March 2022

Since I’m not fully sure of where this is going I’ll borrow an old Moody Blues album title, “Seventh Sojourn” and morph it, adding another journey, this one on my own. If you have read past columns of mine you may have picked up on my affiliation for music and that’s where I can still see that Moody’s album cover in my mind from the 1970s, and yes, I still would be likely to crank up the volume on their signature song, “I’m Just a Singer in a Rock and Roll Band”. Today though, decades later, the eighth sojourn finds me walking into the Coffee Landing in downtown International Falls. It’s a fine March winter morning with abundant sunshine and single degree temperatures.

A 62-year-old movie came our way this past week, a story even older with overtones for today. His 1960 “Elmer Gantry” film performance, based upon a Sinclair Lewis novel, brought Burt Lancaster that year’s Oscar Award. Sinclair Lewis’ writings were masters of satire, especially here in our backyards, and that generates reflection.