¡ Going to Home Depot to Learn Spanish !

¡ Si. Voy a Home Depot para aprender español!

. What clothing stores are for women, hardware and lumber stores are for me. My idea of shopping heaven is a couple of hours leisurely strolling in Home Depot and looking over things besides what I came in to buy. In addition I actually enjoy looking up at the bilingual aisle signs in Home Depot. The vocabulary taught in schools is stingy about technical terms. (I am self-taught in Spanish and find language books to be just as anti-nerdy.) So I am delighted to learn that hardware is ferretería, doors and windows are puertos y ventanos, and other departments roll musically off the tongue: plomeriá y baños, línea blanca y cosinas, iluminación y electricos, and the loveliest in both form and meaning: jardinería.

. I know this is inconsistent, but I often grumble when I see one of those yellow foldup signs in front of the entrance to a men's room here in Maine. Not because of the inconvenience, but because the bilingual sign repeats the message in Spanish, not very sensible in this region. French is the third most-spoken language in the United States. Here in the Northeast it is so prevalent as a second language that we are considered to be part of that mysterious land "Francophonie."

Spanish spoken in the USA	French spoken in the USA

My mischievous sense of humor exacts a fun revenge:

Watch out. ¡Piso Mojado!
Posts the guy who does this chore.
Don't slip inside, amigo
Take care, do not ignore!

I know your need is urgent
You really have to go,
But I used mucho detergent
You might slip upon the floor!

Because I know no Spanish
I'll guess, here at the door:
Mojado must mean Banish:
Don't piso on the floor!

What's So Holy about "Holy Week"?

. When the word "rhythm" is heard the first things that come to mind are repetitions taking place in seconds, as in music. It's an indispensable part of the enjoyment. What about rhythms that run their course in minutes, hours, or days? Annual cycles are rhythms, too, and so ritual observances provide a similar comforting effect.

. Following on what I mentioned in an earlier post about Lent, this time of year marks the death of something and of a transforming rebirth. Yesterday was Palm Sunday. Fronds of palm are given to congregations of many Christian churches. (My mother believed that burning some of these holy palms averts disaster during thunderstorms.) At a time when confetti, flash cameras and the proverbial red carpet were scarce, plentiful palm fronds, available locally served the purpose: welcoming celebrated personages who were honored by having them travel over strewn palm on their path.

. I always wondered why Jesus reentered Jerusalem that day, when he certainly knew what would ultimately happen if he did so. Lately I concluded that he must have wanted to set an example for his followers to stand up for their beliefs, sincerely and bravely, no matter the cost.

. However long it was between his happy arrival and his bitter end, today it is observed in the span of a week. The events of that time have been the inspiration for thousands of works of the visual arts and music. Most recognizable is the Last Supper, which is traditionally commemorated on Thursday of Holy Week.

. Apparently less well-known (or perhaps less well understood) is Good Friday, a remembrance of the Crucifixion. Our Chamber Choir has recently performed a work based just on that one event, Membra Jesu Nostri, composed in 1685 by Dieterich Buxtehude. Modern readers may find the literal translation shocking "Body Parts of Our Jesus". But it was actually based on a medieval Latin poem that the composer set to music. He and the audiences of the time were unlikely to have associated morbid connotations, but simply heard it as a veneration of Christ's sacrifice. The concerts were well attended and it seemed that the audiences soon got into the meditative "zone." (Thanks for this very apt expression, John.) Perhaps this YouTube video might serve as a proxy to convey some of the atmosphere of those meaningful evenings spent communicating this wonderful music to the public.

. As a meditation the theme of the day could mean setting aside a time to confront one's physical mortality and to ponder what it is about ourselves that is imperishable. It might surprise you to learn that Good Friday is a civil holiday in Connecticut and nine other states. Perhaps the State is justified in declaring a holiday under the same logic as for Christmas. Though religious in origin, the State i merely recognizing it as an appropriate day, off given its solemnity for many employees.

. Some people express their reverence by various durations of fasting, and perhaps also observing silence, sometime during the "Triduum" (Latin: "three [significant] days") of Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I actually tried the whole enchilada once, with a fast after suppertime Thursday until sunrise on Easter. (Because I was working it was impossible to also observe silence.) Surprisingly there were very few ill effects. I felt quite spacey much of the time, but this state did make it a lot easier to remain recollected during that time.

. Speaking of "recollected", I did not realize the power of that word. On a Friday my boss was bugging me to complete or implement some work that was a bit stressful and did not actually need to be done right then. Maybe the fasting had loosened my inhibitions a little bit. I don't know what I expected, but probably to be told to do it anyway when I said "Sam, it's Good Friday. I just want to stay recollected." To my astonishment he accepted this, almost respectfully, as if deferring to a higher priority. I moved on to other low-key things the rest of the afternoon, but made sure to finish that other job on Monday.

