July 14, 2020

I find it amazing that we have over 300 channels on our TV and I still cannot find anything to watch.  I guess this once more lets me know how much I used to watch sports.  That was true again on Saturday night as I slinked back into my office to play my game.  Melissa had said there was not anything on and she was going to work on her succulents.  It turned out she instead turned on a movie that she really enjoyed called Last Christmas, released in 2019.

I looked this up to see why she was so entranced by the movie.  The story is about a young aspiring singer who works as an “elf” in a year-round Christmas store.  Things are falling apart around her, but with every mishap she runs into Tom.  Kate begins to spend more time with Tom and works on improving her life to be more like him.  They break up but Kate goes to his apartment to make amends.  While there she finds out Tom had died in a bicycle accident last Christmas.  She then finds Tom was the organ donor whose heart she received, and that all their interactions were hallucinations. Going to a small garden Kate meets Tom again.  The bench where they sat during their first visit is a memorial bench for Tom.  The movie fades into a summer scene and a happier Kate writing in her journal.  Kate looks up, as Tom always advised.

With theaters closed during most of the pandemic few new movie releases have come out during the last months.  Those that have are limited releases on private platforms like Disney or Netflix.  Another response by stations has been to rerun blockbuster films from years past.  I have noticed several marathon showings.  These are back-to-back showing of all nine Star Wars, or complete runs of all ten Band of Brothers episodes.  One channel has even brought back the Sunday Night at the Movies motif.  Some are as hungry for movies as I am for sports.

THOUGHTS:  One of the appeals for old blockbusters is they take us back to a time and place.  Raiders of the Lost Ark was partially filmed at Petra, an archaeological site I had returned from not a month before I saw the movie.  I saw Jurassic Park at Green Lake during my introduction to denominational polity.  During the pandemic, many people are using movies to go back to an earlier time.  The problem is, the good ol’ days were never that good, at least for some.  Rather than a return to the past, we need to work to make a better future.  Change is coming, and it starts with you.

July 13, 2020

Melissa received a text from a friend commenting on teacups.  Most cups either have no design or only have the design on the right side of the cup, allowing the right-handed drinker to enjoy the design.  Left-handed people can still use these cups but will not be able to see the design.  I checked on the internet and found several sites celebrating left-hand cups, usually with some comment about lefties being best.  Here the saying is still on the right side so others can enjoy your witticism.

My mother has been a tea drinker most of her life.  She does not like coffee and even says cups used for coffee retain the coffee oils and she can always tell it is not a “tea” cup.  One of the things mom and dad liked to do as they traveled was partake of “afternoon tea” (I read calling it “high tea” was gouache and the Queen merely calls it “tea”).  This is generally served around four o’clock but is “acceptable” from two to four.  The tea is usually accompanied by three courses.  This begins with tiny tea sandwiches which can be eaten in two or three bites.  Next scones are served with or without jam or butter.  Finally, the Tea is completed with a light pastry.

Legend has it that afternoon tea was started in the mid-1800’s by the Duchess of Bedford.  The new kerosene lamps in wealthier homes brought the fashion of eating a late dinner.  Apparently, the Duchess got hungry in the afternoon and invited friends over to enjoy a light snack and tea.  This became fashionable and spread across high society to become the favorite pastime of ladies of leisure.  It has since spread to other socioeconomic groups as well.

THOUGHTS:  I once shared afternoon tea with my parents in a swanky hotel.  I am not much of a tea drinker, so I ordered coffee (faux pas).  The tea only came with four cookies, for the three of us.  The cups were small, and the waiter asked if I would like a “refill.” My dad gasped as I said, sure!  I later found out my refill cost an additional $5.  At least it went better than my sister who ordered tea at a fast food chain.  When it arrived, it was a cup of coffee with a tea bag in it.  My mother would have died.  Checking on the origin of Tea made me realize this emphasized the division between the classes in England and the Empire.  The poor had neither the kerosene for lamps or the idle time to sit and drink afternoon tea.  It makes me think about what traditions we use to create division today.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 11, 2020

My garden has not been nearly as productive as I had hoped.  The beans worked well but only produce one meal.  The peas were not as plentiful but they are sugar peas and the only thing I know to do with them is add them to salads.  My Roma tomatoes all had blossom rot and while my Beef Steaks produced, they were only the size of a quarter.  The onions are in a part of the yard that gets too much water and only a handful survived.   I guess I should be happy that the Lemon Boys are doing well.

