Two Events Yesterday

 First, Judge Belvin Perry, former newscaster Carol Nelson Pond and Photo/Journalist Tee Taylor were welcomed as lifetime members of the University Club in downtown Orlando.  This would have been unheard of 40 years ago when the only folks who were welcomed in the University Club were rich, old white guys. 

So congratulations to these three who, in significant ways,  have changed the landscape for good in Central Florida.  And congratulations to the University Club for extending this lavish invitation. 

The other thing that happened yesterday is that legendary Congressman, Alcee Hastings, died.  

As a young attorney, Alcee arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida around the same time we did.  It was a time when Blacks could not stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, go to while schools - and the list goes on.  He and my husband, Ken, became good friends and worked together on projects, not only for African Americans but for women's rights.  And in later yers Alcee went on to champion the LGBT community. 

In June of 2019, when we received word that Alcee Hastings had pancreatic cancer, I wrote a blog posting about the "soup incidents." U.S. Representative Hastings was the longest serving member in Florida's congregational delegation.  He was the first African American to be elected to Congress in Florida since  Reconstruction and was reelected 14 times. 

My husband, Ken and I knew Alcee Hastings in the 70s and 80s when we lived and worked in South Florida.  Alcee, the son of house-servants, was born in my current hometown, Altamonte Springs.  But we knew him in South Florida at the height of racial tensions.  He was a great friend and mentor to us in civil rights issues in the 1970s.  At that time Ken was an urban minister (think community organizer.)

One of the things he taught us was how to keep our cool under pressure.  A couple of times we witnessed the "soup incidents."  The first time we were at a banquet.  Alcee was seated next to me.  A one point the waitress spilled soup all over him.  His response was charming.  I was concerned.  He explained that spilling soup on him (by white waitpersons) was a common occurrence.  I had to witness it one more time before I believed him. 

Alcee Hastings political life back the was highly  controversial, full of ups and downs.  In the 1980s he was impeached in the House, tried in the Senate and ousted from office.  This, despite having been acquitted of bribery charges.  Ten years later, as a respected member of the House, he voted "no" on the impeachment of President Clinton.

And now, since 1992, he has served (and easily won) his seat in the House.  Until the end he remained a savvy and popular congressman but, of course he was still controversial and still poking fun at his Republican opponents.  

I hope the soup spilling stopped at some point. 

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Cooking With the Anal Retentive Chef

 

In the late 1980s Phil Hartman was a cast member on Saturday Night Live.  He introduced some great characters, like The Caveman Lawyer and Bill Clinton at McDonalds.

But my favorites were his "Anal Retentive" skits.  He was an anal retentive fisherman who was super well organized and kept his uniformly cut bait in separate baggies, etc.  But he never got around to fishing.  He was an anal retentive carpenter who had his tool belt perfectly organized and alphabetized.  But my favorite was "Cooking with the Anal Retentive Chef."  

This guy loved plastic bags and aluminum foil.  In this photo he's holding up some celery he's just sliced but discovered that a few of the pieces weren't perfect so he had to throw them away.  He did this by sealing them in a baggie and wrapping the baggie in aluminum foil, then placing all that in a brown paper bag that he secured with scotch tape.  But then he discovered the bag had a little tear so he had to start over, but, of course,  his time was up so he never got around to cooking.  

Why am I telling you this?

I think about him often when I'm preparing my meals.  Yesterday I had my favorite, a cookie sheet meal consisting of two chicken wings, potatoes, onions and carrots.  After I got this all assembled and in the oven, I clean the kitchen, using the plastic baggie the chicken was wrapped in for the residue of onion skins and potato peelings.  After I'd eaten I scraped the chicken bones, etc. back on to the foil lined cookie sheet and carefully folded it for the garbage.  

All the while I'm thinking that I have become the Anal Retentive Chef.  And I don't feel so bad about it.  Why would I do this at my age and stage?  Because I can.  And it makes me happy.  

It's difficult to find Youtube videos of Phil Hartman.  Possibly because he died tragically while he was at the top of his game.  His wife killed him and then killed herself.   We all can relate to messy, tragic, out of control parts of our lives but  at this age and stage I'm just grateful for all of the things I can keep  neat and tidy. 