. Every year I seek a sunrise service on Easter morning. Not all churches offer this, and the ones that do may not have one every Easter. So I have to scan the newspaper to find one. Each time I end up in a congregation of strangers, which makes me feel lonely, but also "connected" with others for whom the time means as much to them as to me. Sometimes these services are held outdoors. I like this because indoor noises like people shifting around, whispering or coughing are all dampened in the open air. More important the rising Sun in the background, given the underlying context of Resurrection, adds to the poetic unity of the occasion.

. A couple of memorable Easters stand out in my mind. One year the leader closed the outdoor service by inviting the people to shout the traditional phrase with which Greeks greet each other all that day: "Xριστοs ανεστι! Αλιθοσ ανεστι!" (Christos anesti! Alithos anesti!" = Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.) The Orthodox chant of the same phrase is quite lovely. Here are examples as sung by an individual and by a choir. I found a similar one in Aramaic, the liturgical language of the Maronite Catholics of Lebanon and of some other Eastern Catholic churches.

. At another Easter, a congregation consisting mostly of University students arrived for a 4 am service at the local Newman Center. After some opening ceremony small candles were distributed to everyone and soon all were invited outside. It was peaceful at that early hour. At the door of the church someone brought out a lighted Paschal candle and, without speaking, lit those of two adjacent persons, who in turn lit two others and so forth. The effect was quite moving. In the quiet darkness the symbolism of refreshment of the souls of those gathered was unmistakable.

. My friends in France and Québec have already wished me "Joyeuses Pâques". (I like that the greeting is in the plural, as if wishing many more.) So let me pass this Happy Easter greeting on to you too, knowing you will help it along on its journey around the world!

. Pax Christi,

Frank

Announcing New Search Engine!

. Computer genius Iam Savvi announced his new Internet search engine, Giggle™. Savvi claims some of the improvements over competing Internet finding aids include establishing an extensive list of 'stopwords'.

. "Most search engines ignore words like 'the', 'of', ' in' and the like. But we have programmed our search engine to ignore hundreds more, so Giggle™ runs much faster than competing services. Of course people need to be more thoughtful and precise in their choice of keywords. But isn't that an improvement of the intellectual atmosphere in the world?" he opined.

. "We don't want to be finding any webpages that are depressing or boring or unhappiness-making, so this affects our choices of stopwords, like "violent", "calamity", "harm" et cetera," said Savvi, an informal guy who asked us to use his nickname "Savvy".  "They are saying 'Everything is in a name'. Good for the business, too!" he quipped. Savvy avows an interest in making Giggle™ a truly international service in token of which he has adopted the following mottos for his company:

. "Quid pro quo, vere. Sed tamen qui est quid?"

. "Tanzen und singen, die Frühling zu bringen."

. "Es muy macho a decir '¡Viva yo!' "

. "Le roi des poissons? C'est en effet le Poisson d'avril!"

. "Talking and reading, please dear customer, that is how we are doing business," he says from his small office in Varanasi. "Yes, we are telling you truly how up to date we are. You see, our city was called Benares. But going back to the roots is so 'in' now so we readopted the original ancient Sanskrit name Varanasi. Isn't that so frightfully good thinking?"

. When asked how he was able to start up his company so quickly, he replied: "Oh yes, we are being very thankful to the gracious workers at our call centers for working so cheaply. You see, India is now so prosperous that labor costs are flewing the coop, like right over the Himalaya!"

. "But we were able to be establishing our user assistance call centers cheaply, in poorer countries. Presently we are having one in Millinocket, Maine and another in Detroit, Michigan. Soon another is being set up hastily in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and right after that, another in Riverside, California.  The town fathers and mothers of Cambridge, Massachusetts are trying convincingly to have us set up a call center there, too.  (It is very tempting, as I have heard that those talented, but poorly paid citizens, have among them capability to speak 123 languages!)  Isn't that so very nice? We are having agreeable partnerships with America! This makes me very happy, to make friends in the other hemisphere. I feel so totally global now, just right for this modern age, yes?"

. "Being desirous of a representative Asian opinion we looked for someone with a broad perspective. When I asked for a comment on Giggle™ His Humbleness the Dalai Llama was kind enough to explain." Savvi quotes Him as follows:

. "Wherever I go, my main interest or commitment is in the promotion of human values such as warm heartedness – this is what I consider the key factor for a happy life at the individual level, family level and community level. In our modern times, it seems that insufficient attention is paid to these inner values. Promoting them is therefore my number one commitment. Therefore, it's important to use the good potential to be a happier human being. That is what I found so beautiful about Giggling."

