Christmas 2009

We had a wonderful Christmas that included Erin and the boys coming to Des Moines for Christmas. It provided a good test of our smaller living space; but we had the condo indoor pool available; and Dave, Allison and Carter(their dog) only a couple of miles away, which helped tremendously.

We did some baking with the boys including some almond bark treats,

A one grandpa open sleigh

Presents

Drake and his Christmas stocking

It was a busy week and watching videos helped provide some quiet time for Erin, Drake and Blaine

A very, Merry Christmas for us, and it was great to share it with grandkids.

Another Reason to Visit Des Moines

If you need another reason to visit Des Moines, besides to see Alice and me, than the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park could be the reason.

Opening this week-end in Des Moines is a free, outdoor sculpture park that is named for the benefactors behind the project. John Pappajohn is not the pizza maker of Papa Johns, rather he is a successful, Iowa entrepreneur who continues to find ways to give back to Iowa. He and his wife chose and bought many of the pieces and donated them to the park.

The park is on the western edge of downtown and is free and open to the public all day and night until midnight. You can check out the DesMoines Register site: desmoinesregister.com/pappajohn-sculpture-park for pictures and more information about each work and take a virtual tour of the exhibits.

If you visit, be prepared to be amused, confused, and challenged by the pieces on display. And let us know, we only live a mile from the park, we'd love to join you.

Norman Borlaug

A great American passed away Saturday evening (9.12.09). Born in Iowa, he could easily be the most influential Iowan to have ever lived; and an argument could be made that he was one of the most influential Americans of the last century. Yet, his name is not widely known outside of his field of speciality (agriculture).

Borlaug was known as the "Father of the Green Revolution" and his tireless research developing high-yielding varieties of wheat and other grain resulted in significant increases in food production in third world countries that very likely would not have been able to feed its population without these advances. Some have claimed that Borlaug saved more lives than any other person in history.

Besides the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, Borlaug was also the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Only four other people have ever received all three of these awards (Rev. Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Elie Wiesel and Nelson Mandela).

In a world where the labels "hero" and "role model" and "great" are used too frequently; Norman Borlaug stands out as a person to be admired and emulated.

Woodstock

Can it be 40 years since Woodstock? For just about anyone my age (60), Woodstock conjures up some very specific memories. Living in the mid-west, there were few people who probably actually attended the music festival. I did meet someone from Galesburg who claimed to have attended. Who knows if he really did?

I can remember the news coverage on TV that week-end. I thought it looked pretty cool; my dad (who rarely shared his opinion on such matters) thought it seemed pretty ridiculous. I know the news coverage focused much more on the traffic, the mud, and lack of food rather than the musical aspects of the week-end. It would take the release of the film on Woodstock the next year to provide that memory.

The film came out in the summer of 1970 and I was working as a cook in a bar in Galesburg, (Infinity Plus One). One of the waitresses was a Galesburg HS grad. a year older than me, and I had a crush on her all summer. Finally, near the end of the summer I got up the courage to ask her out and we went to the movie Woodstock. I remember being really impressed with how well they tried to capture both the music and the community aspects of the concert goers. I bought the Woodstock album because of the movie and played it often for many years. We passed it on to our son Marshall who I hope continues to cherish it.

There's been some good articles on Woodstock (Smithsonian magazine) and cable documentaries (Woodstock: now and then) that have come out recently, that have been fun and educational to read and watch. There are always back stories that are interesting, like the couple who are on the album cover. Woodstock was one of their very first dates; they eventually got married and are still married.

The idealism of our youth and the counter-culture ideals were lived out in Woodstock, three days of peace and music. It will always represent a dream that remains unfilled.

Picking Blueberries

href='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNL7tQnHuN-dD2_YodZx3Z0zn81eumLuMex5jOHD-_pLJGV9yfCLSo2Bznem6Hybj_vzOIgfH-JRvBT1WpZlasJsj9gdL44QrbAfhefOged5T_Co1wyY5LfLEQ5udBpf7bKHFGdo-IPQwc/s1600-h/IMG_3865.JPG'> 
 
 
 

For a variety of reasons, I've had the opportunity to harvest many different fruits and vegetables in my life. Sweet corn, strawberries, apples, peaches, cherries, potatoes, raspberries, carrots, and green beans all come right to mind. Sometimes for money, more often than not for personal use. When we were in Washington earlier this summer I had my first opportunity to pick blueberries.

