{"id":2135,"date":"2023-09-06T01:42:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T01:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=2135"},"modified":"2023-08-10T10:08:31","modified_gmt":"2023-08-10T10:08:31","slug":"prologue-chapter-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/?p=2135","title":{"rendered":"Prologue & Chapter 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Prologue<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Kaboom!  The bomb went off.  Mass screaming.  Hysterical cries: \u201cPlease God, let me die!\u201d  A wall tumbled.  More screaming.  Now, police sirens.  Cops racing into St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral on East 51st<\/sup> Street in New York City \u2013 just a long home run from Trump Tower. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Some people dead.  Many more dying.  It\u2019s Christmas Eve, the year 2022, a little before six p.m.  The annual Christmas Eve Children\u2019s Mass had just begun.  Every pew filled with children and some adults.  The bomb went off just as the infant was being placed in the manger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     How terrible!  How awful!  Such a thing could ever happen \u2013 but it didn\u2019t \u2013 thanks, in part, to a tiny band of Minnesotans who, rather innocently, uncovered the unholy plot in the nick of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     This is the story about the bomb that almost went off, but didn\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Commune on Wheels<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     They had pasts, colorful, fulfilled and varied; the youngest age 60, the oldest 68; and in late middle-age shared a desire for more than memories and watching their kids make their own way in the world.  So, in 2022, they bought an old, non-descript, white with beige trim, RV Land Yacht and set sail to find anew the adventures of living in the larger world, a commune on wheels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWhen was the last time you talked with her?\u201d Sally was asking Max, inquiring about Eloise, the first person on our list of people to visit.  Leaving Minnesota, Max was driving west on US 212 and Sally was in the navigator seat \u2013 riding shotgun.  Previously, Sally had established herself as the group\u2019s leading skeptic.  When we met to plan the trip, Sally had said, \u201cAre you sure you want to randomly draw a direction out of a hat?!\u201d  Skepticism prevailing, we instead decided to go west first and make it south by winter, organizing geographically the names and addresses of everyone on our list to visit; some of whom knew we might be dropping-by, and some not<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Eloise was among the nots<\/em>.  Answering Sally\u2019s question, Max said, \u201cOh, about five years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cAnd she doesn\u2019t even know you\u2019re coming . . .   we\u2019re coming?!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWell,\u201d Max said, \u201cI\u2019ve known her since Peace Corps days, and we\u2019ve stayed in touch enough over the years to share life\u2019s big adventures.  Even if it\u2019s only a half hour visit, I know she\u2019ll be happy we showed up.  I\u2019ve dropped in unannounced before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cBut not with six others . . . you\u2019re sure she\u2019s still living in Boulder \u2013 Boulder, MONTANA?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \u201cYeah, she\u2019d let me know if she moved.  She teaches political science and history at the local high school. I think we\u2019ll find her, and somehow it always turns into an adventure whenever I see her.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prologue      Kaboom!  The bomb went off.  Mass screaming.  Hysterical cries: \u201cPlease God, let me die!\u201d  A wall tumbled.  More screaming.  Now, police sirens.  Cops racing into St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral on East 51st Street in New York City \u2013 just … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2135"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2135"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2137,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2135\/revisions\/2137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/andydawkins.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}