When It's Lent

. Lent is a period of time whose dates vary each year, but it always occurs near the beginning of Spring. Church history gives various accounts of its origin. The basic idea is a commemoration of Jesus' withdrawal to the desert of Israel which custom counts as "40 days." Its meaning to moderns has this in common: a seasonal retreat anchored by Mardi Gras/Ash Wednesday at the beginning and Easter at its end, and involving some personal interpretation of these three: contemplation or prayer; social justice or charitable action; and self-abnegation -- a personal discipline like some form of fasting or giving up something or some habit that is indulgent or extravagant.

. I'm acquainted with numerous people who are not all that religious, yet find a personal meaning in such a time of year. They treat it in a similar spirit to making New Year's resolutions, but with a more solemn intent.

. What does it mean to me? I think I have observed Lent in some way since I was old enough to understand it, probably age 7. The usual discipline was giving up chocolate for the duration, and later in life: beer! In Lent I believe we rediscover something within ourselves that stands above the ordinary in some way, morally, ethically or spiritually. I have used it as a kickoff for things I wanted to do but for which I needed extra motivation. The longstanding rhythm of annual practice enables me to call up resources that would seem harder to gather during other times.

. This year I decided to tackle obesity. As usual with my projects I overdid the preparation: setting up a special calendar, daily log forms to record foods consumed, even a graph of calorie deficit and so forth. The liturgical color of the season is purple, so I bought a purple folder to keep my materials in, including Nutritive Value of Foods, and all-inclusive 71-page table of calorie and fat content and such things.

. Over and above having something with which to observe Lent this year, I desired a "gift to myself" which seems a contradiction since I am missing something but contrarily am pleased about.

. The average daily caloric intake to maintain weight for a male of my age, height and build, without incorporating significant exercise regimens is 2500 calories. Any day I fall below that is "frosting on the cake. " (If taken literally that is something I won't see much of until my Easter basket arrives from the Chief Bunny!) According to my calculations I have lost seven pounds since Lent began on February 25. My wife says this appears to be working because it appeals to my love of science and quantification. To that I would add a personal resonance with religious mystery.

. Is it really possible that I will be 195 pounds by the end of July? Nothing would make me happier. Maybe hiking will become a pleasure again, rather than a trial.

We Humans

.   Someway or other I wanted to meet these other humans, mentioned in my post of September 2008, face-to-face, so to speak. As paleoanthropology progressed from its beginnings with the first recognized discovery of ancient human remains, the famous Neanderthal skull in 1856, more complete skeletons were found, and accompanying artifacts have given some hints of how the other hominids lived.
.   I wrote "lived" in the past tense, but I have a nagging feeling that some may still be around in the most remote recesses of the world. Maybe the source of stories about the yeti?)
.   In that post I shared my astonishment that three members of the human genus, homo could possibly have coexisted far into the current era, as late as 30,000 years ago and maybe even later. On the left are reconstructions (except for the top right individual -- a photograph) of the three human species supposedly still extant then.
.   If that were not enough of a shock, anthropologists Peter Brown and Michael Morwood recently discovered, on Flores Island in Indonesia, the skull of a small hominid. Given this and other evidence they discounted the explanation that this was merely a dwarf individual and concluded that it was a newly discovered species. The creature soon became popularly know as the "hobbit, " but the scientific name they gave was homo floresiensis after the name of the island of discovery. (On right is a comparison of height of modern adult female to reconstruction of newly discovered  homo floresiensis adult female.) Then I encountered this statement of the anthropologists:

      "Parts of seven other individuals... all diminutive, have been recovered as well as similarly small stone tools from horizons ranging from 94,000 to 13,000 years ago."

.   Could this get any more astounding? Perhaps yes...

     "Even more intriguing is the fact that Flores' inhabitants have incredibly detailed legends about the existence of little people on the island they call Ebu Gogo. Yet there are hints H. floresiensis could have lived on much later than this. The last legend featuring the mythical creatures dates to just 100 years ago."

. This would imply that four human species shared the Earth at least until the end of the Ice Age, maybe later?

   "Henry Gee, senior editor at Nature magazine, goes further. He speculates that species like H. floresiensis might still exist, somewhere in the unexplored tropical forest of Indonesia."

.   A companion legend/sighting, of a similar creature that locals named Orang Pendek, is this from neighboring Sumatra:
    
   "Orang Pendek (Indonesian for "short person") is the most common name given to a cryptid, or unconfirmed animal, that reportedly inhabits remote, mountainous forests on the island of Sumatra. The animal has allegedly been seen and documented for at least one hundred years by forest tribes, local villagers, Dutch colonists, and Western scientists and travelers. Consensus among witnesses is that the animal is a ground-dwelling, bipedal primate that is covered in short fur and stands between 80 centimetres (31 in) and 150 centimetres (59 in) tall."