We went to a U-pick'm blueberry farm, which was similar to strawberry farms. You're given a bucket and directed to the rows of blueberries that can be harvested that day. You pick what you want and pay, by weight, for what you picked. Blueberry plants are about 4-6 feet tall, and the blueberries grow in bunches, but they ripen independently. So you are individually picking the berries you want. Of course you can eat as many as you want (I found I needed to test 1 for every 10 I picked) and I dropped a lot because when they are ripe they come off pretty easily.

Fresh blueberries are fantastic and we had them on cereal, in pancakes, and just ate them by the handful. We didn't have to climb any ladders or crawl around on the ground to pick them.

Maybe the only possible drawback is what our grandson warned us: "If you eat too many blueberries, you'll get blue poop!".

Going Home

Earlier this summer Alice and I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with friends Don and Cindy while we were visiting other family in Portland, OR. It was a pleasant reunion. I grew up with Don and we spent a lot of time together in elementary school and high school. Shortly after Alice and I were married, the four of us lived in a farm house together for a while; and, in a very 70's experience, we bought a van and traveled out west together ending up in Washington where we lived for a while in a little log cabin while we picked apples. From there our lives started to spin in different directions, but for a while there was few people that I knew better than Don and Cindy.

Even though we only rarely get together now and we've had long gaps of not seeing each other, I'm always glad when we can get together for awhile. Seeing them is always a bit like coming home. That time together created a bond that is always there regardless of the miles and time that separate us. I feel blessed that I have many friends like that from my hometown, from school, and from various places I've worked.

I hope that you all have friends and shared experiences with them that in spite of the years and distance that may separate you, getting together always feels a bit like coming home.

The Sixites

I recently finished reading a book by Tom Brokaw; Boom: Voices from the Sixties, Personal Reflections on the 60's and Today. Mr. Brokaw identifies the 60's as the time from 1963 to 1974 and, as the title suggests, he makes personal reflections and shares the reflections of others on the significant changes that occurred during this time. Vietnam, Civil rights, counter culture, politics, women's liberation all are viewed through the lens of 40 years looking back and today's perspective.
Brokaw was a young man at this time just entering his career of journalism and broadcasting in 1963, so his reflections are of a young adult, and his profession gave him some unique insight and opportunities to report the changes occurring.
At the beginning of the period that Brokaw identifies I was a 9th grader and at the end of the "sixties" I had graduated from college, married and was ready to start a family. So my experience in the 60's is a different perspective looking through the lens of a person growing up and reaching a level of maturity that passed for adulthood.
From Brokaw's viewpoint so many of the changes taking place must have seemed vastly different than his world as a youth, but for me and those of my generation, our natural need to rebel against the "way things are" made the changes of sixties something that I may have taken for granted. While reading the book I found myself reflecting on that period and some of the changes that occurred.
I know that growing up in Galesburg, Il, I can remember being told that there was a separate beach and pavilion for Blacks, on the opposite side of Lake Storey and across from the "white" pavilion and beach; but that by high school it wasn't uncommon to see blacks at the main Lake Storey pavilion and beach.
When I began college, there were fairly strict rules about dorm curfews, male and female visitors in the dorms, and in loco parentis, but by my senior year the opposite sex was allowed to visit your dorm room and overnight visits were unofficially allowed. We were experimenting with drugs at college, but I was amazed as a college senior of the incoming freshmen who had done more experimentation that we had.
I hadn't fully considered it until reading Brokaw's book, but just like the 60's influenced my left of center politics; for a whole another group of people the 60's influenced them to the right of center politically. Which helps explain that our generation that grew up in the 60's gave us two presidents: Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
Brokaw spends a lot of time on the events of 1968. That year was representative of all the turmoil and change of the sixties. The assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, the Chicago Democratic Convention, the re-election of Richard Nixon, the largest number of US troops in Vietnam occurred in August of that year,the summer Olympics in Mexico City, the riots in major cities after King's assossinations, and the Apollo 8 trip around the moon, to mention only a few.
We are all a product of the times we grew up in; and maybe every generation feels that the decade they grow up in is turbulent and world changing; but the sixties put a unique stamp on me and those of my generation and continues to have ripple effects to today.
How do you view the sixties and the changes that occurred and your memories of that time?

