The Meaning of Charactor

 The meaning of character has evolved significantly over time, from a distinctive indelible stamp of a person's soul to a more flued customized personal development.  If character is flued, what are characteristics that shape and define character?  If time and experience are constantly shaping character, what are some of the guides?   I will share some of the things I believe to be good choices.  

My first choices combines two pairs to represent character -- Honesty and Integrity.

1.  Honesty is telling the truth & refusing to lie, cheat, or deceive.  Integrity is the quality of having strong moral principles and consistently aligning actions with those values, even when no one is watching.

2.  Honesty is saying what you know & believe even when doing so might lead to negative consequences.  Integrity is being honest and fair.

3.  Honesty is about truthfulness and transparency.  Integrity is doing the right thing in words, actions, and beliefs, even when no one is looking.  

Thank you to those who shared their ideas of Honesty and Integrity. 

I agree that good character involves those things.   However, I believe that developing good character includes learning from great men.  Mahatma Gandhi is considered perhaps one of the most truthful men, dedicating his entire life to truth.  Abraham Lincoln was known for his honesty and even acquiring the nickname of Honest Abe.  The story is told of a philosopher who night after night strolled the streets of Athens with a lantern, and when asked what he was doing he replied that he was looking for an honest man.  Mark Twain offered his own bit of wisdom by saying "If you always tell the truth you don't have to remember anything.  However, "one lie ruins a thousand truths."

Thomas Jefferson is an interesting example of the meaning of character.  He is famous for his quote, "Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."  However, he is also known for personal matters being less than admirable.  He seems to be well aware of his own disappointing weaknesses of character, as the following well-known quote reveals.  "In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock.  His reputation declined in the 19th and 20th centuries, with support for States Rights, political philosophies, and especially fathering children of his slaves.   

Religions also share words of wisdom.  Proverbs 12:22 says that lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight."  Other faiths also address this issue.  Judaism:  The Talmud teaches "The seal of God is Truth."  Islam: Lying is a major sin, but exceptions for goodness are accepted.   Buddhism:  Lying is one of the fundamental ethical principles.  Hinduism:  Lying is permissible if the intent is to pervert great harm.  

I chose to use Jefferson as an example of the complexity of character, but what about other men of power?  No president has been perfect, but George Washington recognized the importance of his character as the first president of our nation, and the many decisions he had to make as the first president of the United States of America.  His leadership certainly seems to me to represent character.  However, he had slaves.  It may be nearly impossible to find a man or woman who exemplifies perfect character.  

My old dictionary defines character as moral excellence and firmness.  I cannot think of a better definition for character.  If today's definition of character has changed, perhaps that explains a lot about the world today.        

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Reckless or Careless

Recently a young woman was thrown to her death when the attachment of the bungee cord was carelessly overlooked.  This blog is not about the carelessness of those she must have trusted to do everything right.  It is a reflection on why she chose to bungee jump in the first place.  Assuming that her bungee jump had gone perfectly, why would anyone want to do that? 

In making the decision to Bungee jump, was she reckless or was she careless, after all, she had depended on the capability of others to do everything right.  Was there any reason to believe she was at least partially at fault. The distinction between being Reckless or being Careless is defined as if you know that what you are about to do is dangerous and you do it anyway, that is reckless. In contrast, if you cause danger or negligence, without actually intending to be dangerous, you are simply Careless.  While that definition may make sense in some situations, it seems that in many cases it is inadequate.  Each of us has a brain, and if it is scary enough to activate your awareness that what you are about to do is scary, ignoring what your brain is telling you is more than negligence!  In the case of the woman thrown to her death, she had to have known the risk of danger but put her faith in others.  Was that simply careless? 

Returning to the real issue, why are people willing to put themselves in dangerous situations?  The answer apparently is that such situations trigger a fight or flight response, which triggers an adrenaline rush, which then creates a profound sense of euphoria.

 As examples, people at an auction who keep bidding well past their budget might be called Careless.  People on a motorcycle weaving through highway traffic at a high speed cannot claim carelessness, in my opinion.  Yet, both of those were given as examples of carelessness as I did my research.   

Getting carried away at an auction and, bidding past your intention may fit the definition of carelessness.  Even that may cause harm to others, especially if the bidder is a family breadwinner for others.  In the case of the biker, he is threatening not only his own injury or death, but he is risking the same possibility of others.  That is more than simply carelessness.  

While I was busy patting myself on my back, thinking that I had never done any such things, an old memory crowded its way into my blog.  I was a new kid in that High School, eager to make friends.  One evening, I piled into a car 'dragging main', That was fun, until someone had the bright idea of raiding a farmer's watermelon patch.  I am a farmer's daughter, and I knew better, but I said nothing, foolishly thinking the farmer wouldn't be upset about kids swiping a watermelon.  We found the melon patch, and we all tumbled out of the car, but the boys were not looking for a ripe melon to take back to town to eat.  Instead, the boys began taking more melons than we could eat.  

The farmer's porch light went on, and we ran for the car, the farmer's language shouted at us nearly as frightening as the shots from his rifle.  Whether he intended to be shooting over our heads or not, we plunged into the car and took off, the boys bringing melons into the car.  I was ashamed of myself.  What made it worse was that when we reached town, the boys rolled the windows down and began launching melons out the windows to splatter in the streets.  They had never intended to eat the melons.  Had I been Reckless or Careless, and did it make any difference whether the farmer was shooting at us or over our heads?  I learned many lessons that night that I never forgot.  

That poor young woman who chose to bungee jump for whatever reason never had the chance to learn a lesson.  Those young men who never intended to cause her death that night were Reckless, despite the fact that they never intended to cause her death. 

I shared two stories, both about young people making poor choices.  When someone said, 'let's go steal a watermelon,' I should have said 'please let me out.'  My foolish choice taught me a lesson I never forgot.  Unfortunately, the young woman who fell to her death never had a chance to learn her lesson.  Maybe this blog will be read by someone who can avoid a bad choice without having to learn it for themselves.

 

       

To comment on a reader's post

 I believe it is important that people of all perspectives post comments to my blogs.  The only ones I delete are the ones who try to sneak in advertisements.  By including those of differing opinions, my readers can get perspectives of other readers of my blog.  I am unable to identify the senders of the comments unless they identify themselves.  Readers come from all over, including outside the USA.  I try to provide information, and I spend a great deal of time to avoid directly stating my opinion.  My objective is to provide information, and I understand that my readers may not always like the information I provide.  I do not always agree with readers' opinions, nor sometimes do I find their "facts" accurate.  However, if we read only those with whom we agree, we cannot broaden our prospectives.  Even knowing how adamantly someone with whom you disagree can help you understand why things are happening as they are.  The author of today's post is someone I would not have expected to be reading my blog, but I think he or she provides a perspective other Americans my feel.       

How to Teach Constitution History

Not long ago we attended a lecture on teaching the Constitution by one of the book's authors.  The Forward of the book was written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.  Essays were written by essayists, pertinent to the subject of 8 chapters.  The book's authors encourage readers that they need not be a lawyer or a constitutional scholar to teach constitutional history in the classroom.  

