Journey Home

Politics Takes No Holiday

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date December 17, 2013

LAKE MACBRIDE— One definition of politics is it’s the practice and theory of influencing other people on a civic or individual level. To be sure, politics is about persuading people to do one thing or another, and in the end, it means exerting power over others. Sometimes this is positive, and others less so— and politics is not necessarily a choice between good and evil.

In our country, we have a long history of persuasion and influence that includes popular figures, celebrities, charlatans, politicians, hustlers, hucksters, thieves, businessmen and women, dilettantes, and persons of varying credentials, some spurious and others genuine. Most of all this is widely accepted. A simpler definition of politics is it is life in society, and a motley amalgamation of ingredients for making a life.

Our lives are separate from politics. During a typical day, if such a thing exists, there may be few discussions about partisan politics while at the same time everyone is trying to persuade everyone else of something. The topic of whether Hillary Clinton will run for president in 2016 simply does not come up when I’m with most other people. Nor should it almost three years before the next presidential election. Politics is a lot more than the endless cycles of partisan politics.

The power of politics influences my behavior, but not so much. Sure, I’ll exercise diligence filing my tax return, comply as best I can with traffic laws, and try to be a good neighbor. Beyond that, it is easy to break away from the body politic to live a life, especially as the year-end holidays approach. Yet politics takes no holiday. If anything the entreating parties increase the din of their pleas as one year ends and another lays in waiting.

In this quiet home place, the tax collector, the insurance companies, the lenders and retailers clamor for attention, and can be turned off, at least for a while. We are left with the pinkish sunrise of a new day and hope for a tomorrow where politics takes a long holiday. Something that by its nature seems impossible, but nonetheless, is the stuff of dreams.

Tags politics

Juke Box

Juke Box: No Hopers, Jokers and Rogues

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date December 15, 2013

Tags Music

Home Life

Retro Saturday

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date December 15, 2013

LAKE MACBRIDE— Vague recollection of Saturday morning trips to downtown Davenport have been haunting me of late. It’s the holiday season, and the stillness of the house leaves a perfect canvas against which memory paints images of days gone by. Trips to the newspaper to pay my paper route bill, a stop at Parker’s Department store to dine on automat food heated under a reddish light bulb, to Petersen’s, Woolworth, W.T. Grant, Hanssen’s Hardware, and a stop at the Source Book Store. The latter being the only business still there, now run by the son of the founder.

There were places to eat. A lunch counter at Woolworth, the Griddle where my grandmother cooked and served lunch, Bishop’s Buffet, The Tea Room, and others, I suppose. Over the course of youth, I tried them all.

There were three movie theaters, the RKO Orpheum, the Capitol and the State. My classmates would go shoplifting in the downtown and then meet up for a $0.35 movie and swap stories, men’s cologne and other plunder. They didn’t view themselves as criminals, and with time, they grew out of it. I didn’t join them for fear I would get caught.

Now my Saturdays are much different. The day began with work proofreading the newspaper, followed by a series of errands. A drive to Oxford to meet up with a farmer, a trip to the orchard to pickup some apples and chat with the staff one last time this year, and a trip to the farm where I worked for news and another chat. It was not retail outlets I sought, but people I knew or wanted to get to know. And that’s the difference in my life today.

After the farm I went to the public library and brought home an armload of books, and a jelly jar full of hot chocolate mix. I cooked a dinner of stir-fried tofu and vegetables served over rice for the two of us. I opened a bottle of wine and had enough to taste it. The beer from summer is all gone.

What if memories of youth had been something other than shopping and going downtown on Saturdays? Why do those memories play now? What I’d rather do is live now, in the world constructed from my new life with practical farmers. In a society where government seems corrupt and bankrupt of morals, and shopping for necessities is all we can afford. Where splurging means buying a new book on Amazon.com, getting a slice of pizza at the gas station, or making holiday cookies at home. The commerce of life seems least interesting to me now.

Yet these memories of Davenport play. I can’t escape them, they are part of me. I’ll let them play against the screen a while more, until leaving the house for a round of Sunday morning work and what new adventures might be found outside of memory.

Tags homelife

Writing

Book Publishing and Vachel Lindsay

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date December 14, 2013

LAKE MACBRIDE— A friend forwarded a link to an article titled, “The 10 Awful Truths about Book Publishing,” that reported more than three million books were published in 2010 yet sales were down. Stephen Piersanti, president of Berrett-Koehler Publishers wrote, “there is no general audience for most nonfiction books, and chasing after such a mirage is usually far less effective than connecting with one’s communities.” In other words, unless you have kismet, keep writing, and building relationships to develop your own market for your writing. I came to a similar conclusion, and a number of area authors seem to be pursuing this approach as well. What gives?

