Moose poops and Obama

Okay, I'm sure you're out there figuring she's gonna write about snow again this morning. Well, I do have to report the latest deposits. First, we received about six inches more as the snow fell from 4:30 a.m. until well into the evening yesterday. I plowed the driveway and lane at 1:30. By the time Bill arrived home at 5:30 p.m., he could not tell I had even plowed.

So, he worked at it with the snowblower and the tractors last night. He was out there this morning digging out his pickup when I got up. I came upstairs to read my email. The first note I opened was from Annie sending me a link from the New York Times she thought I'd probably already seen.

Well, I hadn't. When I read the political commentary focused around a young man named Bryant Jones who was working for the Obama campaign in South Carolina, my eyes welled up with pride. The adrenalin was charging, and I was about to write a note to Annie thanking her for sending me the link when Bill summoned me downstairs.

"The mama moose and her calf are out here by the barn," he told me. At that very moment, still in my Bryant Jones zone, the thought of a cow moose and her calf standing out by the barn wasn't nearly as exciting as it would have been any other day this snowy week. I followed Bill outside, and we watched as Big Mama and Big Baby trotted down the driveway toward the road.
Bill was glad they had left; so was I.

Speaking of deposits, they left a big pile out there between the house and the barn. And, that's what gets me back to Obama and Bryant. I've mentioned before that Bryant was my student and my friend. Ever since graduating from high school, he has sent me Duck Boy calendars, Union Pacific calendars, and this year, a red neck calendar.

I have other gifts representing his travels and his involvement. Bryant graduated from the University of Vermont where he served as student body president. He later went to China and spent a year teaching English to middle school classes averaging 60-65 students. When he returned from China, Bryant brought me a calendar with artwork created by some of his colleagues.

While residing in Vermont, however, he took a slight detour from the calendar route and sent me some Vermont cocoa along with some Vermont moose droppings----chocolate candies, of course. Somehow, I could never bring myself to sample one, and I know they're still tucked away around this house somewhere. Maybe I'll have to go out there to the driveway, scoop up and reciprocate with some Lovestead moose droppings.

Anyway, what do moose droppings have to do with Obama? Well, it has more to do with Bryant and this morning's moose timing. Since he's involved in the Obama campaign, I'll just leave the link below, and you can read for yourself.

In the meantime, I'm one proud teacher, one proud friend and one proud Obama supporter. There. I've said it. Read on . . . and try to avoid moose droppings at a home near you! The link: ( http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/opinion/28cohen.html?hp)