April 12, 2022

Melissa and I have automatic alerts on our phones to warn us of the potential for severe weather.  We were working in our respective offices yesterday when Melissa’s alert went off saying we were under a Tornado Warning.  We were surprised as my alert had not notified me and usually the sirens go off well before the phone alerts.  I went outside to looked at the sky and it was warm and dead calm (not a good sign).  Immediately above our house were fluffy white clouds, but the skyline just to the north was dark and ominous.  When I went back inside and turned on the TV, the weatherperson declared there was a tornado on the ground just to the north.  That was when the county sirens finally blared their alerts.  

When I looked online, I found the importance in knowing the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning when alerts come through on your phone or on TV.  A tornado watch is issued by the NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center and are commonly issued a few hours before a potential severe storm.  These alerts warn of a developing threat for tornadoes and indicate the need to be prepared and remain vigilant.  Watches are issued for broad areas where conditions exist for the development of a tornado.  Tornado warnings are alerts issued by local offices of the National Weather Service (NWS).  These are more urgent alerts where people need to seek shelter right away.  They are issued for highly localized areas where a tornado is imminent or has been detected on radar, and often minutes before a tornado strikes. 

Severe thunderstorm warnings are alerts of imminent severe weather and are based on specific criteria and existing reports received by the NWS.  The criteria include hail that totals more than 1 inch in diameter and wind speeds of 55 mph.  Lightning and heavy rain are not criteria for a severe thunderstorm warning.  Trained NWS spotters will verify reports of rotation or storm damage, which gives meteorologists confidence in what they are seeing on radar.  The storm cell passed out of our area, but the TV station continued to track first the tornado and potential severe weather across the state.  The main cell was centered in the ominous clouds I had seen following the first alerts.  As I watched the radar, a secondary cell split off and moved north toward the town where I work.  As the tornado abated and the storm moved out of our area I got bored as the same information was repeated over the next several hours.  As much as I appreciate the alerts, the warnings do not seem to hold my attention.

THOUGHTS:  By the evening news the only clear indication was a tornado had touched down and caused some damage.  More damage was caused by the high winds and baseball sized hail that fell on some areas.  The alerts had worked and there did not appear to be injuries associated with the storm.  I did not notice damage as I drove the path of the storm to work this morning, but when I arrived, I noticed several men with chain saws clearing brush from around the trees at the front of the property.  When I asked, they said there was no damage.  They just decided this was the day to trim the limbs.  Storm alerts only work if they are heeded.  The same could be said concerning response to the pandemic.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

April 11, 2022

One of the articles in my local newspaper was an AP reprint on the number of armed conflicts and deaths around illegal fishing on the world’s oceans.  Sri Lanka is an island country in the Indian Ocean that shares a maritime border with India, and thousands of Indian fishing boats are encroaching on Sri Lankan waters.  The Sri Lankan navy has responded by destroying nets, ramming Indian fishing boats, and shots being fired.  The US Coast Guard has committed to join with the small Pacific Island nations to enforce world fisheries laws in the South Pacific.  Similar actions are occurring near South America as the Argentine Navy has twice fired on Chinese fishing boats in 2018 and 2019.  All these conflicts are the result of IUU fishing.

When I looked online, I found while the world’s fish stocks are under threat from intensive legal fishing, they are also at risk from illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.  Illegal fishing refers to fishing by foreign vessels without permission in waters under the jurisdiction of another state, or which contravene the state’s fisheries law and regulations in some other manner.  Unreported fishing refers to fishing, which is not reported or have been misreported, by vessels to the relevant national authority.  For example, some vessels harvest more tonnage than they are entitled under official fishing quotas.  Unregulated fishing refers to fishing activities in areas where there are no applicable management measures to regulate the catch.  Unregulated fishing on the high seas is not illegal, but results in fish stocks being over-exploited.

It is difficult to precisely estimate the total catch from IUU or pirate fishing, as this is a black market.  Some experts put the annual figure at around 11 million tons, while others suggest it may be as high as 26 million tons.  This is equal to 14 or 33 per cent respectively of the world’s total legal catch (fish and marine fauna) in 2011.  These catches are in addition to the world’s legal catch (fish and marine fauna), of 78.9 million tons.  Unless the IUU share is factored into the calculations, the legal catch quotas for a maritime region cannot be determined correctly.  IUU fishing exacerbates the existing problem of overfishing because IUU vessels operate in marine protected areas where a total fishing ban has been imposed and ignore management plans which are intended to conserve overexploited or depleted stocks. 

