Category: Living in Society

Politics mostly social commentary.

Categories
Home Life

The Future in Canned Beans

Organic Beans
Organic Beans

LAKE MACBRIDE— Canned beans are delightful because the processor calculates the moisture content of each batch and cooks them accordingly. The product is consistent, and we use a lot of them. We are also willing to pay a premium for USDA organic. Recently, we began buying them by the case from our local grocer.

In our town of 2,200 the cost of goods is much higher than what can be found in large grocery and box stores a few miles away. Sometimes items are ridiculously high.

Most locals don’t buy organic, and the store manager is reluctant to carry slow moving goods. There is a carrying cost of inventory. They do have buying power and access to warehouse inventory. When asked, the buyer was willing to buy special items for us as long as we bought a case or more. We tried our first bulk order this week.

It was simple. Two cases of dark red organic kidney beans and one case of organic black beans for an average price of $1.07 each. A savings of 23 percent over the closest chain store, and 30 percent over buying them from the shelf when they used to be offered. I ordered on Thursday, and they were ready to pick up on Monday. It’s hard to beat the deal.

What is significant is that by special ordering in bulk, we could leverage our local retailer’s network and save money on things we buy, but others don’t. This could have broader implications, not the least of which is expansion of bulk purchases in town to include other items currently being purchased through Walmart, HyVee and others.

What matters is not where we shop, but how we live. By negotiating with local retailers and growers, there is an opportunity to eliminate what is worst about the big box stores and grocery chains… things that make them unsustainable.

By buying locally more often, and custom ordering, society might take a step toward reduction of the carrying cost for a broad and mainly idle inventory. There will always be a need for impulse items, and there should be a premium for them. Yet with proper planning, negotiating and bartering, grocery expenses could be less, and the quality of food higher. A paradigm shift is in the works.

How shall we live? At least in part by buying organic canned beans from a local retailer.

Categories
Living in Society

Local Politics Update

Dennis Boedeker
Dennis Boedeker

LAKE MACBRIDE— I received the second of three press releases from candidates announcing campaigns for state representative in House District 73, so it’s time for an update.

I don’t intend to favor any house candidate going into the June 3 primary, and if my word counts about any one or the other aren’t equal, it means very little, if anything.

David Johnson held his kickoff event on July 2, 2013, so he has been well covered in the media. Des Moines Dem did a full writeup of Johnson on Bleeding Heartland.

Until yesterday, Johnson was the only candidate to formally announce. Dennis Boedeker’s press release came via the Iowa House Democrats listserv, and it is posted below. I didn’t know his resume when I recently met him, but he seemed a lot like me. Notably, we both served on the board of health in our respective counties.

Even though I am a Democrat, the closest political relationship I have with any of the three candidates who filed nominating papers is with the Republican incumbent, Bobby Kaufmann. I have been an active advocate in the legislature since we moved to Big Grove Township in 1993. Because of my social engagement, there are a number of things I follow and/or need help with in the legislature. Whoever is my representative, it is important to develop a relationship with him or her. I became comfortable emailing, texting or picking up the phone to call Rep. Kaufmann. He has been reasonably supportive of my efforts, and hasn’t formally announced for re-election.

I will vote in the Democratic primary on June 3, where there are two additional races of interest. I declared my support for incumbent County Attorney Janet Lyness over challenger John Zimmerman. I also declared my preference for incumbent County Supervisor Janelle Rettig, and long-time environmental activist Mike Carberry, over Lisa Green-Douglass and Diane Dunlap in the election to select two supervisor candidates. Neither Green-Douglass nor Dunlap have been active in the same circles as me.

Here is Boedeker’s press release:

Friday, April 4, 2014
Veteran, Farmer Dennis Boedeker announces bid for state representative

Cedar County– Farmer and veteran Dennis Boedeker of Cedar County officially announced his run for State Representative today.  Boedeker, a former Cedar County Supervisor, is running in House District 73, which covers all of Cedar County, part of Johnson County, and the city of Wilton.
“I was born and raised in Cedar County and have lived here my entire life. I’m extremely proud of our communities and I’m excited about the opportunity to serve in the Iowa House,” said Boedeker, a Democrat.  “As a farmer who still runs the small family farm where I grew up, I understand how important agriculture is to our economy.  I’ll be a strong, experienced voice for rural Iowa and the middle class.”
In addition to farming, Boedeker served on the Cedar County Board of Supervisors for 12 years and before that worked for the Cedar County Roads Department.  He also served in the US Air Force during Vietnam.
“There is no issue more important in the Legislature than education and there is more we must  do to keep our rural schools strong,” said Boedeker, who serves on the Cedar/Jones Early Childhood Iowa Board.  “We need to expand early childhood education so every child enters kindergarten ready to learn and make sure the state keeps its commitment to our schools and children.”
Boedeker is a lifelong member of Zion United Church of Christ and served four years on the church council, including one year as president. He and his wife, Cheryl, have been married 40 years and they have two grown sons and seven grandchildren.
Boedeker has been involved with a host of community organizations, including the Cedar County Board of Health, 7th Judicial District, Eastern Iowa Regional Utility Service Systems, and Cedar County Veteran’s Affairs.

