thoughts

Lighthouses and Other Things

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Before writing this, I had a long discussion with my wife, a woman who I have loved deeply for the last 10+ years. She asked why I had never written anything about our lives together but had written a great deal about my past. I really didn’t have a good answer for this. After much introspection, I think it may because I was doing what was simple rather than what was important. She has had some recent health issues which creates a lot of stress for both of us and she seems to believe that she is burden for me which could not be further from the truth. So here is something that shares both the good times and a little about how life can change.

Early in our relationship we took a trip to Florida. Part of the trip was a visit to Pensacola Naval Air Station. While there we visited a lighthouse on the base. It was a traditional lighthouse, a tower with a spiral stairway leading to the top and a walkway around the outside at the same level as the light. If I remember right, the lighthouse was white with black stripes. It was fun although walking around the outside at the top was a bit scary. Little did I know that lighthouses would come back into our lives later.

A few years down the road, we travelled to the north where our first stop was in Door County along Green Bay. There are several lighthouses of different sizes and shapes there. Most are at least accessible to tourists although you may or may not be able to actually go inside. It was fun looking at them and, at least for landlubbers like me, to see the differences between the buildings. I would not have enjoyed this trip as much had it not been for my travelling companion who is now a big part of my life and my true love.

From there we travelled along the shore of Lake Superior where we were able to actually stay in a lighthouse for several days. Yes, actually stay there. The lighthouse had been converted to a bed and breakfast. My wife and I loved the place and hoped that we would get to visit again. The light was still working although it was controlled automatically meaning we didn’t get to meet an actual lighthouse keeper. I, and I hope she as well, will always cherish those days and can only wish they had lasted longer.

A few years later, we faced a major challenge when she was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, or AFIB. While she did receive treatment for the problem, there have been lasting effects which she fights daily. Most of this has to do with strength. We cannot do all the things we enjoyed or spend time out and about. She tries to fight this daily but has largely been limited to time in bed. This has not been easy for either of us to deal with but it has not diminished my love for my wife. I try to do everything I can for her to let her know my love remains but I often feel my efforts are not enough. Still, I will continue to care for her and do all that is possible.

There is nothing more important to me than my wife and her love. No one will ever replace her and if something were to take us apart I would not even try. I hope she feels the same about me.

While I have enjoyed writing my blog posts, I think they have missed the most important things. So, I’m going to back away from this for a while. Please do not comment or respond to this post. It is really a private thing. I wish each of you the best but please allow us to share our time and stories together. For those of you who may also be experiencing rough times, know that our thoughts will be with you.

Again, please, no comments or likes. Thank you.

Summer

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Summer seems to be rapidly approaching. While one expects showers in April, it seems that this year they are interspersed with days nearing the 90’s. This seems a bit unusual to me but maybe that is only because of childhood memories.

Growing up in a small grain-farming community, I remember summer always beginning in mid-May. This wasn’t because of a date on the calendar or because of a meteorological event but instead because it was the end of the school year. For a few weeks, we no longer needed to worry about lessons or exams but could instead spend our days playing with friends and neighbors. Important things were whether our bicycles had flat tires, or which sandbox we would use, or who we would visit.

In the evenings we might sit on the porch with our parents or grandparents listening to a baseball game on the radio or play in the yard while the “old folks” did that. We also helped in the garden since fresh produce was a part of life. On really special evenings we might have a treat like homemade ice cream over a fresh baked pie. Because our town was so small we didn’t have some of the things that “city kids” could enjoy, like swimming pools or large parks and playgrounds, but summer was still a fun time.

That changed a bit when I was about eleven or twelve and started mowing yards to earn a bit of “spending” money. The time for “kids” play was a bit less but it was still summer, and school was still not important, at least for those few weeks between the school years.

