Winter Wonder Land

Walnut Creek, Clive Greenbelt Park

 

 

This is the picture postcard version of winter in Iowa.  So calm, so peaceful.

 

Gentle snow has lain itself upon the banks of the creek, like a gently swirled frosting.  The snow adds it's touch of white to the empty trees, giving them a lacy elegance.  The creek itself has a glaze of ice, giving it a glassy sheen. Shadows from the bright sunlight behind the trees lend the landscape a subtle zebra pattern.  And  behind it all, the sky a beautiful dusty blue.

 

So calm, so peaceful.

 

Now let's talk about today.

 

The day was fairly average to begin with, at least for January in Iowa.  The wind was blowing, but nothing that could knock over the garbage cans lined up along the curb for pickup. 

 

During the late morning and early afternoon some light snow flurries passed through town.  Again nothing extreme.  And warm temperatures in the mid 30's quickly melted what little snow did fall.

 

It was all a setup.  Mother Nature, so sneaky!

 

Around 4 pm the temperature quickly dropped from 35 degrees, well above freezing, to 29 degrees.  And it kept falling.  The melted snow on the roads quickly became ice.

 

Then came the wind and the snow.  Heavy snow.  Fierce winds.

 

When the storm hit I was on the freeway, heading back to work after dropping my wife at the home of some friends.  When I first pulled onto the freeway the snow was just beginning.  Within a mile visibility was down to 20-30 yards, and traffic was down to 25 mph.

 

After making it back to work the storm continued to rage for another hour or more.  Everyone in the office gravitated to the windows to take stock of the conditions.

 

By shortly after 5 the traffic in front of the office park was stopped.  Everyone on the road was parked, and everyone in the parking lot was waiting to leave.  So I decided to wait it out inside where it was warm, at least for awhile. 

 

Six pm,  the traffic was moving. Not swiftly, by any means.  But it was moving.  After scraping the ice off the car in the now sub zero wind chill weather I made into traffic. 

 

It took a little finagling, but after 20 minutes I managed to go 3 blocks.  Inspiration struck, a short cut was found through the Home Depot and Valley West Mall parking lots.  Eight blocks of progress in 10 minutes.  The worst of the traffic was now behind me.

 

After picking up my wife we continued on our adventure.  We braved snow and ice, slippery hills and sliding cars.  Going up hills hoping the timing was right so the traffic light wouldn't turn red on us and force us to stop, never to move again.  Urging the car in front to keep going. "Come on, come on, you can do it, you can do it."

 

After a 2 hour journey my wife and I were finally home safe and sound.The driveway was quickly drifting shut but still passable, so shoveling will have to wait.

 

Now it's time to relax and look at the picture postcard photos of the beautiful side of an Iowa winter.

 

So calm, so peaceful.  Finally.

What Dreams

Des Moines Renaissance Faire

 

 

Volumes of books have been written on the subject of dreams and dream analysis.  Those who are seeking answers are confronted with a plethora of theories, a cornucopia of symbols, and conflicting spiritual ideologies.

 

But dream analysis isn't very difficult.  All you need are a few simple guidelines.  And of course unflinching self honesty.

 

Most dreams are little more than the brain doing some needed housekeeping.

 

Our brains hate having bits and pieces floating around unassigned and uncategorized .  All images, all scents and sounds, every touch and taste, needs to be classified and filed away. 

 

As an example, imagine one day you're walking through your home, and out of the corner of your eye you see a pink elephant.  It almost registers in the brain, but you're in a hurry and don't quite notice the image is an advertisement for Pepto-Bismal. 

 

So that night your brain has this little thing that is floating there, not fitting any category, not filed away as a proper memory. To put this image of a pink elephant neatly away your brain constructs a dream.  You have a dream of a pink elephant named Terry making a campaign speech while wearing a tutu and carrying a purple umbrella.

 

That doesn't seem to make much sense in the cold logic of the morning.  However, it was enough for your brain to find a place to file away the image, "pink elephant = recycled politician."

 

The Discovery Channel show Mythbusters once did an episode on "cartoon myths".  One of the myths was that a finger stuffed down the barrel of a gun will cause the gun to explode while the finger is unscathed.

