I went full-timing in 1986 with no TV, no cell phone, no Internet, no Twitter…no anything for immediate world news.
As I write this, the Iowa Caucuses are history and the close contenders on both sides are in New Hampshire fighting about who actually won. I can’t say I paid much attention to politics until the last 15 years. However, I was feeling quite young and spry when I started writing this blog, but after surfing the Internet for presidential information I am using a cane for the remainder of the day. I was born when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was president! That didn’t make much of an impression on me at the time. In fact, I don’t remember being all that impressed with presidents until June 5, 1960.
My husband and I and our two-year-old daughter waited with hundreds of others at the South Bend International Airport (it didn’t have such a grandiose name at that time) in South Bend, IN. President Eisenhower flew in on his way to Notre Dame University to give the commencement address. I saw his upraised arm as he sped by, the closest I have ever come to a living United States President.
As we all were, I was quite enamored with the Kennedys and their glamorous presidential days. Sadly, I mostly remember that I was feeding my kids (two by then) when President Kennedy was shot in Dallas. I’m sure everyone remembers the next few days of that history. But also sadly, I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention again until the Clinton administration. A few things happened in the meantime like sending my kids off to college, the death of my husband in 1982, going on the road full-time in 1986 with no TV, no cell phone, no Internet, no Facebook, no Twitter…no anything for immediate world news.
Everyone remembers exactly where they were during the attacks on 9-11-2001. I was returning from Alaska by ferry and didn’t hear about any of it until we landed at Sitka, AK, six hours later. From that point on, I paid a lot more attention to what was happening in the world. I’m not convinced my presidential voting has made any difference in the world but this week I was glued to the TV, closely watching the presidential candidate race.
Winter in the Wilderness, Minshall’s first novel (e-book & hard cover), and the fourth edition of RVing Alaska and Canada are available through Amazon.com.
At 45, Widow Minshall began 20 years of solo full-time RVing throughout Alaska, Mexico, and Canada. Sharlene canoed the Yukon, mushed sled dogs, worked a dude ranch, visited Hudson Bay polar bears, and lived six months on a Mexican beach. She lectured at Life on Wheels, published six RV-related books and wrote a novel, “Winter in the Wilderness.”
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