Things changed even more by my mid-teens when summers meant getting a job. In a small town like my home there were few opportunities and most summer work was on the local farms. The two busiest times were right after the school year ended and, unfortunately, a few weeks after the next school year began. Like others, I spent parts of many summers working on the farms – preparing fields for planting, helping plant crops, and other tasks. There were many long days in the hot sun (no air-conditioned tractors in those days) or doing other work. This even continued through my college years.

Even though the summer days seem much hotter now, summer is still a nice season, but I enjoy spring and fall, or autumn, much more. I hope you have good memories of the summers of your youth and enjoy them now and in the future.

Spring

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I’m almost afraid to post this because if I do there may be one of those rare, but possible, late season snowstorms that will drop a few inches of snow and ice on mid-America. But rather than plan on the unexpected, I will trust Mother Nature to help us through this season of change with the many challenges and the beauty it brings.

When I look outside this morning, it appears that Spring has sprung. The trees are starting to discard the last few remaining brown leaves from last year and replace them with bright green foliage. The blossoms from the early bloomers have come and gone, replaced by colors of new flowers and trees becoming more abundant. Tulips and daffodils seem to be everywhere with their bright hues covering gardens and lawns where they grow whether tended by homeowners or in wild spaces where planted by gardeners in the past.

The rains and storms that come along with the changing seasons are here in force. Flooding, high winds, and hail seem to be highlighted daily by the weather forecasters. Farmers are challenged to plant this year’s crops to feed the nation. River levees can sometimes handle the extra water and at other times lose the battle against Mother Nature.

Some see Spring as a wonderful time of the year as cold weather departs, either for days or weeks at a time. Others see Spring as a sad time as cool days and nights give way to the heat of the coming Summer. For all, it is a time of change. In many cases it is a time of birth for our wild friends. For others it is a time of breeding with young to enter our world in a few weeks or months. We see migrating birds in their bright colors. We welcome the return of other colors as we are visited by butterflies and hummingbirds.

Alas, it is also the time that brings more work. Things like lawns that must be tended after lying dormant through the colder months. Potholes that must be filled to repair the damage caused by both colder weather and the storms of spring. We must prepare our gardens to grow both vegetables for our enjoyment or flowers needing replanting each year.

It is a time to share with those who are still with us and hope that they will see many more Springs and a time to remember those who are not with us to welcome the new season or year.

I hope you will join me in welcoming the Spring. And for those who dislike the heat of the coming season, remember that the softer days of Autumn and the colder days of Winter are not too far away.

Have We Lost Our Way?

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I try to avoid political discussion in any of my posts, whether blog posts, email, or even responses to things on Facebook or elsewhere. Why? Because our country was founded on freedom. We all have a right to make choices, to have positions that may sometimes be in conflict, to express views with only reasonable limitation. Yet, things seem to have changed. And maybe there is a need to sometimes look at how politics affect our daily lives. I can still be friends with those who hold opposing views. When I look at our country today, I ask myself if, as a country, “Have we lost our way?”

As a baby boomer, I suspect my parents, and their generation, asked the same question in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Things were certainly in were far different at that time than they were in the 40’s when all healthy adults were willing to make great sacrifices in the safety and security of our country and the world. As the baby boomers grew into adulthood, dodging the draft became acceptable, the use of drugs became common, and the hippie fashion became the trend. It was far different from what was acceptable as our parents moved into the world of adults.

The questions today are, in large part, not the result of young people rebelling against the past but instead seem centered around so-called adults who have not grown up. People who seem to believe that the things we have learned as a country over the past two hundred years plus are no longer important.

Differences are no longer acceptable. The ability to work and live together no longer have value. Instead of focusing on why our country has been viewed as a model for much of the world, little is of no value other than wealth or riches. Opposing views are not respected and systems which have served us well only exist to be destroyed.