I was pleasantly surprised I did not have more issues with animal depredation.  My main concern as my crops ripened has been bird pecks on my tomatoes.  Since most of them already have blossom rot I just throw them into the yard and let whatever wants them eat their fill.  One of the good things about growing hot peppers is few birds and insects want to munch on them.  The thing that has worked well is making fresh pico de gallo.  We have already had two batches.  It is very hot and really good.

I think I am going to chalk the entire season up as a learning experience.  I was able to learn what to do and not to do for the different species of plant.  Each had their own preferences and ways to care for them.  My gardener friend mulched all of her plants with straw, but she grows them in the ground rather than pots.  I do not believe her pots were mulched last year.  I mulched my potatoes and the berries and melon.  The strawberries and water melon have good plants but have yet to produce fruit.  I am waiting to see the result of my potatoes.  The plants are dying and that should mean maturity for the tubers.  We will see.

THOUGHTS:  One of my biggest learning experiences with the garden was finding I could not treat the variety of plants I raised in the same way.  I began watering everything daily and found for some that was too much, while others needed the extra water. Each vegetable was different in what it wanted and needed.  I do think I need to rebuild the soil in my various containers.  There needs to be more depth to allow the root systems to properly develop.  This has also been a good life lesson.  We need to develop deep roots to allow us to survive the crisis life sometimes brings.  Each of us needs to be treated according to our individual wants and needs, and that means taking time to listen to find out what those are.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 10, 2020

When I watched another episode of Acho’s “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man,” he mentioned how the Jim Crow laws of the South refer to a stylized character in the minstrel shows.  Although I have been aware of the term most of my life, I never knew the term was a reference.  The origin of this character is lost to legend, but Thomas Dartmouth Rice made the portrayal famous from 1830-60.  This stage persona eventually lent its name to generalized negative stereotypes of Black people.  While the minstrel shows popularity died, Rice’s character was still known well enough to be attached to the southern segregation laws after Reconstruction in the 1870’s.  Many of these laws were in force until the 1960’s and national intervention.

One of the conversations Acho addressed was about reverse discrimination.  This discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group, in favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group.  It may also seek to rectify social inequalities for the minority who have less access to the privileges of the majority.  Seeing affirmative action as reverse discrimination became popular in the mid-1970’s.  This point of view was a negative response to the positive gains made by Blacks in the previous decades.

Acho addressed another uncomfortable question, can you be Black and a racist.   The email pointed to words, attitudes and actions that are derogatory.  The response was racism is built around three main aspects: Power, Privilege, and Prejudice.  While one might be prejudice, power and privilege have historically not been available to Blacks.

THOUGHTS:  When I worked for the state, we were mandated to attend sensitivity training on harassment in the workplace.  Harassment occurs as one makes a coworker feel uncomfortable.  It was stressed that harassment came from one who was in power and directed toward a subordinate employee.  This is the point Acho made concerning racism.  It takes power and privilege to threaten another with our prejudice.  When we acknowledge our power and privilege, we can begin to overcome our prejudice.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

July 9, 2020

I grew up in several small Kansas towns except for a few years in western Colorado.  The town I claim to be “from” however is Manhattan.  We moved there as I entered High School and although I tried other schools, I received my undergraduate degree from Kansas State University in Manhattan.  Manhattan prides itself as the Little Apple, in difference to the Big Apple in New York City.  Despite my long connection to the town, I had never heard of its history, until today.

