Janet Reno

Janet Reno died yesterday.  She was, in my estimation, our most influential, high powered, independent, integrity filled, (but highly controversial) attorney general in our history.

She was also one our of most quirky Floridans. I like that about her as well.  Janet was 6 feet, 2 inches tall and a self described "awkward old maid."  Her parents were journalists in Miami but we Floridans remember wild stories about the three of them.  Janet's mother wrestled alligators and they had a family of peacocks - all named Horace.  I remember that, after she retired Janet and her mom reportedly built a house - all by themselves!

Janet Reno went to Cornell and then Harvard Law School at a time that women didn't do that, especially, 6 feet, 2 "folksy" old maids from South Florida.

As attorney general she was involved in the capture and conviction of huge number of high profile criminals, including:

• the Branch Davidians
• the Unabomber 
• Timothy McVeigh
• 1993 World Trade Center bombers

Janet looks like she's going to beat up Will
Farrell and she certainly could have if she
 chose to. 

And who could ever forget the unbelievably cute little Cuban refugee, Elian Gonzalez?  His photo was in our papers every day for months.  After the death of Elian's mother, Janet managed to get him reunited with his dad in Cuba.  

Janet knew who she was and was comfortable with herself.  She had a great sense of humor and even enjoyed Will Farrell's parity of her on SNL. "Janet Reno's Dance Party"  was sometimes pretty brutal but at the end of her term she appeared on the show.  I remember she came crashing through a wall, wearing the same suit as Will. 

Here are a couple of Reno quotes that I hope apply to me as well:

• I'm just delighted to be here, and I'm going to do my level best.
• I'm not fancy.  I am what I appear to be.
• If you stand on principle, you'll never lose. 

No matter how you felt about Janet Reno, Florida has lost a treasure.

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Sidewalk Art

It's that time of year again when students decorate the sidewalks in Winter Park's Central Park with replicas of famous paintings.

There's something magical about it.  Remember in the film Mary Poppins when Bert jumped into the sidewalk painting and took us on a great adventure?

This morning we arrived early so we saw only partially done work.  But it was exciting.  Dave would love to do it - but kneeling on a sidewalk in the hot sun for four or five hours isn't in the cards for either of us.

So we just enjoy the work of these young people.

Bert taking us on an adventure.

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Kurt Vonnegut in Indianapolis

Massachusetts Avenue in Indianapolis

A couple of nights ago Dave and I watched "Kurt Vonnegut's Indianapolis" on PBS.  As you may remember,  I'm from Indianapolis and Vonnegut was my very favorite writer when I was in my 20s.  His novels were weird and revolutionary and hysterically funny - in an extremely disrespectful way.

The PBS special reminds us that Indianapolis did not care for Kurt Vonnegut early on.  He left as a young man and never moved back.  But he loved his friends and family and loved his high school, Short Ridge.  (Short Ridge and my high school, Arsenal Tech, were arch rivals.)

Apparently, the folks in old Indianapolis just didn't "get" Vonnegut.  He came from a wealthy family of architects and hardware store owners.  Kurt Vonnegut did not follow the rules.

If you want to really hurt your parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts.  I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living.  They are a very human way of making life more bearable.  Practicing an art no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake.  

Vonnegut's quote above is one of things that helped me get into expressing myself through poetry.  But I'm sure these words weren't well received in some circles.

And how would you like him giving your kids this advice?  We have to constantly be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.

I'm happy to say that, over the decades, Indianapolis has become way more sophisticated and has wholly embraced this American icon.


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Panua

Kenya kids who are heads of households

About 15 years ago a woman in my church came home from a trip to Kenya and couldn't stop talking about it.  When I heard her speak I said to the person next to me "We're going to Africa."  I didn't mean me personally.  But I've gotten to go vicariously many times since then.

Our church has a phenomenal ministry in Naivasha, Kenya.  If you want to know more about it look up Panua Partners in Hope.

Cess and Johm

I love that, at this church, you can be part of life changing experiences - no matter your age, your sex, your wealth, your politics or your theology.

