Author: Paul Deaton

Categories
Living in Society

Going for a Check Up

Face masks in the medicine cabinet.

Because the university bought the hospital system in town, I had to drive to West Branch for my six month check up. My practitioner quit after the acquisition was announced and hasn’t been replaced.

The positive news is the university plans to maintain the clinic close to me once the transition is finished. It was news on the day of my appointment the consultant hired to manage the transition from private hospital system to being part of the university also resigned to take a big job in Missouri. Staff at the clinic knew all about this when I mentioned it.

I made a list of discussion topics for the practitioner, including diabetes, reviewing medications and vitamins, blood pressure, weight, and vaccinations. I got my last pneumonia vaccine booster and made a list of four things to work on: less salt, less butter, add ten minutes onto my daily trail walk, and portion control while eating. In Iowa I’ve found plenty of time to have a meaningful discussion with practitioners I see. The longest part of the conversation was about blood pressure.

We talked five or ten minutes about blood pressure. What stands out is the standard is less than 120/80 mmHg. There is talk among the medical profession that the standard should be even lower. I would cynically note that if it were, it would increase the number of diagnoses of hypertension and thereby increase prescription drug sales considerably. I told the practitioner there must be a political aspect to a potential change in standards. He professionally refrained from commenting.

In late afternoon, the nurse who gave me my vaccination and drew blood phoned. I was at a political event in the next town over from home, so I picked up and went to a quieter corner of the room. I had read the lab results in my patient portal before leaving for the event. The results indicated everything looked good, they said, and my behavior regarding exercise and diet was working to hold off advancement of diabetes. It was a good call to receive.

Hopefully my next appointment will be back in the regular clinic. Staying on top of vaccinations and medical conditions is an important aspect of aging in America.

Categories
Environment

Drought Continues

All of the foreground should be covered in water. Photo by the author on March 18, 2024.

A few snowflakes fell on my forehead while rolling the recycling cart to the road. The forecast did not indicate much snow, yet we’ll take any we can get.

Yesterday we went to the new Department of Transportation facility across the lakes for an appointment to renew my spouse’s driver’s license. We took a thick envelope of documents to meet the new Real ID requirements. We were able to get what we needed beforehand and a new driver’s license was efficiently issued. Appointments like this can consume a whole morning in the life of a septuagenarian.

While there, we stopped at the wholesale club to get two cases of organic soy milk from the least expensive place in the county to do so. The trip was uneventful and met our needs.

It was a punk afternoon after that: too chilly to spend much time outdoors and too sunny to stay indoors. We ate late lunches after which I retired to my writing table to work on weekend posts. Our child was streaming, so that was on in the background.

I was feeling a headache so decided not to attend the political event near the county seat. One of the county supervisors was having a kickoff event. In our active local politics, there is always another event.

A note about fasting labs had me skip dinner so I wouldn’t forget. It was another day in a time of appointments, shopping, and living in the ongoing drought.

Categories
Environment

Naming Things

On the state park trail on March 18, 2024.

Naming things found in nature reflects an urge to own, control, or possess them. I have no interest in that. I seek to be outdoors and observe everything natural with all my senses. I don’t object to knowing the formal taxonomic classification of a plant, insect, animal or other living thing. With increased experience in nature, some knowledge of genus and species comes naturally. For example, when I see a Blue Jay, I know the name. What I don’t want is worry about naming everything in my environment.

I began using the Merlin Bird App last week to interpret which songbirds are nearby. Identifying bird sounds is a subset of ornithology. On Tuesday, the American Robin, Northern Cardinal, and American Crow showed up on a windy morning. The app helps me understand nature. While I’m working outdoors all kinds of sounds become a background noise for my activity: birds, vehicle traffic, weather, local human and animal activity, and more. I want to recognize when something different stands out from the background. What new bird might I see? What new world will be unveiled?

As a gardener, I care a lot about insect and plant life. Which insects are beneficial, which are predators in this specific vegetable garden? Which plants are weeds? Which are edible or poisonous? I’ve been gardening since 1983, and am getting better at identification each year. I see behavior of white butterflies that lay eggs on my cruciferous vegetable leaves yet have no idea what they are called. I’m not that interested in learning the name, just in identifying their behavior as a pest.

When I move indoors, my view toward naming is not much different.

