Obsessively Green Gardening

Something in the air on this gorgeous September morning has me thinking gardening. I love fall gardening. So much neat stuff to do...

Which has me thinking again about the concept of "obsessively green gardening." I see "green" in the titles of lots of lawn care and landscaping businesses, but what does it look like to take a no-BS approach to green and really obsess over green gardening...

I am thinking more of existing properties than new construction.

Here are some characteristics as I think of it. Maybe you could add to my list.

- Low to No Emissions, as in equipment, which means manual mowers, raking, edging, etc. I am not sure electric powered or battery powered equipment would qualify since the production of the electricity is far from green...I am not sold on no-til gardening but the thought of working this red clay soil without a tiller is daunting.

- Native Plants as much as possible. Native plants are more able better to bear up to the vagaries of our weather, and thus require less water and less overall maintenance...

- NO herbicides or pesticides or chemical fertilizer. None. Zero. Hmm. Would Roundup qualify since it is broken down so quickly in the soil? Tempting, but I think not.

- Water Conservation - major focus, both from a usage and a waste standpoint. Rain barrels a must, rain gardens where possible. Cisterns are very expensive. Native plants would help reduce water use. No chemicals would make for less polluted run off.

- Lawns - developing a new outlook! They need to be smaller, and where possible use more native grasses, and tolerate more weeds. What is with our obsession with lawns?

- Biodiversity - promoting more of it, as in more species of plants, insects, and animals. Choosing plants that invite more bees and birds and butterflies - especially plants that provide food in the winter in terms or berries and nuts. Reducing chemical use will allow for increased microbiological diversity in soil which will mean healthier soil and healthier insects and thus healthier birds

- Recycling - yes, this means compost bins or compost heaps - why waste all the leaves and clippings and biodegradable waste products? New compost technology reduces odors. And using recyclables, as in using recycled or recyclable gardening products as much as possible - plant containers, landscaping boards, lawn furniture, mulching materials, etc.

- Food - growing more of it! Whether in a dedicated garden or mixed in here and there organic fruits and vegetables can help with grocery bills and spice up many a recipe, or given to the local food bank!

- Vehicles - what about the vehicles used to get to a site?

So what would you add to the list?

Would you want to hire an excessively green gardener to work in your garden?

Hurray for September

September starts today. Hurray! I’ve always loved September.

I even like the name of it, how it rolls off the tongue.

I think I love those first hints of fall even more than fall itself, you know, that breeze that carries a different smell, air that seems a bit drier, and a touch a coolness unexpectedly on a Saturday morning.

I love the pennant races in baseball, and the hoopla surrounding the new football season.

I like the woods in September. There is always so much going on in the world of nature in September as plants and bugs and other creatures start to get ready for the coming winter.

I probably like September more now that I don’t have to “go back to school” as in my early years. That always kind of stunk!

I dig equinoxes, and September has one, the autumnal equinox, when the sun rises true east and sets true west, the first official day of fall.

I like gardens in September, the blooming of the late season flowers, so many plants going to seed, brave butterflies passing through or laying eggs, the beginning of the return to the earth of that season’s growth.

I like the poem “thirty days hath September…”

I like the stubble of fields harvested.

There are some September poems I have collected over the years. Here is the first stanza of Wordsworth’s "September, 1819":

Departing summer hath assumed
aspect tenderly illumed,
The gentlest look of spring;
That calls from yonder leafy shade
Unfaded, yet prepared to fade,
A timely carolling.

John Updike published a calendar for children, each month with a short poem. Here is the poem for September:

The breezes taste
Of apple peel.
The air is full
Of smells to feel-
Ripe fruit, old footballs,
Burning brush,
New books, erasers,
Chalk, and such.
The bee, his hive,
Well-honeyed hum,
And Mother cuts
Chrysanthemums.
Like plates washed clean
With suds, the days
Are polished with
A morning haze.

September seems to be a quiet month overall, one that sort of passes with little notice. It is sort of an in between month, tucked between its bigger sisters of August and October.

For Iris Dement, September in its quiet unassuming passing reminds her of the quiet passing of her life:

My life, it don't count for nothing.
When I look at this world, I feel so small.
My life, it's only a season:
A passing September that no one will recall.

OK, that’s a bit of a downer.

The change of the season from summer to fall, and from fall to winder, used to make me sad. It doesn’t anymore.

I like September. You won’t need to wake me up when September comes, I’ll be awake already.

Forest Acres Memories

Inspired by "I Remember" discussion board topic, in Facebook group "Forest Acres Friends"

...walking to Richland Mall (RM) for lunch in 9th grade. Flora had an insanely long lunch period! We would often go to the Hardees on Forest Drive! (Can you imagine how popular the OLD (RM) would be today! It would be awesome! And busy.)
...taking Nanny my grandmother to the cafeteria at RM
...looking at albums at that music store in the middle-corner at RM - what was it called?
... losing my super ball to the roof of Whites between Whites and the cafeteria at RM (I cried)
...buying my first stereo receiver (it's playing Steely Dan Pretzel Logic as I type), my Sherwood S-7100A, in the cool hi-fi shop second floor of Whites
...tubing the creek with Phil Owens running from Deerfield, across Foxhall, behind the old brick works, across Covenant all the way to Atascadero!
...riding my bike as fast as I could down Chinaberry Drive!
...buying ICEE's at the Magic Market at Forest Lake Shopping Center (FLSC)
...riding bikes down the long stairway behind Campbell's drugs at FLSC
...shopping at the Red and White at FLSC (bad memory of stealing gum and being taken back by my mom!)
...getting my hair cut at Humphries Barbershop at Trenholm Plaza (TP)
...buying shoes at Garber's Shoes at TP (and beating Garbers for Satchel Ford baseball Championship!)
...going dirt riding in the sand hills behind Piggly Wiggly across Gill's Creek, and in Wheeler's Woods behind Deerfield
...hanging out with Nanny at her Norge Village on Trenholm (the big ball sign)
...playing baseball in Marshall Moore's back yard on Meadowood
...football games at Trenholm Park (and catching passes from Mike Wiggins (Go Colts)
...going to Mrs. Salley's house after school for piano lessons on Shannon Springs
...riding bikes down Satchel Ford Road with David Hollis, Debbie Carawan, and Marjan Smith in 6th grade
...baseball, baseball, baseball at Satchel Ford - go Custom Cleaners!
...the 100 year flood behind FLSC
...playing pool with Phil Owens and Gregg Busdicker at Gregg's house on Sylvan, listening to Led Zeppelin
...playing hundreds and hundreds of pick up basketball games at Trenholm Park
...buying clothes at The Men's Shop - FLSC, Mr. Bob Moore
...late night date picnic in field behind FLSC
...working at Gillespie Cleaners on Trenholm Road
...eating at Flintstones in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot on Covenant Road
...playing third base next to either Ray Derrick or Levon Lee at short, pony league, Trenholm Park - those dudes could play
...the old Red and White grocery at FLSC
...having the best baseball coach a kid could have - Mr. Chavous, Satchel Ford Baseball
...the one and only Irene Neuffer , ump, substitute at SF, friend - Pierre's birthday parties
...throwing up tomato juice all over Mrs. Hampton's desk in third grade - and getting to go home sick as a reward!
...The post oak by the bridge over creek behind FLSC
...Mechanical Drawing at Crayton
...Mrs. Graves
...the corner post office, TP
...finding a huge eel in the ditch across from Hank Gaddis's house on Pinebranch
...Bell's (19 cents) Hamburgers on Forest Drive (and getting free burgers for reading lots of books)
...getting my first (and last) speeding ticket, pulled by a Forest Acres cop, going 55 mph through intersection of Forest Drive and Beltline, with Ron Crossland, after a Flora football game
...going to the dentist (Dr. Salter) at TP, getting a filling without Novocaine (very bad idea)
...endless ping pong games at Trenholm Park
...wasting whole days scoping out girls at at RM
...awesome fights at Crayton back when they let 'em fight a bit more...
...being dropped off by Crayton bus driver at corner of Trenholm and Forest Drive in snow storm, having to walk two miles home across Forest Lake Country Club, getting lost, with Billy Holmes
...hanging out at the Marshall's place on Citadel Drive
...riding bikes as kids from Bridgewood Road to Spring Lake, across gold course, down Country Club, through woods to duplex apts., across bridge to get ICEE's at Magic Market
...waiting (forever) for my mother to buy fabric at that fabric store on the back side of FLSC
...eating breakfast with my dad at the diner in the back of Ligget's at TP
...Happy Bookseller
...throwing up in field behind FLSC with date in car, after having eaten at The Shrimper
...riding the bus to Fairwold in 8th grade
...buying my first LP with my own money (Best of Hank Williams) at Roses, TP
...rowing in an inflatable rubber dingy with Susan Larmon  to island in middle of Forest Lake
...sitting on the first limb of the post oak tree behind the bridge at FLSC
...memorable evenings in field behind FLSC on Lakeview Circle
...playing ultimate Frisbee by moonlight with people from TEAM on fairway at FLCC
...walking to Satchel Ford, 6th grade, with David Hollis, via Briarfield
...Kirby Higbe
...riding bike at night with no hands down long slope of Satchel Ford Road and Fernwood
...getting drunk only time in life at Mark Kaffee's house with friends on 17th birthday
...A.C. Flora
...many many trips to community grocery, for many reasons (Joe...)
...Hanging out at Mackie Tompkins house with Phil Owens and other friends
...working as a bar back at some restaurant behind Richland Mall Theaters
...waiting endlessly for "mofo's" to finish all their BS behind Flora so Johnny Suggs could drive me home in 9th grade
...eating lunch with Nanny at diner at Campbell's drugs in FLSC
...Mrs Henry in 4th grade - Anne Atwater, Harry Lancaster