I was forwarded an article which had been reposted by a cousin of mine about the founding and early history of Manhattan.  The idea of Manhattan had been born in the early 1850s amid the controversy surrounding the Kansas-Nebraska Act.  The Missouri Compromise was passed in 1820 allowing Missouri to be admitted as a slave state and Maine as a free state.  It also prohibited slavery in Louisiana Territory above the 36⁰ 30’ Latitude.  Nebraska was therefore assured to enter the Union as a free state, but Kansas was in question, as it was below this line.  That is when a group of new Englanders hatched the idea of settling in Kansas to increase the free state voters in any upcoming territorial election.

Ely Thayer founded the New England Emigrant Aid Company to recruit volunteers to settle in the territory.  Six hundred volunteers were sent to Lawrence in 1854, but more were needed to secure the vote.  That same year Isaac Goodnow took up the cause and vowed to establish a new settlement at the site that was to become Manhattan.  Goodnow recruited 100’s of people to emigrate to Kansas and left in 1855.  A combination of poor travel conditions and constant harassment through Missouri meant only 50 arrived to establish the town in April of 1855. Manhattan continued to grow and established one of the first Agricultural Colleges in America 1861.  It is odd how much we forget about what we should know.

THOUGHTS:  I find it interesting that Lawrence and Manhattan were both founded by New Englanders for the same reason, yet now they are interstate rivals due to the presence of sports teams.  We often start out on the same path but allow small differences to become huge obstacles.  That is what is happening today.  Everyone wants an end to the pandemic and wants an open economy, but we have allowed politics to get in the way of resolution.  The goal everyone wants will only be achievable when we put aside our differences and work together.  If you can, work to keep the conversation going.

July 8, 2020

I usually take off around one o’clock when I go to the office.  That gives me time in the morning to tend to my garden, read my paper, write, and then post my blog, and accomplish anything else that needs to be done around the house.  Rather than soda, I have been drinking flavored water and lately it has been hard to find.  Melissa mentioned she received a post from the grocery that a new shipment was in.  I wanted to hit the store on my way to the office before it was all gone.  By the time I got to the store the rain was beginning to come down.  When I came out (no, the water was already gone) and got on the highway it was raining so hard my 4-wheel drive was hydroplaning.  I decided to call and let them know I had been rained out.

Getting rained out always had negative connotations when I was a boy.  It usually meant it was raining too hard to play our baseball game.  If the game had started the umpires tried to continue the game for as long as they could before stopping play.  The problem for any level of baseball is whether to call a rain delay, a suspended game, or to cancel the rest of the game.  In Little League if you make it through the fourth inning it is an official game and the team leading wins.  For Major League Baseball the fifth inning is the threshold.  When a game was suspended there was always a problem trying to schedule a makeup game.

Rain did not bother me when I later played football.  That was especially true when I shifted to only playing defense.  I guess they figured we were all going to end up on the ground sooner or later so footing was not an issue.   When I was on defense bad footing was to my advantage.  It meant the speedy backs could not get traction to outrun me nor could they make their elusive cuts to get around me.  The only time rain stops a football game is for lightening.  Then once again you have the problem of determining who wins.

THOUGHTS:  When I played pickup baseball or football there was usually one kid who brought the ball.  While this was not always the same kid, we rarely had more than one ball.  Occasionally, the owner of the ball would get mad about something during the game and they would leave.  Hence the term, take your ball and go home.  We are no longer children and we can no longer act like we are.  When we disagree, we cannot just take our ball and go home.  For one thing, we live in a time where there are various balls brought to the game.  We need to both listen and hear what is being said without reacting negatively and leaving.  When you go home it just means your voice will not be included in the outcome.  If you can, work to keep the conversation going.

July 7, 2020

I have liked freestone peaches since I was a little boy growing up in western Colorado.  We left when I was almost five, but I have memories of climbing the branches of the peach trees and eating the peaches fresh picked.  The western slope combines low humidity, warm days, and cool nights to grow great peaches.  Although I never knew this or thought about it as a child, we did not have much money growing up.  My parents had come from the farm and knew how to compensate by collecting and canning what was around us.  That was everything from hunting deer, picking peaches, and collecting asparagus from the irrigation ditches along the roads.