THOUGHTS:  According to 2022 census reports, the two most populated countries in the world are China (1,439,323,776) and India (1,380,004,385).  It is no coincidence these countries are actively involved in IUU to find food.  The South China Sea has a long-standing conflict over access to its islands and fishing grounds.  There have been 17 cases of armed violence in the area since 2017, and three-fourths involve foreign fishing crews.  IUU has replaced piracy as the main problem of the world’s seas.  Around one-third of wild fish populations are overfished, and two-thirds are fully fished (more caught than reproduce in wild).  With the high demand for fish, 50% of the world’s seafood is farm raised.  There is no ‘right’ choice between wild and farm raised seafood, but only one is sustainable.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

April 09, 2022

When our friend arrived today, she brought a rawhide chew toy for Zena.  They had recently got a new puppy and Melissa has been using them as a sounding board for what works (and does not) when trying to get your puppy to mind.  When we had dog sat for them, they had brought several curled strips of raw hide for Eddie to play with, but I had not paid much attention.  When she gave the rawhide to Zena, it was like the dog was in heaven.  Zena tossed and chased and chewed on the strip for half an hour.  She mentioned rawhide was a good form of sitter when you could not pay close attention to your dog.

When I looked online, I found rawhide refers to a hide or animal skin that has not been exposed to tanning.  The process for making rawhide begins with the fur, meat, and fat being removed from the skin (buffalo, deer, elk, or cattle).  The hide is stretched over a frame to dry, and the material becomes hard and translucent.  Rawhide can be shaped by rewetting and forming before being re-dried.  Rawhide is often used for whips, drumheads, or lampshades, and more recently as chew toys for dogs.  It is more durable than leather if the item will experience abrasion during use, and its hardness and pliability can make it more suitable than leather.  Rawhide is effective for training dogs and satisfies their desire for meat.  Some veterinarians discourage giving small pieces of rawhide because of the inability to digest the rawhide properly and its tendency to swell in the stomach.  That is less of a problem with rawhide strips that cannot be swallowed whole.

I also found the Visalia Rawhide, a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.  They have played in Visalia, California, at Valley Strong Ballpark since their start in 1946.  The team has had nine names, most of which reflect changing major-league affiliates, and took the name Rawhide in 2009.  The mascot is a Holstein Bull named Tipper, introduced on October 15, 2008.  Tipper represents the tens of thousands of Holsteins in Tulare County, which is the top dairy-producing area in the country.  Tipper’s home is a 40′ x 20′ red barn which is part of the outfield fence.  The traditional red barn was built as a “community barn raising” to raise awareness for Habitat for Humanity and stands as an icon for the agricultural heritage of the valley.  Once per season, the team wears old-fashioned uniforms recalling Mighty Casey, the main folklore hero of “Casey at the Bat” and the “Mudville Nine”, based on the Stockton Ports in Stockton, 160 miles (240 km) to the north.

THOUGHTS:  Wet rawhide was used by some cultures as a means of torture or execution, gradually biting into the parts of the body encloses as it dries.  Rawhide was also used in the context of medicine by First Nations peoples.  The Sioux Nation would wrap wet rawhide around a long bone fracture, and as it dried it would slowly set the bone.  The dried rawhide then served to support the fracture, like a plaster cast today.  Many items’ humans make can be used for good or ill.  The same can be said today for wearing masks.  The difference comes with the intent of the user.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

April 08, 2022

When I checked my early morning feeds, I came across a video of a cocker spaniel playing with a ball.  There was a life-sized bronze statue of a man slightly leaning forward as he sat on a bench.  The spaniel ran into the frame and dropped the ball at the man’s feet.  The dog stared at the ball in expectation for the man to pick it up and throw it.  The dog then looked up at the man hoping to get his attention.  Getting no response, the dog grabbed the ball, ran through the legs, and then dropped the ball again, again waiting in expectation for the man to pick up the ball and throw it.  Despite the dog’s expectation, the statue never picked up the ball.

When I looked online, I found despite what common sense may tell you, research shows people are surprisingly inept at predicting how we will feel in various situations, and that reality and expectation often differ greatly.  Charles Dickens’ novel, “Great Expectations” illustrates the problem.  The main character, Pip, inherits money from a secret benefactor and views this fortune as a steppingstone to marrying the girl of his dreams.  He ultimately learned money was not necessarily part of that larger plan, and he realized the important relationships and gifts in his life that he had taken for granted.  His expectation robbed him of appreciating his reality.