Part of my writing efforts have been figuring out what role words on a page or screen would play in life. Where it ended was “as a self-employed writer, the challenges are to find venues for writing, and to improve one’s skills. For most of us, writing is seldom paid work in the era of social media. My current writing can be viewed on my website pauldeaton.com.” This statement, posted on my LinkedIn profile, has been a sanity keeper and set my expectations about publishing low, while maintaining a reason to write. Sure, I would like to make a living from writing, but the simple truth is not many people do, and the number who sell more than 250 copies of their book once published is miniscule. The endgame is if a viable book idea was forthcoming, the work will be self-published and marketed.

There is a lesson to be learned from the prairie troubadour, Vachel Lindsay. Lindsay was one of the best known poets in the United States during his lifetime, but faded into obscurity after his death by suicide. He bartered poetry for food and lodging, and self-published works like, “Rhymes To Be Traded For Bread” toward that end. History has been unkind to Vachel Lindsay, and today his poetry is a difficult read.

The lesson to be learned is that we all live a life of struggle and desire. It is possible to self-publish a book, but the idea of written pieces as currency, or making a living solely from publishing and selling books is not realistic for most of us, and may never have been. It certainly didn’t work out for Vachel Lindsay, who had the fame that would presumably enable sales. Maybe he didn’t understand how to do it, struggling with in person sales negotiations to secure a bed and meal for the night, such bartering consuming a disproportionate amount of his time and energy. He worked hard, but maybe didn’t work smart enough.

The challenge isn’t the writing, it’s finding the reason to write and the opportunity to do so. For now that means sitting in front of a screen most mornings trying to figure out the meaning of a life. Hopefully readers will find some resonance with theirs. This may be as published as one person’s writing gets.

Tags Writing

Home Life Writing

Into the Holidays

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date December 13, 2013

LAKE MACBRIDE— So begins the quiet time. Snow covers the ground, temperatures are well below freezing, and life turns inward toward family and friends, and reading, writing and cooking, as we approach the winter solstice. Somewhat spontaneous, and upon us all at once, there is practiced ritual to help us make it through the days.

Since making the last CSA delivery during Thanksgiving week, these days have also been a time of recuperation. The year’s physical labor was not without its toll. Tendons, ligaments and connective tissue are not as flexible as they once were, so despite a cautious approach to work, I have been a bit sore. Recovery is well under way, but I don’t recall that aspect of life from previous holiday seasons. Who knew naproxen sodium and skin moisturizer would become as prevalent as Christmas greetings and holiday lights?

Today, I’ll write and mail the fundraising letter for a social group. I’ll read a book, and plan for next year. There are a few errands in the hopper as we move toward the weekend. Then there will be the bustle of house cleaning, and decorating from the boxes of stored memories kept below the stairwell. One can get lost in the pattern and there is a yearning to do so because of its comfort and familiar warmth.

A time to let go of ambition and desire, and to return to being native.

Tags homelife, Writing

Social Commentary

Navigating Change in Health Insurance — Part 5

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date December 12, 2013

LAKE MACBRIDE— According to the Dec. 11, 2013 issue of the New York Times, “nearly 365,000 people picked a health insurance plan through state and federal exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through the end of November. While the pace of enrollment picked up last month, it is still a fraction of the 1.2 million target that the Obama administration had set for the first two months.” In Iowa, the target was 6,970 individuals enrolled with only 11 percent attainment (757 individuals). What’s going on?

In 2012, the American Community Survey, found the number of uninsured people in Iowa was 254,275 uninsured, or 8.4 percent of our population. I’m not a statistician, but enrolling about 7,000 by Nov. 30 seems a reasonable target. Out of the whole, there are some, where household income exceeds $50,000 (91,073 uninsured), and non-citizens (28,901 uninsured), who would not be eligible. Nonetheless, enrolling only 757 individuals is an embarrassingly low number.

The enrollment period for coverage Jan. 1, 2014 was extended after the website trouble until Dec. 23, so some may have delayed to use this time. I submit, at its core, the problem is a cultural issue, rather than policy. Here are my thoughts:

People I know don’t understand health insurance is mandatory in 2014, and if they do, the perception is there is no reason to get it given the slight penalties.