While the downward spin has been slowly creeping into our lives for many years, possibly beginning in the 60’s, the beginning of the media named pandemic. During those years, much information was spread with limited research or analysis. We saw jobs lost, families broken apart, friendships destroyed, and nameless other things that were the result of individual choices – get a test or don’t get a test, take an injection, rushed to the market, or trust your personal resistance to disease, wear a mask or don’t wear a mask. These things and many more drove wedges between individuals, families, even medical professionals. Yes, there were deaths during the pandemic but the simple was to classify any death was to say it was the result of the disease in question.

Today things have spiraled even further. During our last presidential election, we had one candidate who refused, and still refuses, to accept the results of any election where he is not the winner. The opponent was a candidate who had never received a single vote in a primary election. Many chose not to vote or voted on the lesser of two evils rather than a candidate’s qualifications.

The result – much the same as the end of the pandemic. No one seems to accept that there is nothing wrong with differing opinions; that negotiation can provide better results than permanent lines drawn in the sand can never be crossed; that loyalty to a political party is far more important than representing the average person in our country. We have leadership, and I use the term very loosely here, that believes the only way to lead is through dictation, not working with others to achieve success. Leaders who are willing, and have voiced, that disagreement with them should result in censorship, loss of rights, and even banishment or jailing in foreign countries. Leaders who search for ways to ignore our Constitution, our laws, and the courts which were created to resolve differences in interpretation and enforcement of these laws.

So, we now have a leader who uses things like executive orders, bullying, and even threats to achieve his desires and ignore the legislative branch of our government. A billionaire who has been given largely uncontrolled power as a so-called advisor even though there are clearly conflicts of interest in the advice he gives (and someone who was neither elected nor did his role receive any review). All the members of one party have decided they will line up and accept this leader’s actions and decisions regardless of how stupid they may look or how their constituents feel. The other party does just the opposite opposing everything with no real justification.

When I step back and look at things today, it seems that we do not have leaders. Instead, we have people in high positions who are acting like three-year-old children playing in an expensive sandbox who will pick up their toys and run home if they don’t get their way. So, I return to my original question, “Have we lost our way?”

Do You Haiku?

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At work a few days ago a manager challenged staff members to write and share a haiku. These would be shared in a common space used as a lunch/break room. Submissions could be left in the room or could be shared online. They could be submitted anonymously. I have only seen those submitted online and, while limited in number, have been interesting and are fun to read.

What is a haiku, you may ask? I will admit that I would have needed to ask the same question had I not been introduced to haiku in a college English class. While I did not remember the details, after seeing the first haiku shared online, I remembered some of the details.

A haiku is a short poem. In English, a haiku usually has just three lines and only seventeen syllables. There is no need for the three lines to rhyme. This form of poetry originated in Japan but is now common in many countries and languages. The structure may vary slightly but typically consists of five syllables in line 1, seven syllables in line 2, and a final five syllables in line 3. Haiku usually focus on a subject in nature.

An example of a haiku from Wikipedia is:

the first cold shower
even the monkey seems to want
a little coat of straw

There are also some rules that apply to haiku such as words you should not use and other things. Some haiku groups have even suggested that rhyming must occur although this seems rare.

My personal response to our office collection was:

look up to the sky
bright blue, white clouds, golden sun
comes soon summer’s heat

Haiku is not that difficult so if you have some free time perhaps you should try. Or if you have family maybe you could do it together. Even the children could try it. If you do, have fun.

Pursue the Impossible

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I recently saw a tee-shirt with the organization name on the front and an organizational goal printed on the back. The goal was, “Pursue what’s possible”. On first reading I thought this was a good goal for any organization. But as I reflected on it, the more uncomfortable I became with the goal. Why? Because by pursuing only “what’s possible” today we are accepting that the status quo cannot be improved.

Jules Verne’s writing is often associated with science-fiction, but some sources say that it was based on carefully researched material which existed at the time. If we accept this, then a trip around the world in eighty days was not possible at the time. Similarly, travel from the earth to the moon was not considered. Verne’s works were considered fictional in nature. Comparatively, Hanna-Barbera’s cartoon series “The Jetsons” which aired in the early 1960’ s seemed to be purely fictional and written for entertainment with little relation to things that were available in that era.

