Category: Other items of interest

Other items of interest

I Stand with Ukraine

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artwork by Marc Chagall with mother clutches her child while her husband attempts to shield his family from flames

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. While the White House claims the opposite, it does not change the truth we saw for ourselves. Television images of Russian tanks and bombed children’s hospitals. Interviews with World Central Kitchen Founder and Chef José Andrés as he and his teams provided hot meals for displaced people. And, on a personal note – hearing from Moldovan friends, with whom I shared many glasses of wine, that they were offering safe homes to Ukrainian refugees. Americans hung bright yellow and blue flags, churches conducted prayer vigils for peace, and sunflowers became the flower of choice, at least for a time.

With embarrassment, I watched a BBC live feed as an international relations meeting devolved into a shouting match intended to intimidate democratically elected President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while he visited the Oval Office. While Zelenskyy sought ongoing US support for Ukraine, the administration rudely rejected his warning to avoid putting too much trust in Vladimir Putin. These words of caution were not that of a flimflam man but from someone who has walked through the exploded rubble of the streets of his Capitol; a warning based on personal knowledge of broken Russian promises. My upbringing, with deep roots in southern hospitality and Swiss congeniality, requires treating a guest with respect. While I have only visited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I believe it is the people’s house and basic rules of respect and dignity should prevail. That definitely did not occur yesterday.

Art credit: Marc Chagall, 1887-1985. La Famille Ukrainienne, gouache, pastel and pencil on paper, executed circa 1940-1943.

New House

Looking for the right sized house

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light blue background with 3-D cardboard house, housekeys, and piece of paper

Our search for a new house has begun. With help from Alex Mayer, we are looking for the “right-sized” dwelling with living space on one-floor and maybe even a no-step entry. We have loved our quaint 100-year-old home in this well-established neighborhood, but we are ready to relinquish worries about exterior maintenance, snow removal, and lawn care to a homeowners’ association (HOA).

While there are a multitude of variables beyond our control, we hope the search will follow a steady linear progression: view homes for sale, make an offer, close on the new property, remodel and/or renovate to our taste, move, and then finally put our house on the market. We have already discovered that modern home shopping is certainly easier than 40-years ago. From the comfort of our sunroom sofa, we review online listings; dismissing one as too big or another as too small, all the while hoping for that Goldilocks “just right” dwelling. On a deep-freeze day last week, we visited a side-by-side townhouse on two levels – nice but not quite right. Today, with a sunny blue sky, we will visit another listing that just went on the market yesterday.

Late afternoon postscript – Today’s townhouse also falls into the nice but not quite right category.

Graphic credit: Alex P from pexels

New House

Stairs: A bane of elder life

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Geometric January: Square Challenge #5

Through the efficiency of eSignatures, we signed with a realtor last week making it official that we are house hunting. This final GeometricJanuary post reveals just one of the barriers necessitating this life changing move from our multi-story, 100-year-old house to a step-free environment, boasting all the modern-day amenities on one floor. The turning parquet stairs with four angular steps to-and-from the back door is the shortest of the house’s staircases. While geometrically appealing, these steps are, at times, difficult to maneuver. In addition, there are other interior steps between some of the rooms and the exterior approach up the berm to the front door has two runs of steps. The quirks of our old house on a small lot with insufficient space to ramp would provide a significant challenge even for This Old House thus making our decision to move the reasonable choice.

A shout of appreciation to BeckyB for hosting this month’s photo challenge featuring square geometric images. I am looking forward to her next quarterly square challenge.

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Geometric Lines: Niagara’s Rigging

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looking skyward up a main mast into the rigging of a tall ship

Geometric January: Square Challenge #4

Sailing terminology is a coded mystery when one has only sailed twice (once on Lake Pepin and once on Tampa Bay with the St. Petersburg skyline in constant view). At first glance the rigging of the S.S.V. Niagara resembles an M.C. Escher lithograph – a tangled maze of confusion. But, when touring this tall ship in the Duluth harbor, we were assured that each Coast Guard trainee understood the complexity of the interconnecting boom, mast, and line.

Another offering for BeckyB’s GeometricJanuary square challenge. Here is the S.S.V. Niagara (Sailing School Vessel) as part of the tall ship regatta in July 2013.

Other items of interest · Travel

Geometric Secrets in King’s Chapel

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stacks of gray slate roof tiles set against old stone wall

Geometric January: Square Challenge #3

Access to otherwise restricted areas is an advantage of sightseeing in a large, organized group. During the 2018 pilgrimage to Massachusetts, our time in King’s Chapel was not limited to the sanctuary. While that beautiful space is so full of history as to be a worthy destination all by itself, our talented guide gave us more. In the bell tower we touched the last bell ever cast and hung by Paul Revere. And, we ventured into the crypt where family names of the historically prominent were carved in the lintels. It was there that I snapped this photo for today’s GeometricJanuary challenge hosted by BeckyB revealing a supply of somewhat dusty slate roof tiles safely tucked away for future repairs.

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Jimmy Carter – For Libraries and Women

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Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter holding hands and dressed in work clothes, tools and hard hats

While I voted for McGovern in 1972, his overwhelming defeat by Richard Nixon erased memories of having participated in that presidential election. Carter’s rise from peanut farmer to Governor to long-shot for the Democratic nomination captured my imagination and my vote.

He once keynoted a national library conference that I attended. As he did throughout his life, he proudly acknowledged his initial foray into public life began when elected to the Plains Public Library Board of Trustees. He enthralled the audience as he extolled the importance of libraries and librarians. After all, what professional crowd does not like to hear a prominent citizen of the world tell them “Good job?” But after sweeping us along with harmonious, good feelings, he told us that all our hard work was not enough. While cognizant of budgetary limitations, he challenged us to broaden our mission and serve everyone. He demanded that we create collections reflecting varying opinions and that we stand steadfast against censorship while defending freedom of access to information within the “people’s university.” Every attendee left feeling a certain degree of chagrin that we had somehow disappointed our biggest library supporter.