Perspective on D-Day and time

The recent 65th anniversary of D-Day provided me another lesson in the perspective of time and age. Simply, when I was born in 1949, D-Day had occurred only 5 years before(June 6, 1944). To an adult, 5 years is not a very long time: the 9/11 attack occurred 8 years ago. In 2004 (a short four years ago), you may remember George W. won his second presidential election and the earthquake and tsunami struck in the Indian Ocean that Dec.

Although as an infant and a young child, the world is such a small, small place that I wouldn't be able to understand or appreciate that the world had been at war and that war had ended only four short years earlier.(May 1945, V-E day ;Sept. 1945 V-J day) But now, with an adult perspective of time and age, I have a much different appreciation of how fresh the memories of the previous years must have been for my parents and grandparents in 1949 and growing up in the fifties.

My generation has always understood the "boomer" label given to us by the media. But unfortunately it has take me a long time to more better understand the perspective of the parents of that generation.

Zen and the art of Moving: Part 2

It now appears certain that I'll survive our latest move from Dubuque to Des Moines. There really wasn't any doubt, but still, moving is a young person's activity. The packing, lifting, carrying takes its toll on a 60 year-old body. It's not just the doing of those things, but the repetition of doing them many times over a few days. We were lucky in one sense that we moved out of our home and had 8 days before we moved into our condo. So I could rest up a bit between packing and unpacking.

A few observations: We used a Portable On Demand Storage system (PODS)since we were going to have some time between leaving one place and moving into the other. It worked ok. I was surprised how dirty some of our things had gotten sitting in the POD for 8 days. In spite of packing things tightly, and a system to keep the POD fairly level during tranport and storage; things shifted in the POD resulting in some minor problems. One POD wasn't quite enough for our belongings.

We waited until the last morning to pack the essentials of what we needed to live. That last morning we ended up having more to pack than I thought we'd have.

Having some equity in the house meant that we got to deposit a rather large check in our banking account after the sell. Of course, we had to write a rather large check off it for our condo, but it was nice to look at a large bank balance for a few days, at least.

It's great having a daughter and son-in-law in the town you're moving to. We certainly took advantage of their hospitality and willingness to help paint and unpack.

In spite of trying to be more zen-like in my approach to the move and the stress related to it. The best realization I got was that you need to accept the suffering and stress with any change and get through it.

Zen and the Art of Moving: Part One

I am an educational nomad.

Since my first teaching job and our move to Alden, Iowa in 1972; we have moved and lived in 6 different towns in the next 37 years. Sometimes we even moved while living in a particular town; so the number of times we've actually moved is closer to 10. We are preparing to move again to Des Moines: our 7th town. You'd think with all of that experience, we'd have the art of moving down pat.

Any list of life's stressful events always has "moving" as one of those events that can add a lot of stress to your life. To try to counter that stress I've been reading different articles about Zen.

Some of the Zen articles talk about "decluttering" your life. Our Realtor was talking about decluttering also. "Decluttering" is realtor talk for you have "too much stuff". I have a feeling that Zen masters don't see decluttering to mean dragging things off the dresser and stuffing them into drawers. The back seats and trunks of our cars were filled with our "declutter" as we tried to make the house look like no one lived in it.

I know some of you have lived in basically the same house and town for most of your adult lives; but some of you have been even more extreme in your moving; bouncing from one side of the country to the other.

So any hints you have to help me survive this move will be appreciated.

The state of Iowa/marriage

If you live outside of the mid-west, or even if you live outside of Iowa, you may have a rather stereotypical view of our state. Corn, hogs, soybeans, farmers and all the images and beliefs that are associated with that view. Clearly parts of the stereotype are true, but last week an Iowa State Supreme Court ruling may force some people to adjust their image of Iowa and Iowans. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a ban on marriage between same sex partners is unconstitutional. I applaud the decision.

I have always had a problem with the argument that a marriage between two partners of the same sex was an "attack on marriage!" I've never felt that my marriage is in any way weakened by the reality that two people who are of the same sex may also be married. If two people love each other and wish to make a life-long commitment to share their lives, then they should be able to marry and enjoy the economic and civil privileges of that union. Not being able to do that, as a ban on same-sex marriage did, is clearly discriminatory.

