The end of the year seems to bring out interesting statistics, which I never write down - and then wish I had. Last night on the news - the Dow had triple digit swings for 103 (or was it 104) days this year.Given that Wall Street is open 5 days a week, not 7 days, that's a lotta ups and downs.
Then there is the weather. So many statistics for 2011 that I can't begin to keep track of them. More major disasters than ever. Higher temps here, with record after record broken. One look out the window and I am not sure if it is early November or late March, with no snow on the ground - and none in sight. Clem threatened this morning to start up the mower and mow the grass for one last time in the year. A never-before-event in this part of the country.
We had deluges in July with many basements flooded in our community (we were lucky and escaped this calamity). Then came the first of August and we have had negligible precipitation since then - and are considered to be in a drought. We cut our road trip in the southeast short last March, because we were spending so much time trying to stay ahead of floods and tornadoes.
More seriously, were the tornadoes that destroyed Joplin, Missouri, wildfires burning a huge amount of acreage in Texas, and all the snow dumped on the NE coast.
There were the string of Congressional dramas and the multiple possibilities of government shutdowns. The polarized, paralyzed, and dysfunctional Congress high-lighted the deep political divide in this country, and the power of right-wing evangelical religions to dictate policy in our diverse country. At least it meant watching the evening news was like going to an exciting B-movie. Without popcorn.
And then there was Arab Spring, which has become Arab Year, the Tea Party, and the Occupy Movement. A global movement of disenfranchised people finding their voices. What 2012 will bring is any one's guess.
In the middle of it all were decent people who continue to reach out to neighbors and strangers. It is that decency that is the beacon for 2012.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
The Last of the Year and Hopes for the Next
When I check-in with the news, I strain for perspective! The news is grim, one catastrophe after another. Like the serial movie film of the past. We would sit on the edges of our seat, wondering what trouble will our hero stumble into next - and resolve?
When I go for lunch or other places beyond the Internet world, I find an entirely different world in which people who are courteous and decent. People laughing together over a meal. Holding doors for each other. Smiling at folks they don't even know.
It is there that I find hope. In the basic decency of most of the people who make up our world. I remember before going to France for the first time. There were warnings of French snobbery, especially towards those of us with a small French vocabulary. Instead, I found the opposite to be true. Helpful, friendly people, who did not laugh at my attempts to use my meager French - or turn away from me with their noses in the air. The only rude Frenchman I encountered was a very short man who wanted to ride with me in a very small hotel elevator, which would have meant his face would have been plastered to my American breasts. Needless to say, I insisted we NOT ride in the same elevator.
Or hope was film clips of the Obamas visiting with armed services families and the infant who insisted on putting its fingers in Obama's mouth. The news clips of soldiers returning home to families after a too long war.Or our kittens with their lively imaginations rummaging around in my office wastepaper basket, delighting in their own little games.
People here have grumbled about the lack of snow this winter and what it might mean - and then they enjoy blue skies and record high temperatures. Suggesting hope is what we make of our world - from whatever we are given.
When I go for lunch or other places beyond the Internet world, I find an entirely different world in which people who are courteous and decent. People laughing together over a meal. Holding doors for each other. Smiling at folks they don't even know.
It is there that I find hope. In the basic decency of most of the people who make up our world. I remember before going to France for the first time. There were warnings of French snobbery, especially towards those of us with a small French vocabulary. Instead, I found the opposite to be true. Helpful, friendly people, who did not laugh at my attempts to use my meager French - or turn away from me with their noses in the air. The only rude Frenchman I encountered was a very short man who wanted to ride with me in a very small hotel elevator, which would have meant his face would have been plastered to my American breasts. Needless to say, I insisted we NOT ride in the same elevator.
Or hope was film clips of the Obamas visiting with armed services families and the infant who insisted on putting its fingers in Obama's mouth. The news clips of soldiers returning home to families after a too long war.Or our kittens with their lively imaginations rummaging around in my office wastepaper basket, delighting in their own little games.
People here have grumbled about the lack of snow this winter and what it might mean - and then they enjoy blue skies and record high temperatures. Suggesting hope is what we make of our world - from whatever we are given.
Monday, December 19, 2011
New Life This December
When I read the news near to the close of 2011, I think how easy it would be to become morose over the state of the world.
The short list includes the economic crisis in Europe, Arab Spring which has become an Arab Year, the death of the Korean dictator, and the fear that life in North Korea will become even harder, the continued suffering from the remains of disasters from tornadoes to nuclear meltdowns, Iran's mounting nuclear threat, and a dysfunctional and paralyzed US Congress. And when I look out the window at green grass in December instead of snow, I wonder how much distruction from climate change will have to happen before what is happening is taken seriously.
