Clean Water

One summer when I was a kid, my brother, Paul, and I stayed with an aunt and uncle and their two children in the country - way in the country.  They lived there, in the woods at the edge of a corn field for a short time.  There was no electricity and no running water.  I remember it being a fun place for kids.  I did not feel deprived.  My aunt did the ironing by placing two or three of those old irons people like to use for door stops on top of the wood stove.  While she was ironing with one, the others were heating up. I thought it looked like fun.

Every day the girls went to the stream with buckets and carried in water.  Sometimes the boys ran ahead upstream and muddied up the water so then we'd have to wait until it ran clear again.  I remember this being fun.  And the water, when we finally captured it was clear and cool and tasted great.

We've come a long way since then.

As I've shared in this blog several times, clean water is not to be taken for granted.  And now we have  the Flint, Michigan mess - which has not been resolved and shenanigans are still taking place.  But help is being provided by all kinds of folks from around the country.

Many people around the world are saying water will be our next global crisis.

What can we do?  We can no longer go to the stream and expect to find clean water.  We have to rely on our government to protect us.

There's an editorial in this morning's Orlando Sentinel written by Linda Ferrone, board president of Orlando Utilities Commission explaining how Orlando receives its water from the pristine Lower Floridan Aquifer.  In addition to federal and state regulations, OUC does its own testing.

I have checked up on the water situation in my town, Altamonte Springs.  It's good.  I'm grateful.  But I want clean water for every person in the world.  That's probably not going to happen soon.  However, city water poisoning our children in this country is unthinkable.  Look up the water company in your city and other cities that interest you.  Find out if they are complying to the Federal Clean Water Act.

These days I find myself thanking God almost every time I turn on a faucet and find clean, clear water.


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Question Everything

Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd. - Voltaire

When my kids were growing up I encouraged them to question everything.  When I was a little kid I was a mess of insecurity.  Long before I knew that I was smart I liked to raise my hand in class.  But then I had a teacher who would say, when asking a question, "Who knows and knows that he knows?"  I quit raising my hand.  First off, you obviously needed to be a boy to answer the question and you needed to know-for-certain.

Currently, I'm reading a devotional called Between the Dark and the Daylight - Embracing the Contradictions of Life.  It's written by one of my very favorite writers, Joan Chittister - who is an internationally acclaimed writer, a spirituality director, a former advisor to the United Nations and a Benedictine (cloistered) nun.

Joan's chapter today was on certainty and doubt and it hit me right between the eyes.  Here are a few things Joan reminded me we were once certain about:

• The earth is flat
• The sun revolves around the earth
• Black people have low I.Q,s
• Women have low I.Q.s
• Bloodletting is curative.
• Human beings cannot fly.
• Deaf people are also dumb.
• Cigarettes are good for you. 

And she says this:  Doubt is what shakes our arrogance and makes us look again at what we have never really looked at before.  Without doubt there is little room for faith in anything. 

I talked to my daughter on the phone this morning. She, on behalf of students and teachers, is questioning some things in her school system.  I am proud.


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Adult Coloring Books

I wish I was a futurist; one of those people who can project the next big thing.  Who would ever have thought it would be coloring books for adults?  How popular are they?

• This month adult coloring books took up the top 10 spots on the New York Times best-selling list of games and activities.
• Libraries across the country are holding adult coloring programs in response to the spike in interest.  
• They're in three different sections of my Barnes and Noble store.

A couple of days ago  I bought a coloring book.  Dave was confused.

 "Why?" he said.

 "Because I understand it is calming" says I.

Dave doesn't understand the need because he is the calmest person I know.

I bought this Secret Paris book.  It says "Color Your Way to Calm" right there on the cover.  Since Dave has been doing art for decades I decided to try several of his art pencils, crayons and chalk.  I discovered they're not for me.  I'm not trying to do art.  I'm trying to relax.  So today I bought markers.  Big, bold, wet colors that go on fast.

We'll see if there's something to this for me.  My friend used a coloring book while she was on chemo and enjoyed it.  And with millions of adults now coloring there has to be something good going on.

I wonder if it will take the place of Zanax.


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Big Old Houses

Big old Queen Anne style house down
the street from us that I like to fantasize
about growing up in or raising my
 kids in.