However, teachers are already struggling to educate today's children to read, write, and do math. They    may feel overwhelmed to be expected to pick up a 436-page book to learn how to teach kids about the Constitution, as important as they know it is.  High School Students in Kansas are expected to pass a test on the constitution in order to graduate, and they may take the test as many times as it takes to pass.  I fear that memorizing test questions is not really teaching students about the American Constitution.  

With many young Americans claiming to prefer Russian laws verses our American Constitution, Kansas lawmakers were understandably concerned.  They required that in addition to testing students about the Constitution, they also be prepared for knowledge of Russian Laws.  Unfortunately, a few questions on a test are not going to fix those problems.  

A new possibility?

I understand that it is important that American students learn to read. write, and understand math.  However, I believe it is equally important that American students learn in depth about our American Constitution.  Passing questions on a test is not going to make much difference in students' appreciation of our Constitution.  Understanding and seeing the importance of our Constitution takes more.  

I believe that if this nation is to survive, teaching students about our constitution is just as important as reading, writing and arithmetic.  Many people see AI as a means of making our lives easier.  I see it as a reason for us to get smarter.

Teachers have made it clear that they are already struggling to teach all of their students enough to succeed with a basic education.  Many teachers cannot see any room for an additional task.  I understand their feelings, but it seems to me that it is more important than ever that we find a way to teach children the importance of our constitution.  I have an idea to ponder.       

 Many years ago, when I was teaching in New England, on Wednesday afternoon, students who wanted to attend religious class in their church were excused from school an hour early.  Students whose parents did not wish their children to be dismissed for religious training used the hour for study hall or other activities.  Why couldn't teaching the constitution for one hour at the close of the day, one day a week, be part of the school day.  If that was done from the time kids started school, a smaller burden could be placed on teachers.  The Constitution weekly programs could be prepared by constitutional scholars, freeing teacher from intensive research.  The scholars would not insert political bias, and if the teaching plan was consistent throughout the nation, children whose parents moved would be receiving the same education when they moved to a new school.  If it was a program for public and private schools, without exception, America could have an educated population without bias and misinformation. President Washington's concern about the problem of political parties would be considerably reduced.  One hour a week, or perhaps a shorter time for younger students, for sixteen years of education, uniform across the nation, whether in Private or Public schools, with unbiased learning about the Constitution, would be good for the kids, teachers, and ultimately for the nation.  It's just a thought, but it might work, free from the bias of politics and without burdening teachers with preparing lessons.  

It's just a thought, but if the politics were removed, and teachers were relieved from having to prepare the lessons, perhaps the nation could benefit from an educated population with a reduction of political bias. It's just a thought!

 

To answer a readers Question

 The drilling is taking place in the Great Plains Industrial Park in Parsons, Kansas.  

Going Underground in Kansas

I saved a clipping about Kansas getting the world's first mile-deep nuclear reactor and have continued to watch for recent news about the dig.  I did find that they had begun, and that some of the neighbors close to the dig were concerned about safety.  I plan to continue checking on progress.  

As I was researching the current issue, I remembered an old clipping about the tragic death of two men, one from Ulysses, Kansas, who decided to go into an abandoned mine shaft near Georgetown Colorado, in hopes of finding something worth the effort.  My mother-in-law had saved a clipping, beginning with a headline "Hope Dims for Missing Pair." The rescuers had followed their tracks left in the dust, and they knew that the two men carried tanks with enough oxygen to last 4 hours.  One of the men had 3 children, the other had two, and hope for the men's survival was strong.       

That general area in Colorado had been a mining region almost 100 years before, but no strike of precious metal was ever found in that particular mine.  Sadly, their decision to enter the mine was a mistake.  The searchers said that it appeared that the men stopped for a rest, pulled off their oxygen masks, and died so quickly they had no awareness of their mistake.    According to the newspaper, the mine was opened only a year.  

A happier story in Grant County, Kansas goes back to the late 1910s, when a farmer discovered a badger hole of nearly pure white ash.  The ash originated in the Pleistocene-era, and it was found in other Western Kansas locations.  By 1922 production reached four tons every hour and a half. The ash was used in toothpaste, grit, soaps, and cleaning powders, although superior abrasives eventually replaced it's use.  In the 1916s it was once again marketable for such things as plaster, concrete, potassium fertilizer and oil absorbents.  However, by that time, it was no longer being marketed in the area of Grant County, Kansas. 

Deep Space

As I mentioned earlier, mining in Kansas has once again made the news.  Deep Isolation is testing in Kansas, Texas, and Utah as part of President Trump's nuclear pilot program.  A newspaper article described an "expedited testing of new designs" to ultimately design a pressurized water reactor--"the world's most common kind of clear technology--small enough to fit into the borehole and powerful enough to generate about as much power as 10,000 homes consume.  That article focused on the generation of power; however, I also found articles about the concern.  

Also of concern is the disposal of spent nuclear fuel.  The current process, as I understand it, uses existing drilling techniques used in the oil and gas industry.  Currently, the concerns about the deep boreholes are primarily the impact on the ground water and aquifer contamination, and while the companies assure the mile deep placement is secure, local people remain particularly concerned.  

Borehole drilling is common in the oil and gas industry, however, apparently using it for nuclear energy and waste disposal is something new. I have only dipped my toe into the issues that appear to be already underway. What concerns me is whether the safeguards I once trusted are still as competent as they once were.  I do not know.  However, I do know that we are living in a far different world that moves faster and seems less dependent on the wisdom of those well educated in their particular sciences.  AI is amazing but as I understand, isn't it only as intelligent as what the information of humans put into it.  It thinks faster and can assimilate the wisdom of a great many people all at once, but for difficult new issues, I still hope that human beings have a place.  We are already giving too little attention to Mother Nature's warning about global warming.  If we become careless about our planet, we do not yet have a backup, although apparently, we are also working on that!       

      

Baking with the Best--and a little humor.

     Every Christmas, and often Thanksgiving, I bake a pumpkin bread that is wonderful!  I do not remember the first time I made it, but it has been our holiday cake ever since.  I know that my favorite flour is Hudson Cream, and I blogged once about being on a trip in Canada, going into a specialty cooking store, and finding a special promotion selling Hudson Cream Flour.  Sometimes we do take for granted special things in our own communities.   

Doing my research for this blog I learned that Kansas Wheat is regarded as superior.  We are the top producer of hard winter wheat in the U.S., known for high protein and strong gluten content, making it ideal for yeast breads and commercial baking.  Because of our reputation, we export to over 100 countries for making premium flour.   

Our nearby Stafford County Flour Mill is generally ranked at the top.  There are also other respected mills in Kansas, and part of that reason for respect is the specific food safety standards and labeling requirements set by the Kansas Department of Agriculture.  First are the safety standards Equipment, Labeling, and Packaging Process steps.  I shared only the headings, but the details are strict. The next time you select your baking flour, feel proud of the respect we should feel for Kansas farmers.  