We've just had a full week of celebrating Panua.  Yesterday morning Dave and I, and about 250 other people, participated in a Panua 5K Run.  It was so much fun!  Full disclosure - Dave and I didn't run.  We
walked.  I walked fast.  Dave held back a little because he wanted to walk with our friend who had some breathing issues.  Folks were congratulating Dave because he was the oldest participant in the 5K.  But it's no big whoop because we walk three miles every Saturday morning - but not for an amazing cause and not with hundreds of friends.

What a wonderful and  amazing morning.  What a wonderful and amazing world.


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In the Beginning Was the Relationship

All theological language is an approximation, offered tentatively in holy awe. - Richard Rohr

I've just started reading Richard Rohr's book The Divine Dance. He's a favorite of many of my smart friends but I've never read his works.  All I knew was that he's a Franciscan priest and writes really deep stuff.

So I wasn't sure.  Especially since this book's sub title is "The Trinity and Your Transformation."  Oh, oh!  But then I read the quote above and felt better.

I'm loving the book!  It starts out talking about those three angels who visited Abraham and Sarah and how they represent the Trinity - a concept that never entered my mind.  Rohr tells us about a fifteenth century piece of art by Andrei  Rublev  called "The Trinity," which features these angels.  The icon also features three predominate colors:

• Gold represents perfection, God, the ultimate source. 
• Blue - the color of the human, Jesus, and
• Green -  represents the photosynthesis, precisely the work of the Holy Spirit.  

So here are the three angels eating and drinking and enjoying themselves.

"In the beginning was the relationship."


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Why Young Adults Aren't Getting Married

As you well know, I like being married to Dave.  Since Adam and Eve we've used marriage as the model of how human beings should live.  "Man finds a mate."  Done!  Of course, neither Jesus nor the Apostle Paul were married, and John Wesley, the inspiration for the world wide Methodist movement, had a sketchy marriage.

As it turns out the marriage issue is very complicated and ever changing.  We were led to believe that people, particularly women, were hot wired to find a mate and reproduce.  Now we learn that a quarter of young adults (millennials) don't want to get married at all.  For those who do, they're waiting longer than ever.

So, what's up with that?

Michele Sudia, author of Miss Millennia Magazine has come up with 15 reasons why young adults are more and more disenchanted with marriage.   Here are a few of her ideas.

• Marriage is not necessary in a women's life to be successful.  
• Millennials are children of divorce.  Children of divorce tend to have more relationship issues. 
• Most millennials are in debt.  The average cost of a wedding is $26,000.  
• Since time began people have been getting married because a baby was coming.  "They had to get married" was a common assumption when babies arrived a few months after the wedding.  Contraception has changed this paradigm. 
• Sudia tells us:  "...marriage isn't the first step of adulthood...a degree is."  And with the degree comes those crippling student loans.
• Casual sex is readily available via the Internet.
• Careers are stressful.  Weddings cause more stress. 
• The traditional concept of marriage where women are property of their families, and are transferred to their husbands, is no longer appealing.  
• Marriage laws force couples to share debt and make divorce extremely expensive for both partners. 
• Many people don't like living with other people.  They like being alone - and it's become socially acceptable. 

Despite all of the above being true, I think the majority of us enjoy traveling though life with a mate.  I know I do. 

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Hard to Get There

Cartoon from this week's New Yorker

Decades ago, when I lived in Fort Lauderdale, there was a popular restaurant that everybody raved about.  But the thing was, you had to drive a long way on a dirt road then board a little barge that carried 20 people, to an island where this ramshackle restaurant awaited us.  We lined up on the pier and waited, both coming and going.  We all thought it was great and when friends came to town, that's where we took them.

A while back I told you about the restaurant in upstate New York that has an eight year waiting list.  People fly over from Europe, then find transportation for the two and a half hour trip to Damon Baehrel.  (That's the the name of both the restaurant and the chef.)  There are restaurants all over the world that are famous for being hard to find.

And don't get me started on destination weddings.

Seriously, what's wrong with us?


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