I had mentioned how I had first tried to transfer the beans for the beanbag chair outside and managed to get them all over the pool deck.  One of the difficulties was the beans were so light on full of static they jumped and repelled each other in the light wind.  While I was not happy about losing the beans, Zena was ecstatic.  The very thing that exasperated me was what made the beans so fun to play with for Zena.  She would crouch in front of one of the tiny beans, and pounce as it blew around on the deck.  The best part for Zena seemed to be the expectation that the bean was going to move.

THOUGHTS:  Research shows we do not fully appreciate what we have when we expect more, or when we compare what we have, to what we could have.  One study found participants given a subliminal reminder of wealth spent less time savoring a chocolate bar than subjects who were not reminded of wealth.  The study reminds us to try to savor our chocolate (lives) more and not dwell on what we do not have.  The study also shows how our thoughts color our enjoyment of what we have.  During the height of the pandemic, we lamented the loss of normal activities.  Like Pip, we allowed our expectation to rob us of appreciating our reality.  As Garth sang, “Life is a dance you learn as you go.”  Expectation should enhance, and not hinder, the dance.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

April 06, 2022

I was lying in bed this morning when I received a text from Melissa asking me to come watch the dog.  Melissa was on a zoom call for work and Zena was frolicking on the deck around the pool.  Even though we have a tarp covering the pool, the recent rains have sagged the tarp about two and a half feet (3/4 meter) and there is about six inches (15cm) of water standing in various places on top of the tarp.  I have seen Zena frolic around the pool every time I have taken her out on the deck.  She bounces around like any puppy and gets too close to the edge.  I have also seen her fall into the pool, but the cover and the step where she has fallen have given her enough traction to allow her to climb out before I could get to her to help.  I went outside to appease Melissa’s fear of, “just in case.” 

When I looked online, I found around 3,500 to 4,000 people drown every year, or an average of 10 fatal drownings per day.  Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1-4 and is among the top 5 causes of unintentional injury-related death from birth to 5 years old.  Twenty-three percent of child drownings happen during a family gathering near a pool.  It is estimated another 5 to 10 people receive hospital-related care for nonfatal drowning injuries for every fatal drowning victim.  Eighty-seven percent of drowning fatalities happen in home pools or hot tubs for children younger than 5 years, and most take place in pools owned by family or friends.  Children and puppies can easily panic when they fall in a pool.

I knew one of the reasons Melissa was worried was because of what happened to Bella, her last puppy.  Bella liked to bounce around the pool getting way to close to the edge as well.  One day as she sped around the corner, she cut it too close and fell in.  The pool did not have a cover and she went directly into the water.  Melissa was watching her and jumped into the pool to pull Bella out.  From that time on, Bella was terrified of the pool.  She would still run around the deck but kept her distance from the edge of the pool.  By the time I arrived Bella was no longer a puppy.  She still liked to careen around the pool but would stay a good distance from the edge.  At times I even saw her approach the side of the pool, and then bark at the water.  I do not know if that was supposed to scare the water, but it seemed to make Bella feel better.

THOUGHTS:  Melissa’s uneasiness about Zena was warranted.  When I had been with her previously, she had fallen into the shallow end of the pool, and the steps gave her traction to climb out.  I was not outside more than five minutes before Zena fell into the opposite end of the pool.  She was able to get her front feet and body above the side, but her back feet could not find the traction to hoist herself out.  Since I was watching, I was able to pull her out.  While lakes and ponds can be as deadly for children, adults tend to pay more attention in these situations.  At home we feel safe and let our guard down.  Puppies and children are curious, and test, taste, and get into everything.  The ultimate cause of most (tragic) accidents is not watching.  Being aware of others and looking for their welfare is good advice for adults as well.  Whether we admit it or not, we are a Tribe.  Do the work.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

April 05, 2022

The NCAA Men’s Tournament is officially over as the Kansas Jayhawks defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 72-69 last night.  The win marked the biggest comeback in championship history after Kansas was down 16 points during the first half.  This marks the second NCAA title for coach Bill Self, who led the team to the title victory in 2008.  Kansas was initially seeded No. 1 in the Midwest and had won the tournament three times (1952, 1988, and 2008), while being runner up six times.  The University of North Carolina (UNC) was seeded No. 8 in the East, which tied for the lowest-ranked team to reach the final since seeding began in the late 1970’s.  UNC has reached the Final Four 21 times, the most in college basketball history, and has been to the final 11 times, including 6 championships, and 3 were under head coach Roy Williams.