That being true, I hope the story I am about to share has nothing to do with our Kansas flour!  I prefer to assume that the flour in this case did not come from Kansas, or the culprit wasn't in the flour. There are many ingredients in that cake.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with Kansas!  Perhaps the problem was not in the flour at all!  Maybe it was in the canned pumpkin...or all those spices.  Who knows.  That recipe has many ingredients.

I certainly do not want you to think I am the kind of hostess who would serve cake that had anything bad to our guests.  Oh dear!  Maybe this blog wasn't a very good idea, but I suppose it is too late now not to finish!.  

The bottom line of the story is that all of the ingredients were mixed, and I was pouring the batter into the baking pans when the pieces pictured above were noticed. For those of you who might have reason to eat my cooking...bear in mind how much we love that pumpkin bread, how hard I worked making it, and the important fact that we were not inviting guests.  Now that all of that is understood, I confess that I poured all of the cake mixture back into the bowl where I could search for even the smallest pieces to be certain I had found all of them.  Only then did I bake the cakes. Despite the uninvited addition to the recipe, we ate every bit of that cake! 

I hope this story gave you a chuckle, even if you have never faced the choice between throwing everything out and starting over or carefully searching for unwelcome things in your cake!      

 

Celebrating 250 Years

The responsibilities of the America Constitution.

 

Sadly, for many of us, the American Constitution is taken for granted.  However, it is actually remarkable.  When it was written, only a tiny ancient republic had a codified written constitution.  Ours was the first of its kind.  Today that has changed but we Americans remain unique.  

Not only is it the oldest, but it is also unique for such a long success. It has only been amended 27 times, and those amendments protected individual freedoms.  

Many nations used our Constitution as a model in drafting their own, although that is less so today.  

History records how seriously people in the past took their responsibilities about their vote.  Having lived in times when there were no rights for citizens to vote, people of that era cherished their privilege.  America finally recognized the right for black men to vote, although they went through challenges for their rights to be recognized.  And although it took women a longer time to be granted that right, they did not give up.

As we celebrate our Bicentennial the nation is unsettled, and although it is undeniable that there have been disruptions in the past, the present turmoil is significant.  The Constitution has endured in the past because of its flexibility, because the documents can be read by ordinary citizens, and most importantly, Americans have understood the importance of their responsibility to care about all issues, not just those relevant to themselves.  Getting out the vote is important but being informed voters is also important.  Various researchers have found that between 5 to 37 percent of Americans have read the entire constitution.  As for candidates and elected officials, they certainly should be well informed about the Constitution, as well as the issues that will come before them if they are elected.  Being informed is important from the bottom to the top, and being responsible once elected is obviously important.  Certainly, all of that is demanding, and not every issue can be fully studied.  It is easy to think your one vote doesn't make much difference, but without the voters, elected officials get nowhere, or worse they get somewhere the founding fathers never intended.  

Without the responsibilities of everyone, the system weakens.  We Americans must understand the system, take the time to understand issues, and avoid assuming that political parties are always concerned about the citizens.  The supreme court's decision regarding the capacity of money pouring into elections has made it harder for individual voters to feel like they can make a difference, but we do still matter.  The better informed we are as citizens, the more officials take notice.  The more informed we are, the more attention we receive.  Our responsibility is not just voting.    

What we can do is talk to our representatives.  We can follow the news and not just sources that have a political bias.  Remember misdeeds or neglect of officials.  If their primary home is far from the state they represent, and they rarely visit their home state, take that into consideration.  Do not rely entirely on the party you favor.  Your vote is yours, not theirs.  When George Washington declined running for a third term, he warned against presidents serving too long.  Today presidents can serve only two terms, but Washington also warned against political parties, giving organized political parties more power than the people.  That warning has not been adequately respected, and it is up to us to pay attention to the issues that will serve you and protect the constitution.    

As we celebrate the Bicentennial, we can wave the flag and cheer the parades if we choose, but it is also a good time for us to read the Constitution.  Perhaps it is an opportunity to talk with your children and grandchildren.  It might be a good time for all of us to give ourselves a peptalk on the power citizens actually have, and with the power, the responsibility.  We can honor the Constitution by remembering that we do make a difference, if we take our role seriously.               

          

 Remember Memorial Day When families came to place flowers on graves and veterans marched in carrying the flag, the High School band marched, and two trumpeters hid to play taps.  The cemetery was crowded with people, and everyone took time to visit friends.  As a child, I remember visiting all the infant's graves.  Then people finally disbursed for family dinners.  

When we came back to the farm, we replicated that tradition, with family members from both of our families.  The farmhouse had been empty for many years, but that day seemed like old times.  We tried to continue that tradition later, but it never was the same.  This year, at last, we had guests at the farm on Memorial Day.  Although there were only 4 of us, it seemed a lot like the old times, reminiscing about those who are no longer with us, catching up on children and grandchildren, and sharing news of what we had been doing since last together.   

It made me wonder about how other families gathered on Memorial Day.  I assumed that gradually most families had separated, moving far apart.  I was surprised that approximately 68% of city families remained in or near the city where they were raised.  In general, 6 in 10 young adults live within 10 miles of their childhood home, and 8 in 10 live within 100 miles, representing a strong tendency to stay relatively close.   Do young people live at home longer?  Do adults move back into their childhood homes to take care of aging parents?  Are purchasing homes or living in apartments too expensive to afford?  Do different ethnicities commonly share family homes?  I do not know.

However, back to the question of the continuation of visiting family graves on Memorial Day, it varies.  Where once visiting graves on memorial was expected, with few exceptions, today it is a personal choice.  People in the South and those in rural areas are more like to continue the tradition of visiting family graves.  In my rural community it seems that fewer visit memorial services; however, I remind myself that farms are large operations, with single farm families and hired workers covering far larger farms than in the days of many farmers able to make a living on less farmland.  Populations have changed.  Another change is that some people visit graves with flowers early and enjoy the long weekend to take a holiday opportunity at the lake or to the mountains or other holiday opportunities.  

Traditions vary.  On a New England group trip, I learned a new tradition.  People who visit a grave place a penny on the gravestone to leave a message they had visited and honored the deceased.  We were with a Willa Cather group, with people from many places, and when we noticed others in the group leaving pennies, we inquired why they were doing that.  Once everyone understood the tradition, we all began searching for pennies in our purses and pockets.  What will people leave now that no more pennies are being minted?  

Respect for our Presidents and the Arts

 When I was a senior in High School, I saw an ad in a magazine for learning how to draw.  I sent the request for information.  To my surprise, a salesman showed up at our rural Kansas front door to encourage me to sign up for their learn by mail course.  My father was quite displeased with me for sending off that request.  I share that story to explain how important art has always been to me, as it is to many people.  That is why I consider respect for The Kennedy Center is so important.  It is not just a building to accommodate the taste of everyone.  It is the memorial to our fallen president who gave his life in office, a president who loved art and had an educated taste for it.  