.   I wish there were a photograph of either creature (they may be the same). That's almost on a par with discovering life on Mars!  Until then this reconstruction of an adult male "hobbit" by John Gurche  will have to do!  Gurche has done many other such reconstructtons and thus styles himself as a "paleo-artist." He incorporates any clues from environment and scientific findings to optimize his sculptures.

(Credit: John Hawks Blog for March 14, 2005 commenting on an image as shown in the National Geographic Explorer program the previous night. )

"All who wander are not lost" ... Nomads

. What is in the human soul, such that we feel these urges... to hike, to roam, to hit the trails, migrate, seek a change of scene, and to "walk-about" as they say in Australia? We may not pay as much immediate attention to these impulses as people did in former times when the open land was always more visible. But I believe they are still there in modern life and may be all the more powerful because they have been driven down into the subconscious where they are unnoticed and therefore more irresistible.

. I'm not going to limit myself to any one single definition of what "nomad" means. Why don't we say it's like good art: you'll know it when you see it. So let's suppose you allow a very generous inclusion of types of nomads. When you think about it you realize that many if not most of the people of the world move all or part of their lives.

. Even in the USA this is happening just below our personal radar. An often-quoted, but somewhat inaccurate figure is that the average American moves every 7 years. The Census Bureau prefers stating that in more statistically correct ways: 1) "The average American moves 11.7 times in a lifetime." or 2) "The [annual] moving rate remained statistically unchanged from 2005 at 14 percent." or 3) "About 1 in 6 Americans move each year." Any way you slice it that's a lot of trucking around for a supposedly settled people -- and our households are not as portable as those of traditional nomads, but hey, we do it anyway!

. Whether motivated by climate, disaster, hostile action, disease or the promise of better economic situations, whether slowly over periods of years, or quickly perhaps in a matter of days or hours, we may pack up and move. When public transportation is unavailable or hindered, or our cars are out of gas, or flood waters drive us from our homes, we fall back on our human heritage: we know we can always walk away or at least walk to where transportation is.

. There are many nomadic people in the world even now. The routes they take and the rhythm of movement may be very ancient.

. Here is an example from the West African country of Mali.

. The map on the left shows the caravan routes as recorded by the Roman geographer Claudius Ptolemaeus (sometimes simply called Ptolemy) circa 150 AD from a city on the Niger River, Gira Metropolis (now Timbuctou) to the oasis villages Thalibath (Taoudenni) and Capsa (Teghaza).

. On the right (not on the same scale as the left) is a modern map showing the route taken by contemporary Malian nomads through the deserts of their country. It is identical!

. Numerous people continue their ageless nomadic existence in Central Asia following the seasonal availability of natural forage for grazing by their all-important animals.

. Mongolia comes immediately to mind and thus an opportunity to connect my interest in nomads with affection for my favorite actress, Julia Roberts, an accomplished horsewoman, who adventurously lived with Mongolian nomad horse herders for a while.

. The aboriginal people of Australia say that they have always been there, never elsewhere. Folklorically they may "never" have left Australia, but they surely moved around a lot in that huge island continent. Knowledge of specific foot travel routes throughout the entire continent have been handed down orally for centuries by means of an enormous and ingenious set of songs! These tracks are thus known as their Songlines, made famous by Bruce Chatwin's eponymusly titled book. It is said that every so often aboriginal workers who might seem fully assimilated into the "Strine" (white Australian) culture would feel the strong pull of their tradition and be overcome by the urge to "walkabout". With nonchalance far beyond the adult truant sign "gone fishin' " in our culture, Chatwin says a laborer might disappear for a time, the only sign being a pile of clothes and shoes at the beginning of a trail of bare footprints.

. OK, so you want more acceptable examples of "real" nomads in the USA. How about migrant workers who follow the ripening of crops South to North and back again in an endless annual cycle. What about "snow birds" who have no chief residence anymore, just one in a cool place and one in a warm place.

. Using the radar analogy again, most Americans are not aware of the Roma people of whom nearly one million are in the USA and live a completely nomadic existence. There is an even smaller ethnic group of nomads known as Irish Travellers who may live their entire existence off the radar screen. As with the Roma most births are not recorded in official registers.

. Now a little closer to my heart: foot trails, where one finds voluntary but temporary nomads ... In later life I have taken up backpacking, a recreation requiring carrying on one's back everything needed for survival. I noted that, to my surprise, I soon felt perfectly normal, hiking and camping nightly in my tent or in leantos (trail shelters). I can confirm what others have reported: after many days of long-distance hiking, one experiences the trail as one's home. A story...

