Category: Living in Society

Politics mostly social commentary.

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Home Life Writing

Big Grove 2015 Highlights

Apples
Apples

Having yesterday off work at the home, farm and auto supply store, I made a trip to the grocery store and considered last year. Here are some highlights for interested readers.

Reading list.

A key realization was most of my reading — and I still do a lot — is short articles, mostly on my mobile phone or desktop computers. Of the 10 paper books I read, no regrets — I learned from each of them.

I mentioned in my birthday post, the education and empowerment of women is emerging into a new importance, so the Kristoff/WuDunn book Half the Sky was a better motivator than the others.

Here’s the list with most recently read first.

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn; On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King; This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate by Naomi Klein; Gilead by Marilynne Robinson; The Perils of Prosperity 1914-32 by William E. Leuchtenburg; The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; 1381: The Year of the Peasants’ Revolt by Juliet Barker; Poetry City: A Literary Remembrance of Iowa City, Iowa by Dave Morice; Jewelweed by David Rhodes; and The Robber Barons by Matthew Josephson.

Blogging

For the third year I edited Blog for Iowa while Trish Nelson took a summer break. I posted about all five Democratic presidential candidates and got a press pass to attend the Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame Celebration July 17 where they spoke. The grab bag of political, environmental, labor and other topics can be found here. The writing speaks for itself.

The post that received the most attention was 5 Reasons Jim Webb’s Stock is Up. There was a vacuum of Iowa coverage of the Jim Webb presidential campaign and my post seemed to fill it for a brief while. Even the candidate posted about my article in social media.

The most popular posts at On Our Own: Sustainability in a Turbulent World were ones written in past years. Autobiography in 1,000 Words, written in 2013, gets consistent, daily page views.  Rounding out the top five for the year were my post announcing reasons to caucus for Hillary Clinton in the Feb. 1 Iowa caucus; Climate Change in 200 Words, written in January 2014; my letter to U.S. Senator Joni Ernst advocating for the agreement with Iran over their nuclear weapons program; and a post from 2013 with three photos of some summer pest problems. Readers increasingly recognized me in public because of my writing.

Newspaper Writing

I filed 59 stories with the Iowa City Press Citizen in 2015. When my editor, Emily Nelson, left the newspaper July 2 after a long tenure, it was a signal that the end was approaching. This was confirmed when my new editor, Tricia Brown left Sept. 11. My last story ran Oct. 16.

I covered diverse topics by taking whatever assignment was offered at the Press Citizen. By interviewing startup business owners, people working for non-profits, and many others I met new people.

My favorite newspaper article was about Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey’s visit to Local Harvest CSA. It was also the most fun to write. My article about Bobby and Kayla Thompson and their new hair styling salon in downtown Iowa City was the most popular in 2015, receiving more than 2,500 online views after publication. My advance article about the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., published December 2014, garnered the most online views during my one-year tenure with over 3,000. Print circulation of the paper was about 10,000 according to Gannett’s 2014 annual report.

I don’t have a burning desire to do more newspaper work. It was lowly paid for the investment of time. The monetary income, though slight, went to good use. Freelancing with the Press Citizen helped me realize the importance of having an editor.

Working

Checks came in from nine different employers and contracts during the year with the largest share of income (65 percent) being from Club Demonstration Services, a part time, no benefits job I left in September. Income from CDS will be replaced with income from the home, farm and auto supply store, a full-time job with a benefits package that began Nov. 12. Every other income producing activity was much smaller, with Gannett (15 percent), the apple orchard, the community supported agriculture project, freelance writing and editing, and stipends from my elected office work completing the picture. As the new year begins, I receive only one paycheck, with three other seasonal jobs planned along with my last year of elected office. I need another ten grand in contracts or employment to make financial ends meet this year.

Gardening and Farm Work

The 2015 garden was as productive as it’s ever been. My work at the CSA and the apple orchard continued to teach me new things about growing and selling produce. The garden and both farm jobs are part of the 2016 plan. Combined with related kitchen work, local food is becoming a part of daily life.

In October I decided to write a longer piece — a memoir of my time in the local food movement since retiring from my transportation career. In the article On Not Being Vachel Lindsay, I explained:

The first subject will be a memoir about the evolution of my understanding of local food over the last six years. The goal is a 25,000-word essay that can be combined with other short pieces into a self-published book. Book sales will become a way for people to contribute financially to my work at events.

