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.
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.
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.
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.”
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!
… it was legal to deny a woman credit without a male co-signer.
I don’t have any recollection of knowing it was a momentous day for women when President Gerald Ford signed the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) on Monday, October 28, 1974. I may or may not have watched the nightly news that detailed a new Federal law making it illegal for creditors to discriminate on the basis of sex or marital status. At the time, I did not possess a credit card and thus had never been denied. I was living at home and carrying a full credit load. I would have been focused on a full schedule that included methods classes and other subjects required for my second Bachelors – the Elementary Education degree. When I finally applied for an AMOCO card so that I could pay for gas when traveling to and from Brodhead, I signed the application myself never realizing that just 14 months earlier, my Dad would have been required to sign for me. So much has changed in my life and so much is at stake in this election.
Wonderful on the spice rack and now a political statement!
All because Vice President Kamala Harris hugged a customer while visiting a Penzeys store during her time in Pittsburgh, the former president and the right-wing media have set out to close down this “liberal” business. The intent is not only to boycott Penzeys Spices out of business but to send a fear signal to other businesses that might want to welcome the Harris-Walz team. To countermand this attack Penzeys Spices is offering $50 gift cards for $35, now through Sunday, September 15. And, not only is there a cost-saving gift card offer, but they also have a special deal on their orange spices. Buy lots, enjoy the flavor, and do your bit for democracy.
It is an exciting day for Minnesota as Vice President Kamala Harris just announced that my Governor, Tim Walz, will be her running mate!
The first picture, while not the clearest, (I had handed my pocket-sized Samsung camera to the Congressman’s aide) provides proof of heartfelt conversations. That photo was snapped just before he departed a Rochester hotel banquet room as we walked-and-talked while I advocated for increased Federal support of libraries. The second was a sun-filled, fun day in Winona when Walz was home during the summer congressional break. He and his entourage joined young readers for a brown bag lunch provided by the Lunch Bus on the steps of the Winona Public Library.
I first met Tim Walz in 2006 at a candidates’ debate hosted by the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. After just the first two questions, it was clear the incumbent, Republican Gil Gutknecht, had thought he could return to his hometown and coast by, after all, he was the one coming from the hallowed halls of government. Instead, it was his challenger, Tim Walz, who responded competently to each question. He shared details as if just briefed and with a clarity that demonstrated how he made high school geography interesting. By the end of the debate, my luncheon tablemates were worried by their candidate’s mediocre performance and were busy conferring how best to get (then) Congressman Gutknecht the necessary coaching in hopes of a better showing in future debates around Minnesota’s 1st district. The November 2006 election proved the best man won.
A quick review of his Wikipedia page reminded me of just how hard this moderate has worked for the residents of Minnesota and our country:
"In his first week as a legislator, Walz cosponsored a bill to raise the minimum wage, voted for stem cell research, voted to allow Medicare to negotiate pharmaceutical prices, and voiced support for pay-as-you-go budget rules, requiring that new spending or tax changes not add to the federal deficit."
Even as Harris campaign signs are being swastika-ed in Rochester, I am supporting this exciting duo; my first campaign contribution already paid. The Harris-Walz presidential ticket will rejuvenate this campaign, introduce civility and even some humor into the discussion of complicated issues and provide a talented team that will work with compassion as:
Today, we face a choice between two very different visions for our nation: one focused on the future and the other focused on the past. And we are fighting for the future. —Kamala Harris (July 2024)
I was the luckiest of grandchildren. I lived across the street from my maternal grandparents and moved between these two homes with an easy flow. As a free ranging child of the 50s, my neighborhood friends and I were just as likely to be found resting in the cool shade of the pines on the west side of their lot, as playing kickball in the cinder alley on my side of the street or roller skating the concrete sidewalk ringing our block. If Grandma was in the kitchen – baking oatmeal cookies, cooking supper, making Ribbli (a uniquely Swiss breakfast dish) – she always wore an apron.
Over the years, I have collected a half-dozen bib aprons but I tend to grab one only when I start a multiple recipe day of cooking and baking; an act that signifies, this is serious work. Among my friends, even those who declare themselves to be “foodistas”, I rarely, if ever, see any of them wearing an apron. This may be due to the sheer abundance of stain resistant clothing in our closets or that we came of age in the 70s when we were eager to cast off any connection to the apron clad images that were broadcast to our black-and-white 15-inch TVs. I am remembering comedic scenes with Ethel and Lucy in “I Love Lucy” or Aunt Bea on “The Andy Griffith Show” when an apron was a standard costume accessory.
For over 50 years, Grandma’s well used half aprons were kept neatly washed, pressed and protected in tissue paper. Each sewn with fabric remnants and embellished with a bit of lace or a row of rickrack. As Momma continues her shelf-by-shelf, drawer-by-drawer review of her household items, she felt it was time to share these vintage treasures. Granddaughters Barb, Rita, Sarah, Gina, Mary Pat, Rebecca, and I are now the keepers of these wonderful heirlooms.
A single meandering Siberian Squill, escaping from Michaela’s garden, burrowing under the fence to our driveway. The perfect spring image for Becky B’s square blogging challenge with these themes –
Move Forward
Reconstruct
Renew, and/or
Burgeoning (beginning to grow or increase rapidly; flourishing.)
Knit+ Librarian 