Previous blogs have expressed my concern about President Trump appointing himself, naming the members of the board, and removing most of the trained staff.  Putting his name over President Kennedy's name on the front of the building is offensive.  None of this is news.  What is news is that art has been removed from the building, reportedly some going into storage of some sort, but also some sold, returned to donors, and unknown unknown decisions made.  If that report is accurate, it is deeply concerning.

John F. Kennedy

   

 "The life of the arts, far from being an interruption, a distraction, in the life of a nation, is very close to the center of a nation's purpose."  John F. Kennedy.  Those words were spoken by John F. Kennedy himself.  The Kennedy Center is more than just an art museum.  It represents the man who spoke those words.    

       

 In death, John F. Kennedy left behind a gift to generations who could visit art and music and dance and theater.  Tampering with the content of the museum is a direct attack on John F. Kennedy's memory.  For those reasons, the current news that much of the art, particularly art given from other countries, is being removed to offsite storage, is particularly disturbing.  If accurate, it is a disgrace to our traditional memorials to past presidents. 

John F. Kennedy has been described as a blend of youthful, relaxed refinement with a high-culture sophistication.  His taste emphasized understated elegance, modernism in architecture.  These tastes were shown during his time in the White House, bridging traditional polish with forward--thinking, American imagery, or so called, informal elegance.  His sophistication included inviting poets, classical musicians, and artists to the White House, as well as appreciating popular music.  It is not about whether all of us agree with his taste in less traditional art.  Memorials often reflect the changing taste in American culture over the years.  

 President Trump has also shared his taste while in office, including his interest in architecture, his apparent love for applying gold to things, his appreciation for mixed martial arts and boxing, and receiving an honorary 9t -degree black belt in Taekwondo from World Headquarters.  Memorials to him might include those things.  However, the Kennedy Center is intended to honor Kennedy.  

Perhaps some would say there are more important things happening in the world today than a living president making over the memorial of a president killed while in office.  I disagree.  We must respect the memorials intended to honor the men for whom the Memorials were created. 

When President Trump completes his time in office, he would expect his memorial to represent his achievements and tastes.  Surely, he would be angry if his memorial was disrespected.               

            

Are Norms Important?

 I have blogged about norms before, common examples of customs, courtesies, etiquette, and traditions, all of which play an important role in our culture.  However, the norms I am exploring in this blog are different.  They involve the traditional norms in our government.  

Whether we approve or disapprove the changing attitudes of norms in our government, they are happening.  Some are so common that over the years we have come to think of them as laws.  However, just because we regard then as laws does not make them laws.  

Am obvious example is Presidents declining to make money off of being President.   Surprisingly, presidents have respected that norm so often that many of us assumed that it was a law.  It isn't.  

 

Presidents have sometimes been embarrassed by relatives using their family connection for financial gain.  I remember the embarrassment of President Carter when his brother created a soda pop using the Carter name on the lable. People also questioned whether President Biden's son got an important job because of his father's position.  There are other examples of family members benefitting through the position of the President, although the President himself did not benefit.    

 Most presidents have resisted using their name and position while in office simply from a sense of ethics, respect, and dignity for the office they hold, although they are not prohibited by a law.  

Remember, norms are not laws.  The fact that most presidents have declined using their political office for personal gain does not require other presidents to do the same.  In other cases, some presidents have avoided taking personal advantage of financial gain, but they have given family and friends offices of advantage.  

The impact of norms depends on whether American voters disapprove of presidents using their office for their own economic benefit, or they just overlook that greed if they are satisfied with how the president handles the presidency itself.

It is apparent that most presidents benefit in numerous ways after they leave office, selling books about their time in office, giving speeches, and sitting on corporate boards as examples.  We expect that.  

However, if Americans think their presidents and those in other offices have gone too far in using their positions for personal gain, it is up to us to voice our disapproval.  If we think that matters, we should ask candidates running for office about their intentions.  We cannot draft laws about every ethical issue, but we can make our respect for traditional norms known.  It is up to us to let candidates know what we expect from their service to the nation. 

I have used the quote by Ulysses S. Grant some time ago, but I had forgotten that he had included Ambition between superstition and Ignorance. 

The Book Stores I Miss.

My weakness has long been books.  I think the explanation goes back to my childhood.  My parents were wonderful about taking me to the library to check out books.  However, they saw little reason to buy books when you could get them at the library. That logic followed me for a long time.  As a high school English Teacher, libraries were available.  In law school I did not have time to read for pleasure, nor did my legal practice offer much free time.  

Some of my antique books

However, I gradually began to create a library.  Once it started, I soon filled the house.  I tried to be strict with myself about buying books, but I failed.  We added bookcases, but books hid under the furniture.    

However, this blog is not about my tidy hiding places for so many books.  It is about those wonderful bookstores that are now nearly extinct.  Remember those bookstores that had all kinds of books, new and old.  The joy in those stores were the odd old books, or the wonderful discovery of a book you loved as a child, or books once unaffordable, or discovering that an old movie was first a book.  

Of course, now you can look online.  New and old, they are neatly organized and inventoried to locate in a moment, with price and the book's condition. It is not the same as discovering something you didn't know you wanted until the moment you saw it on the shelf.  Those bookstores are disappearing.

Today I found an old clipping I had saved for some reason. A newspaper man was interviewing the proprietor of the oldest bookstore in Fort Worth, Texas.  The proprietor was Brian Perkins, and the name of the store was Barber's Bounty, although haircuts were rare.  At the time I first clipped this article, the Fort Worth Star- Telegram said it was Fort Worth's oldest bookstore.  The reporter, Tim Madigan,  described it as "a paradigm of literary clutter, with books of all genres spilling from the jam-packed shelves onto floors, chairs, tables and stairways."  Most of his books, between 80,000 and 100,000,(the number being a guess Perkins he admitted, since he had never counted them. Although the Barber Chair was rarely used, Perkins claimed he could give a customer a haircut if they asked. 

 He explained how the bookstore evolved:  "I've paid for my building.  I've paid for my house.  I don't have that motivation to be up on my toes anymore.  I've enjoyed coming to work every morning.  I'm down here six days a week almost always.  That's a lot of days.  I feel at home.  I kind of look around and see wonderful stuff.  

His "stuff" included Sherlock Holmes original editions (1894), a signed Amelia Earhart, a signed Stephen King, and a Latin script printed in 1561, the back cover crumbling.  He admitted, "I like people to see my books.  I don't like them to buy too many.  But I hate to just buy them and stick them away where nobody will see them."

There aren't many bookstores like the one that Brian Perkins once had, but what fun it must have been to wander through his unique collection.

   

Is the Current Health of our Presidents Adequately known?

 This blog is not intended to answer the title question, although I do think it is an important question to consider.  My research uncovered historic information of which I was unaware, and I think it deserves thought as medical treatment changes, as well as public awareness of our presidents' health becomes so important.  With hindsight, the issue of our presidents' health has been important for many years, but the publics access to information was less available.  In more recent years we have had both younger and elderly presidents.  For example, Kennedy, Clinton, and Obama were younger presidents, and Eisenhower, Johnson, and Reagan were older.  Our two most recent presidents are both in the older category.  Regardless of age, should voters know the status of the health of presidential candidates. 