After leaving CDS in September, it was optimistic to believe I could write 1,000 words a day while preoccupied with a search for income. As the year ended, and now that I have an income base with the work at the home, farm and auto supply store, I expect to resume this writing. I drafted about 6,000 words last year and posted a snippet here.

On New Year’s Eve I reviewed my activity diary and found a disproportionate number of personal contacts were related to politics. My work at Blog for Iowa got me involved, and I expect it will continue. Once we get past the Iowa caucuses I hope to reduce my involvement in politics to a more sustainable level.

In 2015 I spent time writing almost every day. With the practice, I’m confident something good will come of it in 2016.

Categories
Home Life

When I’m Sixty Four

Tart Cherry Coffee Cake
Tart Cherry Coffee Cake

As my 65th trip around the sun begins, here are some things about where I’m going.

Without good health, family and friends, and a sound financial system, it will be difficult to do much beyond the lot lines where we spend most of our time. I’m lucky to be in good health and working on the rest.

Global warming is a threat to life as we know it, bigger than any other. Individually and collectively we must take action to mitigate the causes of climate change.

The education and empowerment of women — worldwide — is our best hope for creating an environment to protect the common good. As a privileged American it has been tough to recognize the basic truth of this. I’m working on this blind spot and hope to contribute in a meaningful way.

Methods of learning have changed. Reliant more on the Internet for news and information, mine wants review and a course correction. For the first time in years I will develop a learning plan. Not just reading and viewing video, but while living in society as well.

When we first built our home in Big Grove we did a lot of things right. 22 years in, maintenance and improvement delayed due to time and financial resources must be addressed. That means re-activating our garage as a workplace and picking projects to get started. A five year plan to take the as-is situation and convert it to a place where we can live comfortably is in order. That is, assuming we decide to stay here.

Followers of this blog read about food, cooking, gardening, farming, labor, politics and other topics related to nutrition and health in society. There is enough of this work to be a palette from which to paint a future. I plan to do just that in the coming months. I hope readers will keep clicking along with the journey.

Categories
Home Life

Christmas 2015

Christmas Lights
Christmas Lights

Chard and celery are growing in the garden and not ready to pick. It’s Dec. 25 for heaven’s sake!

Grass is greening and water is standing in the ditch. Ambient temperature is 30 degrees — freezing, but not quite. The spring-like weather belies the holiday decorations inside our home.

Our daughter pulled back to back shifts where dreamers work, ending last night with a terrific fireworks show. Had we been near we would have watched, but the miles separating us were too many this Christmas.

Threatening to move closer, she said we wouldn’t like it. Even in an Iowa that borders corrupt, uninspiring and terrible under Terry Branstad, she is likely right. There is no way I would trade my current congressman… however, there is that nice Corrine Brown. Maybe I’m not finished making my case.

This morning’s activities included laundering my three work shirts, blue jeans and socks. I look forward to when I have enough clothes to last a full work week.The biggest development at the home farm and auto supply store was my interview about becoming a receiving clerk. Because of the store’s growth, they now need two.

I began cross training with the current clerk on Wednesday. What makes the new position different is the hours 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. It will be my first time with weekends off since I worked at the University of Iowa. After all the irregular work hours this will provide an opportunity, setting the stage for work to generate the ten grand — reduced a bit by the increase in hourly wage the new position will garner.

After several attempts, I developed a winter hot sauce made from canned goods. I drained whole tomatoes, reserving the juice for another recipe. I added drained, pickled Serrano peppers to the bowl. Next, a jar of a red and jalapeno pepper sauce made earlier this year. I chopped the mixture with a stick blender, jarred and refrigerated. It went great on my scrambled eggs, which along with hash brown potatoes and an apple is a traditional holiday breakfast in our household.

I started a load in the dishwasher.

Next came a batch of traditional shortbread cookies. I softened a pound of butter on the counter overnight. To the butter, add a cup of brown sugar and cream together. Add 4-1/2 cups all purpose flour, then bring the dough to consistency, roll it out and cut into strips. Bake at 325 degrees for 22 minutes.

We never know what today will bring. For me it is enough to spend time at home with family and seek respite in personal traditions as the rest of the world is muted by the clatter of dishes in the sink and my firm intent.

It hasn’t been the best Christmas, nor the worst. It just is, and that’s enough.

Categories
Home Life

Winter Begins

Coffee Station
Coffee Station

Tomorrow is winter solstice and I’m ready for days to get longer. A new year’s hope begins.

We spent yesterday decorating the house for the Christmas holiday. I ate a slice of the fruitcake sent by Mom.