Categories
Work Life

Turning Point

Greenhouse and High Tunnel
Germination House and High Tunnel

LAKE MACBRIDE— A cold wind blew across the hilltop where the sheep barn is situated. The barn doors had come loose from the bottom brace and were flapping in the wind. There was no securing them, so I walked over to see the lambs. Spring’s hope wobbling about the pen.

The goal was to pick up get ten bags of soil mix for the day’s work. A couple of deer legs were laying around, scavenged by the dogs. They wanted me to play fetch with one of them, but I wouldn’t. There was work to be done and it seemed a bit weird.

Seven of us were working in the germination shed and high tunnel. The table space in the germination shed was filling up as I made 28 seed trays in two and a half hours. Seedlings planted in March were being transplanted to the high tunnel for the spring share. It was a busy place. One worker, who I hadn’t seen since last fall, asked if I had a good winter. I did and we went about our work.

Not many in Iowa grow celery, and the seeds I planted weren’t germinating very well. One farmer said give it time, comparing it to parsley. She also mentioned someone who wanted to put in an acre of the vegetable. Local celery would sell if it could be grown.

I discussed my low lettuce germination rate with another farmer. After a couple of her questions, we determined the problem must be moisture levels, which can be remedied by watering frequently.

After work I headed home, stopping at the grocery store.

Walmart is something I would like to get out of my life, and to do that, I need to get some things they carry, but our local grocer doesn’t. I found the buyer and asked him if I ordered a large quantity, would they get me a case, or bin of them. Things like organic kidney beans, that apparently no one but me bought when they did carry them. He said he would, so I will place an order later in the week.

Upon returning home, I spent the rest of the day in the garage and yard. It was the first day of working with the garage door up, listening to the radio. I swept the sand from the street in front of our house, and replenished my supply of five cat litter buckets for next winter. This annual event is combination of frugality, cost avoidance and practicality. Why buy sand when there is plenty available?

I cleaned the garage floor of dirt and grime delivered by the cars, and cleared my work bench. I dug into a large pile of paper goods to find the yard sign for the county attorney, who has a challenger in the June 3 primary. It was on the bottom, as she hasn’t had many challengers. I found a wire that fit and stapled the sign to it. It’s ready to place on the lawn tomorrow.

The seeding operation was near the water heater, where it was too crowded. I moved it to the garage, making quick work of mixing soil batches and preparing a couple of trays. I seeded 120 cells with celery in hope of getting enough seedlings to plant a row or two. The other tray was planted with six kinds of tomatoes. All of this was overkill, but I want to have enough for our garden and to share.

Coming inside for dinner, I watered all the seedlings, did three loads of laundry, a load in the dishwasher, and re-arranged the trays on the table in the bedroom. Not a lot of dramatic or exciting stuff to report. It was a turning point in the year, and that is enough.

Categories
Home Life

Germination and Sick of Soup

Spring Flowers
Spring Flowers

LAKE MACBRIDE— The germination rate of indoor seeds has been 59.3 percent. Seeds leftover from the 2013 season are performing better at 96.3 percent, with a dismal performance of 46.9 percent for 2014 seeds. Not sure of the trouble, however, will start way more than needed in order to ensure there are enough plants for the garden.

The lettuce seeds have done particularly poorly. They are some of the same used at the greenhouse where I work, so the problem must be me— soil and water.

“We are planning to live to be one hundred,” said a friend about she and her partner yesterday. “I’m not sure we will make it, but we are planning for that.”

This was in response to a statement I made that there is a life after the socially accepted retirement age of about 60. In addition to the seven ages of man, we need a eighth lying between ages 60 and 80. She said it should go to one hundred. If one can resolve the issues of this American age, then there may be perquisites. But it runs against social norms in a way that only the most compelling logic could assert such a thing. Just think of all the financial planners who would be out of a job.

As April begins, I know two things. I can’t give up working on a new paradigm and I am sick of winter soup.

