Trail Mix

Autumn breezes get voters thinking. That’s when they get serious about elections. And that’s when the pumpkins come out.

“Tons of pumpkins,” the handwritten sign boasted somewhere along the interstate.

John “Red” Heller had overstated it just a bit.

“Well, OK. Maybe it’s pounds and pounds of pumpkins,” Heller said, pointing to a truckload of the plump, orange symbols of autumn.

The unemployed construction worker had harvested his uncle’s patch the day before. He figures it’s the only money he’ll make this month.

“It’s getting chilly now, and that’s when people start buying these honeys,” Heller said.

An old political theory holds that voters turn conservative in the fall.

Springtime months bring thoughts of change and renewal. Bicycle sales increase. People go on diets and clean house.

And the politics of change thrives.

Throughout presidential campaign history, third-party candidates and other rebellious hopefuls have peaked in the spring. That’s when Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump got on a roll.

Support for John Anderson in 1980 and for George Wallace in 1972 rose in the spring and dwindled in the fall.

Many springs ago brought the insurgent campaigns of Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Pat Buchanan.

Ross Perot’s popularity soared in April.

But now the leaves are falling.

In this time for cocooning, Americans tend to look inward, cherish what they have and put off a search for change.

Heller, the pumpkin salesman, says he believes that it doesn’t matter anyway.

“Politicians never change things, do they?” the 37-year-old high school dropout said.

Before he could explain himself further, he turned his attention elsewhere.

A woman and her wide-eyed child had stopped to buy a pumpkin.

By sjwny, a Trail Mix Contributor

Recently I received information about my paternal Grandfather’s family. This wasn’t your usual genealogy consisting of born, married, begat, died. This is a history of a family going back to the early 1700’s. My cousin worked years on this, contacting as many descendants of an 18th century Copenhagen Merchant as he could track down. Cousin Leif wanted stories about these people. He refers to it as Family Telling. A majority responded & it is incredible: A living document about long dead people who come alive through letters, writings, remembrances.

I never knew 90% about this branch of my family before I read this remarkable work. Holy cow, 5x Great-Grampa graduated from the University of Copenhagen, became a teacher & with his twin brothers did their best to spread the ideas of the Enlightenment to colleagues in Denmark. Another relative was part of the “Golden Age of Danish Painting” who was also the godson of Constanze Mozart, widow of Wolfgang. I teared up when I read translations of letters my Grampa Hans wrote to his family in Denmark, especially his words about my brother & sister. Also teared up when I read the remembrances of a cousin who was taken by the invading Germans during WWII & made part of a work gang who cut peat into blocks for fuel.

The importance of words, both good & bad, should be honored & recorded. You will never be forgotten if someone remembers.

I would like to propose one day of words – only words – used on this blog to comment. No links, no videos, just you. Any topic. The beauty of the written word to be celebrated, read & remembered.

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By GrannyMumantoog, a Trail Mix Contributor

I feel compelled to write a piece about the Broadway show Hamilton. The reason is that I just finished watching the PBS special that originally aired on 10/21/2016 called, Hamilton’s America! This is an amazing behind the scenes look at the show, it’s creation and, most importantly, the history of our country.

I was watching the Tony Awards in June and was enthralled watching Hamilton win award after award, totaling 11 by the end of the night. I’ve seen various snippets of the show on YouTube and heard most of the soundtrack. I’ve seen/heard enough about it to know it’s something that I’m interested in. I will definitely see Hamilton the moment any local theater group presents it, as I have done many times in the past for other shows. It won’t be the same cast, but the words and the power of the piece should be transferable to any theater production. It’s tough to be a Broadway lover when you can’t get to Broadway, but we make do.

If there is anyone who, like me, thinks they know about Hamilton, the musical. If you’ve heard anything about Hamilton, seen YouTube videos, think you know what it’s about, even if you were lucky enough to see in live on Broadway you must watch Hamilton’s America!

Not only does it showcase the genius of Lin-Manuel Miranda who is described as a modern Shakespeare, and the other creators and cast, but it’s a history lesson. I would venture to say that it’s one of the best history lessons I’ve ever had about this group of founding fathers.

It was impressive how much the cast had imbued themselves with the history of the characters they were playing. I was blown away by how well they not only knew their characters, but how well they understood them, warts and all. I think what makes Hamilton unique is that they show how human and flawed the most revered people in history can be, but they also show that their flaws don’t cancel out the good that they did.

There are many familiar people in this program talking about our history and Hamilton, the man and the show. You’ll all be happy to see our favorite Senator from Massachusetts 🙂 She’s brilliant, as always. President Obama has a lot of very eloquent things to offer as well.

I could go on, but I don’t want to spoil it. I really want you all to try and watch Hamilton’s America if you can. If you have a Roku, it’s on the PBS station until 11/18/2016, that’s where I watched it. I believe it may also be on the PBS website and may be time limited there as well. It’s runs for 1:22.

I hope you love it as much as I did and I’m looking forward to some discussions about the show, the people involved, the history of our country and how this all still applies today and anything else that it moves you to talk about.

Happy viewing!

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Many of the reports on Clinton wikileaked emails come with repeated disclosures that the media organization reporting it has not confirmed their authenticity.

OK, so why are they being reported?

By Jace, a Trail Mix Contributor

We’ll greet this morning with fanfare! The ‘Masterpiece’ that you may well know and the rest of that masterpiece that you may not. Enjoy the music and enjoy the day!

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