Why I Support Private and Non Governmental Universal Healthcare

I would like to take the next 45 minutes to write a stream of consciousness case for why I support universal health care. This is a quick draft, and I will edit as I get feedback. I wanted to put these thoughts out there while I was thinking them.

Let me say up front that I oppose nationalized health care, any sort of single payer plan, and Obamacare at least as far as I understand it so far. I am also, for the most part, a political and fiscal conservative.

Neither do I have a good working definition as to who gets to be included in the word “universal.” This in itself is a minefield. However that is resolved, I cannot see us turning our backs on the “strangers and aliens and sojourners” amongst us.

So how can I support such a notion? When I look around and see some people who live in huge houses in gated communities and others who live in relative squalor, it bothers me. Yet I know that “the poor will always be with us,” and, that pretty much any attempt to equalize things is doomed to failure, the cure being worse than the disease. I am OK with the fact that I live in a small house and one neighbor lives in a giant house and another rents a tiny apartment.

But when I look around and see that most people have some reasonably decent measure of health care and some people have none, and that many people are terribly sick and dying because of the lack of it, then I stand back and think, “wait a minute, this is just not right.” It is not unlike how I would feel going into a church,  with people who are poor and sick and dying on one side, and people who are healthy and well on the other side. I would be going into Amos mode if I witnessed that state of affairs. It would not be pretty. The very idea that the well-to-do side of the church could tolerate such a state of affairs would be evidence of deep and profound moral failure.

The city is not the church. The community is not the church. Yet it bothers me only a little less that the middle and upper classes (struggling as they [we] may be in their [our] own way) can sit back and be OK with the present state of affairs.

I am not a liberal and I am not of the mind to force the more well to do by governmental fiat to make this right, but it bothers me that WE, those that have healthcare, and who have some means, and WE, all us groupings and organizations of people who have a stake in this matter, aren't voluntarily offering solutions, solutions whereby each of us bears part of the load. That bugs me - a lot. And to the insurance companies, medical associations, the AARP, health care workers unions, hospitals, doctors offices, tort lawyers, pharmaceutical companies, pharmacies, and every other group, I say, get your butts to the table. You’re going to make less – profits, wages, down the line. Accept it. Start offering solutions. What can YOU do.

To my fellow insured Americans, let me say this. If you’re OK with all your neighbors standing in line at the emergency room to deal with flu and minor injuries and other common sicknesses, then shame on you. You should not be OK with that.

If we are NOT OK with that then we are going to have to give up something. What are you willing to give up so that our neighbors have some level of decent medical care? We’re going to have to have higher deductibles or higher co-pays - OR - someone is going to have to triage all the various needs somewhere somehow. We can’t keep the current state of affairs going. It is not just.

And to you cigarette companies who deal in sickness and death, how do you feel about all this? Do you sleep well at night? And you companies pushing soft drinks to our kids in schools, and any number of other things bad for their health, are you OK with things?

Just because a person is willing to buy something if you sell it doesn’t mean you should sell it. And it certainly doesn’t mean you should push it. How are you different than the drug pusher down at the corner?

And to all of us knowingly and willingly living high risk lives smoking, eating crappy food day in and day out, drinking too much, etc., how is it exactly that we have any “right” to have other people bail us out? How is it fair for a health insurance company not to “rate” us, and charge us more?

And you pharmaceutical companies, health insurance companies, hospital conglomerates, and so on, is your world really going to come crashing down if your margins are a little tighter.

The issue of health is a public issue. How we raise and feed cows and pigs, how we grow crops and bring them to market, what sort of poisons we put into the air and water, what sort of cars we drive – all this impacts the cost of medical care. The ground level ozone created by inefficient and gas guzzling and pollution spewing cars and trucks, and by industrial emissions, do you not think this is a health issue? Duh, it is, and it is driving up the cost of health care everywhere.

How can it be in our national and economic self interest to have so many people unable to be productive because they are sick, uninsured, victims of bad habits that decent preventative care could reduce, unemployable, missing days and days of work? How can that be good?

So what do I want? Do I want to see the government in charge of health care? No. Do I want our system to look like the one in Canada or Great Britain? No. What I want to see is groups and people voluntarily addressing their share of responsibility in the whole issue, and their share of responsibility in looking after their neighbor’s well being. Everybody needs to give up some “privilege” in order for the whole to be just and right. In the end I believe that we will all gain and live in a more healthy and just society.

As a postscript to my fellow conservatives. Obama is not correct about one important thing. This is not the last chance for a generation to pass health care reform. The tide is moving inexorably toward some sort of universal single payer plan in the absence of a private solution. If you don't want a universal single payer plan, then quit wasting your time screaming and yelling about socialism, and use your influence instead to get the private interests to the table. For if we cannot do this voluntarily it will be imposed, and through that imposition the very socialism you so abhor will become the status quo. Enough of the red herrings and scare tactics. Do something positive.

Networking for Introspective and Introverted People

from a comment I left on The Brazen Careerist blog...revised a little...

As a shy, introspective and introverted person who has been in two careers that require lots of group time and focus-on-others time, my primary advice is this: make it about them. If you are introverted you do not draw your energy from the crowd or from others. You have to know that as you consider and approach networking. Your instinct will always be toward anti-networking, or networking in an anti-face-to-face manner. Base level anxiety can over come that, but the process will be excruciating. Likewise introspection will have you analyzing everything you do and say. Did I come off as self serving? Am I just "working" the crowd? As an introspective person you will not be able to live with yourself if you answer "yes" to those questions, which you likely will. Thus, for you your networking needs a different purpose, a purpose that has meaning for you and that you can live with. Embrace the purpose that you are not the real point of your networking. In motive and in action network in order to get to know other people for their sake, to offer ways to connect other people to each other for their sake, to celebrate the myriad ways people are trying to make it out there. Do that and you will have slain the number one most deadly stench of networking, the thing others can smell a mile away, and the thing from which others run unless they see their own selfish angle, and which you would hate to see in yourself - and that is the stench of self promotion.

Richard Dawkin's God Delusion

I have just skimmed through Richard Dawkin's God Delusion (and please note, I am not a young earth creationist). Anyway, I shall now begin a careful read. At first glance it seems that Dawkins is a worse philosopher than I am a singer, is mightily ignorant of basic Judeo/Christian theology, and is giddy (like a ten year old Hannah Montana fan) over the indisputable nature of his own ideas. I think the title is appropriate, except that Dawkins is the one deluded, deluded into thinking he knows more than he does about philosophy and theology, and deluded into thinking too highly of himself and his materialist assumptions. It seems like a particular type of delusional disorder, as in delusion of grandeur. I relish the close read.

