So easy to take for granted.....

There are days, like today, I wonder how I can get everything done.... then I think how do single parent and disadvantaged households do it and I have a much better perspective of how relative "hard" is.....

My middle child, Rebecca, just finished her league fast pitch softball and her team came in second place. This was after several months of her mom, my wife and I taking her to and from games and practices most afternoons and evenings leaving little time just to unwind and then Erik, my youngest, started Pee Wee football with a brutal summer schedule of daily practices from 6pm until dark and games on Sunday after school starts with practices trailing off to three times a week and games. They're happy and healthy, but how many kids never had a shot at these activities because of two working parents, costs of gear and everything else, time, etc... you get the idea.

I didn't move to suburbia until I was 12, so I had little exposure to league sports. My folks did not have the time or money. Most of summer was pick up games of street hockey or football and then basketball depending upon the time of year.

We had the chance to bring all that tuna to the RI Food Bank today and take a tour of the place. It's enormous and they distribute 9 million tons of food annually, but they'd need almost four times that amount to be sure every household had three squares a day. A small amount of awareness and two nonperishable items a week per household would be what it would take. Somehow issues like Bolton, Roberts and BLB/Gaming seem trifling to just keeping food on the table and a roof over our head. This is where I think many intellectuals miss the point of these real kitchen table issues.

I met with Bob Weygand today. He's spoken to me a few times. I really like him. After we compared our observations from our recent travels to China, we came down to what Rhodys are looking for in a candidate. I think we agreed that it's somebody they can relate to while thinking the person cares about them. While I deeply appreciate how important policies and a message can be -- 8 seconds to connect with a person means it's smartest to be who you are and not who you think (s)he wants you to be. That's how I have lived my life so far.

We're going to find out in 2006 if being a good retail candidate is enough to surmount the heavy odds of monied candidates and those interests who back them. Your thoughts?