Domestic Call October 30

Lois and I were the only group leaders on the call with Douglas, so it was a quick call today. We talked about the October action of writing letters to the editor about healthcare for all. And Douglas asked about fundraising -- how we were coming with our "bread bake-off," as he lovingly called it.

Meredith Dodson had her baby -- about eight days after her due date. But both mom and baby are doing well. They haven't named him yet as they are waiting a little bit to see which of the names they've picked fits his personality. You can see his pictures at http://rookieindc.blogspot.com/.

I reported that tonight is the final training session for our activists at the Muslim American Society and that in November they would be joining the rest of the Cedar Rapids group, who are quite excited about them joining in. Lois and Douglas were both very pleased indeed.

Douglas is going to help people in St. Petersburg, FL get to the polls on Tuesday. Lois is going to work in her Congressman's office to help people in Baltimore get to the polls. I'm going to work as a greeter in my precinct, welcoming people, getting them to sign the roster for the poll watchers and directing them to the correct line. Then I'll thank them for coming in after they've voted. My mother is going to come to my apartment in the afternoon to feed Piphi her lunch. I don't want her to go hungry as I have to be gone from 5:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Piphi hisses at Mom, but she takes it in stride; she just says, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you."

There was an older man who lived in Idaho and had always planted potatoes in his garden. But he was getting older and feeling too weak to go out and plow the garden. So he wrote to his son, Bubba, who was in prison. So he wrote this letter.

Dear Bubba,
I'm feeling too old to plow the garden for potatoes this year. I'm afraid without you here I won't be able to do it.
Love,
Dad

Dear Dad,
For heaven's sake, don't plow the garden! That's where I buried the bodies!
Love,
Bubba

The next day a group of agents from the FBI came and dug all through the garden looking for bodies, but found none. They apologized to the old man for the damage they had done to his property and left. The next day the man received a second letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Now you can plant your potatoes. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love,
Bubba