“…We’d all be better off if we could not stop time, but slow it down a little bit, and live pleasant things more pleasantly and live the incautious things more cautiously.”                                        — Rich Ford

“We need the Americans to stay here to protect us from the Iraqi police.” This was the closing comment on “Talk of the Nation” the other day. The discussion was the war in Iraq.

It is refreshing to hear the personal thoughts of soldiers who have returned from Iraq, some returning from their second or third time and also listening to voices of Iraqis. Personally I object to television news. I like Charlie Rose. I still depend on the Star Tribune in the morning to inform me or to make me aware of what is going on. However, I am completely confused about the uncertainty of the future.

I would prefer to be in high school again where world matters and national matters didn’t matter. These matters may have been discussed when we were students, but other things were more on our minds. Looking back I don’t think our minds were developed enough to think. Of course, there were exceptions. Maybe it was just our crowd.  Of course then our world was smaller. I’m hoping it is more relevant and meaningful today.

Then the big event was going to the state basketball tournament in the cities. Occasionally, in the earlier years we even went to the games. This wasn’t the case our junior and senior years however. Instead of cheering the Packers on, we were being rascals (there is a better word for rascal in Czech my father used to use, but I can’t find the correct spelling in my “Teach Yourself Book of Czech.” Phonetically it’s ‘Shivak.’

Monday I had the privilege of attending the Rotary Club as a member of the Page Turners presentation on Leif Enger’s books “Peace Like a River” and “So Brave, Young and Handsome.” Leif’s presentation will be coming to the Austin Public Library April 30.

Prior to his 7 p.m. offering that day folks can enter the drawing at the Austin Public Library or Riverland Community College for a chance to win lunch with Leif Enger. Sign up April 1-21. The winners will be notified on April 22.

Terry Dilley, Emeritus Faculty, at Riverland Community College will lead a book discussion on “Peace Like a River” at the Coffee House on Main on April 16 at 7 p.m.

On April 23, a book discussion of “So Brave, Young and Handsome” will be led by Rich Campbell, instructor at Riverland Community College also at the Coffee House on Main at 7 p.m.

Students will have an opportunity to hear Leif share his writing life at the high school. In the early 90s, Leif and his older brother wrote five mystery novels featuring a retired baseball player named Gun Pedersen, writing under the pen name L.L. Enger.

I would like to site another Minnesota writer who lived into her nineties, a personal friend of Carl Sandberg. She writes in a chapter of “Strength to Your Sword Arm:” “Carl Sandberg is here. …He is so extraordinarily joyfully generous about other peoples’ work and always carries a fistful of clippings to show you … he likes to go into a drugstore and buy candy, or a hardware store and he bought me a knife with a more-than-three-blade ‘because you’re a Corsican,’” he said.

Brenda writes in “If You Want to Write…,”Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say.”

What student wouldn’t mind hearing this?

Leif will be coming to Austin as the eighth reader in the series.  My hope is to see students listening to Leif and students asking questions at the school as well as the evening program at the library.

Following his visit I hope to hear of more students writing and perhaps keeping in mind Brenda’s words, “everybody is talented, original and has something important to say.

I’m not sure that text messaging constitutes writings or walking around with Game Boys or whatever they are called either. Obama said, “Parents beware.”

I made an attempt to get on Facebook yesterday only to be baffled by the process feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. I think, by a simple twist of fate, I forgot my password.

It is not unusual for me to forget things. I find it a blessing, and it fits with part of a quote I acquired: “We must learn to cling to nothing.”