I’ve been writing about my early life before the seventh grade. I’m lucky I didn’t obsess over the naming of things. My classroom focus was on the mysticism of the Catholic Church and stories told by my teachers and classmates. Charlotte’s Web in fourth grade was pivotal. I sang, learned to play music, and played games with classmates in the playground. We knew the game was called “Four Square” yet what mattered was getting a chance to play after waiting patiently for our turn in queue near the court painted on the asphalt. These activities didn’t require a name.

When I go to the pantry, I sometimes can’t recall what things are. I know we have almond and barley flour, yet to identify them takes tasting a pinch. Some in the household says I should label things. Maybe, yet I resist. I don’t know if my reasons are good, but I don’t want to be limited by the confines of having to know things by name. In the kitchen, imagination and improvisation are the key dynamics, even when it comes to the “science” of baking. Not once have I mistaken salt for sugar.

What is the story of nature? It is more complex than I can understand. I’d call mine a Cartesian outlook and that means I live in my senses most of the time. What may be “out there” beyond senses, we have no way of knowing. We are taught nature is out there. Equally so, there is no way to own, control, or possess things we sense with any permanence. Living this way is a matter of faith, not requiring any naming. We are better off by not naming things we experience.

As long as I’m getting along in society, I’m not going to spend undue amounts of time with this. I’ll be the better for that.

Categories
Writing

Last Day of Winter

Iris poking through dead straw on March 18, 2024.

There were a couple of snowfalls this year yet we haven’t really had a winter. The vernal equinox arrives today at 10:06 p.m. Central Daylight Time. Spring is here, ready or not.

Four years ago, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. In so many ways, that changed everything. I’m still processing what happened. I’m also settling into the new life I created in the middle of the shutdown. It changed my attitude toward living.

People I know continue to get COVID, as recently as this month. While it is not the same as influenza, it appears to be as persistent. I am current on vaccinations for COVID (and everything else) yet the constant mutation of the coronavirus indicates there will be no absolute prevention.

I remember the spring of 2020 and it was similar to this year. About that time someone had left home to enter a nursing home and neighbors dug and split their iris plants. I got some bulbs and planted them. They come up every year. I hope to see them rise for many more. All we can do is marvel at their essential being and appreciate them for what they are.

Spring is here..

Categories
Writing

Weekly Journal 2024-3-17

Pizza at breakfast.

A friend returned from a trip to Thailand and we had a driveway conversation about it. We first worked together on a political campaign in 2004, so I’ve known her 20 years. We looked at photos and videos on a handheld device. One video had her swimming in a river with a five-year-old elephant. It was good to catch up.

The reason for the reunion was to collect signatures on an Iowa House candidate’s nominating petition. We have been working together so long, we speak to each other in shorthand about politics. Between us, on short notice, we collected 11 signatures. The candidate had more than the 50 required by the Secretary of State.

Later that day, another friend stopped by to pick up the petitions and deliver them to the candidate. We had a long conversation as well. I knew his father before him and the three of us all worked on Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. Those were heady times. I wrote a post about this in 2008. We talked about the House District and who we might pull in to work on the campaign. This cycle, I plan to be a worker bee, not an organizer. I think people have heard just about enough from me. There is interest in doing better in the new district.

Living with a vegan makes for strange breakfasts. Any dairy products I consume happens mostly in the morning. Missing home made pizzas, I made one for breakfast. It is not a big change to cook a pizza for one. Instead of a cup of water I began with a generous half cup. It made a pie just the right size.

Since garlic was up, I dug around in the mulch to make sure the leaves were penetrating the straw. I planted about 100 head of garlic in October. I lost maybe two head under the mulch. Bodes well for the July harvest.

On Thursday I used my Merlin Bird ID app outside the garage. In a short time it identified these birds: Northern Cardinal, American Robin, House Sparrow, Blue Jay, White-throated Sparrow, American Crow, Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch, Tufted Titmouse, Eurasian Tree Sparrow, and Canada Goose.

Since I downloaded the app, I’ve taken to standing on the steps in front of our house each day and letting it record for a couple of minutes. It’s a way to see who is in the neighborhood and for what I should look when I start working outdoors. This is the most fun I’ve had in a while.