This morning I’m drinking coffee from the Boynton reindeer Christmas mug, and settling into habits formed long ago. It is time for year end reflection and planning.

I posted on Facebook:

Went to Wilson’s Orchard​ yesterday and bought two gallons apple cider, a baker’s dozen Gold Rush apples and 12 pounds frozen Montmorency cherries. The cherries were grown in Michigan which produces ~90,000 tons of the fruit each year. The ancient Romans are credited with finding this cherry near the Black Sea and propagating it in the Roman Empire. It is named for the Montmorency region near Paris, France. We mix them with plain strained yogurt and granola for a meal substitute.

In other holiday news, we put up the holiday tree and I placed the big order for garden seeds from Johnny’s Selected Seeds​. There are a lot left over from last year, so the order was smaller than usual. I plan a gigantic plot of radishes, some of which I hope to convert to cash to donate to Physicians for Social Responsibility – Iowa Chapter​. Next step is to look at the Seed Saver’s Exchange and pick out some kind of red bean for drying, along with some one-time experimental seeds.

We are making a sincere effort to locate the remote control that operates the analog to digital converter on the television. Might watch a VHS Christmas movie if we can find it.

Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it.

I ordered a new vacuum cleaner on line from Hoover last night, and garden seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange this morning. Holiday shopping is done if one can call it that. I work at the home, farm and auto supply store all but two of the 11 remaining days this year, helping shoppers make purchases as this year transitions to next.

There’s the ten grand, but I can’t lose sleep over that — at least not yet.

And thus the next orbit of the sun begins. May God shine light on all of us as our search for truth and meaning continues. May our actions further social justice and a hospitable environment in which to live.

Rain fell last night leaving a wet landscape. Soon it will be time to make breakfast — and get ready for the trip across the lakes.

Categories
Home Life

After the Ten Grand

Winter Garden Prep
Winter Garden Prep

Most creative Americans I know have a sense of responsibility about their lives. Artists, writers and musicians accept lowly paid creative work when they can get it and find other, supplemental funds to pay bills.

We all have bills and there are consequences for failing to pay them.

It is a constant struggle, leading some to selling plasma, taking physically demanding and dangerous work, working in call centers, retail, farming and the food business. Occasionally we sell artwork, writing or music. The struggle is important, and life remains about the creative process. I’ve discussed selling plasma with visual artists and low wage workers who do, and it’s not for me — at least not yet.

Another ten grand should help our family make it through 2016 responsibly. Twenty would be better. I’ll find it somewhere.

Earthworms crawled along the bottom of the garage door, fleeing groundwater. The lawn is greening after the big snow storm followed by rain. Water stands in the ditch with temperatures forecast in the 40s through the end of the year. It’s not normal.

Another crazy weather episode in a life increasingly filled with them.

It is hard to concentrate on the big picture and will be until I have a plan for that ten grand.

Categories
Living in Society

It is Time to Ditch the Caucuses

Caucus-goer
Caucus-goer

When our family lived in Indiana, the 1988 Democratic nominee for president was mostly decided when our May 3 primary arrived. Michael Dukakis had been dominating previous primary contests and was expected to get the nod for president. He did.

If I voted in that primary (don’t remember) it was a harbinger of what I felt on election day, basically what the f*ck? It seemed futile to vote for a candidate I hadn’t supported and didn’t like. At the same time, living in a Democratic county, I wasn’t about to pull the lever for a Republican. George H. W. Bush trounced Dukakis 426 – 111 in the electoral college, winning Indiana and 39 other states.

In Iowa we hold the first presidential nominating event — the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses. I like the early attention, but less so each cycle. The 2016 contest has been about whether or not to ratify Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee. She has not wavered in her effort or in polls conducted in Iowa, making this the most lackluster Iowa caucus cycle I can remember. Clinton is not inevitable, but her campaign’s strategy, tactics and discipline make it hard for her to lose in Iowa. The campaign is trudging its way to a caucus win, with the saving grace being the large number of young, energetic and enthusiastic people helping organize the effort.

A professional class of political consultants, activists, fund raisers, corporate media correspondents, bloggers and supporters has evolved. At each announcement of a new supporter, there is a discussion of whether that person is a significant “get” for the campaign. The rise of this new class of operatives, many deriving a living from politics, has been because of unlimited money in politics. Money feeds the professional political class which is inflicting the body politic like a cancer. The Democratic process has become about winning elections.

Elections matter, but like the professional political class feeding on our Democracy, a sole focus on elections is problematic for our long term political health.