 

To test this myth they built a fake hand, wearing a white glove, stuffed it down the barrel of a gun, and fired the weapon.  Of course this was filmed in high speed to show the carnage of the gun exploding, if the myth was true. 

 

While watching the show I was momentarily distracted, and didn't see the moment when the hand flew away in pieces.  Part of me noted, "darn, I didn't get to see the hand fly away."  That night I had a dream with a white gloved hand taking off from an aircraft carrier like a fighter jet and fly away.

 

But what about the other dreams?  The dreams where we dance with our kindergarten teacher on a heart shaped chocolate floating down a river of champagne?

 

The thing to keep in mind is that every person in your dreams is either representative of you, or of your relationship to another person.

 

In the first case when you have a dream of Yul Brynner riding a Segway down the side of Mount Rushmore don't panic.  The dream may simply be an expression of your own fear of heights, or a fear of Segways.  You may have a dream of your sister bringing you medicine, but it's an expression of your own self-healer easing your pains.

 

In the case of dreams that involve your relationships be careful not to fall into the "identity trap."  The person in your dreams may not be the person who you are dreaming about.  The strange dream you had about your father may really be about your relationship with your husband.  Seen in that context it's not creepy, it all makes sense.

 

In the end the most important thing to remember is this: Without complete self honesty your dreams can't tell you anything, and with it your dreams can't tell you anything you don't already know.

 

Sweet dreams.

Signs

Story County Road Maintenance Building, Ames, Iowa



As the song said , "Sign, sign, everywhere a sign. Blocking up the scenery, breaking my mind."

This maintenance building in Ames certainly has it's share of signs.  And as signs go these carry some important messages.  Not like those wimpy "Two Hour Parking" signs. Or "Don't Feed The Ducks." 

The biggest, most noticeable sign is my favorite.  "Signs Not Posted For All Hazardous Chemicals".  In short, "We're going to warn you about some nasty stuff here, but there's MORE we aren't telling you about. Have a nice day."

I'm not sure what your feelings are on the subject. But for me, a very large rusting white tank in a filthy red metal box says a lot about the chemical nature of this place.  'Nuff said.

You may not be able to read the smallest sign, the red rectangle to the left of the door. "Beware of Dog."

That's a sign I'm a little ambivalent about.  Do I really need to be afraid of some cute little pooch when there is a huge vat of flesh melting goo ready to burst open and spray me?  On the other hand, any canine that can survive in the belly of this molecular beast must be a mutant.  Perhaps 6 foot at the shoulders, three heads, and drools battery acid.

To be fair to the Story County Road Maintenance crew the required diamond shaped hazardous chemical sign is prominently displayed.  Very pretty, with the crude hand painted numbers, and only intelligible to firemen and chemical engineers.

This facility has yellow 2, blue 3, and red 4.  Scary stuff, especially that red 4. Good thing there's no chartreuse 7.  That would just be too much.

And of course, last but not least, is everyone's favorite sign. "NO SMOKING".  Courtesy of the Iowa Indoor Clean Air Act.

I'll avoid any humorous comments, such as who's worried about cigarette smoke in place with enough deadly fumes to wipe out Puff, Jackie Paper, and everyone else in the land called Honalee.

As a fairly recent ex-smoker I know only too well how damaging cigarette smoke is to your health. Not to mention the fact that lighting up in this place could mean a quick trip to the emergency room. Hollywood style fireball and all. And that would really spoil your day.

So no smoking.  And have a nice day!

Thou Art Thyself



Flower with Dew Drops



As Shakespeare wrote so many years ago:

What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

These words were spoken by Juliet to profess her love for Romeo despite his family.  These are also words that echo one of the core beliefs in Taoist thinking, right seeing.

Juliet loved Romeo, and she was able to separate her feelings for him from years of bad feelings between their two families.  She knew that Romeo was an individual, not a name.  He was flesh and blood, not a label.  He was a soul unto himself, not the sum of his family.

That points to the core of the tragedy.  Too many people concerned with labels and not concerned with facts.  Too many people who accepted the prejudices and rejected the evidence of their own eyes, and their own heart.

In the modern stage adaptation of his work, West Side Story, this tragedy is brought into better focus with the racial prejudices between the Jets and the Sharks.  Over and over people were willing to accept the prejudicial views presented to them as fact, even when the true facts were always obvious.