In our personal lives, the two of us have been grieving the deaths of long-term friends, while we watch others we count as friends struggling with much adversity. I am sure that each of you could add to this list, both in terms of the world and in your personal lives.
It is hard to see evidence of new life around me, even with the symbolic meaning of the Advent story. At the same time I have spent decades of my life as an optimist. When the going gets tough, it means I need to look a little harder in unexpected places for evidence of new life.
This year it has been the introduction of kittens into our lives. Our dear cat, Ramon, died this summer of old age. It has been just the two of us in a household accustomed to life with a cat. The day after Thanksgiving, we went to the Humane Society and came home with two kittens. Two little girl babies from the same litter. Seeing life through their eyes, if such a thing is possible, gives me another window to look at the world.
I know I could say that all of their antics are instinctive learning to hunt for survival - even though these two cats will never be allowed outside to roam the neighborhood. But this DNA explanation does not entirely "explain" their behavior Even though one of them walks with the loping movement of the three big male lions in Kenya, who came marching down the road to watch a female drive her adolescent son out of the pride and into the world to fend for himself. (We watched the action inside the protection of a van with our very alert safari guide).
Our kittens chase each other and their shadows and tails, carry new cat toys around the house, and are entranced by everything new they discover.Their capacity for curiosity, imagination, and play seems unlimited. When they tire of exploring their envionment, they curl up in our laps and purr so loud you can hear them across the room. I don't know the current research on play among animals, but in grad school I knew that the surest way to get a behavioral psychologist to change the subject was to ask what motivates play in animals.
Recent research reported on the capacity of rats to exhibit what only can be called empathy. Cage one rat in a confining cage. Put another rat in a larger space that also contains the poor confined rat. Leave treats out for the "free" rat, who has never met the caged rat before - and who does not gobble the treats down so the caged competition can't eat them. Instead, the free rat upon hearing the cries of the confined rat goes over and figures out how to jiggle the cage so the other rat can get out. and then SHARES some of the treats with the newly freed rat. This series of experiments gives me hope for humanity.
Growing up, I learned a long list of things that made us distinct - and superior - to animals. One by one these qualities have toppled. From the use of tools and language to the capacity to care for one another. And empathy, a quality we have up until now had assigned to humans, the "superior species."
New kittens with unlimited imaginations, curiosity, and play. Rats with empathy. Let us as humans, find these qualities in us and cultivate them! Now - and not wait to make New Year's resolutions.
The short list includes the economic crisis in Europe, Arab Spring which has become an Arab Year, the death of the Korean dictator, and the fear that life in North Korea will become even harder, the continued suffering from the remains of disasters from tornadoes to nuclear meltdowns, Iran's mounting nuclear threat, and a dysfunctional and paralyzed US Congress. And when I look out the window at green grass in December instead of snow, I wonder how much distruction from climate change will have to happen before what is happening is taken seriously.
In our personal lives, the two of us have been grieving the deaths of long-term friends, while we watch others we count as friends struggling with much adversity. I am sure that each of you could add to this list, both in terms of the world and in your personal lives.
It is hard to see evidence of new life around me, even with the symbolic meaning of the Advent story. At the same time I have spent decades of my life as an optimist. When the going gets tough, it means I need to look a little harder in unexpected places for evidence of new life.
This year it has been the introduction of kittens into our lives. Our dear cat, Ramon, died this summer of old age. It has been just the two of us in a household accustomed to life with a cat. The day after Thanksgiving, we went to the Humane Society and came home with two kittens. Two little girl babies from the same litter. Seeing life through their eyes, if such a thing is possible, gives me another window to look at the world.
I know I could say that all of their antics are instinctive learning to hunt for survival - even though these two cats will never be allowed outside to roam the neighborhood. But this DNA explanation does not entirely "explain" their behavior Even though one of them walks with the loping movement of the three big male lions in Kenya, who came marching down the road to watch a female drive her adolescent son out of the pride and into the world to fend for himself. (We watched the action inside the protection of a van with our very alert safari guide).
Our kittens chase each other and their shadows and tails, carry new cat toys around the house, and are entranced by everything new they discover.Their capacity for curiosity, imagination, and play seems unlimited. When they tire of exploring their envionment, they curl up in our laps and purr so loud you can hear them across the room. I don't know the current research on play among animals, but in grad school I knew that the surest way to get a behavioral psychologist to change the subject was to ask what motivates play in animals.
Recent research reported on the capacity of rats to exhibit what only can be called empathy. Cage one rat in a confining cage. Put another rat in a larger space that also contains the poor confined rat. Leave treats out for the "free" rat, who has never met the caged rat before - and who does not gobble the treats down so the caged competition can't eat them. Instead, the free rat upon hearing the cries of the confined rat goes over and figures out how to jiggle the cage so the other rat can get out. and then SHARES some of the treats with the newly freed rat. This series of experiments gives me hope for humanity.