U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan mentioned the Democratic focus on elections in his Dec. 3 Confident America speech.

“Maybe the way to win the debate is to play identity politics, never mind ideas,” Ryan said. “Maybe what you do is slice and dice the electorate: Demonize. Polarize. Turn out your voters. Hope the rest stay home.”

While Ryan is supporting a conservative agenda with this speech, and Democrats I know focus on governing as much as elections, what he said describes exactly what Republicans are doing in Iowa more than Democrats.

What I miss most about Iowa politics is the chance to build the community where I live. It has been difficult to do so in campaigns with which I have associated since 2004. The hindrance has been the data analysis method of targeting caucus-goers or voters, and the necessary exclusion it breeds. The Iowa Democratic Party is not about community building in a geographic sense. It is about building coalitions of whoever will join together with us to win elections. To say I despise it is an understatement.

Whatever issues I may have with the Democratic Party, they are not the reason Iowa should ditch the caucuses. It’s because candidates roaming free-range around the state has served only slight useful purpose. It has been harmful to the Iowa that elected candidates like Harold Hughes and Robert Ray.

There is an economic benefit of having 20+ candidates campaigning in Iowa, but less than one thinks. Brianne Pfannenstiel posted an article at the Des Moines Register recapping candidate spending this cycle.

“Despite Iowa’s outsize influence in the nation’s presidential nominating process, political spending is still funneled primarily to coastal states, which house major political consulting and advertising firms,” Pfannenstiel wrote. “Iowa accounts for just three percent of the $153.3 million that presidential campaigns have spent so far this cycle, filings with the Federal Election Commission show.”

The amount is much less if one removes fees and salaries paid to members of the Iowa professional political class. The Iowa caucuses are not about economic impact, as facts in the article demonstrate.

For the most part, the Iowa caucuses are about party building. If you think having as many as 20 non-presidents wandering every restaurant, gas station, gymnasium and legion hall isn’t having an impact on what Iowans believe about politics, think again.

There is little chance President Santorum will undo the Obama legacy because there is zero chance of him being president. What he, Mike Huckabee and others polling less than five percent do is build the culture of party politics in a corrupting manner. It reinforces what people already get from mass media. Minority and fringe views are depicted in media as being acceptable as media corrupts.

Candidates seek supporters to build their respective campaigns. There are few better examples of the deleterious effect of this than this headline and story by Jill Colvin and Bill Barrow of Associated Press, “Trump backers baffled by criticism of his Muslim proposal.”

When we open the state to all political comers, candidates who still poll in the asterisk range have been given serious coverage in corporate news outlets and blog posts alike. There is no sacred responsibility to cover the presidential aspirations of candidates like Lindsey Graham, Carly Fiorina, Lincoln Chafee or Jim Gilmore. That they travel Iowa is to our detriment. Attention given them is time we could focus more productively.

While I grumbled about my choices in 1988, I knew I was a Democrat and that gave me standing in my community. What is heard today is a plethora of weird views with serious and flaky mixed together in a jumble. Politics is like Chex mix gone wrong. Activists and advocates say we should ask “serious questions” of candidates, but there is little use of asking any question of most of these candidates. After all, we are not on a fact-finding mission to fill our grocery cart.

The benefit of holding the first in the nation caucus is much less than we think. More than that, it is corrupting Iowa in a way that has yielded us more conservative elected officials including Governor Terry Branstad, Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, and Representative Steve King. That’s not the Iowa I want to see, and rethinking our role in presidential politics is important to making a change.

Categories
Living in Society Social Commentary

It is the Season

Deer in the Park - Photo Credit Heidi Jo Smith
Deer in the Park – Photo Credit Heidi Smith

The deer population is abundant because of a lack of predators, including the mostly male deer hunters currently in the field.

People freak at the idea of wolves or large cats being near, so culling the herds has become a human activity. There is little danger of taking too many.

Almost three months into the Iowa deer hunt, the second shotgun season begins Saturday. The other day, I found a deer hoof in a parking lot, picked it up, and tossed it into a trash bin. There are no intuitive rules for disposal of deer hooves. Meanwhile, deer hides have been piling up at the home, farm and auto supply store as hunters bring them in.

Deer licenses are issued mainly to male hunters for a personal, annual ritual. They gear up with ammunition, waterproof clothing, meat grinders, jerky seasoning, hats, and undergarments designed to wick perspiration away from the skin. Male comradery—the kind deer hunters share—is both common and rare.