Drown during covid by Lyn Fenwick

Certainly, being President of the United States and a leader of the free world inevitably puts stress on the president. Age in itself is not always what determines the physical and mental stress on the president.  President Jimmy Carter served only one term, but his post president life was extremely active years past his presidency.   

Woodrow Wilson suffered a number of strokes during his presidency, which his wife and personal physician concealed.  Grover Cleveland concealed a cancerous lesion on his upper pallet, pretending to be on a fishing trip when in fact a tumor and five teeth and part of his jaw were being removed, necessitated by his cigar chewing.  Dwight D. Eisenhower had heart disease during his presidency.  When Donald Trump had covid, he misrepresented the severity of his illness, and now in his second term he is private about his medical reports.

In 2000, Duke University did a study that indicated the first 37 presidents showed symptoms of health issues while in office, to the extent that it could have affected their leadership.

 We live in a different world today, in which things can happen far more rapidly than in the early days of the presidency.  Are we acting properly about the health of our current presidents?  Should voters have the right to know the health of presidential candidates when they vote.  If our president is unconscious or incapable of managing the office of the presidency, are our current procedures during such situations adequately covered?
  

Have you given this enough thought?

 

Do we know enough to do what we are doing?

Do you remember as a child hearing one of your parents saying to you "Do you think you have really
given this enough thought?"  Whether it was something simple, like spending your Birthday money on something questionable or declining a summer job offer to loaf by the pool, most of us remember parents or a good friend gently keeping us from a poor judgement by suggesting that it might deserve a second thought.

The generation in which I grew up moved more slowly, with more time to reflect and consider.  Younger people have grown up in a faster world, where answers are closer at hand.  Why look something up in the dictionary when the answer is right on your phone.  Why use a Thesaurus to find the best word for what you want to say when being precise isn't all that important.

Why reflect on future consequences when the things AI can do are amazing.  As Bill Gates states it, AI is like a "copilot, that handles administrative tasks, freeing humans from chores and giving more time for creative, human-centric parts of more important jobs."

Gates's reasoning may be significant to an executive, but what are the impacts on most people?  Should we have slowed down for a while before rushing headfirst, with little or no consideration of consequences like job displacement, bias and discrimination, privacy concerns, the ability to collect vast amounts of personal data, and taken time to establish ethical guidelines and legal frameworks.

In addition, what about the theft of information fed into the education of AI which not only used that information without compensation, but also subsequently displaced many of the people from whom they took the information.  For example, copy right laws forbid the theft of authors' work, but unknown numbers of books, ancient and modern, were fed into educating AI without compensation. Authors, Artists, and who knows what else, trained AI without compensation, and displaced the people from whom they stole. 

So, here we are, and one might ask, "Have you given this enough thought?'  In 2026 young college graduates found it to be the worst college hiring in two decades.  On the other side, the demand for large scale data centers is creating a boom for construction workers of all types.  As one man commented, "This is something that we've never seen before.  It's akin to the industrial revolution."

Trade workers are busy as electricians, pipe fitters, and other workers build the structures housing AI requirements, working 5 days a week to keep up, college graduates can't find jobs.  Some would say that is just the way the world has always advanced, it is the first time humans have competed with AI.  Construction works are benefiting now, but how long will they be needed, and will those workers with pensions and health insurance experience changes similar to the displaced office workers once the AI workers boom ends.  Will there be enough need for a permanent workforce to maintain the buildings once they have all been built.  

It is true that history tells us that as one generation creates a different world, new jobs evolve. However, humans have never competed with AI before.  History also tells us that there may be suffering in the interim.   I have seen many changes in my life, some mistakes, some imperfect, and some wonderful.  I believe this is different.  I understand that America was not the only nation exploring AI, and humans have always rushed forward, with inadequate concern for the consequences.  It seems to me that perhaps now more than ever, America, and the rest of the world, need wise leadership.  Perhaps now more than ever we need to ask that old question:  Have you really given this enough thought? 

   

Teaching Our Children

It depends on what we teach them

What are we teaching our children when commercials often disrespect parents or parents disrespect children?  Does it matter when a commercial has a family on vacation and mom and daughter are in the hot tub and dad comes in to join them and his daughter tells him he is not welcome.  Even worse, dad sadly walks away.

Or in another commercial parents sell their children's graduation moment on stage to instead carry a product advertisement, ignoring the significance of their child's achievement for some advertising cash.  

Ok, I know they are jokes, but do these advertisements and other "jokes" like them softly debase the subjects of the joke?  

Humor and attracting attention seem bound to encourage the next example a step further.  In 1988, Cher shocked the world with her sheer Rob Mackie creation at the Oscars. Today see through fabrics, plunging necklines, and thigh-hi slits are just part of the show.  The influence is not restricted to movie stars.  Skimpy beach wear just about eliminates whatever secrets that are left.  

The right to wear blue jeans to school was a special privilege for game days in the beginning, and jeans are still popular, but today it must take far less fabric to make the skintight Levis.

It is not just fashion that has changed the examples we show our children.  Part of my education as I neared graduation from law school was a lecture on maintaining the dignity of the profession.  One rule I clearly recall was the prohibition of advertising.  We were told that sending a respectful Christmas card, thanking the client for entrusting the firm with their case was forbidden.  Lawyers were not to solicit business.  Their reputations were to be the source of their business, through business cards and directory listings.  However, in 1977 the Supreme Court ruled that banning truthful advertising violated constitutional rights.  Unfortunately, some law firms now flood the television with tacky, attention-grabbing ads. 

How Americans get their news has always been complicated, the overriding importance of freedom of the press having restricted federal laws requiring Official correction.  The responsibility of correcting errors has depended on the professionalism of journalists and their ethical coeds.  The rise of internet journalism challenges the ethical standards, and today research is indicating that only a small percentage of errors are actually formally corrected.  

Recently, the long, interrupted travel around the Moon brought crowds to watch the take-off.  A television newscaster, wanting to show viewers the crowd's excitement, chose a young boy.  When the microphone was extended to the boy, he yelled excitingly "We're going to the --expletive-- Moon."  In a crowd of excited people crying and hugging one another, this news man chose a boy eager to repeat his vulgar word.  This is how we teach our children.         

           

Summer Time and Books!

 The trees are budding as I look out the window, a sign that summer and kids at home are not far away.  Do kids still look forward to finding a quiet place with a good book to enjoy?  Sometimes I wonder if modern children's books try too hard to make a point, instead of just telling a good story.  Is it possible that kids are reading less because books by great storytellers are being ignored? Maurice Sendak takes kids into an adventure with "Where the Wild Things Are," with the gnashing of their terrible teeth and terrible roars and terrible eyes, and terrible claws, and The Wild Things make him King.  Yet even better than being King is his own room to come home to, with supper awaiting him.  That book was awarded the 1964 Caldecott winner of Most Distinguished Picture Book of the Year, and kids still love it.  Like many fables and fairy tales, scary things are great...as long as someone is there at the end of the story, and nobody tries to lecture them about what the story means. 