Categories
Social Commentary Writing

Diving In

Garden
Summer Garden

LAKE MACBRIDE— The ambient outdoor temperature was 50 degrees at 3 a.m., creating a yearning to work in the yard and garden. Other work, however, kept me busy this weekend. So much so, that when each day was done, bedtime couldn’t come soon enough— outdoors had to wait.

I’m okay with that, but I’m not.

When first feeling the urge to be a writer, many years ago, I had no idea what that meant. Now there is a full slate of writing jobs, some paid and some not, and meeting deadlines has become more of an issue. Writing and proof reading our weekly newspaper can’t be described as a stressful job, but beginning on Fridays, it’s crunch time.

The supervisory work at the warehouse also occurs on weekends, so there is little time for extras in the arc from Friday through Monday. The result has been to hang with a new, and very different group of people from the academicians, political activists, public figures, and peace and justice crowd that had become staples of my social life.

American lives move from a fixed point in time toward insularity. Frederick Jackson Turner wrote in 1893,

As each generation of pioneers moved 50 to 100 miles west, they abandoned useless European practices, institutions and ideas, and instead found new solutions to new problems created by their new environment. Over multiple generations, the frontier produced characteristics of informality, violence, crudeness, democracy and initiative that the world recognized as “American.”

The degree to which one takes issue with the frontier thesis asserted by Turner in The Significance of the Frontier in American History, there is no denying the bent toward utopianism that exists in daily life. People don’t care about money as much as they want to be able to pay their bills and live their lives. In doing so, they create an island of utopianism carved out of a complicated society. Perhaps I am corrupting what it means to be utopian, but that too is an American idea.

I heard a woman say she wanted the man to make the decisions for her last week. I was stunned. Only an insular life can espouse such a world view. One that lacks a basic connection to a greater society, and exists in the rarefied air of a peculiar social network.

“Ugggghhhhh. That’s depressing,” said one friend.

“Thank goodness she’s in the minority,” said another.

“A sample of one does not a movement make,” said an activist I know.

Whatever repulsion there is to a woman who wants her man to do the thinking, it is part of the diversity of life which has become a context for my writing.

A writer must necessarily become isolated while working. At the same time, there is a constant want and need for contact with humanity in all of its diversity. Writers must break from the swaddling of the familiar and dive in— it’s as close to utopia as American living gets.

Categories
Juke Box

Juke Box: I Got a Name

Categories
Living in Society

Too Early for Politics

Braley-Borlaug Front Page
Braley-Borlaug Front Page

BIG GROVE TOWNSHIP— Labor Day is the official kickoff of the fall election campaign, but there seems to be a lot of campaign stuff going on now.

The biggest news was the video of Rep. Bruce Braley commenting about the kind of chair of the Judiciary Committee U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley might make should Republicans regain control of the upper chamber.

The video was released by a group called Priorities for Iowa, another 501 (c) 4 funded by what is becoming common parlance, “dark money.” The release was timed to coincide with the unveiling of the Norman Borlaug statue in the U.S. Capitol, which replaced that of former U.S. Senator and abolitionist James Harlan, which had been there since before Borlaug was born.  By any standard, Borlaug was a farmer and the front page of the Quad City Times, which visually associated Braley’s comments with Borlaug, is something Braley should frame and put in his office as a reminder that he needs to do better in his campaign for U.S. Senator. If one listens to the video, it is neither disparaging toward Grassley nor to farmers generally. That won’t stop the right wingers from saying it is so.

Speaking of right wingers, something else I have been following is the development of guns, gays and abortion legislation in this session of the Iowa legislature. Yesterday was bad news for progressive politicos, as none of them gained traction during floor debate.

There was a curious change in the House Floor Action ticker regarding abortion and guns. As I watched the live posts, the following was made:

“Motion by Shaw to invoke Rule 60 in order to withdraw HF 138 from the Judiciary Committee and place it on the House Calendar– Out of Order.”

When I went in to double check the ticker for this post, the entry had been changed to this:

“Motion by Shaw to invoke Rule 60 in order to withdraw HF 2284 from the Judiciary Committee and place it on the House Calendar – Out of Order.”

I am certain a change was made because I had to look up HF 138 to see what it was after the original post, and last night, I searched the ticker for HF 2284 and couldn’t find it.

Here is the House Journal record:

“Shaw of Pocahontas moved to invoke Rule 60, to immediately withdraw House File 2284 from committee on Judiciary and place it on the calendar.
The Speaker ruled the motion not in order.”

