WHERE WERE YOU ON 9/11?

There are a few days in your lifetime that you remember forever, in great detail. Where you were, who you were with, and how you felt. Where were you on 9/11?

For me, it was similar to that first huge memory on Nov. 22, 1963, when Kennedy was shot. My firstborn was one month old, and I can remember the sun shining in our apartment window in Evanston, Illinois. My then husband was at work in downtown Chicago. I know I was wearing a black sweater, and my son had on a little white sleeper.

For about an hour, I simply sat and listened and watched, too stunned to move. Suddenly, the stay-at-home moms came out of their apartments and onto the sidewalk, and finally gathered in my apartment because it was the largest and could hold the most people. And we talked and watched TV, and no one had anything to eat or drink for hours.

On 9/11, it was a different story. My husband was able to take walks then, and he had a radio plugged into his ear. It was a warm , sunny day and we were both wearing sleeveless shirts. He heard it right away, of course, but when he told me what had happened, I thought at first it was a hoax, or he was mistaken. Even then, we had no idea how extensive the damage, or how many people had been killed. Finally, we passed a house where a young man whom we had never met came out from his doorway, and asked us if we had heard what happened. So it was true. We shook our heads, and mutely turned away, too stunned to reply.

Looking back, it seems strange that we were at war, but war was never declared (how did that differ from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor?) and life went on pretty much the same for those who lived far from New York & DC.

But we will never forget. Where were you on 9/11?

September 1, 2021September 1, 2021

SOME THINGS CAN’T BE FIXED.

There are some serious disasters affecting our country right now. California wildfires. The Covid-19 pandemic. Our disastrous withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan. And now, Hurricane Ida. Once upon a time, historians looked upon wars and natural disasters as nature’s way of controlling the population. However, no one thinks that way anymore. We look to our leaders to prevent such events, or get them under control once they occur. Unfortunately, some things can’t be fixed.

Governor Newsom is undergoing a recall election in California right now. He’s getting blamed for a lot of things, and one of them is the wildfires. . They say he could have prevented them if he’d managed the forest growth better. Newsom promised to clear underbrush and thin forests with prescribed burns and other techniques, Wow. Should our governors go all over the states chopping down trees ? That would be an unimaginably complex undertaking, involving a lot of private and public property. I don’t follow California politics, and I have no opinion as to Governor Newsom’s competence. Nevertheless, I think the extreme heat was the main cause of the wildfires.

The Covid-19 virus was a political football from the git-go. President Trump didn’t take it seriously. He predicted the epidemic would be over by Easter of 2020. And even though he pushed through the development of a vaccine, it wasn’t enough for the voters. Consequently, he lost to Biden, who everyone thought would get the virus under control.

Biden’s doing his best to get everyone vaccinated, but we’re still in the midst of a pandemic It seems to me we’re expecting miracles from our presidents and state governors. They can try, but they can’t outwit nature.

And now, we have Hurricane Ida. Homes destroyed. Three weeks without power in New Orleans. No way to cook or run your air conditioner. The misery goes on and on. Yes FEMA can step in and help rescue stranded people, provide food and supplies and shelter. But in the end, the damage was done by an act of nature and there’s nothing any one could have done to prevent it from happening 20 years after Katrina..

Remember the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 29 AD? The city of Pompeii and surrounding cities were buried under volcanic ash. Thousands were killed. Titus was the Roman Emperor at the time, and he organized a huge relief effort to help the victims of the disaster. But there’s no record of anyone complaining that he didn’t do enough.

Some things can’t be fixed.

August 28, 2021August 28, 2021

WILL AMERICANS REALLY FORGET?

The horrifying explosion at the Kabul airport on 8/26/21 took the lives of 13 American servicemen and hundreds of Afghan citizens. Those of us living in the United States of America are viewing the evacuation of Afghanistan more like an abandonment. However, the politicians advising the president have publicly stated that they’re not worried at all, because “people don’t vote on foreign policy.” When several Afghanistan men fell to their death from an airplane while trying to escape, Biden shrugged and said , “that happened yesterday.” They’re betting that voters care more about the size of their 40lKs than the misguided evacuation of Afghanistan as we exit the war. But you have to wonder. Will Americans really forget?

The president’s advisors are comparing the Afghan withdrawal to the evacuation of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war. However the two events cannot be compared.

