October 28, 2020

Melissa and I are great followers of baseball, and particularly the Kansas City Royals.  We waited for the season to begin with expectation as the virus shut everything down.  When it was finally decided to restart the baseball season, they limited it to 60 games.  These games were played without fans in attendance, instead using pipped in crowd noise.  Once the season ended (and the Royals were not included), they placed all the playoff teams in two separate bubbles.  The American League played games in San Diego and the National League played their games in Arlington.  These “bubbles” continued until the World Series, which was held in Arlington, Texas.  Now the fans are limited to 11,000.  I wondered how to get a ticket, and who would go?

I had never heard the phrase, “Winner, winner, chicken dinner,” until I came to Arkansas.  Down here it seems to be a popular response anytime something beneficial happens.  The exact origin of the phrase is disputed, but it may have come from gamblers.  The most popular origin story is that a chicken dinner at a Las Vegas casino used to cost $2, the same amount as a standard bet. So, if you won a bet, you won a chicken dinner.  The last time I was in Vegas, a buffet breakfast at some of the Casinos was only $1.99.  Maybe now we should say “Winner, Winner, breakfast.”  The bets are more expensive.

Tonight, we watched Game Six of the seven game series.  While Melissa found the 1-0 Score for most of the game boring, I am still a purist and like to see a pitcher battle. Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner was removed from the game during the eighth inning on Tuesday night. After the game, it was announced that Turner had tested positive for COVID-19.  It was MLB’s first positive test of the playoffs, and Turner was immediately removed from the game once the positive test result was known.  The Dodgers won 3-1 and Turner returned to the field to celebrate.  He proudly sat in the front row next to the trophy without his mask for the team picture.  He claimed to be asymptomatic.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  It continues to amaze me how people refuse to do the little things needed to halt the spread of the virus.  The Big Ten is one game into the season and Wisconsin’s coach and 15 players tested positive, cancelling their next game.  It is believed most new cases are caused by people who are asymptomatic.  We have known since (at least) March that the virus was air borne and the best way to counter it was staying distanced and wearing a mask.  While at first wearing a mask was altruistic, we have later learned this protects you, as well as others.  There will be no Winner until we all decide to work together.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 27, 2020

The Arkansas Foodbank released Map the Meal Gap in 2018.  This was just the latest report by Feeding America on food insecurity throughout the state.  The “Map” revealed food insecurity exists in every county in Foodbank’s service area and that food insecurity affects the most vulnerable populations in central and southern Arkansas.  This includes 78,000 children (23.2%).  Overall food insecurity in Arkansas is 515,000 people (17.2%), or second worst in the country, while overall child food insecurity is 164,000 children (23.2%) or third worst in the country.  The study went on to find, on average, the food insecure are needing $43 more per month to buy just enough food to meet their needs.

For some students, whose families experience food insecurity or hunger the only consistent meals they receive may be the breakfast and lunch served at school.  As a result, many students experience hunger during school breaks, closures, and weekends (or pandemics).   Every weekend, the Feeding America BackPack Program works with over 160 local food banks to provide bags of food to more than 450,000 children.  These bags contain nutritious and easy to prepare foods and ensure that children have enough to eat when they do not have access to free or reduced-price meals at school.

According to the non-profit Hunger Free Colorado, the first backpack program started in 1995 in Little Rock, Arkansas.  A school nurse observed that many of the students who came to her were feeling sick or tired because they were hungry and did not have enough to eat at home.  She joined forces with her local food bank to launch a program that provided bags with food for children to take home for over the weekend.  Since then, food pantries and food banks across the country have begun their own backpack programs to feed hungry children.  Many Arkansas school districts are now participating in weekend backpack programs.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  Several studies have found the BackPack programs result in an ability for food insecure families to become food secure.  They also found improved academic performance for students enrolled, improved attendance (particularly on Friday’s when food is distributed), and a raise in self-esteem.  The picture represents the 60+ backpack fills for our community for one weekend, while the Arkansas Foodbank augments families.  The Meal Gap statistics quoted above are two years old, and prior to the pandemic.  The situation has gotten worse rather than better as people across America struggle to find “nutritious” food with dwindling resources.  There are more than 200,000 food insecure children in Arkansas and over 14,000,000 across America.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 26, 2020

I Like to watch the show Real Sports on cable.  The stories are insightful and always interesting.  The format is to feature some of the lesser known aspects of the sporting world.  These range from everything from Eagle hunting competitions by a girl in Mongolia to brain injuries in football (from High School to Pro).  This past month there was a feature on using dehydration to make weight in mixed martial arts matches.  The people interviewed were both men and women.  What they had in common was they were lower tier fighters.  The dehydration employed was severe, sometimes as much as 15 pounds over the course of three or four days.  If they refused, they would not get to fight.