The week seemed productive yet I’m losing perspective. It’s like that Lynda Randle song Cousin Al used to play each day on the AM radio across the Alabama-Georgia line when I lived in Columbus, Georgia:

One day at a time, sweet Jesus
That's all I'm asking of You

Just give me the strength to do everyday
What I have to do

Yesterday's gone, sweet Jesus
And tomorrow may never be mine
God help me today
Show me the way
One day at a time
Categories
Living in Society

Open Border Blarney

Image of 5th Century Bishop of Ireland.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to those who celebrate! It is hard to celebrate anything these days with all the Republican fear-mongering. In any case, Saint Patrick’s efforts to convert the Pagan Irish does not rank very highly in the life of this descendant of people who lived in North America since before the United States was a thing.

Republicans cannot help themselves about the border and immigration. After President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address, Governor Kim Reynolds released a statement that included, “Three years of Joe Biden has led to an open border…” among other things. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks says in a recent social media advertisement, “The crisis at our southern border poses a serious threat to our national security.” My Republican State Senator Dawn Driscoll gave the border a mention in her most recent newsletter, saying, “Every state is a border state now.” She explained,

Immigration reform remains a critical issue that concerns many across our nation, highlighting the urgent need for effective solutions to address the challenges at our borders. These challenges have led to increased human trafficking, the spread of illegal drugs, and other crimes, affecting communities far beyond those directly on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Driscoll Dispatch by Senator Dawn Driscoll, March 8, 2024.

Scary. Driscoll is not as scary as my State Representative Brad Sherman who was working on legislation titled, “A Resolution affirming the state of Iowa’s support for the state of Texas and condemning the federal government’s immigration policies.” What a waste of time.

To counter Republican claims, the U.S. Congress, in which most responsibility for immigration reform lies, has done little to address it since the Reagan era. They recently negotiated a bipartisan immigration reform bill that was rejected out of hand by the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Which is it? Open border, or lack of Republican political will to do something meaningful about it? Biden clearly pushed the Congress to do something about the southern border, and I’d wager he is not done.†

Art Cullen pointed out in his Feb. 12, 2019 column in the Washington Post, “Here in Storm Lake, Iowa, where the population is about 15,000 and unemployment is under 2 percent, Asians and Africans and Latinos are our lifeline. The only threat they pose to us is if they weren’t here.” Rural Iowa needs immigrants, he said.

The point of Republicans like Governor Reynolds is that immigrants are scary, not that we should do anything about the so-called “open border.” The duplicitous, political nature of Republican positioning is enough to make a person’s head spin. I may have to find a glass of green beer today and have some me time. Even so, I doubt that will make them stop.

We need to vote Republicans out of office at every level. Not only to work on real solutions to the immigration problem, but for everything else they do to stir up irrational fear before the November election. In this, I may have discovered why Americans favor an alcoholic drink on Saint Patrick’s Day.

Categories
Living in Society

In Defense of Katie Porter

Katie Porter in an Aug. 10, 2020 advertisement Photo Credit – Progress Iowa

I was pulling for Barbara Lee to win the March 5 California primary to replace the late U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. I followed Lee diligently and it looked like she had a chance. She was doing the work. At the same time, I know how to read polls and saw Democrat Adam Schiff was the clear leader with Republican Steve Garvey and Democrat Katie Porter behind. Lee didn’t make the top three, although she would have been a great U.S. Senator.

In California, all candidates for voter-nominated offices are listed on one ballot and only the top two vote-getters in the primary election – regardless of party preference – move on to the general election, according to the California Secretary of State.

Team Schiff was accused of sneaky tricks during the campaign. As the Washington Post put it, “Rep. Adam Schiff and his allies are spending $11 million in the all-party primary to try to elevate a GOP candidate and box out Rep. Katie Porter from the general election.” The premise was Garvey would be easier for Schiff to beat in the general election. Is this illegal? No. Katie Porter did not care for it one bit, calling the practice “cynical.” She followed in suit, spending half a million dollars to promote another Republican candidate, but it was too little, too late.

Schiff and Garvey advanced to the general election.

Barbara Lee acknowledged the impact of money being spent in this campaign and made multiple statements to the press on election day, saying we need public elections to take the money out of politics. She then skipped her campaign watch party, boarded a plane, and flew to Washington, D.C. to get back to work. We are fortunate to have people like Lee in the Congress.

Katie Porter made a big splash after the votes were counted. Her remarks to supporters are worth watching:

This is the Katie Porter Iowans have come to know. What people picked up on was her later statement about “(the) onslaught of billionaires spending millions to rig this election.” When she suggested the election was rigged, some felt she had gone full MAGA the way Trumpies denied the results of the 2020 election for president. A media brouhaha ensued. Poppycock, I say!