As a deeply spiritual man, he took an unpopular stand that “women and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted interpretation of the Word of God.” He went so far as to paraphrase the popular REM song and proclaim he was “losing my religion for equity.” As a scholar, he knew that in the early centuries of the Christian church women served in prominent roles as teachers, deacons, priests, and even bishops. A review of history reveals that it was not until the fourth century that the rules governing church leadership changed and that shift permeated the whole of society. He offered these profound words:

The truth is that male religious leaders have had – and still have – an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions – all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views.

As we offer final farewell, our country has lost an honorable man, a hero – one who fought for women’s rights and (with a special space in my heart) libraries.

Photo credit: Tampa Bay Times ©2018

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Travel Memories: Geometric Art in Switzerland

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artistic colorful posts set against a forest background with tarmac road in foreground

Geometric January: Square Challenge #2

On a gray day amidst sporadic rain showers, a flash of color appeared as we traveled up the Bürgenstock for late afternoon hot chocolate and delectable desserts while overlooking Lake Lucerne at the Bürgenstock Resort.

Visits from Swiss cousins in July and October led to reminiscing about that earlier grand tour to Amsterdam, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Their arrival brought a bit of international flair even as a trek to Holcombe, Wisconsin for Thanksgiving was our furthest away destination in 2024. That 2018 adventure is the source of this second GeometricJanuary square as I join BeckyB for a month of geometry with the thematic requirement that the header photo must be a square.

Photo details: Bürgenstock Resort, Canton of Nidwalden, Switzerland, September 2, 2018.

Other items of interest · Travel

Geometric January: Square Challenge #1

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square photo of cobblestones set in geometric shapes with the toes of black shoes poking into the frame at the very bottom

Rather than simply start the new year by sharing good wishes (although I certainly offer those!) I am joining Becky for her GeometricJanuary challenge. With other bloggers from around the world, I will share images (all squares) that convey this quarter’s topic. The rules are simple: post a square picture that expresses the geometric theme. If you blog, consider joining the fun as the posts are always creatively entertaining.

While I cannot envision posting daily, I promise an assortment of the fresh images throughout the month starting with the cobblestone paths at the Montreal Botanical Garden that I traversed with friends in August 2022.

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Baking Away Worries: Reflections after the election

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fresh chocolate chip cookies

On a lethargic morning suffering from an election induced migraine, I found it easier to concentrate on the old Betty Cocker recipe for chocolate chip cookies than to contemplate the former president’s re-election to a second term. His promises for the “first day” of his administration are chilling and include initiating mass deportations of migrants, pardoning January 6 insurrectionists who violently sought to overthrow the Constitution, and cutting climate regulations despite evidence of ever more severe weather conditions.

All day, ping-ponging worries bounced through my brain while I creamed the butter and stirred in the chopped pecans, all the while trying to breathe deeply and to re-direct my focus.

  • Worries that eliminating Head Start will enlarge an already existing education gap between those children ready for school, those who can count and know their colors and those who have never held a picture book.
  • Worries that the end of prescription price caps will only serve big pharma’s bottom line and cause those on tight budgets to have to choose between paying the rent, putting food on the table, and buying lifesaving drugs.
  • Worries that a greatly curtailed National Weather Service will return us to the “old days” when checking the sky and feeling the wind on our face were our only weather alerts rather than using science to identify the path of approaching storms.
  • Worries that banning books, like giant book bonfires of earlier generations, will chill the creative spirit of writers and artists and curtail the mission of public libraries as the “people’s university.”

Then, late this afternoon, I listened to Vice-President Kamala Harris offer a gracious concession speech that acknowledged the exact range of my emotions. She advised, “Do not despair. This is not a time to throw up our hands, this is a time to roll up our sleeves”.

I began to shift my energy from worry by focusing on her words and a prayer shared by Rev. Robin Tanner, “Beloved One, hold the pain and the fear, hold the dream and the fury, hold us as we hold one another. Call us into being with a love that does not let go.”

And more words of encouragement from this evening’s Election Vespers:
Mary Housh Gordon – “I think humans in western cultures often need to feel there is an upward arc to history and some promised arrival in order for there to be meaning. But the place we are going is just around the sun on a miracle of a planet – and we are still alive in a world that is so beautiful and so brutal all at once and always has been. And it is all drenched in meaning no matter where it is headed and it matters that we love each other well and drink up the beauty and resist the brutality.”

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Civic Duty: Two votes cast

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two people sitting in the car with sunglasses each with red I voted stickers

I am proud to have voted in every election since I became eligible – from local primaries and school referendums to presidential elections.  There is an excitement and a patriotic satisfaction in that simple act of going to the polls.  Whether as the four-year old who, in 1956, was allowed to pull the large metal lever that closed the curtain of the mechanical voting booth at Lincoln Elementary School, the Ninth Ward polling place, or standing in long, long lines in 2008 waiting to vote for Hope.

Only once, when a national library conference conflicted with a Minnesota spring primary, had I ever voted early.  Of course, Covid changed that and health issues again this year factored into our decision not to wait for November 5.  Richard served 20 years as an election judge, always working the early morning shift, 6:00 am-2:00 pm; part of the team responsible for setting-up and covering the early morning and lunchtime rush.  Rather than take a chance of not feeling at our best on election day, we took advantage of Minnesota’s early voting option and voted at the County offices.  Twenty-six minutes from ballot to voting booth to seeing a flag on the optical scanner.

Join us in the vital democratic process!  Vote early or vote November 5. Just VOTE!