Sadly governments have resorted to fostering prejudice to control people, especially in war time.  Well crafted campaigns in WWI and WWII sought to create an image of Japanese and German people as somehow less than human.  Tragically they succeeded all to well.

This same problem plagues us still.  One could argue the American government no longer practices that particular form of propaganda.  But other governments do.  And political parties in this country have made it into an art form.

Too many people are still willing to accept the same old prejudices despite the facts staring them in the face.  Even the internet, this amazing fact finding tool, is just as likely to be used to spread all the same old prejudices, the same old labels, the same old lies.

We all carry prejudices with us.  Not only is it something that can't be helped, it also is a valuable survival tool.  Being prejudiced against milk that looks like cottage cheese, for example.  Or people in dark allies holding large knives. Or peas. Yuch.

But we don't need to allow prejudices to take over our good sense.  The evil people in the world like to use prejudice combined with our own natural fears to manipulate people.  The disgust over peas does not need to carry over to green beans.  Yummy.

That person walking down the street is a human being, just like you.  He is a soul wrapped in flesh and blood, just trying to get through the day.  Just like you.  And unless he's holding a really large knife or an assortment of automatic weapons he deserves the same respect that you do. 

You don't have to treat every person you meet like they are the King of Persia. Just don't treat them as someone to be feared and hated because of a label someone else wrote.  Remember, there are plenty of labels attached to you as well, true and untrue.

As Juliet also proclaimed, "Thou art thyself though, not a Montague."

Thou art thyself, nothing more.

The Good Old Days

Mason Jars, Living History Farms

 



For many years now my family doctor has been advising (nag, nag, nag) me to test my blood sugar daily at home.  I was diagnosed with diabetes in 1999, and have largely controlled it with diet and daily medication.

On my last visit to the doctor I finally agreed (caved in) to his suggestion.  Yesterday I got my brand new meter (for free!) and test strips (not free, but cheap).  And this morning I had a bit of an epiphany when I discovered my blood sugar was a bit more than twice what it should.

So now it is time to start thinking seriously about food. 

It's easy to blame the "American" diet.  In this country the term "portion" has lost all meaning.  Everything is super-sized from the fries to the burgers to the sodas.  For a time some fast food restaurants quit selling a "small" soda, the smallest size was the "medium". 

The fast food industry keeps pushing bigger and bigger portions on us.  To compensate they come up with oil and fat substitutes.  So, you can stuff your face with potato chips, not gain any weight, and the only downside is explosive diarrhea.

But in the end what goes into my body is my responsibility.  And over all food today is healthier than it has ever been.  Everything from modern farming to better quality control in the food factories have made us healthier.  Stricter laws governing the processing and serving of food also help.

People talk about "the good old days".  But were they really that good?  In the middle ages food in Europe was so god-awful tasting men risked life and limb in the spice trade. 

There have been improvements in nearly every aspect of food.  Food today is more nutritionally dense.  You get more good for your body with every calorie. 

Food is better tasting and more convenient than ever.  When micro-wave ovens first came out they were only good for boiling water and pop corn.  Pizza in the microwave? Thirty years ago it was like warmed over cardboard.

We have better tools to fix our food. We can bake fresh bread in one appliance, make fresh fruit and veggie juice in another, rotisserie a chicken in another appliance, and make fresh ice cream in a 4th.  You can pop a "Tibetan" frozen dinner (product of Canada) in your microwave, or eat fresh mangoes from Mexico.

Consider the life expectancy. During the period brought to life at Living History Farms, about 1900, it was 46.3 years for a man and 48.3 years for a woman. One hundred years later it was 73.8 years for a man and 79.5 years for a woman.  And it continues to grow. 

Does our modern life style create health problems?  Yes, it does.  But over all food in this country is far and away healthier and safer then it has ever been in the past. The healthy choices to control my blood sugar are out there.

And when all is said and done, I'm the one holding the fork. 

Confronting Big Brother

Confronting the Face, Luxor Hotel, Las Vegas, NV

 



Everyone these days is aware that Big Brother is watching.  The real conundrum is, does it really matter, and what should we do?

To begin with it's important to draw a distinction between what Big Brother can do as far as the technology, and what he can do as far as practicality.