Maybe it was a typo, and maybe not, but HF 138 is the personhood bill, and HF 2284 is the so called “Constitutional Carry” bill, both of which I expected to be called up from judiciary yesterday using Rule 60.

The reason this is bad news is that House Republicans are showing a modicum of decorum and consistency by following their own rules on these two bills. That is something they did not do in 2011 just after the TEA party rebellion of the 2010 midterms. What is worse news for progressives is that definition of marriage did not make it onto the House legislative radar screen at all this session.

Nothing has changed in the Republican caucus, except they are doing a much better job of hiding the extremism of the right wing of their party. Since most people don’t follow politics very closely, it matters to advancing a progressive agenda if Republicans are perceived as not that bad.

With the late spring and a winter backlog of projects, it seems way too early for politics. Nonetheless, how can one not be engaged in things that matter in our lives on the Iowa prairie.

Categories
Home Life

Finding A Way

Remembering
Remembering

LAKE MACBRIDE— Snapping a photo with my handheld device reduces automobile search time. When I learned about willing suspension of disbelief in high school, I took it to heart, and applied the concept to much of what I do in public. So much so, I forget where the car is parked after an event… more often than I would like. A photo helps.

This morning the moon was a yellow crescent, refracted by the atmosphere on the horizon. I was taking the recycling bin to the curb. From above, ancient starlight fell on me through the darkness. It was cold, the cold and starlight and crescent moon were invigorating on a groggy morning.

Two months in, my jobs as newspaper correspondent and warehouse worker seem to have taken. That’s good news. A stable financial platform is important to sustaining this errant life of writing. While the two don’t produce a living wage, they get me closer than I was last year— a footing upon which to leverage aspiration’s ascent.

I understand ranges: of potential pay for each part time job; and of the time investment required to produce it. I’m entering into the period we called stability operations in the military. Settling in, and working toward other important goals.

In the news stream of images, articles and recordings that is social media, I came upon a list of the 20 most popular TED talks. After watching a few of them, it occurred to me that a very small percentage of my time has been spent answering the question why? I’m not talking about the lengthy intellectual excursions taken during my undergraduate dalliance with western philosophy. Rather, what motivates me to eschew the six figure job I left for doing what I love? There are three things.

My outlook on life in society was formed after being an altar boy at our local convent. Rising early, I walked to our elementary school, where the nuns lived on the top floor, and assisted the priest with morning Mass. It was in Latin. After Mass, I had an hour or so at home before returning to school for classes. I read pulp magazines bought at the corner drug store. An epiphany that morning was the nature of intellect and language.

We are separate from language, and everything else perceived by the senses. Language is a medium for communication, and our faith is that there is another reality outside sensory perceptions to perceive us, and if we are lucky, to communicate with us. Just as the starlight traveled for years to illuminate my morning walk from the curb, so too is everything our senses perceive: light, not stars. This epiphany remains with me, grounded in experience, not in the ideas of others.

Secondly, money is a means to an end. Founded on a life of sensory perceptions, in which we know not the existence or motivation of others, life becomes a quest for truth and meaning. Such a quest is to rid our consciousness of utter alone-ness. Accumulation of wealth is simply not that important. While raising our daughter, we were able to get through it all financially: buying a house, securing food and clothing, transportation, and formal education. While I made some progress over a 25 year career in transportation, other than addressing an occasional abstraction about needing more money, we used money to live as best we could.

The final point: the necessity of self-realization. The signs that I needed to leave my long career were everywhere. The conventional wisdom was to continue working as I had until reaching full retirement at age 68. What I also knew was life expectancy was such that if healthy, I would have another 20 years to work. It became a compelling enterprise to shift away from work I felt was unsustainable to something that would see me through the years 60-80. Something less reliant upon a single source of income. Once I realized this and accepted it, my days as a transportation worker were numbered, leading me here.

The photo of the parking ramp was taken last week. It was a brief step toward finding a way. Now that I’m on a path, it is proving much easier to follow it.

Categories
Home Life

To the Hardware Store

Westdale Mall Demolition
Westdale Mall Demolition

CEDAR RAPIDS— Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids is closing at the end of March. The 72 acres will be re-purposed, retaining two of the anchor stores, J.C. Penney and Younkers (which remain open), and replacing the mall with housing, and recreational and commercial endeavors. Many of us believed malls were a bad idea when this one was built. We had a longer view of social progress than others, yet there is no feeling of vindication as stores and jobs go away.

The stores I visited at Westdale were the picture framer, J. C. Penney, Montgomery Wards, and one or two of the jewelers. Probably others, but memory is a fickle master. Shopping has never been important to me, and the similarities between retail establishments outweighed the differences. There are other places to shop.