Wellmark, the largest health insurance company in Iowa is not in the exchange, indicating that if one has insurance where the policy is grandfathered, it may be better to wait to change policies until Wellmark enters the exchange for the 2015 calendar year

The exchange requires some married couples to move from a joint policy to individual policies. That doesn’t seem right, and it was not explained well, if at all. Why change unless one understands this aspect of the ACA?

The folks at the exchange I spoke with were not prepared to deal with the idea that some people do not know how much income they will have in 2014, thus creating uncertainty about the amount of the tax credit, and how much will be paid out of pocket. Uncertainty for this and other reasons will be an obstacle to enrollment.

There have been success stories about people who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act, using expanded Medicaid and the insurance exchanges. On the ground level, the failure to attain targeted enrollments seems to be a failure on the part of government to recognize that enrolling in the exchange is not intuitive, and that people who may qualify for insurance may also need persuasion. This is particularly true given the all-out assault on the Affordable Care Act by some Iowans, including Rep. Steve King (R-Kiron).

Too, where is Organizing for Action? While enrolling people in the Affordable Care Act may not be their primary mission (Organizing for Action is the grassroots movement to pass legislation relating to the Obama administration’s agenda), failure to gain a better degree of compliance with the ACA will result in a policy failure for the administration, and hinder OFA’s progress going forward. OFA has a self interest in the success or failure of the ACA. Having missed identifying the need for persuasion, it seems doubtful anyone in the administration picked up the phone to call OFA.

With the deadline for Jan. 1 2014 coverage less than two weeks away, what’s a person to do? For me, that means keeping the policy I have for another year, even if we qualify for a less expensive policy on the exchange. For the tens of thousands of Iowans who don’t have health insurance it remains to be seen. While the benefits of the ACA are pretty clear, even those who would be helped the most by the law are just not buying it.

Click on the links to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.

Tags health care

Home Life

After the Shuffle

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date December 10, 2013

LAKE MACBRIDE— Having a headache rots. Having one on Saturday rots more. Last Saturday, my headache was bad enough to cancel the whole day’s schedule with the exception of working at the newspaper. That wasn’t the worst of it.

Something happened to shuffle my memory, creating chunks and particles that float before my mind’s eye like the colored shapes in a kaleidoscope. As it happens, I try to recognize the bits and pieces. They are familiar, but disjointed from whatever associations may have existed. The sense is they are important, but maybe not. It has been a weird few days since then.

Whatever it was, Saturday stands as a line between my past and what will be— something I need more than want. We all cling to memories and forget they serve our future, not nostalgia for days of yore. It was a clean cut, enabling a fresh approach to each day’s endeavors. Yet the bits and pieces persist.

The effect has been to concentrate on creating well considered cultural objects: writing, food, trips in the car, segments of time spent with others. One fears, and to some extent welcomes, the idea we only live once and had better make the best of it. That is where I’m finding myself today.

Whatever was lost on Saturday may not be found, and it’s time to let go and move on after the shuffle.

Tags homelife, Writing

Writing

Letter to the Solon Economist

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date December 9, 2013

To the editor,

There were two pictures of biscuits and gravy next to each other in my Facebook newsfeed Sunday morning. One from Salt Fork Kitchen and one from Big Grove Brewery, two new restaurants that opened this year in Solon. While I am not partial to the dish, one has to appreciate the fact that there is some competition for the Sunday brunch trade on Main Street. Not to leave them out, the American Legion serves the dish for breakfast as well.

In this simple offering is a sign of hope for revitalizing Main Street in our and many other small towns. While the shelf stable and highly processed foods available in most grocery stores serve a purpose in family meals, there is a trend toward using fresh ingredients and sourcing food locally. Whether we realize it or not, Solon is in the mainstream of this trend.

At last count, there were eight places to get something to eat on Main Street in Solon, counting the grocery store and the gas station. In addition, a number of local growers produce everything from spring radishes to fall squash. In our midst, without us really being aware of it, we have the necessary elements of a vibrant local food system.

In order to revitalize Main Street, people have to want to come there, and since these new eateries opened, I have noticed more vehicles filling the newly designed parking spaces downtown. That is a good thing. I don’t know, but the increased foot traffic has to be good for established businesses like the grocery store, the hardware store, the barber shop and others.

If we seek to become boosters of life in Solon, we should support our Main Street businesses, and with the recently improved local food scene, there is more reason to do so.