Hearing about the lengths these fighters went in order to make weight reminded me of my wrestling days in high School.  The wrestler in my weight class was not only good, he was also a senior.  We had another ok wrestler in the class above him who was also a Senior.  My coach suggested I should drop ten pounds in order to wrestle at the lower weight where we did not have an accomplished wrestler.  I was a team player who thought the coaches were looking out for my best interest, so I dropped the weight.  I found this to be a constant battle as I tried to meet a weight below my class.   I generally found myself not eating the night and day before weigh in.  If I were still heavy, I would have to put on sweats and a rubber suit and run laps most of the afternoon until I lost the weight.

The point made by the sports show was the toll it took on the fighters.  After losing 15 pounds in three days they were often unable to stand on their own.  They would make weight and then have a single day to rehydrate.  For many, this meant they were in no shape to fight the next day.  Sometimes they had to forfeit and sometimes they went into the hospital as their kidneys or other organs had shut down.  The real tragedy was that those were the lucky one.  Some were able to go into the octagon.  Often these fighters were defeated early in the match.  While our bodies can tolerate incredible stress, there is a limit.  Some never came out alive.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I think my brother had the best attitude about weight when he went out for the wrestling team his Junior year.  Once more the coach was trying to fill a weight class.  My brother was not a wrestler but was willing to help.  Rather than losing weight he filled the open weight class, heavy weight.  This was reserved for wrestlers over 210 pounds and he weighed about 185.  At least he never had to cut weight.  While I understand the allure of extreme sports and testing yourself, there is a limit.  I have experienced the “runners high,” but also witnessed the complete collapse of the body.  We are finding the virus effects people differently.  Some have few immediate symptoms or even be asymptomatic.  Others rapidly progress from “fine” to a ventilator in a matter of days.  There are some risks that ought not be taken.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 24, 2020

Our yard plants have been going crazy trying to figure out what time of year we are in.  After it had been cooler for two weeks, we had three straight days of 85+ degrees this week.  Our Snowball bush decided it must be spring and flowered.  I did not notice this yesterday but today the cluster is green at the base and the tops are already in a mature white stage.  Oddly, there is only one cluster on the entire bush.  I have noticed similar confusion with the flowers in the mailbox planter.  While it did not surprise me when the mums started to bloom, our Naked Ladies have resprouted and the Hyacinth and African Daisy are in full bloom.  Clearly, there is mass confusion whether it is Spring or Fall (i.e., Sprall).

While scientists attach Latin names to plants, most people refer to them by their common name.  This can create confusion as similar looking plants can be given similar names.  The name “snowball bush” can refer to a viburnum or a hydrangea.  The old-fashioned snowball bush (Hydrangea arborescens), also called Anabelle hydrangea, produces large clusters of flowers that start out pale green and turn white as they mature. The Chinese snowball viburnum bush (Viburnum macrocephalum) is similar in appearance and also produces flowers that start pale green and turn white as they mature.  While similar, the two plants are not related.  The difference comes in height, bloom size, and hardiness.  We have the Hydrangea.

After reading about the two plants and their differences I noticed a paragraph at the bottom of the article that talked about pruning.  Apparently the two bushes are quite different when it comes to pruning.  Hydrangeas should be cut back hard in late winter. This encourages them to come back lush and leafy in spring.  Viburnums instead need pruning right after the flowers fade.  If you wait too long, you could lose next year’s beautiful flush of flowers.  While I do not know what went on with the bush prior to our return, I doubt if much thought ever went into pruning.  I am sure that in the three years we have been back it has never been pruned.  Somehow it has survived.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I have spent a lot of time this year researching how to keep my yard plants and vegetable garden in shape.  It was not that I did not care before, it was instead that I had not made it a priority.  I have been surprised by the shear amount of information available.  I usually start with an online query and that takes me to YouTube videos and other formats.  That does not even address the more than 1.6 million books published every year (surely some are about gardening?).  One of the anti-racist authors I read told of how a friend had mentioned how many books and social media sources were available on the subject.  She told him they had always been there; he had just not bothered to look.  We seem to be in our own Sprall moment in 2020.  Rather than panic, we need to look for how we can create change.  The information is out there once we make it a priority.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 23, 2020