. On a day-hike up Pleasant Mountain in Maine I encountered an old wooden sign along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (the "AT") in the middle of nowhere and thought: Boy am I deep into it. I am in the wild places and miles away from roads and civilization. When I reencountered it a month later on a multiday backpacking trip, try as I might I could not recreate the feeling of isolation that accompanied those thoughts the prior month. The Trail and its margins, at least while I'm walking, had indeed come to feel like "home."

. We are lucky to have so many long-distance hiking trails in our country. So completing the other extreme are a few rugged hikers who literally never leave the trails. Case in point is the man who -- as is the custom -- took the trail name "Nimblewill Nomad" combining his home in a mountain village in Georgia and the nomadness (pun intended) of trail life. "Nimblewill" as we call him for short, is a mild-mannered retired optometrist. He soon blossomed in a Walt Whitman-type mien and began writing and publishing trail journals and poems. Only long trails satisfy him. By combining walks on three nearly contiguous trails he invented what is now dubbed the Eastern Continental Trail: over 4500 miles of walking. Starting in Gaspé, Québec he followed the International Appalachian Trail/Sentier International des Appalaches (the "IAT/SIA"), then connected with the AT and then the Florida Trail to Everglades National Park. But he didn't stop there. He became the first person to walk this same string of trails going back North! (In trail lingo a "yo-yo" describes both such a person and the walk.) Just now he would be about 72, and as far as I know is still finding new trails to live on -- I mean backpack on!

Both Sides of the Cup of Victory

. Today is a very emotional day for me. I've spent nearly a lifetime as a liberal in a predominately conservative society. I do understand that the function of the right is to put the brakes on when we get really flighty here on the left. I do understand that. To be human is to always struggle for balance.

. But this time people of all political stripes in the country are investing their hope in a liberal President. The turnout in Washington DC for the Inauguration is seen by many as evidential. I'm almost embarrassed. Please don't screw up, Mr. President or there will be egg on our liberal faces!

. Some conservatives are holding their noses but giving grudging support to a man of unmistakable good will. They also have seen the destruction caused by the last President and allow the possibility that the new guy can really help, no matter his party affiliation and ideology. He couldn't possibly do any worse than his predecessor, they are probably thinking!

. Wisely President Obama is minimizing difference, and emphasizing commonality of purpose and need. This will pay off in terms of the good of the nation, as we are a contentious enough lot without provoking more mutual disaffection. Also, for the first time in a long time, our President is asking the citizens to do something to help. Bush couldn't care less as long as his cronies got theirs, or so it seemed.

. Nonetheless I know the fickleness of people and the coldness of history. My hope is that a good momentum will be started right away to propel, past the coming series of obstacles, the liberal causes and to restore the friendships of other countries.

. The Obama campaign cup is now turned around. The goal is achieved: Obama is in the White House (and Michelle and the kids, and the grandmother, maybe a new puppy.)

. Some political commentators are saying his "honeymoon" period with Congress and others who matter, will be longer than was typical for recent Presidents. As with all new leadership, part of the early efforts must focus on undoing the work of one's predecessor. Let's hope that necessary job doesn't use up all his political capital before the rest of the job -- the constructive part -- is underway.

. For a number of years I've awaited the "Dawning of the Age of Aquarius". Now it's surely here, though a little delayed. Maybe the planets have indeed aligned, or at least Earth might now have friends among the planets!

Icy Vapor and Frost Feathers

.  Bitterly cold this morning:  probably -25º F.  Even us Mainers are not used to these extremes.  People are not lingering outdoors to talk as usual, but are dashing to the shelter of buildings.   Me too!  But suddenly I am struck by the beauty this depth of cold has brought and I turn around. The shallow valley of the Stillwater River is filled by an actual vapor cloud, its puffy appearance belying the subzero temperature. (When this happens over the ocean in these very cold conditions it is called "sea smoke".)  The rising Sun streaming through this cloud spreads a reddish-gold tint everywhere surrounding us. 

.  Even ice gives off some water vapor, a process called sublimation. So the trees nearest all this condensing, evaporating and recondensing moisture have a diaphanous coating on every branch. It sounds like a cliché but the effect truly is best described as magical.

.  The magic affects even the humble street storm drains, some of which have a rare kind of beauty this morning. The "breath" of very humid and slightly warmer air above the waters far below has hit the chilled iron grid and formed "frost feathers," or at least that is what I call the formation.  It seems to only occur when the air is very dry and the temperature is extremely col, like today.  So I actually looked forward to finding these again this winter and did not want to miss the opportunity.  By now I am chilled to the bone but rewarded by the chance to take some memorable photographs. 