So, looking at these two different views of the world, approximately one hundred years apart, if we accepted “pursue what’s possible”, we would not consider either worth pursuit because they presented the impossible, not the possible.

Yet when we look around us today, we see many of the concepts presented as not just possible but common in day-to-day life. We have had airplanes that could travel around the world at the Equator in about eleven hours. We have robots that can clean our homes with minimal human intervention. We have not only travelled to the moon and back safely but are now considering travel to Mars. We have all of this because some have pursued the impossible and not limited themselves to pursuing only what’s possible.

We could apply the same to many other advances we have had over time, not just recently but since Verne’s time and even earlier. If Henry Ford had accepted that making an automobile available to the masses was impossible, would we still be travelling by horse and buggy? Or, if communicating via wire or wirelessly had been accepted as impossible, how would our lives today be without our cell phones? Even something as seemingly simple as cooling food without the physical presence of ice would make today’s food choices impossible.

So, as I look at that shirt today with its simple goal statement, I wonder who would consider it a worth goal. Are they saying that today’s world is acceptable and there is no room for improvement? Or are they saying that pursuing the impossible is of little value?

While my views may not be shared by others, I think the organization which shared this goal is lucky. Those who wrote or approved the goal are no longer there. Perhaps the new leaders view the world and valuable pursuits differently. And perhaps the organization is now trying to make things better, not just accept things as they are.

The Special Place

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We all have special places in our lives. Places where we love to go or want to be. Memories of good times, some old and some new. Things that stand out in our minds. Some of these places are real and others are imagined. Some of them were things that we possessed and some that belonged to others. For most of us, we could name many of these special places. But do you have one that you identify as The Special Place?

The Special Place is one that is constantly in your mind. Nothing that interferes with your daily life or replaces other special places but instead one that stands out. The Special Place may be one that you have visited often, rarely, or not at all. It may be possessed or forbidden. It might be a home, a building, a location, or even an imaginary location. You may have only seen it in passing but The Special Place is always there in some form.

The Special Place is sometimes very specific, like a house at a certain address, or it may be more general, sitting in the mist at the bottom of a waterfall or on the top of a mountain. Sometimes it is a place where you can relax or think about the meaning of life. Other times it is a place of wonder. And at other times the wonder is why you consider it to be The Special Place in your life. While a place may be The Special Place for more than one individual, the things that make it special for them are probably different.

In the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun” there is a bit character. I don’t believe the character was ever identified and may not have even been given credit. The character was an older gentleman who was shown several times walking down a road in front of Diane Lane’s home. Each time he appeared; he stopped at the same location along the road and approached a stone wall where he paused for a few minutes. Why he paused was never told. Perhaps, there was a Madonna in a niche in the wall and he was visiting her. Perhaps there was something else there. It was never visible to the viewer. Was it something sad, or something celebrated? Diane’s character watched him and tried to connect to him, this did not occur until near the end of the movie. Was this simple location The Special Place for him?

For some, The Special Place may be a place they visit often while for others it may be a place that they have only glimpsed in passing. This does not make it less special. Perhaps, we will one day visit The Special Place or it may always be there, just out of reach. Sometimes, The Special Place disappears, at least physically, yet it remains in our minds. Other times, The Special Place does not exist other than in our minds, or maybe it exists, and we have yet to find it. In either case, it is still special to us.

Does The Special Place exist for all? Maybe or maybe not. Is it something we share or is it very private? Again, is this important, and does it change how special it is? Does The Special Place exist for you?

No Such Thing as Illegal Protest

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Last week I had the opportunity to read a short article by a legal professor whose area of expertise is Constitutional Law. It was titled, “There is no such thing as ‘illegal protest’”. I would note that this was presented as “News” and not an “Op-Ed”. While I have no legal expertise, especially in the Constitution, this article raised more questions in my mind than answers. The article was focused on some statements by our current President and was clearly written from the point of view that these statements should not have been made. My questions, however, were more related to how bad things might become were the ideas presented taken to the extreme.

