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Year-end wanderings and ponderings

Here we are at the end of 2018, which is hard to imagine. On Christmas Eve, I stepped into one of the handful of mini markets still open and the manager told me he couldn’t believe it as Christmas already. The State Fair was just yesterday, seemingly.

Yeah, I agree. The thing about Christmas is the windup is great… and then it is over. I’ve mentioned that before.

Yet, here we are – my last column of 2018.

Resolve this!

Last week, I asked readers to share their thoughts on resolutions for the new year. Anonymously even.

Now, I have heard from plenty of readers on a lot of topics. But no one who did write wanted to share resolutions.

As I read it, the most common resolutions are to lose weight, get more exercise, quit smoking or other bad habits – and broader ones like spend more time with the family, pay off debts, etc. Those seem fairly consistent from year to year.

Even if you don’t believe in typical resolutions, which is understandable since they fail so often, there are some other…let’s call them objectives… to keep in mind. Maybe set as objectives to make someone laugh every day, to make one more compliment per day, to never fail to express appreciation, to pay it forward when the opportunity presents. Easy things. Things that if they occur to you any time of the year, will make someone else’s day.

Just a thought.

Politics

While the Thanksgiving to 2019 is one of the slowest hard news cycles of the year at Minot Daily News, I do receive a handful of political emails or notes.

A handful of readers have commented to me on the mutiple-part recommendation MDN issued in support of Rep. Kevin Cramer in his race against incumbent Sen. Heidi Heitkamp for the latter’s seat in the senate.

How could we not? Would it have been better, more palatable to recommend Cramer over Heitkamp in a paragraph. That isn’t even honest. Both Cramer and Heitkamp have spent ample time in their careers meeting with our editorial board or talking to staff. Sen. Heitkamp is one of MDN’s most frequent and most engaging visitors and our doors are open to her no matter what she decides for her career.

While MDN supports more the political positions of Kevin – pardon the informality – it doesn’t represent the repudiation of Heidi and her accomplishments. We have full confidence in Kevin, but how would you feel if you were ethically compelled to recommend one of two friends and neighbors for community council? Wouldn’t you feel compelled to make the strongest case for your choice?

Thus, we did. It seemed the honorable thing to do.

I understand disagreements. But I also have come to believe in my time here that we are the kind of people who can disagree without being disagreeable.

Aren’t we?

And a very happy…

On behalf of myself and Minot Daily News, Happy New Year! We wish you a healthy and happy 2019, a new year for which we have high hopes and expectations!

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