My experience of the hunt is minimal. Closest I got to hunter’s comradery was hanging out with Dad’s golfing partners at the public course club house. I took everything in as they threw dice, played cards, smoked cigars and cigarettes, and waited to secure early tee times. My memory is like the stories I hear when asking hunters what they do when they hunt. Male bonding never became important for me.

I recently overheard a conversation between two teenagers that went something like this:

She: Everyone knows women are smarter than men.
He: Yeah, but you menstruate.
She: Only one day a month.
He: But still, you bleed.

I was taken aback. Maybe I haven’t spent much time with teens since ours left home. Maybe it was the inherent competitiveness. What also got to me is my concurrent reading of Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn. In some of the countries depicted in the book, he would have raped her to settle the question of domination.

What line does our culture draw between commonplace banter and the realities of oppression? If there is one, it is difficult to discern. Suffice it that American cultural restraint keeps most young men from sexually assaulting women with whom they compete. At the same time, something elemental is lurking with unstated intent.

Deer hunting is acceptable social behavior with formal rules and regulations coupled with diverse, personal traditions. In some ways the annual hunt is grease on the skids of normalcy — a form of culture that can lead to civilization. I suspect the teen boy will ultimately become a deer hunter if he isn’t already.

I use fencing to protect plants I like more than deer need in an effort to coexist. Today I put out a bushel of apples for them. I am beginning to understand how to get along.

There is something appealing about the way deer hunting creates long-term relationships between hunters, and with their respective spouses. This season I’ve come to understand the blood sport more than I did — as much as I may be able.

Categories
Work Life

Late Fall Near the Lake

The Carter Family
The Carter Family

The good news about finishing three full weeks at the home, farm and auto supply store is the company offers health insurance that meets the Internal Revenue Service “minimum value standard” for less money than coverage available through the government’s health insurance marketplace or elsewhere.

The bad news is all of the pay from this full-time job will fund health care insurance, co-pays and deductibles for our family if we seek any care. If we don’t need health care once the coverage goes into effect Feb. 1 that will leave us roughly $150 take home pay per week. We’ll need more than that to pay the rest of our expenses.

Ada Blenkhorn and J. Howard Entwistle wrote the song “Keep on the Sunny Side” in 1899:

There’s a dark and a troubled side of life;
There’s a bright and a sunny side, too;
Tho’ we meet with the darkness and strife,
The sunny side we also may view.

Most people know the version Mother Maybelle Carter sang on the 1972 record album Will the Circle Be Unbroken produced by William E. McEuan. I favor the original A.P. Carter version which hearkens back to our family roots in Southwestern Virginia. Dig deep enough and you’ll find we’re shirt tail relatives on the Addington side, which is Mother Maybelle’s maiden name.

Not only may we view the sunny side, keeping there will be the only thing that gives us hope. This first job sets a foundation upon which to build the rest of my worklife.

What else?

In the works are spring at the Community Supported Agriculture project, summer editing at Blog for Iowa, and fall weekends at the apple orchard. These were all discussed during my interview with the home, farm and auto supply company, so getting time off shouldn’t be a problem.

Seed CataloguesThe most excitement I felt in a while was finding the Seed Savers Exchange 2016 seed catalog in the mailbox yesterday.

Someone gave me a packet of their scarlet kale seeds last year and it was a great addition to the garden. Too bad all of my customers are used to getting kale for free, or it could be a source of some income.

It is conceivable I could generate a thousand or so dollars from the garden this year by expanding the planting area and selling excess. Circumstances may have me doing that.

It is a reasonably warm fall day near the lake — a time for hope and getting lost in seed catalogs.

Categories
Living in Society Social Commentary

Shootings Are Personal

Campaign Nonviolence Rally
Campaign Nonviolence Rally

Any useful discussion of guns in society is personal.

Frequent shootings have been reported in nearby Cedar Rapids, often in the neighborhood where we lived when our daughter was born. We heard gunshots while we were there. Most times a weapon was discharged with no one injured and no subsequent news story. The main reason we moved was not the presence of guns, but to find a rodent-free rental home in which to raise our daughter.

At the shopping mall in Coralville where I buy button-down shirts, neckties and dress slacks, a man shot and killed a women near her workplace at the Iowa Children’s Museum on June 12. The murder appears to have been premeditated. This and other shopping mall shootings are a constant reminder of the peculiar risks of our consumer culture.