I know some in Iowa who are threatened by this ruling, and they are beginning to argue that Iowans should be able to vote on the issue and amend the state constitution. One purpose of the rule of law, the constitution and our court system is to protect what Jefferson called "The tyranny of the majority". To think that a majority of voters could pass a law discriminating against a minority group, voting to take away their rights as citizens, is abhorrent.

I'm proud to live in Iowa and the leads it has taken in civil rights. Corn, hogs, and soybeans,yes; but also a belief in fairness and common sense.

FYI

I wanted to share with you that I had a pacemaker implanted the other day (Thursday, 19th). This is not news to some of you, but, probably, surprising news to some. I've had an irregular heart beat for a few years; so we knew that something was wrong with the electrical part of the heart. At a routine check with the doctor a week or so ago, it was noted that my pulse was slower than my normal. After some further tests, the doctor said that it wasn't a question of "if" I need a pacemaker, but "when".
Given that we'll be moving in a couple of months and the possibility of further problems, I decided to go ahead and have a pacemaker put in. Even though it was done rather quickly, it wasn't an emergency; the timing was just that it was going to work best to do it sooner rather than later.
I went in Thursday, I was in the hospital about 25 hours, and now have two weeks of limited activity (no driving, no raising my arm above my shoulder, no lifting) In four weeks I'll be able to resume all activity at the same level that I was before.
At least, I haven't felt guilty about watching NCAA basketball all week-end.

The Decline of the Daily Newspaper and Beyond

I have followed closely the recent news stories (Time magazine, Public Radio) that have chronicled the decline of the daily newspaper. The end of publication of the Rocky Mountain News and the near bankruptcy of papers like the Chicago Tribune and LA Times (to name a few) are real-world examples of that decline. From a business sense, many newspapers just can't generate enough revenue dollars from subscriptions and advertising to meet their increasing costs of doing business. People are finding that they can control when and what news they want to read through other media like TV or the web.

I must admit that I've contributed to this decline. My daily routine in the morning does not include looking at the daily newspaper, but checking news on line. I check the online versions of the Des Moines Register, CNN, The Daily Beast, and Slate Magazine. I regularly check online versions of Newsweek and The Economist. When I'm home, CNN Headlines News is often on. I listen to NPR when I'm driving. We do still take a Sunday paper, but I seldom spend a leisurely morning with it. That may speak to the quality of the our local Dubuque paper or the simple fact that many times I've read some of the articles on-line earlier in the week.

Whereas the newspaper can still be one source for information on home sales and job advertising, I know that I tell my student teachers that they need to use on-line resources in their job search much more than the newspaper listings. And our realtor tells us more people use on-line resources when looking for a home than the local paper. People are realizing that there are more efficient ways to get their news and information than a daily newspaper

There may be a sentimental desire to see daily newspapers remain; the reality is that they are going to morph into something completely different than what Don and I use to deliver in Galesburg. The decline of newspapers is just another indication of the change in the way we live our lives. We may lament these changes, but there is little we can do about it.

It makes me wonder what other changes are coming? We know that record companies are struggling to understand how (and if) their old business model fits the new digital age. Television networks are adjusting to the fact that you can watch almost any show, any time you desire either through you DVR or on a web site like Hulu. Can the US Post Office continue to offer 6 day a week delivery? Or even to have a post office in almost every community in America? How many people actually write checks anymore?

It's a brave new world we're living in.

I welcome your comments.

On Turning 60

As I near the end of my 60th year, I have a few reflections on turning 60.

I'm thankful to have reached this age. My mother died when she was 43 (I was 14). As kids, my sisters and I learned quickly the lesson that growing old is not one of life's guarantees . I'm thankful that I got to see our children grow into adults, and I am proud of the adults that they've become: intelligent, active, good people; and I enjoy being with them. I'm thankful that I'm getting to be a part of lives of my grandchildren and look forward to that continuing and expanding. These are things that my mother was never able to experience.

I can no longer deny to myself that my body is wearing out. Like driving a car for a long time, at some point you have to admit that the steering is loose or the brakes are getting soft. Physically, the outward signs of my age can't be missed. The graying hair, the expanding, soft waist line, the loss of muscle tone. But it's the less obvious signs that I can no longer deny. My hearing is not very good any more. My balance has diminished. My joints and muscles are losing their flexibility and grace.

