epic road trip. I’m putting together my final box of stuff I need from home including: Jumper cables, tow strap, tent, drip coffee top and filters, collapsible bucket, checkbook, & the clothes I wore here.
Task wise I need to file for Obamacare, fill out my personal property tax affirmation, fix my PayPal, authorize my new credit card and water plants. I’m also trying to rake leaves and print a document on the 4 Stoic Virtues that I am going to structure my 31 days of spiritual exercises to ride out 2023 and start off 2024 more disciplined and centered.
I’m planning on leaving Thursday of next week. My last road trip I drove 5,000 miles over 2 months. That seems like a lot but it’s only around 73 miles a day. Gas is the biggest expense considering you have to buy food whatever you’re doing. I like to go slow, stay off the interstate and see all the outdoor attractions on the way.
My first stop will be a municipal playground outside of Fort Scott and I will check out the historical fort. Then on to Paola and Pittsburgh Kansas. After that I want to check out those 2 counties in northeast Oklahoma that are Ozark highlands. Then continuing south through the Oachitas and into Texas.
My first significant site is Big Bend National Park. A couple of weeks there and I’ll head west sticking close to the border and check out Guadalupe National Park and so on. I plan to go on for at least 9 weeks. After my spiritual exercises I’m going to outline and start writing a book. If I get my 300 words + a day and am having fun I’ll keep going west to San Diego and all the soCal sites Anza Berrega, Death Valley, & Joshua Tree. Then up the coast to the East Bay and back to Missouri in the Spring in time to pay my taxes and establish medical care.
All of this is subject to change. I’ve only looked at day 1 camping because if it’s cold I’ll go South quicker. If I’ve not yet committed and weather suggests an alternate itinerary I’m open to that. I did get a Federal Lands Park pass so that is an impetus to go west.
I started reading Empire of the Summer Moon to better understand the history of the area. It has filled in some blank spaces in my knowledge. I’ll likely finish before I set out.
That’s about it. Getting ready to turn in. Hiking the High Ridge Trail at Rock Bridge State Park tomorrow morning, raking leaves and seeing the Fried Crawdaddies and a who’s who of local bands doing their Thanksgiving weekend tribute show to The Last Waltz. Thanks for reading this far and please follow along on Epic Road Trip 2. Also please comment your questions, comments and concerns.
Grokking Starship Troopers
It’s been a pretty quiet week. I had to work Saturday so I haven’t done much besides work. We had a supply drive and it was more fun than I thought it would be. It was set up with the Governor’s office for her inauguration (Governor Kelly of Kansas). My board is all Republicans so it was nice to meet and compare notes with the Democrats.
I had a bit of a mishap at the end and it took me a goodly amount of time to clean up my mess. That shot most of the daylight. I went to this bar and grill Ross’s 20th Street. The Chiefs game was on so there was a loud and drunken crowd. The taps weren’t working so I had a KC Bir Dunkel which is a decent one. That and a Reuben and fries. A little puny but ok. Not my vibe so I won’t be back.
Mostly I’ve been reading a lot. I crushed Ursula Leguin’s Earth Sea Trilogy. Pretty solid fantasy. There was some good language and an interesting set of stories. I’ve also been reading a book on Salvador Dali. Diary of a Genius is our bookclub selection so I picked up a couple of books about him from the library while I wait p0lpfor it from Thriftbooks.
I set that aside for Starship Troopers. I read most of Heinlein’s oeuvre in 7th grade and it stuck with me better than most. I remember when the female pilot shaves her head really made an impression on me. That wasn’t really a thing in 1980, at least where I was from.
I keep seeing this meme with a quote from Heinlein that the people who really grok him like 3 books: Troopers, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land. I love Stranger, it doesn’t feel as right-wing as a lot of Heinlein. Definitely a favorite of mine.
I’d barely remembered Harsh Mistress. The only thing that has stuck with me was Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Not a bad lesson for a 12 year old. Its an impressive novel and has a nice bit on insurgency and revolution. It hits on his themes of responsibilities as well as rights. I can see it’s appeal from the right and the left.
Troopers is more problematic, popularly considered fascist. I loved the movie which was a bit of a satire and pretty clever. I haven’t finished Troopers but I don’t see it as fascist but it is authoritarian.
The two years mandatory military service to become a citizen is not necessarily a bad idea. I support a mandatory service period although I would count Peace Corp or Americorps or that sort of thing.
There is a lot on this HS civics teacher and his Sargent in basic training that point to social ills having their origin in abandoning spanking. Treats it like it’s science. In 1968 definitely a reaction to what was happening. We know I. Behavioralism that rewarding positive behaviors is way more powerful than punishing negative behaviors.
There are a lot of problematic pieces around those themes. He predicted America not lasting to the 21st century before falling to crime and disorder because of permissive parenting and lack of consequences. You can look at how the rest of the world handles crime and punishment and our crime rates and incarceration rate and see his these are BS.
I think I grok Heinlein I just don’t like him. He thinks because I only like 2 of the 3 I don’t understand him. I understand him I just think he’s wrong. Troopers is a rip roaring good war novel though. I’ll take it over art history any time.
Return to Valleyview
If I am posting it must be insomnia. They’re go the 2:00 am Baptist bells, two minutes late, like clockwork. It seems somehow unBabtist to be two minutes late, two minutes early maybe. But these aren’t your parents Baptists, judgmental and strident, but bland with projection screen throwing up bland hymns. Yawn. A little of that and I could sleep. Instead I have Organic NightyNight tea, still to hot to drink. And blogging my thoughts. See if I get them out of my head to make room for sleep to come in.