I am also reading E. O. Wilson's "The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth." I much prefer him to Dawkins.

A Prayer/Blessing for the New School Year 2009-2010

Every new school year I am reminded how time flies. The new school year is like, as Wikipedia says of Pink Floyd's "Time," "a memento mori describing the phenomenon in which time seems to pass more quickly as one ages." It's always kind of hard for me.

But here is my blessing for the new school year – it’s a prayer in the form of a blessing or benediction:

O Father:
May you keep our children safe from harm as they get to and from school each day by bus and by car
May you energize and excite our teachers for a new year of teaching, and give them a renewed love for their subjects, a love for their students, patience with central office edicts and low pay, and a renewed sense of their great calling
May you give the students a true love of learning new things in each of the areas they are called to study this year
May you moderate their homework so our students can get enough sleep
May you give wisdom and courage to the school board as it oversees the central office staff
May you give principles and assistant principals wisdom, strength, and energy to maintain order, motivate students and teachers, intervene rightly in crises, and address difficult issues each day
May you suppress gossip in the classroom and teacher’s lounges, and may you give our students respect for their teachers, and teachers for their principals
May you provide help for the overworked and underpaid throughout the system, particularly the support staff, and cause both students and teachers to show their appreciation for hard work done
May you protect each and every school from violence
May you suppress bullies of all kinds
May you give each student a growing and exciting sense of how you may use them and their gifts in serving others in this broken and fallen world
May you give those you are faltering, failing, and dropping out, new strength and vision to see a better future
May you cause students to reject drugs, sex, violence, and meanness and give help to those who are trapped in any of the above
May you help our guidance counselors, overwhelmed by so many students, have wisdom and strength to see and know and understand each person under their charge
May you give our superintendent every blessing of life, renewed purpose and vision, and primary concern for the students of Guilford County
May you call many new and talented young men and women into the great calling of teaching
Into Your hands I commit the school year, 2009/2010.
Amen

Today's Lyric: Road and Sky, Clemson Inspired

"When we come to place where the road and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide."

From "The Road and the Sky," by Jackson Browne, on Late for the Sky

That's just a really cool lyric.

The Clemson connection: During home games at Clemson the Tiger band would always warm up and get the campus excited by marching around playing "Tiger Rag." They always passed just below my window on Johnstone F-4 about 8:00 am. For some reason I also had developed a tradition of playing Jackson Browne's The Road and the Sky" as loudly as I could at some point on game day morning. My roommate in the fall 1977 season Bill Marshall and I would do a kind of hoe down dance with a broom in the middle, standing end to end handle down, doing spins and such and never letting the broom fall. It sounds really stupid and I suppose it was, but that's what we did.

I have posted a few pictures over at http://www.thetigernet.com/forums which have gotten a lot of views and comments and which have me thinking ORANGE big time!

Go Tigers!

Today's Quote: Always More to Know

"Like the human soul, an irrational number is only partly known, and however more is known of either there is always infinitely more to know."

David Berlinski, "A Tour of the Calculus"

In Defence of Health Insurance Companies

I just got off the phone with my insurance company. I spend a lot of time on the phone with them. Somehow earlier this week there had been a miscommunication between CVS and Blue Cross/Blue Shield of SC, and CVS's computers keep telling them that I’m not insured anymore. It might have something to do with the switch to COBRA, I’m not sure. I’ve called four times this week about it.

I wish I had a dollar for every hour I have spent on the phone with health insurance related matters over the years. A lot of it has centered around my children. With my policy, Blue Cross only includes children over 19 in the family policy if they have proof of being full time students. We have had to provide that proof many many times. Half the time the letters get lost in the bureaucratic haze. It can be a pain.

Not only that but we have had to be very very careful during coverage transitions to understand and play the system right in order not to get stuck in the “pre-existing” condition limbo. I am very glad for laws which guarantee continued coverage during certain kinds of transition, but there is a life fear of being cast out into the “pre-existing” darkness. I feel deeply for people stuck there.

And we would certainly qualify as a family whose financial struggles have had more to do with medical costs than anything else. Some years it has been almost crushing. We’ve helped a lot of doctors make a living over the years. And now, in between careers as I am, medical insurance remains one of the most important things on my mind day to day.

But I want to speak up for the health insurance companies.

First of all in all the years of calling and holding and waiting the customer service people at Kanawha and at Blue Cross have been courteous and helpful. I would think that my family would be an insurance company’s worst nightmare. Nonetheless I have only ever had good service.

Second, my insurance company has helped to keep down health care costs more than my doctors have. Blue Cross is always rejecting the number submitted by the doctors’ offices and hospitals and such. If I were a doctor I don’t think I’d like insurance companies at all.

Third, though we have had more medical expenses than average, we certainly have paid a whole lot less in premiums (well, actually, until recently my employer paid the premiums, but the idea is the same) than has been paid out to us in coverage. Faced with several surgeries (mostly athletic) along the way, baby deliveries, wisdom tooth removals, prescriptions, physical therapy,, braces, contacts, dental costs, plus my recent stuff, well, we’d be out of luck and out of money for sure by now.

Fourth, I am often surprised that the insurance companies cover as much as they do. I do wish that we as a society had some sort of universal basic coverage for everyone, and this reflection is not (yet) addressing the issue of the uninsured. But we as individuals and as people do have high expectation that we should be able to have this and that treatment or procedure or medication and that it shoudl be convered. But do we really have any sort of fundamental right to “covered” medical care? Many of the things our family has paid for, and to which insurance has contributed, well, we could have lived without, suffered without like people have all through history. We simply cannot have the medical care expectations that we do and expect medical expenses not to be significant.

I think that most of us except perhaps the chronically uninsured and under insured have unrealistic expectations. It amazes me that the system can absorb as many of these expectations as it does.

I am grateful for the health insurance we have had. I don’t think health insurance companies are uniquely evil as compared with everybody else, including those of us who are insured. There is plenty of darkness to spread around.

I just don’t see the point in demonizing the insurance companies, doctors, the pharmaceutical companies, lawyers, hospitals, the insured, those that are expensive to care for because of bad habits, or anyone. We’re all in this mess together and most every participant has a mix of good intentions/expectations and bad intentions/expectations, including me, and probably you too.

Each and every one of us who has had the privilege to participate in the benefits of our medical system needs to be willing to carry a portion of the burden in insuring the uninsured. I personally would rather see this shared burden take place through mutual agreement by all concerned. I am open to considering various plans as long as I am given reasonable chance to understand them. I wish Obama would quit demonizing the health insurance companies. I don't think that helps. If we really as a society want to see medical care extended to more people we will all have to pay for it one way or another, so let’s go into the process thinking and knowing that up front. Let’s spread the burden around as evenly as possible without making demons out of the other participants in the system. We will all have to pay a little more or make a little less. It's not very complicated.

That’s what I think.

Clemson in Snow, 1977, Old Hotel Hill

I posted this in honor of a few new Facebook friends who went to Clemson. This was a great snow fall, and we had a blast. I think I just happened to have B&W in my camera. More B&W Clemson in the snow pictures here (along with Clemson football pictures, Downtown Clemson at night, Issaqueena Dam, etc).

King Cat Receives His Kiss

Over the last few days our orange male in-door-out-door cat Curdoroy has taken to sleeping on top of the piano. He had been sleeping mostly on a towel or blanket on the living room couch. I am thinking that the surface of the piano is cooler. He sleeps in between the lamp and the metronome. The latter is as light as a feather and close to the edge of the pianotop, but Corduroy hasn't knocked it over yet. That has always amazed me about cats. Can you imagine a small dog on top of the piano? There would nothing left up there.

In the picture above Corduroy is sleeping on the carpet by the back door in winter. I just wanted you to have an image of Curduroy in your mind.

Corduroy makes many interesting vocalizations that I have learned to understand. There is "I want out," "I plan to jump in your lap," and "come overt here and rub my ears" etc.