I have been in a ten-person Fantasy Football league for the last several years.  This is moderated by my son and is mostly comprised of people in his extended family.  During the first year several of the younger participants decided we needed to make it more interesting and were all asked to send in $50 to be divided among the top three finishers.  I placed first that year but never received a check for winning.  The next year I did not send in money as I felt I was already ahead in payments.  I finished third that year which had a payout of $50 so I figured I broke even anyway.  Even though there was great enthusiasm to ante up the first year, it waned as several realized they would never see a return on their investment.  By the end of the third season there were several who had even given up playing.  They opted for an auto-draft and then rarely checked their players or lineups after the first weeks, meaning they would have a few “byes” (not playing) on their team roster on certain weeks.  We have not bet for the last two years.  It did not bother me one way or another, but I am glad because I have finished out of the money both years.

We got started late this year as Alex was busy and did not get it together in time.  When he did, several participants dropped, and he was forced to find replacements.  By the time ten people willing to play were secured we were already two weeks into the season and had yet to draft.  I suggested we just do an auto draft for everyone, which he did.  In the auto-draft the computer matches the next best player with each team, depending on what positions you needed to fill.  While I was not pleased with the players I was assigned, I really could not complain.  The computer also auto played the first two games and I won both.  That compares to last season where I picked my own players and started by losing the first six.  I ended up in fifth, but it was a long road back.

I usually check my roster and matchups for the next game on Tuesday.  That lets me add or drop players and switch lineups to make sure the best player is in each position.  That has been a challenge this year with multiple Monday night and even Tuesday night games due to positive tests of players.  There was a Thursday night game this week and I realized I had not set my lineup yet.  I logged onto the site with my new computer and found there was no way to change players.  While I could have just left it, I had a bye in one of my positions and was predicted to lose badly.  I tried logging off and then back in, but nothing worked.  I finally texted Alex to see if the system was down, but he said it was fine.  In desperation I went back to my old computer I keep in the office.  It logged me in, and the system worked fine.  There are times when technology baffles me.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I took a computer repair class thirty years ago when I toyed with that being my occupation.  The one thing I came away with was that if you have a system problem you cannot resolve, turn the machine off, wait ten seconds for the computer to completely power down, and then turn it back on.  If the problem goes away, do not worry about it, and go on.  While I wonder how this “fixes” the problem I have used this advice over the last 30 years.  Some have tried to use this same advice on dealing with the pandemic.  If we ignore it, it will just go away.  If that does not work, we shut down for a month and hope it will go away.  Viruses are not like computers.  Hoping it will go away only allows it to mutate into other forms, usually more deadly.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 22, 2020

Melissa’s bestie and hubby took the time to vote early yesterday.  They live in a diverse neighborhood and wanted to make sure their vote was counted during the election.  While she waited for him to finish, the poll workers all started cheering and clapping.  When she asked why, one said a 72-year-old woman had just voted for the first time in her life.  As amazing as that sounds, the worker went on to say she was the fifteenth person that day in this one precinct who was registered as a first-time voter.  Perhaps this is an indication that people are beginning to think voting is as much of a privilege as it is a right.

I turned eighteen during my senior year of High School and coincidentally that was also the year they lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 years of age.  The Twenty-Sixth Amendment provides, “The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.”  The Twenty-Sixth Amendment is the last in a series of amendments enacted over more than a century expanding constitutional protection for voting rights. Like many other amendments, it was enacted as a direct repudiation of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.  While the Courts rule on Law, it is Congress who makes and can overturn previous interpretations.  That is why we have separate branches of government.

Melissa and I decided it was time to early vote.  The polling places in our area opened last Monday and will continue to be open until November 2nd.  I thought better than to go down on Monday as there might be a crowd and we would have to wait.  Melissa has been hearing from other voters and they all said they just went straight in with no line.  While I wanted to go in the morning, Melissa needed to wait until after her working hours.  That gave me time to do other work and to reread on the candidates and measures being considered.  When she logged out, we got ready and jumped in the car.  After entering my vote into the ballot counter, it posted I was the 2253 vote cast.  Although our district includes more than our town, the town only has 9300 people total.  That is an early turnout!