According to Wikipedia ” the capture of the city was preceded by Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of almost all American civilian and military personnel in Saigon, along with tens of thousands of South Vietnamese civilians who had been associated with the Republic of Vietnam. A few Americans chose not to be evacuated. United States ground combat units had left South Vietnam more than two years prior to the fall of Saigon and were not available to assist with either the defense of Saigon or the evacuation. The evacuation was the largest helicopter evacuation in history. In addition to the flight of refugees, the end of the war and the institution of new rules by the communists contributed to a decline in the city’s population.^”

There was no Operation Frequent Wind when Biden announced we were withdrawing from the Afghanistan War by August 31. In fact, he turned over the names of Americans and Afghan helpers to the Taliban, actually believing that would insure the safety of those fleeing the country. It’s hard to believe that anyone with an ounce of common sense would be so gullible. Much less the President of the United States and his Generals.

Biden has threatened : “We will hunt you down and make you pay.” But how is he going to do that without continuing the war in Afghanistan? They launched a drone strike Friday night against some Isis stronghold, but it seems like a tepid move than doesn’t compensate for the horrific loss of life at the Kabul airport.

What will happen in the next election? Consumer sentiment has dropped to its lowest point since 2011. Will Americans really forget the administration’s bungled evacuation plan when exiting the Afghan War? Will we care more about the size of our bank accounts, than the tragedy of August 26? Are we really that materialistic and shallow? It remains to be seen.

August 23, 2021August 26, 2021

POVERTY’S FACE IN A COLLEGE TOWN

Educated people have higher incomes and better health habits, statistically speaking. Therefore, in a town with 5 colleges or institutions of higher education, our city should be thriving. But we’re not. The poverty rate is 26%, and according to the latest census, our population is dwindling. The juxtaposition of highly educated people with the poor and homeless continues to puzzle our leaders. If you drive through the city, you will see poverty’s face in a college town:

Walking past the library is a man holding a can of pop in his left hand, and a cigarette in the other. Across the street, a woman puffs away while wandering aimlessly. You turn the corner and drive into the inner city. There’s been a lot of effort to restore old properties, and government subsidized housing in run down neighborhoods. But it’s not enough. You’re still seeing deteriorating houses, porches filled with ripped , moldy furniture. Stray shopping carts. Homeless folks squatting outside the CVS store. People walking on crumbling side walks or through alleys filled with pot holes. Where are they going? Walking to the Dollar Store, maybe. Or perhaps to a church soup kitchen. Many are on some type of government assistance. They’re either too sick to work, or too uneducated or unskilled to hold any type of job. Some have mental health or drug addiction problems.

A few movers and shakers have made a valiant effort to improve our city’s optics. They’ve commissioned outdoor sculptures, and implemented a back- to -the- river project to enhance the area around the Wabash River—our most underutilized asset, at this point. They’ve even built a new convention center.

Put lipstick on a pig, and it’s still a pig. . There’s something wrong. Possibly it starts with the attitude of the “old guard.” People who’ve lived here all their lives, comfortable with their lovely homes, club memberships, and closed circles of family and friends

And then, there’s the CSX railroad terminal, which pollutes the city with high levels of diesel fuel. The town has 40 railway crossings, and none of them are pretty. There’s nothing aesthetically appealing about waiting while a long, ugly freight train rumbles by, or even decides to stop and regroup, creating mile long traffic stalls.

Our city is about to receive 38 million dollars in post covid-19 stimulus money, but the politicians haven’t decided what to do with it. Seems to me that if we want to improve our quality of life, we should start at the bottom and work our way up. Maybe open a center in the city’s core where the wandering smokers and pop drinkers can find some respite or free, walk-in counseling. Offer healthy snacks (no pop machines, please). Show videos on nutrition and smoking cessation. In a town full of educated people, we have to stop turning a blind eye to the misery right under our noses.

Poverty’s face in a college town in unfathomable.

August 16, 2021August 16, 2021

CROSS COUNTRY MEET INSPIRES HOPE

According to recent polls, nearly 80% of Americans are feeling fearful and angry. The issues that provoke these feelings are the coronavirus pandemic, the economic downturn, the Afghanistan retreat, and civil unrest spreading across America’s cities. Last year at this time, we thought things would be better by the summer of 2021. But they’re not. We thought the vaccine would take us back to normal. Trouble is, half of our citizens refuse to get vaccinated, so we’re back to the crisis level. Hospitals are filling up once again with cases of the delta strain. After a year and a half of misery, we’re discouraged, and worried how it’s all going to affect our grandkids . But yesterday, I felt an emotion I hadn’t experienced for a long time. Seeing my grandsons running their hearts out at cross country filled me with optimism. Attending a state wide cross country meet inspires hope.

These boys and girls have been in lockdown at a time when they should have been going to class, attending parties, seeing their friends and having a carefree teenage life. The only thing I can compare it to is my own teenage years following World War II. Although we weren’t so isolated, we grew up scared. I remember waking up at night, hearing the sound of a distant train, worried that the Germans were coming. Our brothers, fathers, uncles and cousins went to war and often didn’t come back.. Some of them endured torture in Japanese prison camps. No wonder we became the “silent generation.”