I like rubbing his ears and head and talking to him. I think my voice is soothing. This morning he did manage to kick over the stand that holds the piano music. It is very light and is on a delicate pivot. He must have stretched and bumped it and it pivoted and fell flat with quite a bang. It startled me, and when I looked over at Corduroy he was sitting up wild eyed, like, "what was THAT!" So I started talking to him in the soothing "good boy" voice I reserve for animals, and it seemed to settle him down.

When I got up a few minutes later I walked over to pet him, and I noticed something kind of cool. The usual routine involves rubbing his head and scratching under his chin. Sometimes he rolls over, the command to rub his tummy. Anyway, I usually talk to him in that voice reserved for animals, and pretty much always give him a kiss on top of the head before I leave.

I noticed something today. As I was bending over to give him the kiss on the head he slightly lowered his head and extended his neck giving me a clear target. I thought that interesting and ten or fifteen minutes later before I left the house I went through the same routine, and again he made that slight motion with his head. Clearly he understands that there is a routine.

I wonder why he does that? Is it to make the whole thing less annoying? Is he trying to make sure I don't contaminate his head except right on the very top? Does his cat brain have some sense of this as a gesture of something - does it mimic an action in the cat world or in cat families? I have noticed on occasion our other male cat Socks licking the top of Corduroy's head. Now Corduroy is the numero-uno cat in our cat world. He is the boss. Is receiving a lick (from another cat) or a kiss (from a person) on the top of the head a way of acknowledging his role as head cat? As King? From his standpoint is my kiss on the head an act of subservience on my part?

Animal behavior never ceases to amaze me.

It's All About Me -- Reflections on Social Networking

The other day Kim Burgess and I were talking in a Facebook thread about the great music of the 60’s and 70’s. I think we both feel privileged to have grown up during such an explosion of creative popular art. I have realized recently that there was SO much great music coming out SO fast during that time, that it is simply taking a lifetime to process it. That doesn’t mean the music in the present isn’t good. Nor does it mean that there is not great music to look forward to. It just means that there is ongoing processing yet to do, trying to wrap minds around a culturally unique chain of events and the art it left behind.

Such sharing is one of the blessings of social networking.In making mention of Steely Dan I have made a ”connection” with someone whom I may never meet but with whom I have much in common. And that is just the point of saying anything in this medium really – to make connection.

Someone was on my case about the pictures of younger days I had put up recently, thinking it weird, like I was stuck in the past. I don't think so. In fact, I had recently had a chance (finally) to finish one of a hundred life projects – going through my old slides, this time with the extra “eyes” of one of my daughters. When we looked at them we tried to discern what had merit as a photograph, what had merit as a record of events, what had merit as encapsulating a moment in time, and what had merit in potentially making a connection with or bringing blessing to some other person or people. I posted a few pictures of Clemson football games in 1977. There is historic and aesthetic value in such things, but also shared memories with many people. These shared memories are a connection point between me and them. It's really cool.

Sometimes I write about more personal aspects of my life – my job search, my health, my musical interests, my religious faith and so forth. I actually don’t find my life terribly interesting. I am a pretty dull average middle class southern boy. What I do find interesting is the portion of the human experience in which I get to share, and the connections to history and to other people that such experience gives me. I have a list of 150 story topics based on events of my childhood that I hope one day to turn into memoirs. The point of such memoirs would not actually be me at all, but the era and the slice of history that is revealed in the life of one average person. It may seem indulgent to some, and if I ever write the book they would not need to read it. The ones who will enjoy it will be the ones who either see themselves in its stories, or who appreciate the chance to step back and understand a period of history through the experiences of one minor participant.

I've just left one twenty year long year career as a pastor (Oh dear, there I go again, talking about me). The pastoral ministry is pretty all-consuming. There are a lot of things you must simply put aside to be able to do it, There are many rich things you gain, most importantly the privilege of studying and teaching the Scriptures, and even more for me the amazing privilege of being with dear people at some of the most significant moments of their lives.

But coming out of that world for me has involved a kind of re-engaging in aspects of life I had laid aside, of taking things up that I had set down, of doing things I hadn’t much been able to do and seeing people I haven’t much been able to see. One of those things is live music. In case you missed it, I LOVE live music. I hope I get to go see live music on a regular basis until the day I keel over. In fact, right in the middle of a ripping guitar lead would be a great time to keel over. They could just carry my body to the back of the building mosh pit style and keep on rockin’ as far as I care. I don’t much see the difference in a fifty year old guy liking life folk-rock music than a seventy year old female liking the symphony. Whatever.

Ailments provide great connection points! Whether it is migraine or plantar fasciitis or foot in mouth disease, nothing connects with other folks like common suffering. It’s kind of fun to see how different people deal with and process ailments that are “common to man.” I find the connecting points fascinating. I find the ways that people talk about and process and handle different life challenges fascinating. Life is rich. Snippets of life-richness leak out all the time in this medium, which is one reason I think people engage in it.

Pets, oh my, do they ever provide a platform for human connection. When I was a kid and a teenager I used to walk with my dog all over the place. Well, I walked and he ran, up and down and in and out of yards and creeks. The cool thing was that I could hardly ever get through a walk without stopping to talk to people. Inevitably Algeber or Clancey would sense their cue and run over and say hi to the neighbor and the neighbor's dog. I knew almost everyone up and down several streets, just because of my dogs! I also mowed half the yards in my area – guess where I met most of those people? Going on walks with my dog. You might see an analogy here - I hope you do.

Facebook and Twitter and Flickr are no substitute for “real” face to face conversations and community. I put “real” in quotation marks though because some face to face relationships/community aren’t real at all (they can be very superficial and phony), and some online relationships/community can be quite “real” (and not superficial and phony). Yet one of the factors that can make online presence more authentic can also make it more irritating and upsetting. Many of the normal real life cues, such as facial expressions, body language, and tone and volume of voice just aren’t there online. It’s easier to be a jerk. So, on balance, I think people should probably spend at least as much time with people in the flesh as they do online, well, if they can.

Maybe all this is just an “apology” for confessional writing. There are many other kinds of writing. I am probably best at arguing and debating, but I’d rather do that on a blog, or, actually, in person. I find a good argument very stimulating and fun as long as people keep their cool. But just not in the social networking medium.

Well, life to live. Got to go. Thanks for reading, and if it annoys you, hey, just don’t read my stuff.

Clancey - One Beautiful Dog

This is a picture of Clancey, our Irish Setter back when I was in high school and college. Clancey and I were down at the spillway between Spring Lake and Forest Lake in Columbia SC, and he had been for a swim. I have no idea what he was looking at.

I can relate to the one stanza of Mr. Bojangles, except I guess I would have to say "after thirty years." Clancey was a great dog.

Of Mr. Bojangles, the song says:

"He danced for those at minstrel shows and county fairs
throughout the south
He spoke through tears of 15 years how his dog and him
traveled about
The dog up and died, he up and died
And after 20 years he still grieves"

Check out my photostream, including more recently posted pictures of Clancey

Looking for Work in All the Right Places (I Hope)

Dear Friends,

I thought I would go ahead and post the basic content of a letter I have sent out to several friends and also posted on FaceBook. Basically I am seeking the help and prayers of those who are so inclined as I continue to look for work.

I am very thankful to have had the privilege of tutoring several students from Caldwell Academy in physics over the last six weeks or so. It was a joy and blessing and reminded me of how much I like teaching and working with young people in that setting. I also have had the opportunity to help a local company redesign their web/blog site and integrate social networking into their overall web based presence. I’ve learned a lot and think I have been helpful to that company.

I continue to network, talk to people, wait, and pray as to my "third career." Given the state of the economy and the inherent challenges transitioning out of a career in pastoral ministry, I am taking a patient and longer term approach. Meantime I must pay the bills of course so I am concentrating more on finding work in various areas where I have skills and can be of service. I am open to teaching being that third career (or first career reprised), but this isn’t the greatest time to re-enter that field.

So, here is a list of things I am competent to do. If you are a praying person your prayers would be appreciated. Feel free also to disseminate the list to others who might have interest in these services. I would appreciate it. Oh, rates vary according to the nature of the individual task.