Going forward to Yesterday

.  It has been a lifetime preoccupation for me: testing my wits to use clues resourcefully to reconstruct the past.  As early as I can remember in childhood I was interested in astronomy, wherein the light from stars reaching us is all from a prior time.  And most of the rest of my life has been spent in a profession where, essentially, I help others to recover resources written, spoken or uploaded at some past time.

 .   I have little formal training in theology, but at the Yale Divinity School Library where I once was employed as a clerk, the words and works of saints and scholars permeated my workday  atmosphere.  The big buzz in those years was the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some ancient parchment documents secreted in a cave in the hills of Israel.  Just the possibility that these materials date from the time of Jesus, and might even be from a monastic community that he was associated with or had visited, electrified everyone.

.  There are many people today who can read ancient Aramaic and Hebrew.  So the language of the texts presented few problems for the professors at Yale and elsewhere.  But the word "scrolls" overstates their condition.  Few were intact. Most were damaged, and some of the precious findings were scattered shards requiring hours of attempting to piece them together to reform a cohesive readable page.

.  Photographs of representative examples were very accessible and could even be found in popular books and magazines.  It was then that I became enamored with the nearly impossible task of physical and intellectual reconstruction of texts having few contextual clues.  (The Essenes, who had stored the Scrolls two thousand years ago, were a secretive Jewish religious  sect about which little is known even now.)

.  I will never be a Scroll scholar.  But from time to time I have experienced the quest vicariously.  Now to the present story.  For years I had kept in my office a scrap that had broken off some government publication in our Library's collections.  I wanted to restore it to the book it came from, but I procrastinated and it stayed in a box waiting years for inspiration to strike me.  Now I am trying to wind down my office in preparation for retirement.  I came across this shard and decided to put my years of experience to a test:  find the document it came from, having only the clues that the incomplete text itself could provide. 

.  In our work we assist people all the time to fill in the missing pieces of a citation.  In these cases only one or a few elements are missing or misquoted.  Think about this.  What are the chances of identifying the book from which a random page came -- incomplete at that -- and with absolutely no indication whatsoever of its source?  I took on the challenge!  More in a later story when and if I solve it.

"'Tis an Ill Wind Indeed Which Blows No One Any Good"

. A little story that's another example of " ’Tis an ill wind that blows nobody any good. " Perhaps you have heard of this expression? Bartleby's explains: someone profits by every loss; someone is benefited by every misfortune.
. Anyway there were two maples in the back yard, one in front of the other. The farther one in back had five trunks, two of which plus the main stem, were partially rotted through. Also the bark was falling off the main trunk in an unsightly way, and invoked pity, if nothing else. If it should ever break in a storm unfortunately it would fall in the neighbor's yard in back of us, not mine. Though I'm sure she'd be understanding about something not under my control, still it would not be good for neighborly relations.
. So "to kill two birds with one stone" (an expression that almost slipped from my lips at a Maine Audubon meeting!): 1) My spouse would like a little more sunlight coming through in the back of the property; and 2) I would like to get rid of a hazard tree and be able get on with other projects that the tree issue is holding up. (Is that three birds, or two?)
. I got out my chainsaw and 2-story ladder and tackled the trunks and branches that were safely accessible and would naturally drop into my yard. I know my limits so the rest of the job called for the pros. I phoned a couple of tree services and left voice mails. One on Sunday, one on Monday. I happened to be home Monday: a day off to catch up on home chores.
. Early in the afternoon soon after a crazy hail storm I saw a truck, with two men in the cab, pull up in front of our house. It was equipped with a "cherry picker" (personnel lifter). I couldn't see the full name on door, but it wasn't Bangor Hydro. I thought: Because he has a good sized cherry picker on the truck, maybe Bangor Hydro had so much hail storm damage to power lines they hired a private contractor to help? Of course I thought that was awfully fast response to the storm if that were so!
. Next door at the retired math professor's, a landscaping guy from another company happened to be working. I don't know if these two parties knew each other, but in any case tradesmen tend to form a brotherhood with others of the same profession, no matter that they are competitors. The two men went over to chat with him, idling the truck motor all the while. When I finally saw the company name on the truck -- Colvin's -- I did not connect it with my calls as I mistakenly thought I had called companies named Coleman’s on Sunday and Copeland’s on Monday.
. After a while the two from the idling truck started to walk up our driveway: a tall lean guy with a full red beard, dressed plainly and looking like my image of a Biblical prophet. But on closer look his beard barely disguised his relative youth. The other was a shorter, reticent guy in a bright yellow raincoat, who seemed to literally follow in the “Prophet’s” footsteps. They were heading straight for our back yard, so I rushed out to greet them, forgetting my in-house shoelessness. My bare feet seemed to attract their attention and they showed mild surprise... and I made it worse by saying "Boy that was fast. Didn't I just call you a few minutes ago?" The Prophet stopped in his tracks and looked at me puzzledly saying: "You called yesterday." I was not fully convinced yet, but I felt a little embarassed with the possibility that I might indeed have confused him with a competitor. I figured I'd better cover my tracks and so I said "Oh yes, now I remember."
. With the reticence typical of Maine men... the Prophet said "Well the ice storm prevented us from doing another job, so if you want I could do it now. Otherwise it will be a month from now." So the ice storm that was bad luck for some other party turned out to be fortunate for me, literally an ill wind blowing someone at least, some good.