Earlier I had bought a small box of peaches from the box store and set them on the counter to ripen so I could eat them.  I never know what kind of peaches I am buying when I get peaches from the store.  Melissa likes the cling peaches and I prefer the freestone type.  Melissa thinks the cling are sweeter, but I struggle with how to eat the meat of the peach around the pit.  The problem I have going to the store is I never know which of the types of peaches are available.  Over the weekend a friend of ours picked up a bushel of Georgia peaches a man had trucked into Arkansas and she split these with Melissa.  I checked online and learned the peaches coming ripe now are generally freestone peaches.  I hoped this was right.

The other problem I have with peaches is finding ripe ones or figuring the best way to let them ripen.  When I get ripe peaches, they do not seem to last long before they are too ripe and messy.  This is especially true when you buy even a small box as I had.  Now we had nearly 30 peaches that were hard as a rock.  Our friend suggested we put them right side up and let them set on the counter until ripe.  We did but since the counter is full of succulents, I moved the peaches out to the garage Saturday night.  It was near 100 degrees Sunday with a heat index around 110 and it always seems hotter in the garage.  When I checked the peaches that night, they were ripe and ready to eat.  I would have never thought of doing this to ripen the fruit.  Now, what to do with 26 ripe peaches.

THOUGHTS:  I tried one of the peaches and it was amazing.  Melissa volunteered to take care of the peaches.  She said she, her mom, and mamaw used to buy peaches by the bushel.  They would form an assembly line to peel, cut, and bag the peaches for freezing.  I mentioned the peaches to my sister, and she commented how wonderful ripe peaches are. We talked about memories from our time in Colorado.  It is funny how what is remembered can differ between people and even over time.  There is also a tendency to suppress our bad memories, even while we enhance our good ones.  We live in a time which will create a lot of memories, and we are at a juncture where real change can occur.  Rather than just remembering, we need to learn from our experiences.  If you can, work to keep the conversation going.

July 6, 2020

I read an article in SMITHSONIANMAG.COM about a new word being proposed by scientists.  During this period of worldwide lock down the lack of activity has been noticed by the animals that live in our midst.  Apparently, some people have begun to call this period the “Great Pause.” Christian Rutz and a group of researchers wanted a more precise name.  “We propose ‘anthropause’ to refer specifically to a considerable global slowing of modern human activities, notably travel.”  The authors go on to say this presents a unique opportunity to study human-animal interaction.  Sadly, such interactions are rarely good for the other animals.

I went fishing last week along the Mulberry River.  I had wanted to go to the city park at Bluff Hole.  The last time I had gone the water was high and I was not able to fish.  This time I arrived to find a caretaker living in a trailer at the entrance and a posting requiring a $5 entrance fee.  Since all I had was a ten, I decided to find a different place to fish.  I drove through another park with the same requirement to get further down the river.  I put out my line and immediately caught a bluegill which I used as bait for my cat pole.  As I sat on the bank a doe and her fawn came to the water on the other side.  We looked at each other and she was unafraid.  They got their drink and moved on.

In the book, Guns, Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond correlated the movement of humans with extinction of Megafauna.  When humans branched out of Africa, they found the large game plentiful.  By 10,000 years ago we had wiped out the large herbivores and their predators from Europe, the Arctic, Australia, and the Americas.  These extinctions all occur in conjunction with the introduction of humans.  Elizabeth Kolbert is a biologist who outlines the rapid increase of extinctions of all flora and fauna in the book, The Sixth Extinction.  She estimates between 20-50% of all species will be lost by the end of this century. The first five mass extinctions were caused by cataclysmic events.  The sixth is by us.

THOUGHTS:  I read another article by Michelle Starr about the role of Humans in animal extinctions.  Our evolving brains greatly impacted predators, as our ancestors learned it was easier to steal a meal than to hunt one, a trait still found in chimpanzees.  The problem we have is our ability to innovate and adapt.  This ability is allowing us to double our numbers twice in the last century, and the plants and animals are being pushed aside to make room.  The earth has established biotic communities where each species interacts to give life to the whole.  When you remove some of the players you can destroy the balance and the result is extinction.  If you can, work to keep the conversation going.