Tutor – Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Physical Science, Algebra, Calculus, English Composition

Teach – most of the above (though I am only approved at GCS for Biology and general science)

Edit – Pretty much anything – technical documents, essays, work proposals, difficult personal letters, and research papers, etc.

Write – Pretty much anything except fiction -- technical documents, essays, work proposals, difficult personal letters, research papers, syllabi, etc

Integrate – web/blog with social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIin, etc. Testimonials or recommendations are available upon request

Digitize (and edit where needed) – slides, negatives, prints, old pictures, albums, and cassettes (videos soon)

Digitize (and edit where needed) – documents of all kinds and all lengths (such as medical records, legal documents, family letters and documents, old typed papers) from one page to hundreds of pages

Build – a Blog/Web Site using the WordPress platform (I have to subcontract complex graphic customization)

Mediate -- all sorts of personal and professional quandaries (pre-lawyer)

Consensus Build – with all sorts of groups that strive toward unity of vision

Speak – advocate, teach, sell, articulate, explain, officiate, guide group meetings, etc.

Take Pictures – of anything you want (not weddings or people portraiture), by the day or hour or subject, handing over the memory card to you, or processing the photos for a fee.

Degunk - older or slower computers equipping them with free utilities for ongoing maintenance

That should be enough for now

Thank you,

Joel

PS - Please feel free to follow me on Twitter (I'll follow you back), subscribe to my Blogger site, or visit me on Flickr. Links are below.

Joel Gillespie
301 S Elm Street, Suite 516
Greensboro NC 27401
336-207-0196
e-mail: gillespie.joel@gmail.com
blog 1: http://joelgillespie.blogspot.com
blog 2: http://joelgillespie.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/joelgillespie
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joelgillespie
Twitter: http://twitter.com/joelgillespie
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/joelsandersgillespie

Obama Natural Born Citizenship Qualification

There has been a lively discussion over at Jeffrey Sykes’ Facebook page about the Obama citizenship question. Jeffrey wanted to know whether any of his readers actually knew personally any other people (especially Republicans) who did not think Obama was born in Hawaii and did not thereby meet the Constitutional qualifications to be President. Polls say that such people exist, but Jeffrey (a Republican) doesn’t know any. I don’t know any either. Do you know any?

Jeffrey thinks (rightly I believe) that the issue is a distraction from the much more important issues which we all face.

As for myself I am quite satisfied that Obama was born in Hawaii and meets all constitutional qualifications to be President. I do not believe for a minute that the posted copy of the certified birth certificate is a forgery.

I do think however that Obama should take the initiative and release a scanned copy of the original birth certificate. As far as I can ascertain (based on what I have read and on my own experience) the “certified” copy is an official document certified to be true to the original. Original birth certificates around the time Obama and I were born were often messy affairs with semi illegible writing and more information than is needed for a legal certified copy. If I am correct about this then it interests me why Obama does not allow release of a copy of that document.

OK, I realize that some people hell bent on being a pain in the neck will say it’s a forgery; I just think the number of people who have nagging concerns would go way down.

So the question of why Obama won’t call for a release of a copy of the actual original birth certificate interests me. It must be either that he thinks the ongoing issue works in his favor, or that he has concerns about some of the other information on the original certificate.

All this gets me to my real point. I think the “natural born citizen” requirement in the Constitution needs amending, again. First, it is vague on the surface of it. After two amendments and several Supreme Court cases it is still unclear exactly what it meant or means. Second, its original purpose seems dated. Do we really think for example that a person who moved to Ohio as a child from Poland is going to be a Polish spy or more or less likely to uphold/undermine the Constitution than a person born in Ohio to Polish parents on the same date? Do we think that a child born to an American citizen living briefly in England is more or less likely to uphold/undermine the Constitution than an older or younger sibling born in the United States or in a US territory or at a US military base?

My third daughter was born in Vancouver. That makes her a natural born Canadian citizen. She also was granted U.S. citizenship by virtue of the fact that she was born to an American citizen. But she does not meet the qualifications to become President. Laurel would make a great President, at least as good as any of her two older or two younger sisters – all born in the US.

I think that there should be a citizenship requirement, an age requirement and a significant residency requirement. I think we should get rid of the “born citizen” requirement altogether. Again, a citizenship requirement, an age requirement and a significant residency requirement should be enough.

And then there is another matter: no current statute as far as I know specifies what kind of documentation is required to meet whatever birth or citizenship requirements that are there. If we keep things as they are in terms of that article of the Constitution at least there needs to be a uniform documentation requirement.

Well, that’s what I think anyway

Escape to a Beautiful Place

So, you're stuck there at your computer, and you're tired, and you want to get away and rest your mind and heart, and you need to take a deep breath and feel like you're in a different place and space. Well, if that describes you then check out a web site called Luminaire Images. Luminaire Images is meant to highlight the photographic work of it's author, Molly Ann. I do not know Molly Ann - she lives in California. I came across her site via a link on Twitter. I have found it to be one of my favorite places to stop in for a "rest." Her photography is beautiful, and she has arranged slide shows with music that together are both beautiful and soothing. I hope you will check it out. Oh, and she is available for weddings and such - just a short plane ride away.

What If...Oragantans

I was looking at the web site of an organization devoted to the preservation of orangatans when I had the thought...what if the Creator's most special treaures were His creatures like the organtans and we were placed here to look after and take care of them, and given the special and necessary gifts of rationality, creativity, and conscience ((being created in God's image) in order that we might do so... I mean, maybe we look at things backwards. I don't know, maybe...

Twitter Down

I have been trying to get on Twitter off and on all day. Are they having a crash? Anybody know?

Today's Picture: Clemson Team on The Hill, 1977, Joe Bostic, Jeff Bostic, Charlie Pell, Archie Reese

I took this picture on "The Hill" at Death Valley in the fall of 1977. This was year of Clemson's ascendancy to national prominence under coach Charlie Pell. That is Pell in the white dress shirt. Behind his left shoulder is Greensboro's own Jeff Bostic. In front of Pell is Archie Reese. Behind Pell to his right is another Greensboro native - Joe Bostic. Archie Reese, Jeff Bostic, and Joe Bostic went on to NFL careers, Jeff winning three Super Bowl rings with the Washington Redskins.

By good fortune I have been able to find and scan some really cool stop action shots, including a couple of the well known game between Notre Dame and Clemson in 1977. The detail is amazing. Go to my flickr site, click on the picture you like, and then click on "All Sizes." I think you will find it pretty cool.

I even have a picture of North Carolina in a pre game warm up.

If anyone knows the Bostics send them the link - they might like the shot with Coach Pell

Today's Lyric: Old Friends (Today's Theme)

Can you imagine us

Years from today,

Sharing a park bench quietly?

How terribly strange

To be seventy.

Old friends,

Memory brushes the same years

Silently sharing the same fears

from "Old Friends," Simon and Garfunkle (By Paul Simon), from Bookends, 1968

Today's Picture: Old Friends - a Moment in Time

Arlene, Margaret, Grace, Calvin, and Kathy, in a field in the NC mountains, November 1977. I love this little "moment in time" capture. There were nine of us on that trip - not shown are Sherb, Bill, Van, and myself. The links are to pics taken on that same day in black and white.

Today's Quote: "You only get one set of old friends" http://ping.fm/q4ZrG

Today's Quote: Only One Set Of Old Friends

"You only get one set of old friends" An old friend of mine's husband. July 2009

Today's Picture - How I Wish I Still Looked :-)

Me, On Train in England, from Oxford to London to Liss, June 1978. I was 20.

Helping Allison move from Oxford to a flat near Greatham near Liss. Scanned from a 3 by 5 black and white print. Taken by my Allison with my Fujica ST 801.

More pictures of me along the way.

We'll call this a combination of birthday nostalgia and narcissism. Wish I still had the hair.

Today's Lyric: One Day Closer to Death. Gee, Thanks - http://ping.fm/jNuWp

Today's Lyric: One Day Closer to Death - Gee, Thanks!

I love this Facebook Happy Birthday from Rock 92! Cheery, eh? I do like the song...