So many classic children's books still delight children, regardless of the date of their publication.  

Christopher Robin never has to be alone, because if Winnie-the-Pooh is busy, Rabit, or Piglet, or Eeyore, or Owl oo Tiger or Kanga or some other friend will be there to play.  Written in 1926, Pooh and his friends still make great companions for youngsters who need some friends to help them grow up.

Even a bit of loneliness is manageable for "The Little Prince," on his solitary planet.  Published first in America in 2018, it is still a special book.

While those books may appeal most to boys, youngsters are often indifferent to whether characters are boys or girls, if the characters seem like a nice friend to get to know.  Familiar classics for girls like Alice in Wonderland, The Secret Garden, Little Women, and Anne of Green Gables are wonderful classics.  Another one that should not be overlooked is Charlotte's Web, the story of Fern, a young farm girl who saves a piglet she named Wilber, who was about to be killed simply because he was a runt!  His next good luck was in finding a friend named Charlotte, a spider.  This book by E.B. White, with wonderful pictures by Garth Williams, was published 1952, and should not be overlooked.  

Another classic, more recent but a wonderful series to fill a summer, is the Harry Potter series.  First issued in England in 1997, Americans lined up eagerly in long lines when books were unavailable in America until 1998.  I had bought all of the books by the time Covid hit, but I had not read them.  I used the opportunity to read them, one right after the other, and the same might be done as a summer reading adventure.  Perhaps there might be a surprise on the family bookcase if some parents were Harry Potter fans!  

My parents encouraged my reading by taking me to the library, which was important, but there is something wonderful about having a book of you own.  I began collecting children's books, especially classics, in about 1988.  I believe you can never be too old to read great classics, and the best way to encourage children to become readers is for children to see parents reading.  Peter Pan and Huckleberry Finn are great examples of books that never grow old.  

Rarely do current books appear on favorite children's book lists over time, while older classics remain in those lists for generations.  The best books do not lecture.  They tell stories.  I believe that lecturing, rather than telling a good story (that just happens to share an important lesson) is part of the problem of why kids do not love to read.  

Believe it or not, young people are entering college unable to read.  Yes, they can manage their laptop far better than I can, and they are growing up in a time that newspapers are disappearing.  But learning to read for oneself is still essential to the skill of reasoning and perceiving nonsense in fools and tricksters.  A good book is more than just understanding the plot.  Reading puts you into the story, helping you understand people and situations in a way that broadens your awareness beyond your personal experiences.  A good book that brings characters to life makes them seem real and helps the reader understand what others experience.

 The best way to encourage children to read is to read to them when they are young and eager to learn to read too.   Summer is coming, and it may be the busiest time of the year, but it is also the best time to   read to your young children.  Libraries are open, even when schools aren't.  If your library does not have the classic books I mentioned, ask them why not?  Even better, they can still be found online to begin your own library, and used books are cheaper in a time when spare cash may be limited.  Turning off the TV and reading can make a difference for everyone...something that using the internet cannot match. 

P.S.  If you don't have children, you might consider finding those books you loved so much, or those books you always meant to read but never got around to and enjoying them for yourself.

 

        

Is Truth a Big Deal?

 I hope that most people would agree that truth is a Big Deal.  Over the years I have blogged about the significance of telling the truth, from little white fibs to avoid hurting someone's feelings to absolute whoppers, whether for relatively insignificant boasts to harmful lies.  This post is about something else.  The question in this blog deals with Lies verses Omissions.  Can it be just as harmful to omit the full truth as it is to outright lie.

I do a great deal of research for writing my blog posts, and because history is often the subject of my blogs, I often seek a broad range of sources in an effort not to be misled.  To answer the question of my title, Yes, Truth is a Big Deal to me, and lying by omission deliberately by leaving out important details so that the truth is skewed by misrepresentation is one of the most disgusting means.  

My husband and I have always been curious to learn more, and the fact that our careers took us to many places, we delighted in visiting many sources of learning, from museums to restaurants, music, lectures, and many other things, but especially important were National Parks.  

Therefore, I was especially disturbed to learn that Museums and Parks are altering the content of information in these public places to "to promote a more patriotic description of American History."  First of all, promoting "a more patriotic version" isn't history.  History is defined as "a chronological record of significant events, including an explanation of their causes."  History is truth, and microprinting by omitting part of the story isn't history.

Museums and parks across the Nation have been impacted by such directives, and in Kansas the directive has impacted the narrative of Brown v. Board of Education.  Such examples as The Grand Canyon "history" that omitted the settlers pushing tribes off the land they had occupied for generations, as well as the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument that omitted information about global warming's impact on the cacti were not being patriotic.  Both of those examples are half-truths, with a very different purpose than patriotism.    

And so, I return to the question whether truth matters.  Olin Vevi, Library of Congress, quoted Francisco Goya:  The sleep of reason produces monsters."  Retired Professor Crispin Sartwell began his paper, "Truth is Real" with these words:  "It is often said, rather casually, that truth is dissolving, that we live in the 'post-truth era."  But truth is one of our central concepts -- perhaps our most central concept --  and I don't think we can do without it."            

What did the Presidents Say?

 

As many of you know, I enjoy reflecting on brief quotes.  Often, they make me reflect more deeply than a long speech.  This week quotes have led me to some deeper thoughts. 

    "Older men declare War.  But it is youth that must fight and die."  Herbert Hoover.  Hoover never served in the military.

Depending on young men and women today may be difficult, not just because fewer young people choose to volunteer but rather because there is a declining number of young Americans physically and mentally fit to serve.  

    "I want us to be what the founding fathers of our nation meant us to become - the land of freedom, the land of peace, and the land of hope."  The 39th President, Jimmy Carter was a Naval Officer, 1946-1953, specializing in Submarines and nuclear technology, but generally known as a peanut farmer, admired for his service after leaving the Presidency, in Habitat for Humanity, philanthropy, and public service.                  

    "We must be strong enough to win any war, and we must be wise enough to prevent one."   Lyndon B. Johnson served in the Naval Reserve during W.W. II.  He was also President during a major escalation of the Vietnam War.  No man has the right to command another man's services unless he has given more of his own."  Calvin Coolidge did not serve in the military, although he was a staunch supporter of the armed forces and held the title of "Colonel." 

    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction."  Ronald Reagan served in the U.S. Army, and although his poor eyesight did not allow him to serve in combat, he produced films and reached the rank of Captain.  

Of the 45 individuals who have served as President, 31 served in the military.  George W. Bush, the 43rd President, was the last to serve, serving in the Texas National Guard. His father, George H. W. Bush, served in the U.S. Navy during W.W. II, and was a decorated combat pilot, awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.  He is only one example of great courage in service of the nation.