Growing up, I learned a long list of things that made us distinct - and superior - to animals. One by one these qualities have toppled. From the use of tools and language to the capacity to care for one another. And empathy, a quality we have up until now had assigned to humans, the "superior species."
New kittens with unlimited imaginations, curiosity, and play. Rats with empathy. Let us as humans, find these qualities in us and cultivate them! Now - and not wait to make New Year's resolutions.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
WINTER
When the lemmings are scarce in the really far
north (in Canada) the owls have to move south.
So far I have not seen one . . . but, I have not
Just last week, the local news announced
that there is an influx of Snowy Owls into
northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
seen winter either. Isn't this an amazingly long
spring?
WINTER
In winter’s bright, slant light
crystalline snowflakes float lazily
to join the earth.
Snow Bunting flocks swirl
land on open prairie
strip seeds from grasses
before taking to the air.
Snowy Owls invade
from parts north
seeking preferred food, but
will settle for any small creature
that
moves.
north (in Canada) the owls have to move south.
So far I have not seen one . . . but, I have not
Just last week, the local news announced
that there is an influx of Snowy Owls into
northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
seen winter either. Isn't this an amazingly long
spring?
WINTER
In winter’s bright, slant light
crystalline snowflakes float lazily
to join the earth.
Snow Bunting flocks swirl
land on open prairie
strip seeds from grasses
before taking to the air.
Snowy Owls invade
from parts north
seeking preferred food, but
will settle for any small creature
that
moves.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Technology Dependence
You don't know how much you use something until it disappears from your life! For a week we had no Internet/email access. Our modem died of old age and it took until now to get back on the grid.
I will spare you the details of our saga - the week was not a high point in our lives. Except to say, there are those who provide support services who know what they are doing - and there are those who should find another way to make a living. Any other job will do for them.
In the meantime, we realized one by one, all of the things for which we use our Internet service. For starters - this blog (for those of you who follow us and may have wondered if the absence of new postings was due to neglect or some catastrophe in our lives). To you, we say we are back!
Of course, we could have gone to the library to gain Internet access. But doing so would have prolonged the crisis, because of long hours spent on the phone trying to get our system up and running with a new modem.
All out of our reach: directions to a friend's house, where to find a particular product, ordering on-line Christmas gifts, email, global news, FaceBook connections, the ability to email class proposals for the winter months, research for our writing, banking, paying bills. The list goes on and on.
The absence of instant connection led me to reflect on the place of technology in our lives. I thought about how I am not always "connected." An iPhone will not enter my life until sometime this winter. So my connection literally is grounded in my home study. And when I travel, I leave this connectivity at home and then I don't miss my Internet and email one bit!
Our family long ago drew clear lines between the need periodically to be completely gone from our busy lives. Other than leaving information behind on to how to reach each other (if possible) in case of an emergency, we all have appreciated this boundary. It has meant wilderness camping and trips to places where Internet capacity does not exist. Everyone needs "away time" to renew and refresh their spirits - something increasingly a luxury in the world of iPhone and iPads.
But there is another part of the story. Computer technology has overtaken us, like big cats slinking along silently in pursuit of some prey. There are computer chips everywhere, some very small and others more major in the size of their impact on our lives. And I wouldn't have it any other way!
As we used our car this past week, I visualized maneuvering a large computer down freeways and city streets. Vroom, vroom, here we go. It was an interesting image.
We bought a new car this past spring to replace an almost 8-year old van. We still haven't figured out all of this car's capacities - contrasted with our older simpler vehicle. Now, the radio tells us what song it is playing. There are seven ways to program how the doors unlock when we we arrive somewhere. The car tells you whether you are driving economically and what the temperature is outside. It is wired for satellite radio - and Bluetooth and . . and . . . and . . . While I remember the "good old days" when opening a window meant turning a crank. Would I trade our beautiful car for one the cars we drove when we were younger? Not on your life!
All of this technology enriches our lives in ways we usually don't realize until something doesn't function. And getting it running again often is a chore and takes time in lives in which we are conditioned to expect instant reward. In the tight economies of the world and the shifting of jobs globally via outsourcing, the lack of service has increased the problem of what to do when something doesn't work.
During this past week, I periodically moaned that all I wanted was for some nice man (in the past, computer maintenance was a male occupation) to come to our house and in an hour get things working. After all, years ago, it was a nice man who set up our DSL equipment for our computers . At the same time I marveled at how people at the other end of a phone line could burrow their way into our complex equipment and extract hordes of information to diagnose why we were having trouble getting a new modem to function.