"Happy Birthday To Our Favorite P1!

'The Sun is the same in the relative way, but you're older

Shorter of breath and one day closer to death.'

(Pink Floyd - "Time" from 'The Dark Side of the Moon', 1973)

Have a great birthday!"

Today's Quote: Not a Toilet Head

"She's not a toilet head" The boss of a friend's daughter about his daughter who remembers things from one day to the next - i.e. no brain flush

Driving back from the homeland. Sunny and green on 85. Cooler too. No backups so far. Goodbye for now SC.

Today's Photo: A Good City Intersection

I took this picture from the roof of the Guilford Building looking down upon the intersection of South Elm and Washington Streets. That is South Elm Street running left to right (north being to the right), and Washington Street running from top to bottom (the top of the picture pointing west).

I have crossed this intersection on foot or in a car hundreds if not thousands of times over the last two years, from every direction. This is a very pedestrian friendly intersection. The crossing lights are clear and obvious. The brick walkways delineate walking space very clearly. Cars are set back enough not to impede or inconvenience pedestrian traffic. Most of the eight sidewalks emanating from the intersection are wide, also delineated by the color and texture of brick, and separated from the street by a buffer. It is, in summary, a lively and a safe intersection for the pedestrian.

As a driver I have found the intersection very efficient as well. There are left turn lanes coming from each direction. This does a lot to keep traffic moving quickly. Traffic flows well through the intersections, but at a measured and safe rate. This intersection is thus both pedestrian friendly and driver friendly.

More and more intersections downtown need to work as well as this one.

More downtown pictures.

Today's Lyric: Is There a Bustle in Your Hedgerow?

"If there's a bustle in your hedgerow

Don't be alarmed now
It's just a spring clean
For the May queen"

Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin IV

I've always loved this line ever since Mackie Tompkins and I spent hours on the phone in 9th grade trying to figure the song out, to no avail of course. The "bustle in your hedgerow" line is preceded by that great drum transition after the soft interlude. Although I realy don't have any idea what the lyrics above mean, I'll actually use the "Is there a bustle in your hedgerow?" question in the sense of "Is there something bugging you?" or "Are you freaking out about..." or "Why have you worked yourself into a lather?" I like asking people the question just to get the look on their faces, like, "huh?"

DDG and the Futue of Downtown Greensboro

I have been thinking about the Downtown Design Guidelines now being considered by the city of Greensboro. Until recently I have had little basis for an opinion. I rarely came downtown except for special events like Fun Fourth. I spent little to no money downtown. I really didn't think much of downtown Greensboro.

But now I am downtown almost every day. I have an office at South Elm and Washington. I walk around a lot. I work and socialize and spend my money downtown. I like downtown, well, the part in which I spend my time, which is mostly Elm Street between Center City Park and the railroad tracks.

There are many factors that make a downtown space attractive and appealing to me personally, and one factor more important than all the rest.

Downtown has to be pedestrian-friendly. This is the key factor. There must be ample and safe room for strolling, and little fear of being run down. This invites foot traffic to the shops and restaurants and art venues. To make this strolling pleasant and safe there must be wide sidewalks and narrow streets with slower traffic. Who would ever stroll on purpose along or across Davie or North Green Street? Shade also contributes to a positive pedestrian experience as does having a place to sit down.

There is aesthetic/emotional aspect to a space being inviting or friendly. Parks and green spaces, even small ones, mitigate against claustrophobia and urban fatigue. Many very large cities in which I have lived (or visited for some time) have managed to preserve these green spaces at appropriate “intervals," intervals in the sense of distance (providing physical rest for the pedestrian), intervals in a spatial sense (opening of the feel of the city and reducing claustrophobia), and intervals in an aesthetic sense (providing change in color and texture, particularly in the sense of softer colors and softer textures).

The aesthetic/emotional aspect is impacted by many other factors too – green spaces, hanging flowers, interesting architecture, and what I might call “composition,” that is, the visual balance of sky, street, tree, and building, a balance which contributes to a pleasing and relaxing experience for the pedestrian.

When I think of pedestrian traffic I am not thinking so much those folks who commute to downtown, hurry from car to office, rush out from their office buildings to have a quick lunch only to rush back to office, hurry later from office to car, and leave downtown. Certainly these folks enhance the economic vitality of downtown in many ways.

But it is the non-commuting pedestrians who make a downtown pedestrian-friendly. This kind of pedestrian is not in a hurry. He or she "strolls" more than rushes. I commute downtown, but I "hang out" downtown too. I have the flexibility to do that.

Downtown needs residents. Residents create demand for services and then the availability of services attracts residents. The more people who actually live in a downtown the better the pedestrian experience will become.

There is another kind of "commuter." This is the person who drives downtown in order to enjoy downtown - go to a play, eat dinner, have a drink, shop around, etc. This kind of commuter leaves car behind in a parking space to become a non hurried pedestrian. As far as developing the kind of pedestrian traffic that is most desirable, this sort of commuter is very important - crucially important.

Downtown can no longer compete with suburban shopping centers for car-based shopping and business. Any attempt to try will fail. For downtown to be vital it must offer an alternative - a much needed alternative - to the suburban car centered shopping center. It must be pedestrian friendly.

Having read about the founding of Greensboro and a little bit about its history I would have to conclude that it has been extremely poorly planned from the beginning. It seems that short term expediency has guided planning measures more than anything else along the way. The city has woefully lacked vision – vision that extends into the future to children and grandchildren.

I say that because I see almost no recourse for parts of downtown other than ripping up some of the main streets and rebuilding the traffic-pedestrian-store interface. We need to get rid of the multi lane one-way racetracks. These streets act as barriers to the growth of a pedestrian friendly downtown.

Obviously downtown needs investment dollars from the private sector. But a “downtown” as a physical/cultural/economic entity almost inherently requires collaboration from many sectors – the private sector of course, the local and state governments, and various advocacy and interest groups.

I know that there is much debate at present about architecture – about maintaining the “ambiance” of the more architecturally interesting and coherent older buildings. I myself like this ambiance.

As I weigh the primary need – that is, of making downtown pedestrian-friendly – against the interests of historical preservation and architectural conservation, I think I am less concerned about the architecture of many of the old buildings (on Elm for example) as I am in attracting capital for new residences and businesses. Many of the older buildings in the 300 block of South Elm, while having interesting and diverse facades, do not strike me as being particularly noteworthy structures. All things being equal I would much prefer to see them preserved, but if I had to choose I'd rather see newer structures designed and built as part of a strategic plan to attract residents and businesses into a pedestrian-friendly downtown.

If extensive renovation or reconstruction would impede the development of more residences and pedestrian-friendly businesses, then I’d rather see new construction which “mimics” a generally desired look or feel. I certainly would not wish to see any more buildings like First Citizens, which is to me the most horrid building in downtown Greensboro (next to the News and Record and the various Stalin-esque government buildings). I would want to see enough of an actual planning framework in place to assure visual and aesthetic coherence, yet with wiggle room to allow for diversity, which is itself interesting and pleasing. But the bottom line is that if there is no investment there will be no people and no impetus to convert the rest of the downtown core into something vital and pleasing.

There has to be a bold vision that is embodied in clear and accessible planning guidelines. The city has a key role in establishing and articulating) this vision – seeing ahead ten or twenty or even fifty years and putting in place the framework for getting there. Everyone needs to “give” – the city which may want to control everything, the developers who may wish to build anything, and the preservationists who may wish to preserve at all costs.

I hope as the process runs its course various interests can coalesce as one mind and find ways to balance varying interests. That’s asking a lot, and perhaps praying people have their own role in this process too.

Alice Cooper playing a great song from back in the day. Nantucket Sleighride by Mountain.

Digging Marshall Tucker in the car. At a light. Take the Highway. Rock 92. Southern rock block.