Paul Deaton
Solon

Tags local food, Main Street, restaurants, Writing

Writing

Biscuits and Gravy

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date December 9, 2013

LAKE MACBRIDE— Biscuits and gravy is not a balanced meal, but it is very popular around the lake, and at the restaurants in town. Recently, a restaurant developed the dish to stave off its ultimate demise. Biscuits and gravy are popular, but not miraculous. The restaurant closed. Most local restaurants that serve breakfast offer the item on the menu, and people buy it.

While growing up, our mother prepared a variation on biscuits and gravy we called creamed hamburger on toast. Slices of toasted white bread were cut into small squares and placed on a plate. Ground beef was browned in a cast iron skillet, then removed, leaving the drippings. Using flour and milk, she made gravy with the fat in the pan, seasoned with salt and pepper. When the gravy thickened, she added back the meat, stirred and served the mixture on the toast. We didn’t have it often, but enjoyed it when we did. It was a tribute to my father’s southern heritage, and a somewhat exotic, inexpensive meal made with ingredients usually on hand.

In a vegetarian kitchen, there is no meat fat, so our gravies, if made at all, are done so with butter, using the familiar process. It serves. Biscuits are a quick bread, and easy to make, but at home the similar use has been to place a halved biscuit in the bottom of a large bowl and spoon a hearty vegetable soup or stew over it. This is a traditional serving method, one that stretches back in time for multiple millennia. It is much more common in our household than preparing gravy.

Our neighboring town is in a position to develop a vibrant Main Street with the recent interest in local food combined with a proliferation of eateries. While biscuits and gravy is far from haute cuisine, competitive offerings of the dish make a case that a local food scene is alive and growing. That can only be good for those of us who live nearby.

While locals enjoy biscuits and gravy, will outsiders, whose business is needed to supplement local purchases, make the trip for such items? It’s an open question. An answer lies in restaurants serving good food, something which the competition for business will hopefully provide for those who dine out on a Sunday drive, or during a motorcycle or bicycle rally.

One would like to support local businesses, but can only eat so much biscuits and gravy. Here’s hoping the word gets out about our growing food scene in town. In the meanwhile, for those who do most of their cooking at home, here’s a simple biscuit recipe that is easy and quite tasty.

Whole Wheat Biscuits

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 cup milk

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt, mixing thoroughly. Cut the butter into tiny bits and mix into the flour mixture until the texture is coarse. Pour in the milk and mix the dough until it comes together. Knead it 8 to 10 times and turn it out on a floured surface. Flatten the dough to 3/4 inch thickness and cut biscuits into single serving sizes. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes about eight servings.

Tags local food, recipes, restaurants

Writing

Six Years and Still Writing

Post author By Paul Deaton
Post date December 8, 2013

LAKE MACBRIDE— Walking across Highway One to the mushroom park lot, the headache felt worse the closer I got to the car. After proof reading next week’s newspaper, driving home, and assessing the situation, things were bad enough to call off the rest of Saturday’s activities. It became a day comprised mostly of fighting off a painful headache— something I don’t usually have to do. The good news is this morning, I feel re- and ready to renew year-end activities. Being a sixty-something, I know not every day is as productive as one would like.

At this point my reader-o-meter is nagging that I had better get to the meat of this post to retain the few who stuck through that first, self-indulgent paragraph, if any. So here it is. Thanks for reading this blog.

When I started writing on a public blog during November 2007, it was a big step from sending an occasional letter to the editor of a local newspaper, to something that anyone with Internet access could see and, if I let them, could comment upon. With the exception of Iowa City Patch and Blog for Iowa, I’ve taken down my previous iterations of blogs and reduced them to bound paper on a shelf. So what’s up with that?

The persistence of blog writing is, and should be very brief. Some posts from the first years were better than others, but I’d just as well have posting be fresh, and of the moment. Downloading and printing old work is part of the process, and I don’t open those books very often. Not many care about yesterday’s news, let alone the musings of an isolate citizen of the plains. If there is a more persistent story, it would be better handled by word smithing at my desk, and spending the effort to get it published more permanently. Not much of what I have written or said is of high enough caliber for that.

Mostly, blog writing is a way of working ideas out. Taking something, and adding a bit of research, a bit of the opinions of others, a photo, and making something else. A snapshot of how we approached an issue, recipe, behavior or artifact in a given moment. Let’s face it, with tens of millions of blogs, there isn’t much original thinking going on, and the main purpose of blogging is to put reasonably articulate stuff out there to find like minded people and see what they have to say. Blogging is more about us.

So thanks for hanging with me. I plan to keep on writing next year, and I hope you will return.

Tags Writing