I've just been corresponding with a friend about houses.  He was kind enough to share with me a little about the house he grew up in - a twelve room Tudor in which he was very happy.  That is until something happened to change his life.

Something always happens - but until that time, life for a child can be idyllic in a big old house.

I love big old houses.  I love to fantasize about either growing up in one or raising my kids in one.

Edwardian house in London

I did not have that experience growing up.  And, unfortunately, neither did my children.  We lived in parsonages.  Some lovely homes and some not so lovely.  And, while we were, for the most part, made to feel at home, it wasn't ours.

It wasn't like Robert Frost's "The Death of the Hired Man" who says "Home is the place where when you have to go there they have to take you in."  In a parsonage situation, home is the place that, when they want to they can make you leave.

My daughter and her husband have an older 12 room house.  It fulfills my fantasy.  Every time I'm there I make them promise they'll never move.  The house is full of love, i.e., books paintings and toys and musical instruments and kids and dogs and sofas and technology and big vats of soup on the stove.

Dr. Oliver Sacks, in his book "Uncle Tungsten," writes many pages about the house in which he grew up with his siblings, his aunt, and his parents who were both doctors.  He says this:

I grew up before the second world war in a huge, rambling Edwardian house in Northwest London. 

He goes on to say how happy he was there.  Until the war broke out and some terrible things happened. Things do eventually happen to change our lives- but if you grew up in a big old beautiful house full of love, you had a leg up on the rest of us.



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The Intern

Dave and I saw this film last week at the dollar theater.  We missed it first time around because it had mixed reviews - and I don't like seeing Robert De Niro play a jerk like he did in those awful Fockers movies.

But I thoroughly enjoyed The Intern for other reasons.  We oldies are being encouraged to work well into our 70s.  Some of us need to for financial reasons but the sad truth is, once you quit or lose a job after age 60 it is almost impossible to be hired again - no matter how qualified your are. There is tremendous elder bias despite the fact that seniors have been proven to be more reliable, take less sick days, and be respectful of their bosses.

So this movie, even though it's a fantasy in some ways, does a good job of pointing out the gifts and skills of many older folks.

Robert De Niro is just about perfect as Ann Hathaway's 70 year old intern, Ben.  He's a former executive with a servant mentality.  I know several folks like this.  One is a retired doctor and admiral in the Navy who goes to my church.  He works well in groups because he understands the chain of command - and has a servant's heart.

I hope you see The Intern and I hope it makes you appreciate and respect the older people in your life.  The least thing it will do is make you laugh - and maybe make you cry a little.


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Does God Control the Weather?

This morning in Forum we had an excellent discussion on global warming.  We discussed facts and opinions.  But our main focus was spiritual.

Does God control the weather or does God expect us to take some responsibility?  We heard lots of interesting and different - but respectful - ideas.  I was kind of surprised when my good friend talked about her grandfather and his brothers coming to Florida in 1912 as pioneers and then she ended up by saying that, by subduing the wilderness, they were a part of messing up the Everglades.

Since the International Climate Change Convention in Paris a while back there has been much controversy across the country about what, if anything, we should be doing to save our fragile planet.

In today's Parade Magazine, which comes with many Sunday newspapers across the country, there is a "puff piece" about Leonardo DiCaprio, who is one of a handful of the most successful actors on our fragile planet.  While the article is mostly about his films, I know that Mr. DiCaprio is deeply concerned about, and works hard on,  climate change issues.  And, while he doesn't come off (especially in his movies) as a deeply spiritual guy,  I liked what I read this morning.

Dotson Rader, Parade:  You're famous and rich, you can have all the women you want, do whatever you like, and instead you decide you're going to concern yourself about the fires killing orangutans in Indonesia.  Why?

Leonardo DiCaprio:  Because the idea of pursuing material objects your whole life is absolutely soulless.  Steve Jobs sat on his deathbed talking about how greed and wealth is the root problem of everything.  I believe that too.  My career has given me so much from a material standpoint.  I feel that I absolutely need to give back in whatever capacity I can.  It's my moral obligation. 


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Pork and Beans

Last night I read the latest edition of my Indianapolis Monthly magazine.  Because, while I've lived in Florida for 54 years, I was born and raised in Indianapolis.  I'm a Hoosier and proud of it.

This is the special bicentennial issue of the magazine (200 years) and features "Hoosier Hall of Fame."  Believe it or not, Indiana is famous for starting many things and producing many famous people.