The funniest memory I have about computerization was at the time of the transition from manual to computer banking. On a Tuesday evening, I had reconciled our bank account (using pencil and paper, which is how we used to do such a thing), so I knew exactly how much money we had in our bank account, to the penny. The next morning, Clem and I went to our bank at 8:00 am when the bank opened (a single bank in one location, before these giant banking corporations). Our intention was to make a withdrawal for a home project.
We were greeted with the news that we were over-drawn by hundreds of dollars. What?! As the morning unfolded, we were only the first in a long line of customers. The problem was traced to a computer with a mind of its own, which had been busy randomly taking money out of some accounts and depositing money in other accounts! Fortunately, computer-recording of bank transactions was in its infancy - and the bank had duplicate records on microfiche. At the end of the day, the bank gave us a pen with the bank's name on it.
Which reminds, I need to check my bank account now that I am back on-line. Of course my account needs me to check it every few days . . .
I will spare you the details of our saga - the week was not a high point in our lives. Except to say, there are those who provide support services who know what they are doing - and there are those who should find another way to make a living. Any other job will do for them.
In the meantime, we realized one by one, all of the things for which we use our Internet service. For starters - this blog (for those of you who follow us and may have wondered if the absence of new postings was due to neglect or some catastrophe in our lives). To you, we say we are back!
Of course, we could have gone to the library to gain Internet access. But doing so would have prolonged the crisis, because of long hours spent on the phone trying to get our system up and running with a new modem.
All out of our reach: directions to a friend's house, where to find a particular product, ordering on-line Christmas gifts, email, global news, FaceBook connections, the ability to email class proposals for the winter months, research for our writing, banking, paying bills. The list goes on and on.
The absence of instant connection led me to reflect on the place of technology in our lives. I thought about how I am not always "connected." An iPhone will not enter my life until sometime this winter. So my connection literally is grounded in my home study. And when I travel, I leave this connectivity at home and then I don't miss my Internet and email one bit!
Our family long ago drew clear lines between the need periodically to be completely gone from our busy lives. Other than leaving information behind on to how to reach each other (if possible) in case of an emergency, we all have appreciated this boundary. It has meant wilderness camping and trips to places where Internet capacity does not exist. Everyone needs "away time" to renew and refresh their spirits - something increasingly a luxury in the world of iPhone and iPads.
But there is another part of the story. Computer technology has overtaken us, like big cats slinking along silently in pursuit of some prey. There are computer chips everywhere, some very small and others more major in the size of their impact on our lives. And I wouldn't have it any other way!
As we used our car this past week, I visualized maneuvering a large computer down freeways and city streets. Vroom, vroom, here we go. It was an interesting image.
We bought a new car this past spring to replace an almost 8-year old van. We still haven't figured out all of this car's capacities - contrasted with our older simpler vehicle. Now, the radio tells us what song it is playing. There are seven ways to program how the doors unlock when we we arrive somewhere. The car tells you whether you are driving economically and what the temperature is outside. It is wired for satellite radio - and Bluetooth and . . and . . . and . . . While I remember the "good old days" when opening a window meant turning a crank. Would I trade our beautiful car for one the cars we drove when we were younger? Not on your life!
All of this technology enriches our lives in ways we usually don't realize until something doesn't function. And getting it running again often is a chore and takes time in lives in which we are conditioned to expect instant reward. In the tight economies of the world and the shifting of jobs globally via outsourcing, the lack of service has increased the problem of what to do when something doesn't work.
During this past week, I periodically moaned that all I wanted was for some nice man (in the past, computer maintenance was a male occupation) to come to our house and in an hour get things working. After all, years ago, it was a nice man who set up our DSL equipment for our computers . At the same time I marveled at how people at the other end of a phone line could burrow their way into our complex equipment and extract hordes of information to diagnose why we were having trouble getting a new modem to function.
The funniest memory I have about computerization was at the time of the transition from manual to computer banking. On a Tuesday evening, I had reconciled our bank account (using pencil and paper, which is how we used to do such a thing), so I knew exactly how much money we had in our bank account, to the penny. The next morning, Clem and I went to our bank at 8:00 am when the bank opened (a single bank in one location, before these giant banking corporations). Our intention was to make a withdrawal for a home project.
We were greeted with the news that we were over-drawn by hundreds of dollars. What?! As the morning unfolded, we were only the first in a long line of customers. The problem was traced to a computer with a mind of its own, which had been busy randomly taking money out of some accounts and depositing money in other accounts! Fortunately, computer-recording of bank transactions was in its infancy - and the bank had duplicate records on microfiche. At the end of the day, the bank gave us a pen with the bank's name on it.
Which reminds, I need to check my bank account now that I am back on-line. Of course my account needs me to check it every few days . . .
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