Brain retains what is most important

By Dave Churchill (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Friday, April 13, 2007

The other day, a friend sent me an e-mail asking for a copy of a column I wrote several years ago. I save an electronic version of each piece, so it ought to have been an easy request to fill.

Trouble was, not only couldn’t I find the column, I couldn’t remember ever having written it.

That is not as uncommon as it might seem. I usually write my column on Wednesday or Thursday for Friday publication.

By Sunday I sometimes can’t recall what I had last written about. People stop me at the grocery store or elsewhere to take exception to a column or to tell me they liked it, and I have to figure out from context what the subject was.

It isn’t just old age. It’s a function of having written a weekly column for many years, so many of them that the topics tend to blend together in the tiny space available in my brain.

A few, though, are lodged in my memory because the topics were important (to me, at least).

For years, I was on a kick about the term “Greater Minnesota.” I hated it, because my recollection was that it was a name that some state agency head came up with back in the 1980s to make it seem like state government cared about what used to be called “outstate.”

As population and political power continue to condense around the nucleus of the Twin Cities, it seemed (and still seems) that “outstate” was a more accurate description. Accuracy ought to win out over marketing any day.

Likewise, I wrote a couple of times about how outmoded our state’s legislative process is. Why gather everyone in St. Paul when we could do the whole thing by videoconference? Not only would it save money, it would keep lawmakers right here in town during the legislative session, where they could hear our opinions of their work quickly and conveniently — at the gas station, after church, in restaurants.

It would be a great system for Minnesotans, except for those who are lawmakers or lobbyists. Too bad the idea hasn’t gone anywhere.

Several times I have written about how lucky we are to live in Otter Tail County, a part of the state that thousands of people sacrifice big bucks and large amounts of their vacation time to get to every summer. We’re here all the time — how lucky is that?

There are some columns that I have been meaning to write for years — decades, even — but never seem to get around to. In particular, I ought to write more often to thank and salute those who send The Journal letters to the editor. The reader opinions on our editorial page are important to us, to our readers and to the community.

It takes a certain amount of courage to write an opinion for thousands of people to read because doing so opens one up to criticism, something most people don’t enjoy. But those letters play a huge part in shaping the debate on important subjects, and they help build a sense of community.

Some issues and ideas are no more than a tempest in a teapot. A few are important and will have lasting consequences in the years to come. It is hard to say, today, which are which. But some day, looking back, we’ll remember the ones that are important.

Dave Churchill’s column runs on Fridays. This column appeared in a previous edition of The Journal.