Can spy satellites look into your bedroom?  Of course not.  They're just cameras, they can't see through ceilings and walls, this isn't Star Trek.  And the cameras are looking straight down from really high up. They can't look at much of an angle. 

Can spy satellites see you sunbathing in the nude in your back yard?  Yes, of course they can. Put your clothes back on.

They can take a photo.  What they can't do is hover in space and watch you put on the sunscreen. Satellites move about 18,000 mph.

Will they take photos of you?  Heaven's to Betsy, of course not! Those satellites costs hundreds of millions of dollars to build and launch.  Plus millions more for operating costs, including highly trained photo interpreters.  And you think you're important enough they're going to watch you?  What kind of shenanigans have you been up to?

Does Big Brother read your email? Of course not, don't be silly.  However, big computers have been sifting through emails for as long as there have been emails.  And again, why are you worried?  They are searching for patterns with words like _______ and ________!  They want to ______ whoever is ______ing the _________.  Not how your _________ makes banana ___ bread.

The big caveat here is, the people who work at Big Brother Inc. do have that information in their dirty little hands.  Small minded government functionaries with small pay checks have their sticky little fingers on that pile of email.  It is your right and your duty to demand to know what they are doing with that information.

I would be the first person to insist that governments have to do sneaky dirty under handed spy stuff like this to protect it's citizens. 

At the same time the citizens must forever keep an eye on the elected and appointed officials who run these programs. They have a very strict mandate with specific limitations, and ANY deviation from that mandate MUST result in the strictest punishment, including immediate dismissal and possible criminal action.

In short, what do we do about Big Brother in government? 

Not happy about the speed cameras on the freeway?  Don't speed.  And let the officials who authorized the cameras know that their actions will influence your vote. Finally, when the time comes, don't forget to vote for the other guy.

Perhaps the greater danger isn't the government watching you, but big business.  Everything from putting tracking cookies on your computer to see what pages you look at to tracking your movements within a store by tracking your cell phone.

Done in the name of business.  Done in the name of taking more of your money any way they can. 

I don't mind if the store tracks the 123rd person to walk through the door. But if they are tracking my phone number and that information gets shared in any way?  I have a big problem with that.

And remember, these little spy games are being orchestrated by the same whiz kids who set up Target's security.

We have to watch the watchers.  We, through our elected officials, need to set the limits. We, the people, need to stand and say NO when petty bureaucrats and greedy shop owners overstep and misuse their authority.

We, the people, need to be the Bigger Brother.

Father of the Bride



 

Church of the Land, Living History Farms

  



When this photo was taken at Living History Farms I imagined it was a photo of the bride and her father, as seen by the father.  In her father's eyes the bride is still his little girl.

It's with this thought that I began to think of my wife's father, and what kind of relationship they had. I never had the honor of meeting Gina's father, both her parents passed before I met her.  From what I have been told, and from the daughter they raised, I think I would have wanted him to be my friend.

Sometimes in life you just have to put things out there into the universe, even if it isn't totally logical. In that spirit, I offer this letter to Gina's father.

Dear Tatay:

Before and above all other things I would like to assure you that I have nothing but the greatest love and respect for your daughter.  Always know that her well being and happiness will be the most important thing to me from now until the end of time.

Your little girl has grown to become an amazing woman, and I am sure you must be very proud of her.  She has the free spirit of an artist, the curiosity of a scientist, and the loving heart of an innocent child.  Knowing her as I do it is easy for me to imagine you one minute looking to heaven for patience, and the next scooping her up in your arms for hugs filled with love.

Over the last years she has had some trying times, and had to make some very hard choices. It's difficult balancing between the things society tells you to do, and the things your heart tells you to do.  Your daughter was able maintain that balance gracefully, always staying true to what she was taught was right and wrong.

For what ever reason, God has guided your daughter here to be my wife.  I have taken a solemn vow before God to always love, honor, and respect your daughter.  I have vowed to always support her in all things and before all others.  These vows I take very seriously, and will not fail her, God,  or you.

You've raised a small girl into a wonderful woman, and now I am lucky to have her with me.  For this I offer my sincerest thanks to God, and to you. 

Have faith, your daughter is in good hands.

Your grateful son in law,
Matt