Silent generation characteristics included interpersonal respect, self sacrifice, determination and most importantly, resilience. Those same characteristics are required to participate in cross country.

Cross Country Meet Inspires Hope. Our children are resilient. — Cross Country Meet Inspires Hope. Our children are emerging from the pandemic strong and resilient.

Yesterday, thousands of boys and girls throughout Indiana raced across the grass , and returned covered with sweat. Some of them did very well and came in close to the top. However, others came in toward the end. But here’s the thing. I was in a place where I could watch them returning from the race. There was an incredible camaraderie and affection in the air. Slower runners congratulated those who’d made better time. There didn’t seem to be many winners or losers. Kids walked with their arms around each other. Parents and grandparents glowed with pride. The sun was shining, It was a beautiful day filled with the joy, love, and hope.

I predict the “covid” generation will share some of the same characteristics of the silent generation. The previous “me” generations had everything handed to them, and didn’t have to worry about going to war. Generally speaking, they were spoiled and unappreciative of what they had. My grandchildren know that life is unpredictable, and they have learned to deal with that. In some ways, they are more mature than their parents were at the same age. These are the children who will grow up to lead our country in the years to come. And the lessons they have learned will serve this nation well.

Want to feel hopeful again? Come out for a high school cross country meet.

August 7, 2021August 7, 2021

IS BIDEN A MODERN CHARLEMAGNE?

We usually think of early European kings as men who started wars, collected taxes and had people beheaded. Rarely do we think of them as venturing into healthcare. But Charlemagne was different. In the eighth century, he enacted a law requiring that all of his subjects must consume flaxseed. Considering he founded the Holy Roman Empire, that meant a whole lot of people were under his command. In the USA, the president of the United States is about as close you can get to a king. Trouble is, we’re a democracy. Presidents can’t make laws on their own. But sometimes, they come pretty close. Is Biden a modern Charlemagne?

Charlemagne may have been onto something. Many nutritionists call flaxseed one of the most powerful plant foods on the planet. There’s some evidence it may help reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes.

But I suspect Charlemagne might have had the same problem as Biden. People don’t always do what’s best for them. They might have kept flaxseed in their homes, just to comply with the law, but that doesn’t mean that they always consumed it. It would have pretty easy to throw the seeds out the window on a windy day. And I’ll bet you that about 50% of his subjects did just that.

Biden is going pretty far with executive orders during this covid-19 crisis. He mandated last week that all federal employees and on-site contractors will have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or be required to wear masks and undergo repeated testing. This order that will affect millions of workers and is designed to be a model for other employers.

Next, he asked the Pentagon to look at adding the COVID-19 vaccine to the military’s mandatory shots. That idea isn’t going over too well. A lot of the military don’t want to get vaccinated. They think the vaccine is unsafe and untested. But in the end, Biden will probably get what he wants.

Is Biden a modern Charlemagne?

July 26, 2021July 25, 2021

SHOPPING CARTS LITTER THE CITY

You seldom see a stray shopping cart in the better parts of town. But they’re scattered all over our inner city, and it’s getting worse. Yesterday, I saw a couple with a cart absolutely loaded to the brim, navigating it across a busy street, far from the Dollar Store. At first, I felt annoyed that someone was stealing a cart in broad daylight. But then, I saw it from their point of view. Obviously, they don’t own a car. However, they’re no different from the rest of us. They need to eat, and do laundry, and use all the products that are necessary to get us through life. The Bible says the poor will always be with us. That’s especially true in our town, with a 26% poverty rate. And that’s why shopping carts litter the city.

It must be a calculated risk on the part of Dollar Stores and pharmacies.. Locating in an area of ramshackle dwellings takes some courage. I’m wondering if they have trucks that scour the area , picking up carts from sidewalks and streets. It would be nice to think a person would return a cart they’ve taken, but they probably don’t.

It’s actually illegal to steal shopping carts. But would any cop stop a woman with two kids, wheeling a shopping cart down the sidewalk? If arrested, they would probably say they were “borrowing” the cart. And maybe, just maybe, they really do plan to return it. Obviously, it’s not something you want in your kitchen.

It’s one of those problems that nobody knows how to solve. We provide food banks for hungry people, and diapers for mothers who can’t afford them. But how can we help the poor and disabled in a city with limited public transportation? I’ve seen people getting off the bus with loaded grocery bags, but they still have to get them from the bus stop to their homes. Maybe that’s the next non-for-profit in the works.

We can erect beautiful out door sculptures, and build a spectacular new convention center. We might even get a flashy casino. Meanwhile, shopping carts litter the city, detracting from its appearance and image.