An interesting note was both coaches in this year’s final succeeded Roy Williams.  Over his 33 years as head coach Williams spent 15 seasons at Kansas (1988 – 2003).  Williams missed the tournament the first year, then led the Jayhawks to 14 straight NCAA Tournament appearances and two national championship games (no title).  Williams was succeeded by Bill Self, who has now won 2 championships and 15 regular-season Big 12 titles, including an NCAA-record 14-straight (2005-18).  During his 18 seasons (2004-2021) at UNC, Williams won 3 championships (2005, 2009, and 2017).  Williams is one of five coaches in college basketball history to achieve 900+ wins as a head coach, and his 903 victories surpassed UNC’s Dean Smith on the all-time list.  UNC head coach Hubert Davis served as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 2012 until Williams’ retirement.  Going to the championship game his first year is not a bad start.

Now that the tournament is over, I know what you are really wondering is how my brackets turned out.  I previously mentioned out of the 17.3 million brackets, all had at least one wrong prediction after the opening weekend.  The best score out of my five online brackets was 660.  By comparison, the two winners scored 1710 out of the possible 1920 points.  There are 6 rounds to the NCAA tournament and a player is awarded points based on picking the winner of each game in each round.  Each correct winner is multiplied by 10 and then the totals of the six rounds are added to achieve the final score.  ESPN compiles a “peoples” bracket of all the entries before the start of the tournament and it also busted.  My best bracket ranked 3,774,597^th.  Close, right?

THOUGHTS:  While I play for fun, there are some who play the tournament brackets hoping to win.  At the end of each round (Round of 64, Round of 32, Sweet Sixteen, Elite 8, Final Four, Championship Game) the top scoring individual entries from that round are added to an overall sweepstakes pool drawn at the end of the tournament.  A random drawing from the pool entries accumulated through the tournament is selected as the Grand Prize winner of $100,000.  I did not win.  I have heard, “winning isn’t everything” was coined by somebody who lost.  There are times I play hoping to win, times I play for fun, and times when I have no choice.  During the pandemic I have had no choice.  Like my brackets, while I have yet to win, obeying the rules has kept me from a loss.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

April 02, 2022

Toward the back of this month’s AAA magazine was an article called “Power Trip”, where Eric Noble reviewed some of the history of the current (no pun intended) EV craze.  While EVs are in the news, they are hardly new.  Ferdinand Porsche worked on an electric automobile in 1898 and steam, electric, and gas-powered vehicles all shared the road in the early 1900’s.  Gasoline cars took over by the late 1920’s because they were quick to refuel and had longer driving ranges, and the EVs dropped from production.  Improvements in battery technology has revived interest in EVs.  There are 29 EV models for 2022 and nearly 100 set to debut by 2025.  These range from the inexpensive (tiny) two seaters all the way to muscle cars and powerful pickup trucks.

When I looked online, I found electric cars, or electric vehicles (EVs), are fully electric and rely on batteries for their power.  There are plug-in hybrids that act like EVs but can also operate like gas-electric hybrids when the charge is depleted.  Automakers often speak of “electrifying” their lineups, but that can mean almost anything.  The EV designation typically means fully or “pure” electric in most references.  Technically, electric motors are more efficient than gasoline or diesel engines and can provide cheaper operation per mile, but it depends on the cost of gasoline (or diesel) and electricity where you live, and EVs tend to cost more up front.  EVs are becoming the technology of choice for eco-friendly car buyers because they have no localized emissions tied to their operation.  They can be powered with clean, renewable energy, and even when charged with power from nonrenewable sources they release less carbon per mile when compared to similar non-EVs.  While fast public chargers are becoming more available (often quite expensive), owners need to have a plan to stay charged.

Several weeks ago, I was in conversation with a fellow Jeep owner, and he mentioned he was considering purchasing of one of the new e series vehicles.  I had never considered an off-road vehicle as EVs because of the range.  When I take extended off-road trips, I am forced to bring extra cans of gas and even then, have had to make trips into town to fill them up.  It would be some feat to find a charger station in the desert or canyonlands.  I was intrigued and checked for prices.  The base price models ran about $20,000 more for a new e series.  Equipped to enhance the off-road capability the grand Wagoneer topped out around $100,000.  I have always said the difference between a standard vehicle and four-wheel drive was you just get stuck in more inaccessible places.  I cannot image leaving $100,000 sitting in a wash at the bottom of a canyon.