The challenge of volunteer soldiers today is not just a matter of patriotism, but also the physical and mental condition of volunteers.  The most prevalent disqualifications are overweight, (11 percent). drug and alcohol abuse, (8 percent), medical and physical health, (7 percent).  The result of these facts is a concern that eligible and interested volunteers will not be sufficient to fill the need in the future.

    "I have never advocated war except as means of peace, so seek peace, but prepare for war."  Ulysses S. Grant, from his book "Personal Memories."'            

  

     

    

Looking Backward to Understand the Present

Most of you know that I often consult the wisdom of the Founding Fathers, and once again I seek their prospective.  In the process of gaining our freedom from England, the Founding Fathers determined that they did not want one man to control our nation.  As they formed the documents that would guide our nation, they debated and argued, but it was clear to them that Americans did not want power in a single person like a king. 

They had also learned in the years of gaining their freedom from England that they did not want constant warfare, nor large standing armies.  To assure that, the Constitution gave Congress, not the President, the power to declare war.  Thomas Jefferson saw war as an ineffective, costly solution, sometimes worsening the problem, rather than resolving it.  While the Founding Fathers did not refuse war entirely, they saw it as a sort of last option.  Between 1798 and 1942, Congress formally declared war only 11 times.  

Formal Declarations of War ceased, and Congress began authorizing military force against specific targets or in specific regions. Modern Presidents have reached for more independent authority; however, after Vietnam, efforts were made to tighten presidential action, with the War Powers Resolution, requiring that the President must notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops into hostilities, plus the requirement that troops be withdrawn within 60 to 90 days, unless Congress declares war, authorizes the force, or extends the deadline. 

Obviously, the world has changed over decades, and the ability to move more quickly is far beyond capabilities the Founding Fathers could have imagined.  Even so, it remains that Congress has the sole power to declare war.  Thomas Jeffersons's idea that every citizen should be a soldier, capable of protecting when needed, but as a citizen, not a professional soldier, is an idea of the past.  As for Washington's perspective, today's soldiers would probably agree that "When we assumed the Soldier, we did not lay aside the Citizen."  However, our citizen soldiers of today serve as career soldiers.  Today's U.S, Military is about 2.1 million, with approximately 760,000 to 800,000 reserve and National Guard. (These numbers are subject to change.)  Even with those numbers, we are not the largest military in the world today.   Both China and India are larger, and North Korea and Russia are not far behind.    

Our soldiers serve bravely for our country, but we as citizens owe them the responsibility to pay attention to the manner in which they are being used.,  

The Larry and Lyn Oz Collection

Scare Crow

Our home is going to feel a little empty soon, for just like always, kids will want to go away on their own to see the world.  But we are pleased that they are headed off to the same university that we attended.  Some of you may remember, they first visited to FHSU several years ago, and they stayed for quite a visit before returning home to grow up to be old enough to enroll.  The time has arrived!

For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, Larry and I began our Wizard of Oz Collection many years ago.  It took leaving Kansas to realize that when you get away from Kansas, and you introduce yourself someone is likely to say, "Do you know Dorothy? or Have you been in a tornado?"  Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz seem to be what people know best about Kansas. 

Realizing that we had been neglectful of the very thing people from around the world seem to know best about, we began our journey with The Wizard of Oz.  We decided that we must have been missing out on something important, and that is when we began collecting The Wizard of Oz.

Dorothy, Toto & Lion

It has been a lot of fun, and when we were invited to share our collection several years ago with the library at FHSU, our collection took it's first trip to Hays.  It was there that we began talking about just when Scare Crow, Tin Man, Lion, and Dorothy would be old enough to go away from home alone.  

We did not think that it would take that long, but finally they are old enough to go off on their own to the university, and their home will be in the newly named Tebo Library at FHSU.  

Their surroundings will make them feel quite at home, for all of the Oz collection is going with them.  Their new home will be in the Larry and Lyn Fenwick Reading Room.  The grand opening is still not entirely settled--which I am sure pleases them, since it always takes a little time to get everything in place for guests.  

Tin Man

The Reading Room hours are generally Monday through Friday, 9 am to noon, and 1 pm to 4 pm on days when the University is open.  Walk-ins are welcome, but you know how people are, especially ladies like Dorothy, who would appreciate that you make an appointment.  

Our children aren't selfish, and they will be hosting other people there doing research.  

The new Library is impressive, and the precise date of the complete opening is still not definite, but as you can imagine, Dorothy and the Boys are excited.   

Larry and I are busy now getting all of the other things in our collection ready to load and on their way to Hays.  Of course, everyone is excited about the trip, and we are grateful to a friend to help get the complete collection on its way.  

All of the dolls were designed and made by Lyn Fenwick.

The Importance of Civics

Those who fought for Freedom

When Sandra Day O'Conner left the Supreme Court Bench, primarily because of the poor health of her husband, she did not walk away from her sense of responsibility to the nation.  Instead, she launched the Sandra Day O'Conner Institute for American Democracy.  She loved her country and was concerned for it, and she focused her Institute's attention on the children.  

She saw the time devoted to civic education in public schools declining significantly in the 1960's, with the shift being other educational focus, such as STEM and No Child Left behind.  In addition, civic education itself was becoming controversial.  Teachers had begun to feel unprepared to teach civics.  O'Conner could see that young Americans were less knowledgeable about civics than past generations.  Her Institute was formed to reverse that trend.  

Yet the problem continued.  While educators recognized the problem, and eventually all 50 states included civics in their social studies standards, the quality was not universal.  Less than half of the states required a one semester civics high school course.  Many elementary and middle schools focus instead on reading and math.  The old issues remain:  Teachers feeling ill prepared to teach civics and the demands of other courses prioritized.

Kansas Legislators were not unaware of the civics problem.  However, they were also aware of research showing that some "Americans ages 18-29 say they have a 'favorable view' of communism, and a rising number of Gen Z and Millennials who believe the "Communist Manifesto guarantees freedom and equality better than the Declaration of Independence."  (f.n.  Quote from Kansas Reflector and other news reporters.)

Concerned as much about the positive view of Communism as knowledge of civics, the Kansas State Senate combined the two concerns.  Beginning with the 2022-2023 school year, Kansas requires students in accredited public, private, and parochial high schools to pass a civics test to graduate, consisting of 60 questions selected from the 100 questions Naturalization test for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration, including information concerning communism.  

While the students must pass that test before high school graduation, they can take it any time between 7th grade and H.S. graduation, and they can take it as many times as necessary.  The percent necessary to pass is not stated, left to be determined by local school boards.  

It seems that something that began about civics turned into a new educational requirement to teach students about communism and other concerning ideologies, at a time when teachers are already struggling with teaching reading, writing, and math.  

How can teachers and students manage all of this?  Longer School days?  Shorter Summer breaks?   Limits on extracurricular activities?  I do not know, but I do believe that respect for American Democracy and the understanding of civics are important parts of the glue that holds the Nation together.  When history and civics in public schools were neglected or omitted entirely, we lost something important.  

