Categories
Living in Society

Drive-Through Voting

Poll worker walks toward the entry point of a drive-through voting lane.

Last week I worked three six and a half hour shifts as a poll worker for the Johnson County Auditor, helping with drive-through voting. This operation is conducted in a parking ramp located next to the county administration building. If a person is sociable, the work interacting with voters can be engaging. If less so, it is the perfunctory stuff people do to fill out a schedule of security and retail work, and retirement activities. As I said to a colleague after the shift, and before they went to their next job as security staff, “It is good work if you can get it.”

My job was guarding the ballot bin, and making sure voters signed their ballot envelopes and sealed them before they went into the slot. The first two days, my partner was a Republican with whom I had worked at the home, farm and auto supply store. I got caught up on the doings over there. With a couple of exceptions, everyone I knew no longer works there.

The county makes sure there is an even match between the number of Democratic and Republican poll workers. Not that it makes a difference, because the process itself delivers fairness. These days, accusations fly and the Republican-Democratic evenness is an antidote to accusations of foul play.

We were not very busy. My mobile device monitor recorded two hours of reading my kindle app on Friday, our busiest day of the three. I had forgotten I started Suze Rotolo’s book, A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties. She is not a great writer, yet the record of that time is of interest to people like me who participated vicariously in that era. Rotolo was Bob Dylan’s girlfriend and is featured on the cover of his 1963 breakthrough album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. It helped pass time.

On the last day I partnered with a younger man with a backpack. We got along fine and got the job done. He was not a talker, hence the two hours of reading my Kindle.

The worst part of the shifts was standing on a concrete floor. The auditor provided folding chairs for us, yet being on my feet so long in a day is something I had forgotten. I knew to wear shoes with inserts to protect my feet from the concrete.

Of the jobs I held previously, it most reminded me of working at Kentucky Electric Steel near Ashland, Kentucky, and at the sub-assembly operation for Whirlpool in North Liberty, both of which had concrete floors. There I wore steel-toed shoes with metatarsal protection yet the concrete floors were hard on my feet. The latter led to my first case of plantar fasciitis. During poll working shifts I did exercises to hold off plantar fasciitis. My shoe inserts and exercises did their job and my feet were fine immediately after work and the next days.

I have two additional shifts as a poll worker. One is at the auditor’s office working on early voting inside and the other is election day coverage in our precinct. My spouse and I voted early so there would be no hassle on election day. I have been a Democratic poll watcher the last two election cycles, and know the level of activity to expect. I may be able to finish my Kindle book.

The bipartisan nature of poll working makes it a positive experience. Unlike some of my colleagues at the drive-through, I don’t expect to marry up poll working with security work, despite the similarities. Will know more on that after the primary election.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Week 7—Rain Out

Daisies at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Coralville, Iowa.

This week in the garden is mostly about what I did last Monday and Tuesday, which is not much. The overnight rain—four days in a row—made the ground too wet for digging. However, it was ideal for weeding and I made a clean sweep of the leeks, onions, turnips and radishes. They all look good right now. I brought in and began to freeze kale, harvested radishes, and pulled three green onions for the kitchen. There are already plenty of herbs. The garden is only half planted and abundance is evident.

It did not help that I had three six-and-a-half hour shifts as a poll worker. It took me away from the garden on clear days with ambient temperatures in the 50s and 60s. I took the job, so I had to show up. That is one of the positive benefits of hiring a septuagenarian.

Saturday when I returned from a memorial service I got dressed and got on my mower to cut grass for mulch. As I was unloading the bags, I notice garlic is already producing scapes. After I finished emptying the first bags of clippings it started to rain. At least I didn’t have to water. On Sunday I finished laying ground cover for plot #4, ad planted fennel, green beans, and cucumbers.

Some weeks are like this. A gardener simply lives with nature, and a rain-out week is part of that.

Categories
Environment

Pattison Sand Persists In Wanting Iowa Water

Cedar River at Iowa Highway One Sept. 27, 2018.

I wrote at length in 2020 about Pattison Sand wanting to mine the Jordan Aquifer and ship the water out west. They persist in needing water, and Iowa DNR sent me this email about their current permit request on Tuesday.

You are receiving this email because you previously expressed interest in or commented on Pattison Sand Company’s Water Use Permit Application.

For a quick recap: Pattison Sand Company requested additional water last year for their quarry facility near Clayton, IA. In response to comments received during the public notice period for the current modification, the Water Use Program held a public hearing, a public meeting, and gathered additional public comments on the proposed permit modification.

