WI in the fall. We visited with my wife's brother, sister-in-law, and several other family members and friends this past week. This was our first fall visit to southeastern WI in a number of years. We made a boat tour of the entire shoreline of Lake Geneva, where my wife spent her early summers, away from the Chicago heat. Some of the old haunts have survived, others replaced by new businesses. The lake has a mix of large, beautiful mansions and more modest dwellings, some old money (e.g. Wrigley), some new money (to date not so well known, not all upstanding).
The Saturday Dane county farmers market in Madison spreads along the sidewalks surrounding the WI state capitol building/square. A wonderful array of vegetables, fruits, flowers, cheeses (of course), honeys, craft items, local organizations/causes. The Capitol building itself is an architectural treasure, open and on display for the public. No visible armed guards or electronic scanners. Walk in, get warm, use the free restrooms, and/or just enjoy looking at the varied stone work.
The Anderson Japanese Gardens are located in Rockford, IL, a city variously noted as the state's 3rd or 4th largest city. This is certainly an unlikely Scandinavian name to be associated with an oriental garden. As is so often the case, Mr. Anderson's fascination with the concept began somewhere else, in this case with the Japanese Garden in Portland, OR. With the assistance of Hoichi Kurisu, a master Japanese gardner, Anderson's swampy back yard was transformed. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.
All along the roadways the fall colors were on full display and much varied, as opposed to CO's largely aspen-gold hues.
AP US history curriculum. I suppose you have seen/heard about the members of the Jefferson County, CO, school board who want to cleanse the AP US history curriculum of topics having to do with civil disobedience. The board members are, of course, very patriotic, pro-Americans, and, therefore, one assumes, would not want to cleanse the curriculum of the Founding Fathers and the Revolution, not to mention the tumult surrounding the Civil War. Somehow they don't see the largely disgruntled FFs, the Olive Branch petition (rejected by England's parliament ), the Boston Tea party, Tom Paine's incendiary pamphlet Common Sense, the brouhaha over the Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil War amendments, etc. as having anything to do with civil disobedience. Dah!!!
They seemed more concerned with MLK, Jr., Caesar Chavez, Occupy Wall Street, etc. I was happy that teachers and -- more especially -- students seized the bull by the horns and repeatedly walked out or called in sick. The students loudly announced, "If they won't teach us about civil disobedience, we'll teach ourselves." AP students could certainly put together some excellent "teach in" materials. Student-led teach-ins would certainly draw a number of their otherwise uninterested fellow students.
Protesters actually forced the closure of several schools, confronting the Board with the possible loss of state revenue if things were not somehow settled before the magic "student-head-count" day at the end of September. Needless to say, the purse strings prevailed and both sides have backed off -- for now.
The Advanced Placement organization also weighed in, saying that AP college certification might be withdrawn if the curriculum were modified. I honestly do not think these three disgruntled Board members realized the can of worms they were opening, especially misjudging their students's reactions.
DTC Parkway. One portion of the parkway leading south from southeast metro Denver through the Denver Tech Center is lined with ash trees which turn a smoky, rust color in the fall. Sunlight, especially in the early evening, causes the trees to glow, a beautiful sight.
Evacuated from above. Christine and our friend, John, volunteered to be "rescued" from the gondola by the Breckenridge ski patrol during the patrol's annual evacuation training drill. The patrol staff work their way down the gondola cables, open the cabin doors, put a harness on each person, then lower them to the ground. Safe, sound, plus a free lunch, with fortuitous timing, too, because it snowed the next day.
Hunter's Blood Moon. This October's Hunter's Moon coincided with a lunar eclipse, visible in much of the United States. The result was the a so-called "Blood Moon," which received more than a little You Tube coverage.
PTSD. An article in a recent issue of Foreign Policy discusses this deadly, silent problem experienced by an estimated 21-29% of America's service men/women. Interestingly, the article notes there were authors writing about what we now call PTSD in the Iliad, the Odyssey, as well as letters to loved ones from the our own Civil War. Here is a short excerpt from Walter Lee's letter to his mother in 1862: "I don't believe I am the same being I was two weeks ago...I don't think as I used to and things don't seem as they did." A woeful, simply stated self-diagnosis of a profound problem, one often noted but little studied until recently.
Nobel Peace Prize. Two prizes were awarded this year. One to Malala Yousafzai, the now-famous seventeen year-old Pakistani girl who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban for daring to go to school and speaking out in behalf of education for all young girls. The second prize was awarded to sixty year-old Kailash Satyarthi who has worked tirelessly in India to save children from the low wage-slavery that is a key element in India's developing economy.
$$$ poorly spent. The lead article on the 10/14 Roll Call website estimates that overall spending for the 2014 midterm political races has now topped $1B, with three weeks remaining before Nov 4th. Ridiculous, when you think of the worthy alternative uses to which that money could have been put. For example, how many hospitals could be equipped to handle ebola patients and their staffs trained? The list of worthy alternatives is long -- and largely ignored.
$$$ poorly spent. The lead article on the 10/14 Roll Call website estimates that overall spending for the 2014 midterm political races has now topped $1B, with three weeks remaining before Nov 4th. Ridiculous, when you think of the worthy alternative uses to which that money could have been put. For example, how many hospitals could be equipped to handle ebola patients and their staffs trained? The list of worthy alternatives is long -- and largely ignored.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the fall weather. It is predicted to be mid-70s and low-80s for the next two days here in the Mile High City.
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