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Returning Home

 

After watching church from my couch this Sunday morning, I was feeling inspired, once more, by the message and the music.   But somehow wanting more, I watched one of my favorite movies O Brother, Where Art Thou?

This is probably my third time to see it in the 20 years it's been out.  Produced and directed by the great Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel, this film is their take on the epic poem, Homer's The Odyssey.  

I wish I could tell you I've read Homer's version but, even though I gave it a few tries and failed, I have read enough cliff notes to get the drift.

Homer's Odysseus and the Coen Brothers' Ulysses Everett McGill (played by George Clooney) are trying to get "home," whatever that means to them - and whatever that means to us.  

Like this morning's worship service, the message and old timey music in O Brother... are outstanding.  

Homer, author of The Odyssey,  was said to be blind. The Odyssey's message is that life's journey is filled with obstacles.   In the early part of  O Brother,  words of wisdom come in the beginning of the film from a blind railroad worker: You seek a great fortune, you who are in chains.  You will find a fortune, though it will not be the one you seek.  

This, to me, is the entire message for all of us.  The movie portrays this in a totally entertaining,  sometimes happy, sometime, sad, sometimes terrifying, always funny, music filled story.  You know, sort of like mine - and possibly yours.  

I love every little adventure they encounter on their way, even the hard ones.  I love "the sirens" luring them into seduction.  I love the grace that comes from unexpected places.  I love that Clooney's character, who was a delightful, self centered con artist, in the end truly repents.

The critics were divided when this movie came out.  After reading several reviews my take on that is that many of them just didn't get it.  I hope you will watch it again, or for the first time, and see what you think.  You can find it on Amazon Prime.

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Does Getting Old Make You Crazy?

Sometimes I feel a little crazy.  But it passes.

The other evening I watched a really old episode of Law & Order, way before Sam Waterston portraying Assistant D.A. Jack McCoy showed us his cranky, righteous indignation.  This was back when Michael Moriaty played D.A. Ben Stone and showed us his cranky righteous indignation.

This was the episode where this old lady's granddaughter was charged with murder for killing her grandma to get her cool apartment or (as she claimed) assisting grandma's suicide.  

Anyway, grandma was depicted as being so ancient that she had no quality of life whatsoever - and had no friends because they were all dead.  

Grandma was 82 - my age.  Lying in my bed all by myself I laughed out loud. 

But, I was forced to do some additional soul searching.  As you know, I am obsessed with the aging process and quality of life.  I sometimes do some crazy stuff,  and forget some important stuff.  I also have a chronic illness.  I've had to give up things but I've exchanged them for other things I'm free to do (like watching Law & Order marathons.)

There are so many people I love and things I care about that I can't image not wanting to be here.  

And, while there are a few people of all ages in my life who've died and left me doleful,  most friends and family who are close to my age  are living important lives - like I am. 

One time, a few years back (when I was only in my seventies,) I was leading a class of older folks.  A couple in the room who were nearing the 100 year mark had just moved to an assisted living facility.  The man stood up to say that they were pleased at how active the residents were in their new home.

He said that most of those in their 90s were doing all kinds of interesting things and "giving back."  Then added, and of course, folks in their 80s were as well - but you'd expect them to be active. 

Exactly!

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Was Dr. Seuss a Racist?

 

So, after my last post referencing Dr. Seuss and The Jax, it was reported that a Virginia school district decided to bar Dr, Seuss for being "racist?"  

And then, a day later, that information was debunked.   Dr. Seuss was an enormously successful writer of children's books.  He was, and is, beloved by millions.  

When my kids were growing up we read Dr. Seuss almost daily.  I memorized a few of his books like "One Fish, Two Fish," just by endlessly reading them to the kids.

Later on, I occasionally used Dr. Seuss poems in business meetings to make a point, as I did in the blog posting below.  One of my very favorites was The Sneetches.  It dealt with elitism, and more importantly, racism, and how we allow society to rope us in.   

Now the Star-Belly Sneetches Had bellies with stars.

The Plain-Belly Sneetches, Had none upon thars. 

This engendered discussions about how we look and what we'll do to be included in an elite circle, where others are clearly not included.  In the Sneetches story someone comes on the scene with a solution - for a price, of course.   

Then quickly, Sylvester McMonkey McBean, Put together a very peculiar machine.