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I was excited to be able to vote in my first election.  I was in my “political” phase and was actively campaigning for candidates and believed the outcome would change the direction of our country.  I was correct and it did, just not in the way I hoped or anticipated.  My candidate lost.  I can proudly say I have voted in every general election since my first one 53 years ago (my mom has voted in 70 straight elections).  Some of my candidates won and some lost, but every vote was important.  There are three ways to vote in most areas (check your local election website to see how to vote).  You can vote absentee, vote early, or vote on the November 3^rd Election Day.  Your vote is important.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 21, 2020

I have mentioned how I am not much of a morning person.  My Dad would always get up around six am and go for a four-mile walk.  One of my first memories was walking with him when I was about four years old.  I am sure the reason I remember this is because Dad took long strides and moved fast.  I cannot remember how long I lasted but I do remember running along behind him as he took off down the street.  During his forties dad again took up walking and then jogging, even entering several competitive races as he got older.  Dad even had the distinction of getting a second-place medal in his age group, finishing behind Jim Ryun.  Ryun won a silver medal in the 1500 m at the 1968 Summer Olympics and was the first high school athlete to run a mile in under four minutes. I will admit, there were only two runners in his age group.

Melissa has been telling me about the birds that are swarming our feeders early in the morning.  The smaller birds have been attacking the feeders and spilling seed onto the cement deck.  The doves then come in and clean up whatever has been dropped.  Since I tend to sleep later and then play with my phone when I do wake, I have missed the activity.  This morning I did get up (but hardly early) and was treated to the rush of feeding time.  The birds were plentiful but fast.  While I saw at least two new birds for my list, they were off before I could get good photos so I cannot count them.  Birding is harder than I thought (btw: any idea what this is?).

I am not the only one to get hooked into walking with dad in the morning.  When we went on vacation, we left Bella with my parents for the first time.  They set up a nice bed for her next to the back window so she could look out.  Apparently, Bella had other ideas as she followed them into the bedroom and stood whimpering at their feet.  Thinking she must sleep with us (she did not) they put her up in the bed.  Dad got back at her the following morning.  He assumed she also went for walks (she did not) and took her with him.  Melissa could not get her to walk to the end of the block without sitting down.  No doubt she was just like me. You keep up or you get left behind.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I never used to have problems getting up in the morning.  At times I have even flirted with getting up at six am to exercise but it has always fallen through.  Regardless, I was generally up and into work by eight.  Now that I have retired, I have less incentive.  It is not that I have less to do.  I am probably busier now than I was before.  It is just that my hours have shifted toward evening.  I have read that many of the habits we form are established by around 15 years of age.  While we can change, it becomes more difficult the older we get.  Adventurous old people tend to be adventurous youth and cautious old people tend to be cautious youth.  We are in a time when we are being asked to make changes in both attitude and actions.  You need to keep up or you will get left behind.  Do the work.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

October 20, 2020

I have changed eye doctors since my last encounter with the dilation.  We had switched insurance and the old doctor did not accept any insurance.  Melissa liked her eye doctor, so I decided to go with hers.  They sent me a confirmation stating their new address.  Then the day before they sent a reminder restating their new address.  Melissa told me the best way to go, but I had already searched the directions on my phone.  I did not pay as much attention as I shood have.  I noticed my phone took me a different route, but it still said it was to the same address.  I was running late but pulled in a few minutes before the appointment.  That was when I discovered I had been directed to the old office location.  I called and got the right directions from a person.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S.-owned utility that provides users with positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. This system consists of three segments: the space segment, the control segment, and the user segment. The U.S. Air Force develops, maintains, and operates the space and control segments.  The space segment consists of 24 operating satellites that transmit one-way signals giving the current satellite position.  The control segment consists of world-wide monitor and control stations that maintain the satellites in their proper orbit.  The user segment is the equipment which received the signals from the satellites and calculates the three-dimensional position and time.  In this case it was my phone.

I have worked with maps and directions most of my life.  I came out of college with an archeology degree and finished up another in mining history while working for the state in Utah.  Both occupations relied heavily on maps to find and record the different types of sites.  This just added to the mapping, hiking, and cartography merit badges I got as a Boy Scout.  With the advent of GPS devices (particularly on your phone), maps are no longer as important to the public.  I still like maps because I have noticed my phone will occasionally send me in the wrong direction or I will not have cell service.  If I can pull out a map I can always find where I am going.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  Cell phones were first invented on April 3, 1973 and I gave up my landline in favor of a cell in the late 1990’s.  While both cell service and GPS tracking have greatly improved since then, there have still been problems.  I remember being directed to a friend’s address for the first time and when I arrived it was their back yard.  While I was close, the house sat on a 20’ cliff above me.   Technology is great when it works but it can be maddening when it does not.  We have several different vaccines currently being worked on.  They go through trials to ensure they are safe and effective.  When it comes to injecting a vaccine into your body, you do not want to be on the wrong side of a 20’ cliff.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Octo𝘣𝘦𝘳 19, 2020

A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings make up the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which includes rats, mice, hamsters, and gerbils. A longstanding myth holds that they commit mass suicide.  Misconceptions about lemmings go back many centuries.  In the 1530s, geographer Zeigler of Strasbourg proposed the theory that the creatures fell out of the sky during stormy weather and then died suddenly when the grass grew in spring.  This description was contradicted by natural historian Ole Worm, who accepted that lemmings could fall out of the sky but claimed that they had been brought over by the wind rather than created by spontaneous generation.