Since the last meeting, the Iowa Geological Survey completed a Hydrologic Investigation and the Water Use Program evaluated options for environmental safeguards and permit conditions. We’d like to share those findings with you at an upcoming meeting:

When: Tuesday, June 9th, 2026 | 1:00–6:00 PM

Where: Garnavillo Community Center, 106 W Niagara St, Garnavillo, Iowa

Staff from the Water Use Program, Iowa DNR Field Office, and Iowa Geological Survey will present on permit conditions, local geology and hydrology, environmental impacts, and timeline. Feel free to drop in at any time during the event. There will be presentations at the beginning (1pm) and end (5pm) of the event.

We hope to see you there.

This looks to be an excellent meeting.

For background information, here is an excerpt from my 2020 post on Pattison Sand:

Mining the Jordan Aquifer

News on Friday, Feb. 28, 2020, was Pattison Sand Company of Clayton sought to extract 34 million gallons of water per year over a ten-year period from the Jordan Aquifer, according to Perry Beeman of Iowa Capitol Dispatch. The water would be shipped by rail to arid regions in the American west, potentially to New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Arizona or California. The Jordan Aquifer is also the source of municipal water for the city of Marion which lies within Liz Mathis’ senate district.

Earlier this month Pattison proposed to extract 2 billion gallons per year from the Jordan Aquifer using wells they drilled to support their frack sand mining operation. This proposal was rejected by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

The problem with tapping the Jordan Aquifer is it is prehistoric water, in other words, it has been there a long time. The aquifer does not recharge at the same rate as the Silurian Aquifer which lies on top of it. Once the Jordan Aquifer is drained, the water will be gone and communities that currently rely upon it could be left without a reliable water source.

The climate crisis is evident in the American west. Demand for water exceeds the region’s capacity to produce it through rainfall, snow melt, and underground aquifers. Something’s got to give for people who settled there to survive. Mining and shipping water from Eastern Iowa is not a good idea because what may be abundant to meet our current needs will be diminished by the extraction proposed by Pattison and others. It is easy to see how a discussion over water rights could escalate into regional conflict over this basic human need.

If we look at history, humans have continued to exploit natural resources until they are gone, in many cases leading to the collapse of societies. Our brains are not wired to perceive the threat shipping billions of gallons of water from Iowa to the west could have. We have to pay attention, and the role of government is to look out for the common good.

It is hard to image an overall plan to resolve the climate crisis at its root causes. Further exploitation of natural resources doesn’t solve anything and could potentially make matters worse. At least we were discussing it and in doing so raising awareness on a sunny morning in Ely over kolaches.

Categories
Living in Society

Quiet Before The Storm—Decision 2026

Iowa state flag.

The primary season has been a prelude to an important election in the history of our state. Since Republicans gained majorities in the Iowa House and Senate in 2016, along with the governorship, they have been hammering away at our freedoms. Energy is building to reverse policies created since then. 2026 may be a decisive year.

Rob Sand has been the sole Democratic candidate for governor since filing day, March 13. He has had the luxury of preparing for the general election instead of expending resources on a primary fight. He has been making the most of it. Due to hard work and political savvy, Sand’s outlook has been positive, with strong fundraising, favorable early polling, growing national attention, and a race increasingly viewed as genuinely competitive despite Iowa’s recent Republican dominance.

Democrats fielded an entire slate of statewide candidates, although none of them is operating at the scale of Sand in name recognition and fundraising. Of the group, attorney general candidate Nate Willems stands out, having raised $1.25 million according to the reporting period ending this week. The remainder are strong candidates with individual strengths, yet none has broken out like Sand or Willems. They all depend on Sand pursuing the governorship at a high level and, in doing so, motivating Democrats and no-party voters to turn out for the Democratic ticket.

Sand is well positioned to do this. He is the only Democrat currently holding statewide office in Iowa. He has significantly more money than the other Democratic candidates and substantially higher name recognition. Polling on the other statewide candidates is sparse, and Sand is the only Democrat currently showing consistent competitiveness in public polling against a top Republican opponent. To the extent they matter, national Democratic groups appear to view Sand as the party’s best chance to make Iowa competitive again. These are the reasons I say Rob Sand has been using the time before the June 2 primary well.

The Johnson County Democrats pointed out the obvious in their May 13 newsletter: “We’re heading into one of the busiest and most exciting seasons of the year, with parades, fundraisers, and community events filling our spring and summer calendar. These moments are more than just celebrations. They’re opportunities to connect, organize, and build the momentum we need for the months ahead.” At the county party Hall of Fame event on May 16, inductees mentioned the need for Democrats to come together after the primary and work toward November as a team.

As primary candidates jockey for position, last week was relatively quiet. We hope it was the quiet before the storm that brings new leadership to Des Moines and the state.

Categories
Creative Life

Spring Photos 2026

Blue-thirty.

Another month of spring remains. This year I took spring photographs, enough to make this special post with recent favorites. Being a photographer is a constant process. If we are lucky, some of the results are good.