XP to 7 "Clean Install" - O the Dread

OK, so I have two underpowered desktop systems, one with leaking capacitors that I think I can replace, the other that I have just fixed enough to use. Windows 7 promises not to be nearly as bloated as Windows Vista or even Windows XP, which means that having Windows 7 would enable me to extend the life of these machines (before I switch over to Macs!). But there is no upgrade track from XP to Windows 7.  One has to reformat the hard drives and do a clean install.  OK, there is some merit whenever one uses Windows in doing a clean install once a year. But who has the time? It's a big hassle. Getting new Windows systems now or after Windows 7 comes out would be about as equally as much trouble in terms of reloading everything. So, if I am going to have to go through the expense and trouble, why not just get the Macs now.

Problem is, I don't have the money, but if I did, the lack of a clean upgrade pathway from XP to Windows 7 would definitely lean me away form a Windows system. I just don't get it.

Today's Picture: My Aunt Evelyn Dressed for Prom, Mid 1930's

This is my great aunt "Aunt Evelyn," then Evelyn Andrews, in her prom dress, mid 1930's, in LaGrange, GA. Evelyn was the youngest sister of my grandmother "Nanny." Evelyn was about 18 years younger than Nanny. They were in fact half sisters. Nanny's mom died when Nanny was a little girl, and her dad remarried. Nanny had a brother John and a sister Evelyn by her step mother, whom she always called just "mother." Since I first posted this picture on Flickr a few years ago my dear Aunt Evelyn passed away in the summer of 2007 in LaGrange Georgia surrounded by loving family.

For more pictures of my Aunt Evelyn and her siblings and daughters (and wonderful great nephew) check out my Flickr set, "The Andrews Family."

Today's Quote: from Thomas Hardy

"When Farmer Oak smiled, the corners of his mouth spread till they were within an unimportant distance of his ears, his eyes were reduced to chinks, and diverging wrinkles appeared round them, extending upon his countenance like the rays in a rudimentary sketch of the rising sun."

Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd

This is the very first sentence of the Thomas Hardy book Far from the Madding Crowd. Hardy is worth reading just for his great sentences!

Today's Lyric: from Jackson Browne

"But when you know that you've got a real friend somewhere suddenly all the others are so much easier to bear"

Jackson Browne, The Late Show, Late for the Sky

2, 3, & 5 (Heather, Laurel, and Madeline)

I took this with by brand new uber cheap Canon point and shoot. The truth is I'm not going to carry my big DSLR around with me all the time, and it's nice to have a camera I can pull out of my pocket and snap! Thanks kids!

Joel's Top 10 Songs of All Time - Sort Of

He said: Sounds like a list you need to post - "Joel's Top 10 Songs of All Time......"

I said: Well, if I ever post a top ten songs list it would likely include 6-8 from among the following (since this is off the top of my head):

Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones
Early Morning Riser by Pure Prarie League
Have You Ever Seen the Rain by CCR
Resplendent by The Vigilantes of Love
Love, Reign O'er Me by The Who
The Abbey Road side B medley (or Hey Jude) by the Beatles
Since I've Been Loving You (or Stairway to Heaven) by Led Zeppelin
Fountain of Sorrow by Jackson Browne
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberto Flack
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol (or Precious Angel) by Bob Dylan
Have You Ever Loved a Woman by Derek and the Dominos
Where the Streets Have No Name (or New Years Day) by U2
Paranoid (or War Pigs) by Black Sabbath
Fly Me to the Moon by Tony Bennett
Gravity by John Mayer
Beside You (or Into the Mystic) by Van Morrison
I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry by Hank Williams
Always on My Mind by Willie Nelson
Statesboro Blues (Whipping Post or Melissa) by the Allman Brothers
Hotel California by The Eagles
Helplessly Hoping by CSN
Let's Stay Together by Al Green
Hallelujah by Rufus Wainwright
Blue by Lucinda Williams
Whammer Jammer by J Geils Band
Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland (or Israel Kamakawiwoʻole)
Question 67 and 68 by Chicago Transit Authority
A Long December by Counting Crows
Roll Over Beethoven by ELO

And then I said: these are my personal favorite songs, not a list of what I think are the greatest or most historically significant songs...you can make your own list :-) and what's on your list does interest me...

Now, to whittle it down...

Those Worn Out Computer Blues

My laptop, it did fall and crack it's head
Oh yeah my laptop, it did fall and crack its head
So I better back up all the data
Because very soon it will be dead

My office desktop - you know the CD drive don't work
Oh yeah my office desktop - you know the CD drive don't work
So I can't load any new software
And it's about to make me go beserk

The one at home - it's so old it's leaking stuff
Oh yeah, the one at home - it's so old it's leaking stuff
It's past time to buy a new one
'Cause I've really had enough

And so I'm thinking, is it time to switch to Mac
Oh yeah I'm thinking, is it time to switch to Mac
But then the money it would cost me
Would have me living in a shack

And so I'm crying, those worn out computer blues
Oh yes I'm crying, those worn out computer blues
It seems that I'm heading for the poor house
No matter, no matter what I choose

Post Oak Tree, Green Hill Cemetery, Greensboro

See my new Flickr set - trees.

Look here for a more detailed description of this wonderful oak species.

My Walter Cronkite Memory

I was very sad today to hear of the passing of Walter Cronkite. He was a fixture of my childhood, and his voice is ever etched in my memory.

I have one particular and very special memory of Walter Cronkite. It again involves his voice.

In April of 1980 my parents and I were gathered on a Saturday morning (if I am not mistaken) for my formal induction into Phi Beat Kappa. Walter Cronkite was to be the guest speaker, and we were all looking forward to that.

But when we got to the banquet hall and took our seats it was announced that Mr. Cronkite would not be able to attend. During the night, half way around the world, Operation Eagle Claw, President Carter's bold attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran, had ended in disaster in the Iranian desert and been aborted. We had heard about it on the news that morning. It was very sad for me as I liked President Carter and of course wanted to see the hostages freed as soon as possible.

So, as we all took our seats we received the news: Walter Cronkite had had to stay in Washington to cover the story. Someone else filled in, and that was fine, but what I especially remember is Cronkite's voice.

For Mr. Cronkite, despite the seriousness of the news that day, took the time to call in and speak to us all and apologize for his absence. There was a sad gravity to his voice, yet in that short call he took the opportunity to congratulate us all and wish us well in life.

I thought it was a classy thing to do.

We didn't get to see him, but we did get to hear him, and maybe on that sad day in our national history that was just what we most needed.

Guilford Trees

My office at present is on the 5th floor of the Guilford Building on South Elm in Greensboro. I love it downtown. I look to the north out of my window and see downtown proper and beyond. Though I can’t make out individual trees in the distance, there is a lot of green out there.

A while back I had an office in a building near the corner of Westridge Road and Battleground Avenue. There was a parking area that backed up to a gas station, to one neighbor’s back yard, and to a side road called Nathaniel Street. There was a small buffer of a few feet between the parking lot and each of these different bordering pieces of land.

One day while sitting in the parking lot I wrote the following. I call it “Guilford Trees.” I was speaking at first of the small little spaces of trees surrounding the parking lot.

In these rather small spaces a variety of typical local trees are reaching and stretching for sunlight. There is a young sycamore maybe 8 inches in diameter, the trunk completely white, that has bent and wound its way to its spot in the sun. From it hangs many of last fall’s sycamore balls. There are a couple of sweet gum trees, each with its component of unfallen sweet gum balls dangling as they do. There are several young tulip poplars growing tall and straight trying to outrace as it were all others to the open sun. There is a loblolly pine tree (most common tree of my hometown), several Virginia pines, a few maples, a red oak, a dogwood, a white oak, a black locust, and a small hickory tree.

300 years ago before settlement by European colonists, many of these same kinds of trees would have made up the mature forests of the rolling hills and stream bottoms of what is now Guilford County.

It is highly likely that over the course of time well over 95% of the land in Guilford County has at some point been cleared for crops. What has not been cleared for crops has been logged for wood. There are no known stands of “virgin” or even mature climax forest in Guilford County.

In fact, most of the land has been cleared several times over again. The remaining forested parts of our county, even in the creek and river bottom lands, contain second third or even fourth growth forest.