THOUGHTS:  Cold is the EVs Achilles’ heel regardless of make or model.  Range plummets as the battery pack cools and is further sacrificed to heat the cabin.  According to AAA, EVs can lose more than 40% of their range at 20F compared with 75F.  Using heated steering wheel, seats, and preheating the cabin while the car is still plugged in helps, but the effect of cold must be factored when determining how much range you need before purchasing.  You will not be able to hitch to the nearest gas station for a refill.  Of the nearly 290 million vehicles on the road in the US, only 2% are EVs.  Noble closed his review saying, “For people with ample budgets, home garages, low electricity rates, and perhaps a daily commute with a carpool lane, an electric vehicle can be a good choice.”  For the planet, it is a good choice regardless.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

April 01, 2022

When I was growing up my father had a long-standing joke that seemed to work every year.  We would be seated at the breakfast table and dad would look outside and say, “Look at that big brown dog in our yard!”  My brother and I would run to the window to see the dog, and then my father would shout, “April Fools!”  As we got older the joke changed.  This was not because we caught on, but because we owned a big brown boxer dog named Lucky.  The joke became, “Look at that big black dog in our yard!”  It still worked into our Jr. High years.  I think this was the only joke my father could remember the punch line for.

When I looked online, I found April Fools Day, or April Fool’s Day, is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes.  The jokester will often expose their actions by shouting “April Fools!” at the recipient.  Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may be revealed as a prank the following day.  April 1 is not a public holiday in any country except Cyprus, where it is a national holiday (not April Fools’ Day but instead “Cyprus National Day”) and Odessa, Ukraine where the first of April is an official city holiday.  A disputed association between 1 April and foolishness is in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (1392).  In the “Nun’s Priest’s Tale”, a vain cock Chauntecleer is tricked by a fox on “Since March began thirty days and two”, or 32 days since March began, which is 1 April.  In 1686, John Aubrey referred to the celebration as “Fooles holy day”, which is the first British reference.  On 1 April 1698, several people were tricked into going to the Tower of London to “see the Lions washed”.

Although no biblical scholar mentions a relationship, some expressed the belief that the origins of April Fools’ Day go back to the Genesis flood narrative.  The London Public Advertiser of March 13, 1769, printed: “The mistake of Noah sending the dove out of the ark before the water had abated, on the first day of April, and to perpetuate the memory of this deliverance it was thought proper, whoever forgot so remarkable a circumstance, to punish them by sending them upon some sleeveless errand similar to that ineffectual message upon which the bird was sent by the patriarch”.  Then in a 1908 edition of the Harper’s Weekly cartoonist Bertha R. McDonald wrote: “Authorities gravely back with it to the time of Noah and the ark.”  It seems the origin of the day is just as obtuse as the tricks that are played.

THOUGHTS:  One of my best April Fools jokes happened when I was working for the State of Utah.  I sent a memo to my boss outlining an illegal action taken by one of the companies we were having trouble with.  He read the beginning of the memo and stormed into his boss’s office to declare the atrocity.  His boss took the time to finish the memo, and the last line read, “April Fools!”  While this was a memorable prank, my boss failed to see the humor.  Do the work.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

btw: Did you happen to see the big black dog that was in your yard today? 

March 31, 2022

I previously mentioned I had happened on the town of Altus as I wound my way back to the Interstate on Tuesday.  The attraction signs along I-40 are not for Altus, but for Wiederkehr Village.  Wiederkehr Village is the smallest city in Arkansas with a population of 38.  The town was incorporated in 1975 to prevent annexation by nearby Altus (800+ population).  Wiederkehr Village is renowned as the home of Wiederkehr Wine Cellars.  The incorporated area includes the exit off I-40 and the highway leads directly to the winery.  The winery includes Weinkeller Restaurant, the Weingarten Event Center, a gift shop, and a nearby RV park.  The wine cellar was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.  The Wiederkehr Weinfest is one of the oldest and most popular festivals in western Arkansas. 