Visitor parking.
Street art, Iowa City.
Honeysuckle.
Bird using state park  nesting place.
Street art in Des Moines.
Wild blackberry flowers.
Rain helped radishes.
Rain also helped kale.
Trail walking after sunrise.
Categories
Kitchen Garden

Using Up Collards

Collards and white beans to be served over brown rice. It would be good over cornbread as well.

In early Spring I inventoried frozen leafy green vegetables. A lot remained from last year. That prompted me to use some of the collards, so I came up with a collards and white bean dish that was satisfying and used up two quart bags. Here is how I made it.

Unnamed Collards and White Beans Recipe

Ingredients:

2 quart bags of frozen collards
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans cannellini beans
1 tbs tomato paste
1 tsp smoke paprika
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tbs seasoned vegetable base
Extra virgin olive oil
Splash of apple cider vinegar
Fresh parsley for garnish

Method:

Brown the onion slowly in extra virgin olive oil.
Add garlic, tomato paste, and paprika.
Stir in thawed collards and cook until the moisture reduces.
Add beans and broth.
Simmer about 25 minutes.
Finish with apple cider vinegar.

Serve over cooked brown rice and sprinkle chopped parsley on top.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Spring Slips Through Our Fingers

Rain puddle on the state park trail.

There was heavy rain overnight from Monday to Tuesday, our fourth night in a row of it. We should enjoy spring rain. It cleanses the atmosphere, and cleans the house, driveway, and yard. Instead, I feel tension that garden planting is not further along. This despite the fact the growing season extended by 10-20 days over the last 50 years because of global warming. What is planted is thriving. It’s the remainder that has me concerned.

The problem is some of the seedlings are getting too tall for soil blocks and need to get into the ground. It has me changing the configuration of the plot I spent last week prepping, moving cucumbers in and delaying zucchini and squash until the next plot. I had wanted to plant celery and fennel is a separate plot, but I will make a row of them in the current one simply to get them in the ground before they become root bound. That’s how it goes in the garden, sometimes. Our plans must remain flexible.

Despite the travails, this has been a spring to remember. I lived in it as a human, undistracted by the political and social climate in which we find ourselves. In that, gardening is needed respite.

I attended a political event last Saturday and was surprised at how many Democrats are birders. I reported to our table I saw two loons on the state park trail and it caused a stir. A retired union member said he would make the trip to our state park in hope of crossing loons off his bucket list. Of course we were discussing Gavia immer, not the human form of loon.

Monday I took training from the county in how to check in voters at the polls. The county information technology shop made it easy for people who have never done this before to sit down and immediately begin. When we consider technology tailored to the task, this has to be one of the best I’ve yet seen. After two hours of training, I feel ready for my work as an election day poll worker.

On Tuesday I got outdoors and did what I could to advance the garden before spring slips away. What else is there to do after spring rain?

Categories
Living in Society

My Last Summers with Stella

Stella Artois for sale at Costco Wholesale.

For $33.99 I walked on by the pallet of Stella Artois at Costco Wholesale. I can find better things to do with my money. Once upon a summer past I would buy a case to drink after working in the garden. 24 bottles would last most of the summer. Despite the physical pleasures, I am done with all that.

It is not about the health risks. There are literally mountains of research linking heavy drinking to cancer, heart disease, gun violence, and other consequences. That all seems pretty bad, yet consuming a 24-pack of Stella Artois over a summer hardly seems like heavy drinking. I know what that looks like.

Some World War II Veterans I knew stopped every night at a local bar to knock back a few after work in construction. They would buy a 6- or 12-pack for the road to continue drinking at home. One was a survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Something else had me change.

One of the last things Father did before he died in a meat packing plant accident was cash his paycheck over his lunch break at Pete’s Midwest Tavern, a bar near the plant. At lunch time, or after a shift, Father would visit the Knotty Pine or Pete’s Midwest where he would socialize. It was what union workers did, the trade of butcher workers.

Pete’s Midwest was a cultural center, not only for the packing plant but for the region. When Father died, they were doing a lot besides selling beer. It became a prominent entertainment venue in the Quad Cities, featuring live music, and go-go dancers. In 1965, a sheriff’s raid confiscated illicit gaming equipment. When Father died, the bar took up a collection for the family—all the bars near the plant did. I still remember proprietor Pete Mathews delivering the donations to Mother and talking about the last time he saw Father.

It may seem curious that I never visited Pete’s Midwest, the Knotty Pine, or other bars embedded in packinghouse culture, even when I worked at the plant in 1971 and 1973. I preferred Debbie’s 4th and Western for a beer after I clocked out, just before sunrise. That world understood beer differently than ours does now. It was not an accessory to life, but part of the rhythm of physical labor — wages earned, muscles exhausted, another shift survived.

One of my favorite King James Bible passages is Ecclesiastes, Chapter 9, Verse 7, which says, “Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.” I wish I could.