The picture with this blog is of a tree that was on the beach near the house we rented in Roatan last Christmas. I was struck by the old trunk of the tree that had a fresh, green top. It symbolized for me that in spite of the aging of my body that I can still be productive and fresh in my life. By continuing to read, to write, to listen to new music, to travel, to have connections with friends, to learn, to be willing to take risks: I can strive to be young, though my body won't be. "I want to die young, as old as I can!"

Age does give me a different realization about the choices I have in my life. I worry less about the things that I have little control, little choice about. But I do have choices about how I live my life and how I treat those that I meet along the way. I hope the choices I make will enrich my life and enrich the lives of those I meet.

I have regrets about my past. But I would have no desire to go back and be "20", or "40" again. I look forward to life's adventures and the part of my life after 60. I've been 20 and 40, but I've never been 60! I can't wait.

Inauguration Day

All inauguration days are historical events and remembered for many reasons. It is amazing that for over 200 years and for 43 times, our country has changed leaders peacefully. To be honest, most of them came and went for me with only a passing interest of someone who does follow news and history closely.

One that does stands out for me is the Kennedy inauguration (Jan. 1961). I was in sixth grade, and it would have been a time before class rooms had TV's. I'm sure over the years the repeated images have been replayed so often that it's hard to recall specifically what were impressions of a 6th grader and which were formed later.
I remember thinking it was cool that Robert Frost, a poet we studied in school was reading one of his poems. I thought that Kennedy wearing a top hat was strange and very old fashioned. It was so obvious it was cold, seeing the speakers' breath.

But I realized, partially then and more so over the next years or so, that the real significance was the youth of JFK. He was of a new generation; he was the first president born in the 20th century. For adults he was "one of them".

For me Obama's inauguration is significant for the same reasons. Surely the fact that he is bi-racial is remarkable given the history of this country. But for me the significance is that he does represent a new generation. He is the first president born in the last half of the 20th century. Born 1961. He is not a "baby-boomer".
My generation, to date, has provided two presidents: Clinton and George W. Both brought strengths to the office and great shame. I doubt that either will have many elementary schools named after them.

But Obama offers a hope that maybe the next generation of leaders will be better than my generation of leaders. Both set a pretty low bar, so it shouldn't be hard for him to be better. Given the times, he will need to be much better.

A Beginning

If I had been asked as I was growing up, what I wanted to be when I grew up, and, I had answered honestly, I would have said "A writer". Although I chose a field where writing was a skill set that was useful and, at times, essential; to say I was a writer would be inaccurate.

After much thought and for many reasons, I have decided to begin a blog. What few blogs I have followed, I have usually found them of varied and limited interest and value; and I'm sure my blog will fit into that larger category of blogs. But what I suspect is that the writing I will do here will benefit me far more than it will anyone reading it.

On the bulletin board above my computer one of the poems that I re-read often is a translated poem by a Greek poet, Konstaninos Petrou (1863-1933):
"Ithaca"
As you set out for Ithaca,
Wish for a long journey
Filled with adventures, knowledge.
Don't be afraid that
Bad things will happen:
If you keep your mind and feelings full
No evil will fit into your heart
Nor sneak up to spook you.
Wish for a long journey,
For many summer mornings;
Imagine the joy and pleasure
Of entering new harbors for the first time!
Stop at exotic markets,
Find good things:
Pearls, coral, amber, ebony,
Sensuous fragrances.
You can take your fill
At these far-off cities,
And learn from wise ones too.
And keep Ithaca always in mind.
It's your destination,
But don't rush the journey in the least.
Better for it to take a long time
So that, finally, in spite of the accrued years,
You will cast anchor fresh with all the journey's riches
You not require any of Ithaca's.
For Ithaca gave you the journey.
Without Ithaca you would not have set out.
It has nothing else to give.
If you find it empty, you haven't been tricked.
You've become wise with experience
And you already have what Ithaca means.

You are being invited to glimpse at my personal "journey to Ithaca" of which this blog is part.
Feel free to ask not to be included in future postings and I'll have no regrets. As I said before, my writings will surely benefit me more than you.