Gli uascia farra giara: a Story About Context

. As a teen I worked for my namesake Uncle Frank at his small grocery store in the section of Waterbury where many Italian-American immigrants had settled. Unlike some other immigrant groups, who mostly came in large waves during 1890-1920, our customers arrived at scattered dates right up to the present. Thus it was not uncommon to hear the Italian language spoken on the street and in stores.
. I've always had an interest in languages. So the necessity of some knowledge of Italian for doing business was all I needed for motivation. I learned quite a bit, with our customers as teachers, especially how to express prices and weights, and how to count change at the cash register.
. We stocked some items specifically because they were popular with them, such as baccalà (dried salted codfish), sardo (hard grating cheese), and broccoli rabe a nearly flowerless variety of the vegetable. So I learned all those, and also -- to my great delight for the music they carried in pronounciation -- the names of the immense varieties of pasta.
. These people were excellent at preparing foods from scratch, usually preferring fresh goods to canned. So some of the trade was seasonal. In late summer, for example, we sold purple grapes by the case, rather than by the pound, for their winemaking. If I could not immediately understand a customer's needs I could usually find out what they wanted by asking a series of questions, or indicating an area of the store. One day an older woman, "right off the boat" as they used to say, came in for a product. When she asked for it, it did not quite sound like English. In fact it was expressed musically as if it were Italian, so I thought she was saying something like: "Gli uascia farra giara...?" I was stumped. But since I heard what sounded like "wash" I asked her "Sapone?" She shook her head "no." Then since "giara" sounded like a traditional quantity of weight in Italy I walked over to the produce stand and with a sweep of my hand (gesturing is always welcome in Italian) asked "questa?". "No" she indicated. However the sweep of hand happened to stop in the direction of enormous piles of boxes of canning jars . (It was canning season). Her eyes lit up and she indicated the Mason jars, along with their hardware such as glass covers. Bravo!
. I did not recognize the English word she was trying to say because I had never heard it used in connection with canning. But what experience did I, a teenage male, have about canning? Very little! Evidently the American locals used a New England expression "washer" for the seal which was otherwise known as a "jar rubber." So this was the noun she learned.
. You see, I couldn't understand "Italian" because I really didn't understand the English! Double context problem! Now it was very plain: Gli uascia farra giara = th' washe' far th' jara!

What a Difference a Haircut and New Eyeglasses Make...

.  This week I'm trying to catch up on stuff that's been neglected, needs tending, or needs to be made ship-shape. I got most of that stuff done. Then I decided that it's time to pay a little attention to myself and maybe get a haircut, and get to the optometrist's for some long-overdue new glasses, and that would get me almost up to date.

. Women try out a new look from time to time by getting a different 'do. It can make for quite a change in appearance.

But you know, a haircut can make a similar radical change in a man's appearance as well. Here are pictures of me "before" and "after" my haircut at the shop of my friendly French barber, Richard Dumont, today. What a difference a haircut, mustache trim, and a change of pants can make!

. Treating myself to these things seems to have boosted my confidence, and lifted my spirits, as I automatically stood up straighter afterwards. You can see the positive change in my posture. In fact I'd swear it also made my head look smaller!

Visual Version of Vaunted View on Voting

. For the November 3 posting the text and graphics were actually composed and compiled for an educational display I put in the ground floor hallway of the building where I work: "Elections: Circus or Serious?"
. Attempting to teach something via that medium requires first catching the eye of a passserby and keeping their attention: lots of color, uncluttered arrangement, plenty of graphics, and a minimum of text. It is helpful to mount some things out of or above the plane of the floor and the back wall of the window box.
. I think I achieved the goal. In fact some did not even wait for it to be completed! They took in the display along with the sight of a human standing in back, assembling it live. Another challenge is given by the fact that the back consists of two doors that swing out in opposite directions. The best display disguises the break between them.
. It is very important to appear non-partisan on a topic like this. For example any election kitsch has to be evenly balanced between McCain and Obama.  (But I had secret satisfaction in the fact that the cup is definitely an Obama mug, with his face just barely hidden.)
. I hope your candidate won. Mine did.