When I hear about shootings, it often takes the form of an anecdote. Like the Nov. 27 incident in which a man was asked to stop smoking by a restaurant employee in Mississippi, and then shot the woman dead. If you’ve never been to a Waffle House, like the one where this murder occurred, I recommend it. The counter is close to the kitchen and it is hard not to get involved in the drama acted out between customers and staff. There was drama at all the Waffle Houses where I dined.

What to do about the increasing number of firearms discharges in populated areas and public places is an open question our society won’t ask with any seriousness. By serious, I mean addressing the related political, regulatory, Constitutional, educational and public health issues in a way that would reduce the frequency of shooting incidents and the number of people killed and injured in gun violence. If we don’t ask the question it won’t get answered.

As a soldier I trained on every weapon in our company’s inventory from personal weapons like the Colt 45 revolver and the M-16A1 rifle, to mortars and the TOW anti-tank missile system. I became an expert marksman and have the badge to prove it. When I left the Army I checked my guns at the arms room and never looked back.

The existence of guns and weaponry in society is not our American problem. How they are used and regulated is.

Guns are regulated — just go to a gun shop and try to buy one. Changing regulations to address gun violence in mass society seems a logical way to address the problem — a no-brainer. A large majority of Americans would support tightening regulations with simple solutions like restricting gun purchases by people whose names appear on government terrorist watch lists. There is also broad support for universal background checks, such support blocked by a few vociferous pro-gun advocates.

There is a black market in gun sales and an active off the books exchange of weapons between friends and family. Criminals and terrorists will always be able to locate some of the hundreds of millions of firearms in the country to do their malevolent deeds. That is less the issue.

There is a lot of stupid stuff going on: things like keeping loaded weapons where toddlers can access them. Reasonable people who own guns take appropriate action to keep guns safely, or at least out of the hands of toddlers. We all need to stop doing stupid stuff, and media should develop common sense in reporting gun violence.

The media, both corporate and social, is culpable in gun violence. As data journalists Ritchie King, Carl Bialik and Andrew Flowers pointed out yesterday, mass shootings have become more common in the United States, but overall, gun homicides have decreased. If the Cedar Rapids Gazette writes a story about every reported gun discharge inside city limits, the issue of gun control would be escalated to higher importance than when shootings were commonplace in my family’s neighborhood — background noise while living in a rodent-infested area. There are few ledes to gun stories that capture the broad issues of what happens when our educational system is underfunded, mental health care is inadequate, people fear loss of Second Amendment rights, and politicians won’t take action to fix obvious problems with gun regulations. How writers spin this matters and the stories are spinning out of control.

Personal responsibility, while lacking in large segments of society, would be something, but it is not enough. As Tracy Leone posted after the recent San Bernardino, Calif. shootings,

It is time for elected officials to act to reduce the frequency and severity of gun violence. We need to coach them in this as they need it.

In the meanwhile, we live our lives as best we can with the ubiquitous presence of guns, shopping in the mall, and engaging in the drama of everyday life, all the time understanding that if we don’t follow the golden rule, our chances of avoiding gun violence decrease.

Categories
Work Life

In Between

Last Kale Harvest
Crowns of Kale Plants

The break between fall and winter cut sharply.

On Thursday I made the last garden harvest and brought the water hose inside the garage. Snow began to fall yesterday around 5:30 p.m.

I am writing and waiting for daylight to shovel the driveway.

More is changing than the weather. I started a new, full-time job at the home, farm and auto supply store Nov. 12. All other paying work ended. The coming weeks will be a time of figuring out how to make the rest of our revenue budget while supporting my writing. I’m beginning again, which is much different from starting over.

A political organizer from the Bernie Sanders for president campaign found me yesterday and emailed a canvass. Email is impersonal, and I don’t recognize the canvasser as being from our precinct. I responded with my lack of support for Sanders. She wanted to know more. Instead I emailed I was on a hiatus from politics until after Jan. 1, 2016. That’s as true as is any effort to divorce oneself from politics.

I’ve been more concerned about my writing. Specifically, whether I should continue to publish for free. This blog, and others, help me practice the craft. The same can be said for my newspaper writing, except the difference was having an editor. An editor helps improve the quality of work. At what point does this editor-less, non-paying work become less relevant? I don’t know.

The project on local food slowed with my new job. I’ve written a lot about agriculture, gardening and food, so there’s material for a memoir. Some figuring out of life, work and play is required before taking it up again.

Everything is in between. Crossing the line to a new construct is possible with the new year, spring latest.

There is snow to shovel and a shift at the supply store. Those things take precedence in this moment.