DEAR FRIENDS: LET'S NOT SIT OUT THE NEXT DANCE!

THE DANCE IS NOT OVER, MY FRIENDS!

During my six-year stint of living in the Middle East, my favorite get-away was Greece, and especially the island of Crete. As one who had spent a great deal of his life in love with his mistress, Clio (the muse of history), the island had everything an historian could want.  In addition, it had some great wines, good food, fine beaches and friendly people.  And, of course, there were ruins galore.

During one summer, I spent three weeks in a family-run pension, where I made good friends with members of the family.  Pavlos, the youngest son who was in his twenties, made it his mission to teach me to dance.  And so, he did.  Yes, dear readers, I learned the steps and went with Pavlos to various tavernas to practice my new terpsichorean skills. I did well in the initial stages of the dance numbers; but, as the tempo increased, my ability to consistently execute the necessary sequence of foot movements declined.  I have to admit I was pretty good for a rookie Greek dancer, but I was no Zorba.  

After a couple of exhausting dance numbers, I was ready to sit for awhile and sip on the retsina. One evening, in fact, I was more attracted to Bacchus than to the muse Terpsichore.  Why am I telling you this story?  That's a good question, especially since you are likely to be quite bored at this point.

We are now at a crossroads in our crusade to defeat the healthcare district, and we have reached a particularly baffling point.  From all indications, our opponents are going to miss the deadline to place the proposition on the November ballot.  However, this may be totally for effect.  In other words, it may be a figment of imagination and not a reality.  We will know for sure early this week, and your executive committee will strive to keep you informed.  But remember this:  the dance is in no way over!  Even if the the proposition does not appear on the ballot in November, you may be sure that it will not go away.  We may very well have encountered the lull before the storm. And the storm may arrive in the next election cycle.

Most of us are political novices.  We have learned much this summer, but we have a lot more to learn.  And the biggest lesson of all, I think, has been that we cannot allow unprincipled politics to have free rein in South Texas.  In a figurative sense, the dance is not over.  And we cannot afford to sit out the next number.  Let's keep dancing!