When I looked online, I found that the Arkansas River Valley remained sparsely populated until after the Civil War.  The US government initially gave the land to the Cherokee who had been removed from the eastern states.  The Cherokee were later moved farther west to Oklahoma, and the land was opened for European settlement.  The population did not grow until after the coal mines and railroad industry attracted workers in the 1870’s.  Many of these emigrants were from Germany or the German speaking side of Switzerland, including Johann Andreas Wiederkehr.  Wiederkehr and his wife Katherine came to Altus in December 1880, and then built a cabin on St. Mary’s Mountain to the north and east.  Wiederkehr was a shoemaker and leatherworker, but also vinted wine for his family’s use.  The eager miners in the nearby coal-mining towns became customers for his wine, and the Wiederkehr Wine Cellars was born.  The winery survived during Prohibition by gaining permission to produce sacramental wine for the church.

Wiederkehr Village has no post office, no schools, no churches, and no businesses aside from the wine cellar, its restaurant, and gift shop.  In 1980, the village discussed plans to promote the city with a Passion Play, but instead left development to promotion of the wines.  The first Weinfest was held in in 1963 and celebrates the heritage of the Swiss-German immigrants who settled Wiederkehr Village.  The grandson initiated the festival after he returned from a research trip to Europe to study winemaking (oenological) and attending the local festivals.  State law barred the advertisement of alcoholic beverages in dry counties, so the winery owners used Swiss-German (Schweizerdeutsch) spellings on the billboards.  Although the law has changed, the traditional spellings have remained.  The festival grew over the years and guests often exceed 2,500.

THOUGHTS:  The Wiederkehr Weinfest hosts Arkansas’s Championship Grape Stomp.  The winner receives a bronze shoe trophy honoring Steve Little, (former UA field goal kicker) and qualifies to attend the World Championship Grape Stomp in Sonoma County, California.  While I have yet to attend this festival, I have attended many other cultural celebrations.  These tend to be associated with a church or enclave which allowed cohesion in the new land, and as residents were isolated from the community due to language, appearance, or faith.  By joining these celebrations, we can get a glimpse of another perspective.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.

March 30, 2022

Inside the front section of today’s local newspaper was an article on the James Madison’s Montpelier estate board of managers.  Less than a year after the board that manages Madison’s Montpelier estate in Virginia announced plans to share authority equally with descendants of the people once enslaved there, the board has voted to strip power-sharing status from a group representing African Americans who trace their roots to the historic estate.  This is a reversal of the board’s public commitment made on June 16, 2021, and the committee head, James French, called it “a rejection of the principle of equality of descendant voices”.

When I looked online, I found the Montpelier estate, located in Orange County, Virginia, was the plantation house of the Madison family, including fourth president of the US, James Madison, and his wife Dolley.  The 2,650-acre (10.7 km2) property is (again) open seven days a week with the mission of engaging the public with the legacy of Madison’s most powerful idea: government by the people.  Montpelier became a National Historic Landmark and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.  In 1983, the last private owner of Montpelier, Marion duPont Scott, bequeathed the estate to the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP).  The NTHP has owned and operated the estate since 1984.  In 2000, The Montpelier Foundation formed with the goal of transforming James Madison’s historic estate into a dynamic cultural institution.  From 2003–2008 the NTHP carried out a major restoration to return the mansion to its original size (22 rooms) when it was occupied by James and Dolley Madison.

Archeological investigations in the 21st century revealed new information about African American life at the plantation, and a gift from philanthropist David Rubenstein enabled the NTHP to restore the slave quarters in the South Yard and open a slavery exhibition in 2017.  In June 2021, the Montpelier Foundation approved bylaws to share governance of the estate with the Montpelier Descendants Committee, composed of descendants of those enslaved at the estate.  Over the last two years tension has grown between the board and the committee, with the main issue being how to frame Madison’s legacy.  Bettye Kearse, a board member forward by the descendants committee, says, “The board wants to continue telling the public a whitewashed narrative about the Constitution and its chief architect and deciding what should be said about the 300 people Madison owned.”  Foundation chair Gene Hickok said the board is not backing away from its commitment to fully represent descendants on the board but working with the committee has been difficult.  The board now wants to decide which descendants are chosen.

THOUGHTS:  The Montpelier board was justifiably commended for their decision to include the descendant’s committee in governance of the estate.  The difficulty with providing parity is when you include different voices you also receive diverse viewpoints, making it harder for the established elite to control direction.  Slavery was contrary to the radical ideals embraced by the carefully crafted US Preamble and Constitution.  “All men are created equal” means ALL men and ALL women.  If that is not the case, the oppressed merely become the oppressor.  Do the work.  Change is coming and it starts with you.