When young Americans favor communism over the Declaration of Independence, we have a problem.  Memorizing answers to the required test seems like a band aid on a broken leg.  Memorizing answers without the full experience of learning about the history of the precious rights we have in America seem unlikely to awaken the pride and since of responsibility we need to have if civics means anything to Americans of all ages.  Sandra Day O'connor thought so.         

Two Things Happened

Recently I had two things happen only a few days apart.  One regular reader of my blog wrote in my comment section that I had "pussy footed around" by limiting my blog to information, without telling people how to respond to the information my research contained.  

Only a few weeks later, someone was so annoyed by the research I posted in a particular blog that he blocked it.  Fortunately, the manager of that posting reentered it.  

Those two things, happening so close together, seemed to me to represent the problem the nation faces.  In divided times, some want to tell people what to think and others refuse to allow information to be shared.  

I may be naive, but I believe neither of those things are effective.  The founding fathers established a system of checks and balances that put into the hands of ordinary people power to elect those who would serve in state and national positions.  We may be at the bottom of the political ladder, but we have the power to determine who gets to take the next step.   

Perhaps we have forgotten how important that is, and we have too often voted for someone because we agreed with a certain position he or she had taken, willing to ignore character and other issues.  Worse yet, maybe we do not take the time to assess everyone on the ballot.  

I have mentioned before George Washington's concern about political parties.  He feared that they had the potential to influence and control the power of the people, if people succumbed to the influence of political parties.

If we the people put unworthy candidates on the first rung--which we alone control with our vote--we the people will have missed our chance to stop or assist who we consider best for the nation.  We the people have more responsibility than we sometimes think.  Our votes do count, and we must be the watch dogs of our constitution not only at elections, but throughout what is happening between elections. 

So, back to what happened.  One man who follows my bog thought I had "Pussy Footed" when I didn't go further and tell readers how to think.  The other man must have thought I had no business sharing my research at all.  Facts are facts, and I do share those.  I think both were wrong.  I do share information, but I try to avoid telling readers how that information should be applied.  

 I write on my weekly blog about all kinds of things.  I do try carefully to do my research.  But I do not think telling readers what to think is my job. My job is sharing interesting stuff for readers to enjoy, and in some cases, something to think about.  I do not intentionally try to take one more step furth and tell you how to think.  I do hope my research does often give you food for thought. 

Thank you to all of you who have enjoyed my weekly blogs for over a decade.  I will continue to try to inform, amuse, explore, and do my best to make it worth your time!  And, I will watch for my regular reader's comments on the reader's opinions.        

Valentines and Marriages

 Recently, at a performance in our town, the performers asked couples in the audience to raise their hands and keep them raised as long as the number of years they had been married were called out.  It was meant as an introduction to a love song.  To our surprise, my husband and I were the last to have our hands in the air, the longest married couple in that group!  In defense of revealing our age, it was a very cold evening, and older couples may have remained at home!!  This week's theme is Valentine's Day and marriage traditions over the years. 

Married couples make up 47% of American households.  That is a decline from 66% fifty years ago.  Part of that decline is because couples are marrying later, one source reporting 30.8% for men, and 28.2% for women.  Although couples are marrying later, statistics report that overall, 41% of first marriages end in divorce.  Of course, many happy marriages continue.

Not only statistics change, but also the traditional marriage celebrations change.  For a time, couples were choosing what was called "micro weddings," but that trend is back to larger weddings shared with family and friends, but skipping sit-down formal receptions and dinners, instead enjoying cocktail or party themes, or even backyard weddings.  

Honeymoons have definitely changed, the elaborate trips of today not at all common earlier, at least not in our imaginations when my husband and I married, working our way through college.  Newlywed budgets still impact honeymoons, but if money is no issue, extended trips are common.  Surprising to me, "Buddymoons" are a trend, in which the newlyweds travel with close friends or family. 

Married or single, sweethearts will be thinking of Valentine's gifts.  Traditions in that regard have changed little over the years.  Cards, flowers, and chocolates are still popular.  Going out to dinner is popular, but because of the typical crowds, many skip dining out. 

Searching for a lovely Valentine Story to share, I discovered a very unexpected Valentine Story.  A French Legend from long ago claims that women who were rejected by their Valentines would create a likeness of their unkind sweethearts and burn the effigy in public!  Because of the riots that caused, the government prohibited Valentine's Day in the early 19th Century.  

Today, French Sweetheart's celebrate Valentine's Day much as we do, with flowers, dinners, and chocolates.  

May your Valentine's Day be sweet!     

One Chance to Make an Impression.

My great grandmother and her daughter, her son's daughter, and me--four generations in my family were teachers.  

     The old saying is "You only have one first chance to make a first impression.  This week's blog discusses that old saying in a modern world.  I will begin with teachers to honor my ancestors and generations that have followed.  

    Education:  Studies show that teachers dressed in formal business attire are perceived by students as more knowledgeable and organized.  Further, Adult attire sets a tone for the classroom.  Yet the attire I was expected to wear as a teacher, as well as male teachers wearing suit and tie is not required in all schools.

    Medical Professionals:  It has been found that medical attire directly influences patient trust.  My experience is that is true, although jeans may peek out under the jacket.  

    The U.S. Army:  Recently the U.S. Army has updated its appearance, believing that professional standards of appearance have a direct impact on soldiers.

    Political Candidates:  Traditional attire of suit and tie for men and professional dresses and suits for women are still apparent, but more frequently men are going without the tie.

    Business Attire:  Business attire has softened from formal suits for some men to "Smart Casual" in some offices.  As for women, they are unlikely to wear suits and jackets (as I did when I was practicing law), but they continue to have a tailored wardrobe.

    Police and Law Enforcement:  The traditional attire for Police and Law Enforcement does change, but the importance of attire is maintained. The attire for Police and Law Enforcement plays a role in recognition and public trust.  A professional uniform is a non-verbal statement that insures the public of a sense of trust and safety.  A recognizable uniform also keeps officers accountable for their actions.

    This blog covers a large range about identification, from respect for teachers to medical professionals and others.  But what this blog has been about was the importance of how what we wear matters.  This brings me to a current problem in the news--the dispute regarding the attire of members of ICE.  Unlike other Police and Law Enforcement, ICE has sometimes chosen to hide their faces and avoid uniforms.  Although they are required to carry their badges with them, they are not required to display them.  Several states have begun legal action to require visible identification, excluding secret missions. 

    People have been terrified by unidentified ICE agents pulling them from cars and making other assaults without identifying themselves.  The ICE agents argue that it is necessary to protect themselves and their families by hiding their identities.  However, it is also true that police daily confront dangerous situations without masks. 

    Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons has said "I've said in public before, I'm not a proponent of masks.  However, if that's a tool that the men and women of ICE do to keep themselves and their family safe, then I will allow it."

    Wearing cameras is important, although too late for the victims.  Nor does it serve it's importance if local police are refused the film.   

    Perhaps this is time to return to the heading of this blog.  You only have one chance to make a first impression.   In a modern world,  where things can happen so fast, perhaps two things do remain intractable, but with a new importance to pause long enough to assess with certainty what you are about to do.