The article started with the definition of a protest and of an agitator and how any limitation on these was a violation of the First Amendments protection of peaceable assembly. A protest was defined as a public assembly, presumably presenting a point of view. Although not specifically included was what constitutes an assembly but one could assume it consists of more than one individual. It was stated that an agitator was not a legal term but was colloquially defined as one who makes noise, disrupts the status quo, and calls attention to a cause. The writer stated that this is also a form of free speech.

Following the article title, then just as there are no illegal protests, there is also no illegal agitation. On the surface, this seems to be reasonable.

In my mind, the questions about this view start with the term “peaceable assembly”. What was not defined is the word “peaceable”. For example, is the brandishing of weapons peaceable? Is occupying a building or the property of another, without permission, peaceable? Is destruction of or damage to property, for example, public vehicles or buildings, peaceable?

Another question that arises is, if we assume that all protests, or assembly are legal, does the same apply to all agitation? Things become more difficult to define here. Looking at recent events, is driving a vehicle through a roadblock because one is unhappy because o inconvenience caused by the closed road the work of an agitator?  If so, are the agitators actions a form of free speech and therefore legal? Does this then excuse the agitator for any subsequent damage or death that may occur? If not, then what actions of an agitator, and one must assume a protest, not legal. But by taking the article and its title as absolute protests and agitation cannot be illegal.

Put more simply, with no clear definition of “peaceable” is anything resulting from a protest or the actions of an agitator excused? Given that the Constitution is the ultimate authority on legality, then one might use this as a defense.

Again, I do not claim expertise in the law or the Constitution. I am simply asking what I consider common sense questions. I believe that we have the right to enact laws and to enforce them. We have systems for challenging these laws and determining when they are not Constitutional. But I do not believe that we should take short articles like the one I read last week as an absolute. They are generally the opinion of someone named as an expert, or a limited group of experts, that are published by or in the media as factual. And, that we are expected to accept them without question.

What happens when a different expert or different media source offers a different opinion? Who should we accept and why?  Just more food for thought, especially in a more and more divided country.

Novels by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (Book Reviews), March 4, 2025

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I had a bit of a challenge naming this post. It is a bit of a review of two novels by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, “Before the coffee gets cold” and “Before we forget kindness”. These novels are part of a five (at last count) book set originally written and published in Japan then translated for reading in the United States. I have a bit of concern about calling them novels because, at least in my mind, each book is a small set of short stories. In either case, I found them enjoyable and look forward to reading the other three books in the set in the future.

Rather than review them in detail and spoil the ending for other readers, I instead decided to pose a question to others. A question that is core to the reading of these books. Would you, if given the chance, return to a time or place in the past?

Of course, there are certain rules that you must follow.

  • While you are in the past, you can do nothing that would change the present. In other words, you cannot change events. Everything that happened then and since then will still occur.
  • You can only depart from a specific place and return to that same place within the time limits described below.
  • You will be given a hot cup of coffee before your departure to the past and you must return to the present before the coffee gets cold. If not, you will be cursed from there forward.

There may be other rules, but they will be explained to you before you travel to the past.

If you say you will return to the past your place of departure will be a specific chair in a small coffee shop, or perhaps a tearoom, off the main streets in a city in Japan. You must be sitting in a specific chair and return to the same chair.

It sounds so simple but there is a problem. The chair you must use is constantly occupied by a cursed woman all day, every day. The only time it is empty is when she must get up to use the restroom. So, there is limited opportunity for your travel and others may also be waiting to depart.

If you can be seated in the chair while it is vacant, you will be given a hot cup of coffee. This is the measure of the length of your visit. Remember, you must return before the coffee gets cold.

And then, the travel can begin.