Katie Porter would agree with Barbara Lee, and most progressives, we need to get special interest money out of politics. Indirectly, that was her point. Media personalities never miss an opportunity to tear down progressives and the “rigged” comment was their impetus to pile on. Porter seems likely to finish her Congressional term and after that, who knows. If she has the smarts and commitment I believe she does, we haven’t heard the last from Katie Porter.

Categories
Writing

Stepping Back

Selfie taken with computer video camera on April 28, 2020, the day I retired from paid work.

When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, I began pulling back from engagement in society. That process continued when I decided to retire from work at the home, farm and auto supply store on April 28 that year. Since then, I have distanced myself from almost everything and developed a new way of engaging in society.

I don’t spend as much time with people as I did. My conversational style shows it.

The main part of my days is spent at home with a weekly trip to the grocery store and a couple other shopping trips each month. The automobile is not getting many miles. If there is a reason, I will travel to the county seat, to my home town, or to Chicago or Des Moines to run errands or visit family and friends. That is about it.

The last activity I dropped was membership in the county Democratic Party central committee. I led the January 15 precinct caucus and will be attending the county convention on March 23. After that, I will become a worker bee in politics, not an organizer. I’m good with the change.

A majority of my time will be divided between working to maintain and fix up our home, writing, and sorting through the accumulation of too much stuff. So far, that keeps me busy.

This time at home as a writer is what I worked for all my life. If I am stepping back from society, I am stepping into a new life lived the way I want. As long as my health holds and we have money enough to live, I’ll be alright.

Since I made it this far, I’ll quote Douglas MacArthur, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” Already, I can hardly see my shadow on a sunny day.

Categories
Environment

Into Spring

Lake Macbride on March 12, 2024.

In one minute, my newly downloaded app, Merlin from Cornell University, identified the sounds of four birds: American Robin, Blue Jay, American Crow and Northern Cardinal. They are common birds in Big Grove Township yet the app is training me in how to listen for and identify bird life with which I’ve lived since we moved here. I stood on the front steps and turned it on. Briefly, it is fun.

Judging from my email traffic, yesterday was busy. I published the letter to the editor I wrote yesterday, worked on my class reunion, planned for the county convention, cleaned, and cooked. I made chili and cornbread for dinner.

My chili recipe is toned down for milder palates. Six ingredients: a diced large onion, three 15-ounce cans of organic kidney beans, three pints of tomato sauce (home canned or store bought), chili powder, cumin, and a bag of Morningstar Farm Recipe Crumbles. I usually make vegan cornbread to go with it. It isn’t like the cornbread Mother used to make but it is uniquely ours and tasty.

Overall it was a punk day, with a walk on the state park trail being the only outdoors activity. When I moved the mulch over the garlic earlier in the week, there was still frost on the ground underneath. We had a couple of days in a row where temperatures got up to 70 degrees. A few more and I will be able to dig in the garden.

We got much-needed rain this morning. Hope to get outdoors in between showers. Lots to do this cloudy day before we get into Spring.

Categories
Living in Society

Let’s Meet the Candidates

Photo by Tara Winstead on Pexels.com

The field of candidates for federal and state offices is shaping up after the Friday, March 15, filing deadline. Once the filings are known, it’s off we go to November! It is an exciting time for those interested in our politics.

Democrat Christina Bohannan was to file her nominating petitions for U.S. House in District 1 at the Secretary of State’s office this week. She will face the winner of a two-way primary between Republican candidates Mariannette Miller-Meeks, and newcomer David Pautsch. We won’t know the final match up until after the June 4 primary.

Democrat Ed Chabal, chief financial officer of the Mount Pleasant Community School District, filed his petitions for State Senator in District 46 on March 5. Incumbent Republican Dawn Driscoll filed for re-election in February.

House District 91 is an open race with two Republicans in the primary so far (Mayor Adam Grier of Williamsburg and Lawyer Judd Lawler of Oxford). As I posted this, Democrats were collecting petition signatures for a candidate, with plans to file before the deadline. There is a lot to learn about these candidates.

How do we learn about candidates in 2024? For me, living at the far eastern border of the legislative districts, it is all about shaking their hands and getting to know them with a short conversation. I expect civility and concern for the needs of everyone in the district. Here’s hoping we have a chance to see all these candidates throughout the districts before the June primary.

~ Published as a letter to the editor in the Hometown Current on March 14, 2024.