After taking this photo, I stopped at the nearby hardware store. That is, a hardware store equivalent. During the post-Walmart era every large box store has groceries, sundries and some amount of plumbing, heating and home maintenance goods. Menards is a hardware store because they sell lumber and a greater inventory of home improvement items. Too, contractors frequent Menards, and it is a home base for many small businesses. They may sell red Solo cups here, and run advertisements featuring American made goods, but their inventory comes from all over the world.

It was the first trip to Menards in a long time, a harbinger of spring work. I spent $124.73. There was a globe to replace the one knocked loose when the roofer’s hammering made one fall and break; a tank lever to fix a toilet; a bag of charcoal to remove a tree stump; two bags of grass seed to re-plant the ditch where the drought burned off last year’s planting; new gloves for the garage in deerskin, goatskin, PVC and cloth; two new seedling trays; two bags of seed starting soil; some two-cycle oil for a chainsaw project; a bag of zip ties; and a packet of organic beefsteak tomato seeds. All representing spring projects. I put up the light globe and fixed the toilet yesterday.

Visiting a hardware store is not necessarily a guy thing, as I know plenty of women who frequent what are now called home improvement centers. Yet, as a guy, there is nothing quite like returning home and emptying the vehicle of tangible evidence of the work to be done to sustain our lives on the Iowa prairie. It is a kind of hope yesterday’s spring snowfall could not hold back.

Categories
Living in Society

Blips on the Legislative Radar Screen

State Capitol
State Capitol

LAKE MACBRIDE— During the second session of the 85th Iowa General Assembly, it appears legislators have been getting along swimmingly. The budget number was agreed behind closed doors, in what seems like record time. And if supplemental state aid for our schools wasn’t agreed within 30 days of the governor’s budget proposal, as required by state law… well, the school districts are getting used to that and it was a minor bump on the road to the 2014 midterms.

There were a few blips on the radar. There was the failed telemedicine bill, which passed the House, but from the beginning had no chance in the Iowa Senate. There was HF 2381, the gun suppression bill, that also passed the House with some progressive legislators, notably Rep. Mary Wolfe of Clinton, voting for it. It’s hope ended when Senator Rob Hogg, chair of the judiciary committee, said he didn’t plan to take up any gun legislation this session. In a bicameral legislature, where the consent of both chambers is required, any citizen who was taught the basics of our government should have known these bills were going nowhere, even if they piqued some interest in the media and among the uneducated. A basic lack of understanding of how government works could explain why these bills moved at all.

Is hope for the right wingers lost?

To get an answer, I went to Google and came up with an Iowa Gun Owners alert dated March 13 calling for gun owners to contact their state representative and ask for a vote on House File 2284, which, according to their web site is the “Constitutional Carry” bill that would make firearms permits optional in the state of Iowa. “The Speaker of the House Kraig Paulsen. He, above all the rest, can move bills at his leisure,” the author wrote. “Let him know that you’re tired of the excuses, the rhetoric, and the inaction. Tell him now is the time to move this legislation forward,” he added.

If the bill missed the second funnel, can it still move? The answer is yes by invoking House Rule 60 which under certain conditions, including a super majority of 60 House members in favor, could suspend the rules for a vote.

If we go into the wayback machine, it is a short trip to 2010 when Republicans wanted to recruit seven Democrats to vote with them to invoke Rule 60 and advance a bill that would allow the people of Iowa to vote on an amendment to the state’s constitution that would define marriage as the union between one man and one woman. The measure failed.

Fast forward to 2011, when former Representative Kim Pearson mounted an attempt to force a vote by using Rule 60, to give fetuses the full rights of U.S. citizens. She was unable to muster her own caucus around the failed effort.

So what is the point of this Republican madness? Don’t ask me. I am a progressive. It may have something to do with the low regard the Republican House leadership holds for moving on supplemental state aid for our schools.

In any case, have we heard the last of guns, gays and abortion as the 85th Iowa General Assembly fades into the history books? I don’t know that either, but rest assured, it is not too late for them to appear on the radar. If they do, one hopes the people of Iowa realize that elections matter, and are willing to roll up their sleeves and clean out the clown car that the Iowa House of Representatives will have become under Speaker Paulsen.

Elections matter. However, what matters more is the results produced for all of the people of Iowa. The special interest legislation mentioned above represents the nadir of social progress, something that matters to each of us, regardless of political party. We can all do better.

~ Written for Blog for Iowa