And he said, 'You want stars like a Star-Belly Sneetch...? My friends you can have them for three dollars each!

And, of course, chaos ensues.  Mr McMonkey Mcbean, makes piles and piles of money with, first, his star on machine and then later, his star off machine. And then he skips town.

But, in the end, the Sneetches wise up and decide they've been misled.:

And no kind of Sneetch is the best on the beaches

That day, all the Sneetches forgot about stars, And whether they had one, or not, upon tears. 

To me, the The Sneetches is all about inclusion, even while segments of society are constantly pushing us toward exclusion. Why?  For Mr. McBean, it was profit.  But there are many sad and sinister reasons. 

***

We Don't Like Change

...I'll stand here, not budging!  I can and I will, If it makes you and me and the whole world stand still.

Of course the world didn't stand still.  The world grew.  In a couple of  years the new highway came through, And they built it right over those two stubborn Zax.  And left them there, standing un-budged in their tracks.    - Dr Seuss

Ted Geisel (a.k.a) Dr Seuss, has always been one of my favorite poets.  The quote above is from a poem called "The Zax" and is full of lessons about growth and change.  

Saturday, for the first time in almost a year I went to downtown Winter Park, something I've been doing for several decades.  With me was my friend Christie, who knows downtown Winter Park better than anyone (including me.)  She also knows the backstory on downtown development,  The following is one of those stories.  

Over the decades every single one of the homes in this corridor was torn down - except  one. The Kummer-Kilbourne house was built in 1915.  The owner's daughter, Christine Kummer, lived in the house her entire life until she died, at age 94 in 2011.  She and her husband, David Kilbourne  had successfully fended off buyers, mostly developers, for more than 50 years.  She was a member of my church during that time and that's why I began to take an interest in the house. 

But, much like the Zax in Dr. Seuss's poem, downtown Winter Park did not stand still.  I remember when Jacobson's Department Store was the house's neighbor to the North.  Now that block is full of fancy, upscale shops on the first flour and offices on the second floor.  

As the years went by and the Kilborne's aged, the house began to be in need of a facelift and some people (developers mostly) complained.  But to no avail. 

So, there it stood in the best location in the most desirable and expensive neighborhood in Central Florida.  In 2011 a developer named Allan Keen, negotiated with the family to buy the house.  The two biggest issues were price and the home's preservation.  Mr. Keen bought the green and white two story bungalow for $1,002,000 and an agreement about the home's preservation.  

Here I am on Saturday morning in front of the house.  Mr. McKeen's offices are located inside.  Beautifully landscaped and maintained, the house still has its green and white exterior.  The signage out front is all about the history of the Kummer-Kilbourne house.  

I was happy to see it - because I like beautiful old things and people. 

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The Sad Story of the Singing Cowboy

 Ken Maynard was a huge cowboy star in the 1920s and 30s.  He was the forerunner of the singing cowboy, and was one of the biggest western stars of all time.

He successfully bridged the gap between silent movies and "talkies," and was also a screenwriter and director.  He blazed the trail in Hollywood for Gene Autry and my personal singing cowboy favorite, Roy Rodgers. 

Ken also was a "sort of," a relative to mine on my mother's side of the family.   It used to be fun to brag about this because nobody had the slightest idea who he was.  But, to my surprise, several years ago I saw Ken Maynard posters on my grandsons bedroom walls. 

As I've mentioned before I'm on an email string of  40 plus story telling relatives.  This past week one of Ken Maynards's real relatives shared a bit of history about him.  He grew up in Columbus, Indiana.  He and his brother, Kerm (short for Kermit - forerunner of the famous adorable frog) were notorious for being rowdy bad boys, always into mischief.  One day there was a factory explosion in Columbus and the boys' parents first response was "what in God's name have you done now?"  

Both Ken and Kerm rode horses and were trick riders in circuses, carnivals and rodeos.  Ken eventually went to Hollywood and became a stuntman, Kerm soon followed but was never as successful as his brother.  But he was a good human being and lived a much better life.

Ken Maynard, along with all of his talent and success, was not a good person.  He was personally disliked by most everyone who knew him. He plowed through all of his money and ended up an alcoholic living in a trailer in South Florida.  A sad ending, indeed. 

For those of you who have my book,  New Day, there's a poem about him on page 16.

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