For some unexplainable reason we have had two squires drown in our pool over the last two weeks.  This is odd as we have not had any drownings the previous three years we have been here.  I had finally come to except the squirrels as a part of our backyard ecosystem this fall.  I have put out a squirrel feeder with cracked corn and a ground corn log for them to gnaw on.  I have yet to see one squirrel on the feeder, but the cardinals are munching on the corn.  While squirrels can swim, the slippery surface on the side of the pool make it difficult to get out.  When I checked online about this I found the recommendation to call my local wildlife organization to get the squirrel out.  Good luck with that.  They would be dead before they arrived.

Lemmings have become the subject of a widely popular misconception that they are driven to commit mass suicide when they migrate by jumping off cliffs.  This is not a deliberate mass suicide, but instead a result of their migratory behavior. Driven by strong biological urges, some species of lemmings migrate in large groups when population density becomes too great. They can swim and can choose to cross a body of water in search of a new habitat.  If the body of water is too vast, or is the ocean, they can drown.  This gave rise to the popular stereotype of the suicidal lemmings, particularly after this behavior was staged in the Walt Disney documentary White Wilderness in 1958.  

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I had never heard of lemmings until my Ecology class in college.  This focused on the effects of overpopulation on different species.  The professor had done his research on rats placed in an enclosed pen in an isolated field.  They were provided an abundance of food and water.  When he returned in two weeks most of them were gone.  He set the experiment up again and checked daily.  What he found was the population flourished to the point of overcrowding.  Then the rats began to exhibit tendencies like our cities.  They formed marauding gangs, horded food, and indiscriminately killed each other.  Like the lemmings, overpopulation creates a breakdown in the species.  Even if we did not know this before, that was forty years ago.  Overpopulation is an anathema itself.  We need to support zero population growth.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

Octo𝘣𝘦𝘳 17, 2020

We are coming close to the end of the planting season for Melissa’s succulents.  She has been making final decisions on what will have a chance to winter outside, what will go on the screened porch, and what needs to be kept in the house.  We have mounted the Velcro on the back porch and put up several of the panels to make sure our makeshift greenhouse will work.  We also cut and placed the nursery cloth for several of the succulent beds out front.  We have already had one scare, with the temperatures dropping into the 30’s on one night this last week.  These precautions need to be ready before the first frost. 

I remember religiously watching “The Monkeys” TV show when I was in Junior High.  I ran with a group of four boys and since there were four Monkeys, we styled ourselves after their characters.  We would even “walk down the street” shoulder to shoulder doing the crossover walk they did on their show.

The show aired on Thursday nights, which was also Ninth Grade night at the town’s recreation center.  The Rec had a pool table, foosball table, and ping pong.  There were also sofas and chairs placed in conversation pits around the room and a TV mounted high on the wall that let us watch shows.  This is where we all stopped and crowded around to watch our idols every Thursday night.

While the Monkey’s were king in Junior High, my High School was dominated by the hippies.  This included the ever-present peace symbol.  Melissa decided to plant several varieties of Hen-n-Chicks (Semper vivum) behind the Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum) tree that dominates the bed.  In difference to the unrest and divisiveness we have experienced during 2020, they were planted in the form of a peace sign.  Although they are all green as they mature, they will have variegated leaves for the central stripe, the right side are pink, the left side blue, and the bottom arch is green.  I can hardly wait to see them in full color.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  At the end of every episode of The Monkey’s, one or more of the group would provide some deep commentary on events happening in the country.  I recall hanging on every word and lived for these thoughts more than the zaniness of the show itself.  Several months ago, I saw a rerun of one of The Monkeys’ episodes.  I happened to tune in just in time to watch the end of the show and the comments offered by Michael Nesmith (he was the more thoughtful one and wore the stocking hat).  I almost laughed as I heard his words.  Far from the insightful message I heard in Junior High, they now seemed like inane drivel.  I have often found my memories to be different than reality, or even from others who participated in the event with me.  I have also found my realization did not change how I had been impacted by the past.  Melissa and I have been trying to create some positive memories amid the turmoil of 2020.  I hope you are doing the same.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.