That Sacred/Sassy American Spirit!

Our Attitude About Candidates for Political Office
. What is it about the American spirit such that we both mock and vote for our candidates? Politics and political figures are favorite topics for humorists, and the grist for endless satire both written and performed. Yet we take our right to vote very seriously, considering it almost sacred. *
. No matter the occasional scandal, great pains are taken everywhere to protect privacy of voting. Ballot counting is done under the watchful eyes of representatives of opposing parties to assure the utmost fairness and accuracy. As an example, the U.S. Constitution addresses the popular vote at the very beginning, in Article I: “The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the People…”
* “The sacred rights of mankind… can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.”
–- Alexander Hamilton, 1775

Politcal Kitsch
. Wikipedia defines Kitsch as used “… loosely in referring to any art that is pretentious to the point of being in bad taste, and also commercially produced items that are considered trite or crass.” The iconic American kitsch object is, of course, the pink flamingo. Presidential elections seem to inspire an outpouring of memorabilia the best of which, ironically enough, will later become desirable and collectable “Americana” for example old campaign buttons!

-- Cartoon source: Blog of Liberal White Boy, a self loathing christian.

Serious Political Communication
. Sober messaging to the electorate is very much alive, even simultaneously with the hot party-like atmosphere created by kitsch and satire. It seems almost obligatory for major candidates to publish one or more books around election time.  At each election more technological avenues – new media – arrive for candidates to get their cooler, more detached communications across to voters. Though it would be a stretch to call much of it “restrained” there are boundaries, both formal and informal that reign in the more outrageous or fraudulent promoters. Yet in the Internet Era, when messages reach millions in very short times, opponents must react quickly in their rebuttals and counter-attacks, lest falsehoods survive merely by being in the public consciousness for too long.
. New in this Presidential election: robocalls. Although the technology was developed earlier, 2006 marked the first widespread use of autodialed calls that deliver a pre-recorded voice message if the phone is answered either by a person or their answering machine. This marks their first widespread use in a Presidential election. Public reaction has been negative and will surely affect their deployment in subsequent federal and state elections.
. However a new generation of telephone users is glad that robocalls to cell phones are still illegal under federal law!

-- Cartoon by Don Davis courtesy satiricalpolitical.com.

What difference Does One Vote Make?
• In 1916 one vote in each of the voting districts of California reelected President Wilson. If Wilson's opponent, Charles E. Hughes, had received an additional vote in each one of California's voting precincts, he would have defeated Wilson.
• 1948 - one vote per precinct in Ohio and California gave Harry S. Truman the presidency.

• 1960 - one vote per precinct would have elected Richard Nixon president over John F. Kennedy.
• 2000 The election on November 7, 2000, was the closest presidential race in history. Governor George W. Bush of Texas won Florida’s 4 electoral votes by just 537 votes over Gore!
• But most important of all it makes a difference … to you! Many people today think voting is the most important right Americans have. There are many places in the world where people do not have the right to vote. So go to the polls tomorrow and enjoy it!

After the Party's Over
. What will you do with your political kitsch when the 2008 election is over? The usefulness of some of those items will expire tomorrow, November 4 after the Presidential election is decided. I will still be able to use my Obama for President mug no matter how it turns out. Nonetheless I hope I will be able to use it for "victory coffee"!

--Cartoon adapted from VVork

"Running on empty"

. Fascinating phrase that..."running on empty." Albeit with a finite time left, it means that one is still running. The metaphor is often used to imply that one is fatigued in some way. Given the restorative powers naturally available to the human body, mind and soul, there is an implication that one can eventually do something about it, and that the fatigue is temporary.

. A long time ago I decided that the world consists entirely of two kinds of people: the doers and the watchers. There is a certain amount of risk involved in taking any action. The most timid elect to take no action, lest they fail, or get injured, etc. They prefer to watch others. When they witness another's failure do they say "I told you so?" The German expression schadenfreude has suddenly become popular for this. It means taking disagreeable pleasure in others' suffering. Nasty little snits aren't they!

. When one gets to a certain age the empty signal seems to come more often than formerly. But the restorative process is always there. Besides, who said there is only one gauge to look at? What if one is totally exhausted after doing a very good and noble thing that was personally and morally satisfying? What about the goodness gauge? The nobility gauge? The satisfaction gauge? Aha, let us not be sucked into the limitations of the narrow-minded. Life has breadth. Watch all the gauges!