I enjoyed beer while I had it, especially after long summer afternoons in the garden. But these days $33.99 seems like a lot for nostalgia. I would rather spend the money on eggs, milk, rice, or something else with more lasting value. The old rituals fade. Perhaps they are supposed to.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Week 6—Planting Getting Real

First bucket of Winterbor kale, May 16, 2026.

While locating seedlings for the next plot, I could not find the zucchini. I planted yellow and green, then realized they didn’t germinate and I pulled them from the greenhouse. After stewing for a while, I planted more of the same old seeds and made a special order for new ones. Luckily, there is enough recovery time. When the seeds arrive, they will go directly into the ground. In the unlikely event the old seeds germinate, they will also go into the ground.

This week was hit or miss. Most of Wednesday was devoted to a trip to Des Moines. Friday we took care of early voting since I will be a poll worker all day on election day and we wouldn’t be able to vote together. Saturday morning I woke to the sound of rain, which continued until predawn light. We need rain. Sunday morning it rained again, this time, a thunder storm. It rained again Monday morning. Garden work continued in the gaps between these events. Mostly it was in the garage and greenhouse.

Some of the kale leaves were large enough to harvest. It made a five-gallon bucket full. Half went into the freezer, and half will be for Taco Tuesday dinner next week. The first fresh kale is always the best. Everything in the cruciferous vegetable plot is growing and—fingers crossed—predators are staying away.

I planted the rest of the covered row. Although a few of the first-planted seedlings didn’t take, most did and it looks like there will be a normal production run. This year the covered row is greens and herbs. There were enough parsley seedlings in the greenhouse to harvest a cup of leaves for the kitchen and plant four of them in separate small pots for elsewhere in the garden or to move to the kitchen herb garden.

A deer stopped by the potato patch for a snack of the young leaves. After seeing the evidence, I put up a temporary fence to keep them from further dining. Only two or three tops of plants were taken by the ever present herbivore mammals.

The next plot is taking longer to prep. After designing it, specially configured ground cover was required. The main issue was finding places to let okra, zucchini, huckleberries, and tomatillos spread. There are two small patches in the shaded area where I seeded arugula, daikon and regular radishes, tatsoi Asian greens, and chard. The rest of the plot is planned for rows of green beans, sweet peppers, eggplant, and remaining sundry items. The ground cover is mostly laid, so the fencing can go back up and seedling planting begin. I hadn’t grown huckleberry before, and it has been a while since I had a good tomatillo or okra crop. Same with daikon radishes. This plot represents a lot of experimentation, and provides hope for new things.

It looks like I will run out of rolls of ground cover. I re-use what I can, but don’t want to fall short. I mail-ordered from the same supplier as last year. It should be here when I need it for the following two plots.

Despite the hit or miss nature of this week’s gardening, progress was made, and muscles got sore. This is the time gardeners live for.

Categories
Living in Society

America Is No Longer The Dominant World Power

War is Not Healthy

It saddens me to write this, yet the undeclared Iran War is heading to be the worst defeat in American history. While Iran’s tenacity in times of conflict is well known, the current administration appeared ignorant of their resilience as it initiated war without the consent of the Congress. Our country expended a boatload of missiles—depleting half or more of key stockpiles—in the first two months of the war.

According to the Center for Strategic Studies, the military used these critical munitions:

  • Patriot Air Defense Interceptors: Nearly 50% of the total pre-war inventory was expended within the first few weeks.
  • Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM): At least 45% of the stockpile was consumed.
  • THAAD Interceptors: Between 50% and 80% (up to 290) of the THAAD inventory was used, creating severe near-term shortages.
  • Tomahawk Cruise Missiles: The U.S. used over 1,000 Tomahawks, which accounts for roughly 30% to 50% of the total available U.S. arsenal.
  • SM-3 Interceptors: Nearly half of the inventory was expended during the campaign.
  • JASSM & ATACMS: More than 20% of the long-range JASSMs, as well as approximately 1,000 ATACMS and other ground-based missiles, were used.

What did we get for that? Closure of the Strait of Hormuz, destruction at our regional military bases, and little else. Joe Cirincione described the president’s position, “Simply put, Trump is out of cards to play.”

This week, the president was on a state visit to China. He is damaged goods. Cirincione presents the analysis of David Rothkopf as follows:

Trump has so damaged the core U.S. relationships with countries worldwide that he is seen more as a pariah than any American leader ever. Certainly, as an enemy of democracy and supporter of strong men worldwide, Trump can no longer claim, as past U.S. presidents did, to be the “leader of the free world.”

Indeed, in many ways, this trip will mark the end of the idea that America’s president is the world’s most powerful person.

Where do we go from here? That’s an open question, however, I never want to hear the words “American Exceptionalism” again.