But this morning I want to discuss Van Camp's Pork and Beans, founded in Indianapolis in 1861.  Shortly after I graduated from high school in January of 1956, I went to work for U.S. Steel in downtown Indianapolis.  The first day I met a woman named Joan who was about five years older and whose roommate had just left.  I moved in with her the next week and we were friends for close to 50 years until she became too ill with Alzheimer's disease to communicate.

Prior to working for U.S. Steel, Joan had been employed by Van Camp.  One of the perks of working there was to be a guinea pig for new recipes.  How many ways can you prepare pork and beans?  More than you'd think.

Following is a recipe Joan made for us one day.  I subsequently made it many times for my kids and groups of kids.  Always a hit.  It's made in layers so we'll start at the bottom.

1.  White Bread:  Joan and I used Wonder Bread because it too was introduced in Indianapolis in 1921.  It was a "wonder" because it was pre-cut, hence the saying "the greatest thing since sliced bread."  But any white bread will do.

Toast the bread.  I usually made 8 portions at a time so I put the 8 slices of bread on a foil covered cookie sheet and toasted it (both sides) under the broiler.

2.  Pork and Beans.  Put a big mound on each slice of toast.  Van Camp's no longer exist but pork and beans in a can still do.

3.  American Cheese:  Put one slice of this yellow cheese on each mound.

4.  Bacon:  Add 2 slices of raw bacon, crisscrossed on top of the cheese.

Put the cookie sheet back under the broiler and remove when the bacon is crisp and all of the yummy grease has run down into the beans.

Enjoy!


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How Much Are These Ear Drops?

We've seen some interesting stories in the last few weeks about overpriced drugs. Especially the one about Turing Pharmaceuticals owner Marten Shkreli buying a drug and then, overnight,  raising the price from $13.50 per pill to $750.00 per pill.

So when I went to Walgreen's this morning to pick up my prescription I didn't have a heart attack or anything when I was charged $223.99 for this 7.5 ml bottle of ear drops.  By the way, 7.l ml = 1 1/2 teaspoon.

How did I feel about paying this drug bill?  Well, my insurance picked up $113.99 so I paid only $110.00 out of pocket.  So I was (and still am) feeling fortunate and blessed that I can afford this particular medicine.

But I've spent the afternoon thinking about all of those folks who can't.  The first thing listed for the use of this medicine is:  ...used to treat inner ear infections in children who have tubes in the ear.

There's not much sadder than a little kid with an ear ache.  Some of my children had tubes in their ears for a time.  I don't remember paying an exorbitant amount for antibiotics - and if the meds had cost this much it would have been hard to come up with this kind of cash.

So, to all of the parents of children out there who can't afford these medicines, I hope you find help soon and that you do whatever you can to get the proper meds.  Unfortunately I didn't have them  when I was a kid - and that's why I've spent my life with serious ear problems.


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The Big Short

Dave and I saw this film yesterday, New Year's Eve day, 2015.  It's about the 2008 world wide recession caused by the big banks playing fast and lose with sub prime mortgages and such, thereby causing millions of us regular folks to lose everything.  But, as you may remember, the banks came out smelling' like roses  (due to us bailing them out) and only one banker went to prison.

Sure doesn't seem like a comedy.

It's based on a true story and stars four super famous, good looking, successful actors made to look all middle class and scruffy.  We were ready to leave about 15 minutes in, but didn't.  At the finish I left feeling depressed, smarter and scared for the future.

Scruffy Steve Carrell

But it's a good movie.  And a good learning experience.  None of us  understood what was actually happening except these four guys and (maybe) a handful of evil bankers.  The rest of them were so greedy it rendered them stupid.

Margot explaining how the bankers
almost destroyed the world economy
before kicking us out of her bathroom. 

However, in the film, we were provided with three vignettes (cameos) describing what caused the housing bubble in ways that all of us can understand.  For instance, the first cameo shows strikingly beautiful actress Margot Robbie sitting in a bubble bath, drinking champagne,  and educating us a bit.

The next cameo is of super chef Anthony Bourdain in his restaurant describing the problem by showing us his three day old fish being
made into a stew that's brand new.  Hence, it's fresh.

The last cameo is Selina Gomez in Vegas, at the tables, giving us a banking lesson.

As I said, we left the theater smarter and terrified.


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