Each of the short stories in the books is centered around someone who has chosen to travel back in time and the results of this travel. If you have the opportunity, they are short reads which you will enjoy.

Yellowstone

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When I was a child and heard “Yellowstone” I thought of Yellowstone National Park or even more specifically its more famous feature, Old Faithful geyser. I found the idea of a geyser unbelievable and sometimes wondered what it would be like to have a geyser like Old Faithful in our local park. A humorous thought given that our park was less than a city block in size. I read about Yellowstone in books and magazines, sometimes saw television shows featuring it, and even associated it with a Hanna-Barbera cartoon series from the early 1960’s, The Yogi Bear Show with Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo Bear, and Ranger Smith who lived in Jellystone Park. While the cartoons were fun to watch, they are not my focus here. Instead, I want to write about the national park

I remember wishing to visit Yellowstone when I was young but that wasn’t practical for our family. So, I could only learn about it in other ways and imagine what it would be like to be there. I finally had the opportunity to visit Yellowstone when I was in my late thirties. Surprisingly, it was much as I had imagined and even more.

Yellowstone National Park is a huge place, over 3,400 square miles, mostly in Wyoming but also in Montana and Idaho. As one might expect in a park of this size, Yellowstone offers many different things for the visitor. Starting with the simple, it offers rivers, lakes, canyons, meadows, and hydrothermal features like the many geysers. According to scientists, the park sits atop the Yellowstone Caldera or dormant volcano. If you visit, you will see some of the most pristine and colorful water features that can be found anywhere.  You may also see dynamic waterfalls in steep-sided canyons, mud pots in other locations, and a variety of rock formations.

Yellowstone is also the home of a great variety of wildlife, with an emphasis on “wild”. You can see bison, elk, deer, moose, and a variety of waterfowl and other birds. Where you see them and in what numbers can vary by the time of the year and the weather. You can also see, if you are lucky, cougars, wolf packs, and bears, both black bears and their larger relatives, the grizzly bears. But remember to keep your distance and follow any instructions from the park staff for both your safety and that of the wildlife.

The water features are beautiful. Old Faithful still erupts regularly, although maybe not every hour but even if you cannot get to Old Faithful there are many other geysers with roads or trails leading to them. There are also many pools or other water features to see, just remember the water is extremely hot. And you should resist the urge to throw pennies into the water features. Pennies and other foreign objects can destroy these beautiful works of nature and spoil the future for other visitors.

But all this beauty does come at a price. Like other wild locations throughout the world, there is hidden danger in Yellowstone. Some of the danger is courtesy of Mother Nature and some is the fault of man. As I said earlier, there are rules and warnings at various locations in the park and given by rangers and volunteers in person. Probably one of the biggest things to know is that the trails and boardwalks in the park are there to keep you and the environment safe. It can be tempting to just step off a short way, but you don’t know what dangers may be there or what harm you can cause to the environment. Another big thing is to remember you are visiting the wildlife in their home. Keep your distance from the wildlife. They will protect their young. They will protect themselves. They are faster than you believe, and their horns, hooves, and teeth are far more dangerous than you may expect. This is even more true in the breeding season. While a photo with a bison may look cute on your wall, is it worth your life? If a trail is blocked by a herd of elk, choose another trail and come back later. Stay safe and enjoy your visit.

Remember that the water features in Yellowstone are hot. That means you can get burned by touching it in many locations. Even where you least expect it there can be small, yet hot water features. There have been many fires at Yellowstone. These fires are both beneficial allowing for reforestation, but they can also be dangerous. If an area or a road is closed because of fire danger, then don’t go there.

The winter can also present danger. A large portion of the park is closed in the winter or open only to snow vehicles. Again, this is to protect you, the wildlife, and the park itself. Obey the rules and come back to the park again.

I hope that each of you has the opportunity to visit Yellowstone and can enjoy some of the best nature has to offer. If you do, have a good trip and take a photo for me.