July 4, 2020

When the restrictions on getting out were eased in May my sister sent Melissa and I four home manufactured masks for use in public.  I am calling these manufactured rather than made because she has produced over 470 masks to date and counting.  She has sent the masks to family and friends.  When being outside became more prevalent we received another shipment of 6 masks.  This lets us use a mask, drop it in the laundry, and still have another mask available if I venture out the next day.  This has been invaluable for Melissa as she goes into work Monday through Friday and is required by her company to be masked.

I came across a column by Curtis Ramsey-Lucas, editor of the conservative Christian Citizen magazine dated July 2, 2020. The article addressed the issue of wearing masks, but the comments were far reaching. Corona virus cases in America have risen 80% in the last two weeks, while dropping dramatically in other wealthy democracies. While the United States had 40,000 new cases on Monday the European Union had less than 6000, despite having a larger population. America also has twice as many confirmed deaths at nearly 130,000 than any other country. The difference appears to be our unwillingness to wear masks.

Ramsey-Lucas said this “aversion to sensible, modest, action by individuals to benefit themselves and others is rooted, in part, in a desiccated conservatism that no longer has a frame of reference larger than the individual. This way of thinking is, to a very real extent, no longer conservatism, but an extreme form of liberalism in which the unfettered individual is the end all and be all of life.”  Ironically, this same claim was made by conservatives after World War II concerning liberal factions.  “Rather than defending a traditional concept of community and common welfare in which individuals understand the connection between rights and duties, many who claim the conservative mantle substitute a doctrinaire individualism that ultimately benefits neither the individual nor society.”

THOUGHTS:  While this article ties the use of masks to rising case numbers, it sheds light on a larger issue, our staunch individualism that places our wants and needs above others.  Ramsey-Lucas’ article quoted several people known to be founding leaders of the conservative movement, and even quoted Paul writing to the church in Philippi, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4).  Masks have never been about protecting you, they are about your willingness to protect your neighbor.  If you can, work to keep the conversation going.

July 3, 2020

We had an Italian restaurant in Wichita only a few blocks from our house that Melissa and I went to at least monthly.  Melissa always got the Lasagna and I usually got the Fettuccini Carbonara.  We used this as a date night spot, but also invited mom along or even my brother and sister in law.  When it was just Melissa and I we would often walk the five blocks to get some added exercise.  Nothing like an evening stroll to get the appetite going.

Yesterday Melissa mentioned mom must be missing the weekly lunches she has been having with my brother and his wife.  Sunday lunch was a tradition started by my dad 25 years ago.  For the last several weeks they have been getting together for Sunday lunch on the outside porches at one of their houses.  They were gone Sunday so no lunch or break from the monotony of stay at home living.  That is when Melissa came up with the idea of having a virtual meal together.  She said several people she knows have been doing this.

I called mom to see what she thought and at first, she did not understand if we were coming to Wichita or what.  I explained the idea and she agreed that we would eat at six.  I called our restaurant and arranged to have a meal of blackened salmon, pasta, and a Caesar salad delivered.  We had spaghetti in the freezer, so I got it out to thaw.  At five I warmed up the oven and made a Caesar salad.  I have the free zoom format but for two callers it has unlimited time.  The meal was good and the conversation interesting.  It is surprising what you can do when you think outside the box.

THOUGHTS:  I saw a story on TV about people meeting for first dates through online chat formats.  Each person sat down to their own meal and got to know the other virtually.  If they made the cut, you could decide whether it was worth the risk of meeting them in person.  The current crisis is forcing us to make decisions about what we are willing to risk.  We can choose to withdraw into our comfortable circle, or we can risk changing past behaviors.  You may even find outside the box is a better way to connect.  If you can, work to keep the conversation going.