I didn’t end up calling in sick the day after I was up posting in the middle of the night. I did sleep in and take some time to wake up. Got my mumps vaccine. 43 years old without getting it, not to bad. The vaccine used to only last 7 years so I never got it when it became available. Now with a booster it lasts your whole life so it makes sense. I didn’t want to kick that can down the road when I would be even older when my immunity failed.
Today started early. I had to get going early and take Fido to a dog park friend’s house to spend the day with Ru the Standard Poodle who likes to hump. I think all poodles do. Fido likes him though, he’s pretty tolerant of such things. He’s easy going to a fault. I had to get there early so Cindy could get to her exercise class but she skipped it to have coffee with me anyway. I brought her some of the dark roast Sumatran I had made. It was good. Best of the lot at its peak this morning. She had broken out the French press for the occasion. I was a little sorry to have given it all away. I roasted a light roast Rwandan tonight so I’ve got something to look forward to. Cindy was dog sitting for a spastic little dog. He humped Fido too.
Tea’s still to hot to drink, had a sip anyways. I came home and dealt with returning some of the phone calls I needed to make. I started to write most but some is more accurate. I still owe my friend Amy and brother Bob a call. Still have an email to family to write as well. I called and did an interview on crime in the second ward with the Trib political paper. He had a 12:00 deadline but it wasn’t in the paper tonight. Maybe tomorrow. That Friday night to Saturday morning is a compressed news cycle. Saturday would be better anyway. It helps door knocking to have been on the paper that day, though you pretty much need to be on the front page and/or have a big picture if you want to get into people’s consciousness. My doors tonight I’d sent them 2 pieces of mail, been in the paper twice a week for a month, and had already knocked on their doors before and no one knew who I was.
Made an appearance at work, mostly just checking email and messages and off to Uprise to meet with the Fire Department Association president. He was meeting with the incumbent from another ward but I got to update Scott, an early supporter who owns an ice cream shop downtown and touch base about not having an event at his place. To much to do not enough time. Its hard to beat doors for voter candidate as far as efficient use of time.
I met with the Fireman, didn’t get endorsed but got a donation and the promise not to be organized against. Still a victory. They don’t want their endorsement to be meaningless and their candidate got beat last time. Drove down to Jefferson City for a meeting of the Missouri Cadre for Co-Occurring Excellence. Been a minute since I’d seen those peeps. I was late because of the fireman thing. We’re planning a peer review process in conjunction with the state. Promising. I picked up a committee assignment again and bragged up my campaign. They’re very proud and miss me on facebook. Nine days and I’m back.
Tea’s yummy. I put in my Michigan honey, the honey of my youth. Sleepy now, but not enough. I drove back to town and caught a couple hours in the office. Not real productive, tired and mind racing. Picked up Fido, he’d had fun and sacked out early and didn’t even get out of bed when I got up to blog so he had a good day. I’ll do it again next week.
Did doors with Ann. Drank the last of the Sumatran dark roast. It threatened rain and had a whole street of no one at home. I wondered if there was a tornado warning and everyone was huddled in their basement. Got a couple signs on the next street. “Bitchin'” a young woman said after I gave her my spiel. The listening tour is over, I’ve been to all 13 precincts and asked what was their concerns. Now I’m pitching myself. Starting back where I started so long ago was interesting. I am a different person. I have a comprehensive knowledge of the neighborhood and its issues, a confidence and a huge array of talking points.
Getting back my old walk sheets for my turf tomorrow. Will be nice to have my notes when I follow up with people for a second time. Even just to know if I talked with them before or not. Stopped by Jeff’s when it started raining. Did a couple houses in the rain but then my sheets got damp and its no fun any more. Got a better tour of his awesome house. Built in 1906 by a biologist who testified in the Scopes trial. Its a 3 story built of concrete forms 1′ x 1′ x 2′ with rock facing on one side. He has a pond with frogs and his fruit trees are in bloom. Very lovely.
Gave me the night of, and I do what my advisers tell me. That was a good strategy. We’ve had remarkably smooth sailing.Allowed me to do dishes and clean my kitchen. I’d had ants, so it needed to be done. No more stacking up dishes for days. Flow has a scrubber that holds dish soap and will start washing them as I go. Ants are God’s way of telling you you are a slob.
Made some fried rice. Was going to do salmon patties but had leftover rice to eat from Fido’s party. Waste not want not, Grandma Trapp always said. Watched a little news and went to bed. Now its time to try that again. A little sleepy and some Spiderman ought to do the trick. I’m down to the Annuals so soon there will be no more. I also finished The Order of Things, only took me 7 years. Have to pick a new book out. Maybe finish that book on the origins of intelligence I borrowed from John in the Spring. I could return it on my cross country odyssey.
Hope to mow, do a load of laundry, straighten the house, do an interview with a Missourian editoraiist. He writes on issues of religious liberty (the freedom from not freedom to do perspective [hope he’s going to slam my stridently Catholic opponent who criticized Catholic politicians who don’t act like Catholics claiming they’re following the will of their constituents] all before 10 when Vicki comes over. I have a public radio interview at 10:30, oh and I’ll need a shower. Seems ridiculous when I write it all down but you never know. Oh, and I saw a rainbow.
Multiconstruct 
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