The early settlers who came down from Pennsylvania and Virginia came to an area almost absent of a local Indian population. The Saura Indians based in the present Eden area to our north and Randolph County area to our south had at one time roamed and hunted and even farmed freely in what is now Guilford County. Because of pressure from marauding Iroquois tribes the Saura had fled from the area before it was setled. Yet, they had left their mark. The first settlers were surprised at the number of open fields filled with tall grasses that would reach up to the height of a man’s chest riding on a horse.

But mostly the land was continuous forest. Early settlers cleared the forests for crops lands, usually using poor farming techniques, and either cleared more land or moved on when the soil was depleted or eroded away. Fields would convert back to forest, which future farmers and settlers would clear and log again.

Not only were the forests cleared for growing crops, but the trees were needed for fuel for fireplace and furnace, as well as for building supplies – for wheels and casks and barrels and furniture. Many trees were cut and exported for use by the military or by industries growing up around the country.

Most of the forests we have today are in the midst of various stages of the process of plant succession. Thus on a hike around Lake Brandt one might come across (even in a thickly wooded area), a large oak tree with old branches spreading out horizontally, a sure sign of a tree having grown up in an open space with no competition from neighboring trees, and with no need to waste resources in a race to the top of the canopy. Likewise, amidst stands of mixed hardwood and pine woods one will come across a row of old red cedars, marking no doubt an old fence line dividing field from field.

Had we been able to walk into what is now Guilford County 250 years ago we would have found largely mature hardwood forests, though even some of those forests would have grown up from fields cleared by Indians long before. These mature piedmont forests would have been characterized by a dense high canopy made up primarily of white oak, chestnut, hickory, southern red oak, and tulip poplar, the lower part of the canopy itself perhaps a hundred feet high. At ground level the field of view would have been dominated by large tree trunks spaced much farther apart than we are accustomed in our woods today. Tree trunks would have exceeded two feet in diameter for the great white oaks, and up to four or five feet in diameter for tulip poplars. The forest floor would have been relatively clear of brush, with somewhat of a park-like feel. Under this think canopy would have been scattered dogwood, sourwood, ironwood, redbud, beech, and other smaller trees.

Creek bottoms would have been dominated by huge sycamore trees up to six or more feet in diameter, along with massive tulip poplars, with great beeches and maples on the bluffs.

Through these forests ran many well worn paths, some used by Indians, and many packed and cleared of undergrowth by traveling herds of buffalo. It is hard to believe that in our little section of North Carolina, as recently as 250 years ago, there would have been an abundance of buffalo, wolves, elk, and eastern mountain lions, in addition to the common animals we still see today. It was a wild and often dangerous place!

Clearing this land was not for sissies, but cleared it was, in time almost every single bit of it.

Today we have the privilege of watching many forests coming to regain some of their earlier splendor. With agriculture waning in economic significance, there is the likelihood that if we can set aside enough of the tracks of land that are left, maybe our children and children’s children will have even more opportunity than we had of knowing what it would have been like to wander a piedmont forest of long ago.

My Flapper Grandmother (Nanny)

This is far and away the most-viewed picture on my Flickr site. It is of my grandmother Mary Sue Gillespie, my dad's mom, before she was married to my grandfather I think, and in a beautiful 1920's outfit. The condition of the 80+ year old print was outstanding, and it made for a great scan. "Nanny" was always a classy lady, and a wonderful guide and help and friend to me. I just thought I'd share this photo with you all again.

See my Flickr Set - Nanny.

Patsch, A Village in Western Austria

Got nostalgic about Austria today,, so I went back and looked at some pictures that I took in early April 1978. This little village in Western Austria is called Patsch. In our train tour around the continent we had wearied of the rush and decided to spend a little time in one place, and took a bus ride out to this village. Thanks to Flickr friends for helping me identify the place - I had forgotten.

More Europe in 1978 pictures.

Purple Rock - Badlands SD

I took this on a drive out to Vancouver in August 1980 with my dad. We had taken a detour off I-90 so as to go through the Badlands and we came up on a helicopter - an OLD looking helicopter - sitting on the dirt outside a little shack, with a sign advertising rides. He looked at me and I looked at him and he said "what the hell." So we pulled over. We walked into the shack and there was a very, well, worn looking woman, and she called for "Frank" or whatever his name was, and Frank came stumbling out of the back half asleep. "Want a ride," he said. My dad looked at me, and I looked at him, and he said "what the hell" (again). So Frank started up the chopper and off we went. It was way fun! Dad and I had a blast and got some good pictures too.

Flags for the Fourth

My favorite Greensboro flag picture, in honor of July 4th, 2009!

Downtown Greensboro Pictures

Evolution Revolution Devolution

OK, I admit, the title of this post is dumb. Was just playin'

Anyway, a high school student who currently attends a public school, and who used to attend a private Christian school, asked the following (edited) question about evolution, and I answered as best as I could.

Here is the question...

"Well, I am in Biology this year...my exam in on Friday...and we have been studying the theory of evolution. While we were taking notes in class on evolution the verse from Ecclesiastes came into my head, where it says, "there is nothing new under the sun". Based on the verses before and after that verse I don't really think that it had anything to do with that, evolution I mean, but I was just wondering if it did. It was alot easier at (my fomer school) in science class because we were able to talk about these things from a biblical perspective, but being in a public school that is not how it is taught, or how the discussions go (though, really there are no discussions...it is just accepted as fact). So, I don't know. I get confused because some of it makes since...and then all of a sudden the teacher writes something that I am to copy down and I cannot see how anyone could believe it. So, there you go..."

Great question, don't you think?

And here is my answer...

"Dear ****,

You're right, the verse in Ecclesiastes has nothing to do with evolution, though it does speak to any and all ideas that come to man. Philosophically speaking, in terms of how people so quickly and easily jump from evolution to evolutionism, that is, from a scientific/historic theory of development to a purely materialist view of reality, then it's not new under the sun.

You're also right, in public school for the most part one cannot look at this or most other topics from a biblical perspective, or from a Buddhist perspective, or a Hindu perspective, or Scientology perspective, etc. It's a good thing and a bad thing.

I would venture to say that at most Christian schools they don't really look at the topic from all perspectives either (even if the discussion is more open) because they don't take evolution seriously enough to evaluate it and examine and respect it as the powerful model that it is. In my opinion one cannot speak with credibility to a matter if one does not understand it. I have found evolution too easily reduced to silly cliches by those who like it and those who don't.

Yes indeed, some of it makes sense. In fact, a lot of it makes sense. Not all of it makes sense to me or anyone else, but it is a powerful model or framework for understanding change - especially biological - over time.

We have to remember though that the processes that add up to evolutionary theory are strictly impersonal and with no purpose whatsoever. Evolutionary change is not progress; it is just change. There is no "point" to it. But, since we have a hard time swallowing that, we slip personal language into the process. We give the process "purpose."

On the other hand, and this is important, all scientific study has to have a kind of atheistic methodology. If you want to cure cancer, you find the mechanisms that cause it and you don't assume that the gaps of knowledge are to be filled in by God. We don't just say "God made cancer" and let it go at that.

In a similar way if we are curious about how so many of the plants and animals on an isolated island (like Madagascar) are so different, we don't just say "God made them that way," we try to understand how it is that they are or became different. There is nothing wrong with the impulse to want to understand that. That impulse is a significant part of what makes us human beings.

If you take both the Bible and science seriously, which you should, you will grapple with this issue most of your life one way or another. Just try to learn and understand as much as you can.

More later,

Mr. G."

Turning Stones into Bread

My favorite book on the pastoral ministry was and is "The Art of Pastoring" by David Hansen. I have read it four or five times over the years and given a copy to many people along the way.

In his book Hansen talks about how a person called to be a pastor puts aside the prerogative of what he calls “turning stones into bread” or what I might call “working for a living.” Thus I derive the title of this post from Hansen’s book, though I do not wish to fault him for any bad or erroneous ideas I have come up with on my own!

Technically speaking as a pastor I was not “paid” to do a job as much as “supported” to do that job, in a similar manner as a missionary. OK, that support gets turned into a salary and a paycheck, but the official “call” from the congregation goes like this…”In order that you might devote yourself exclusively to the ministry of the word and pray, we the congregation…”

Once calledin this way, many business instincts are out the window. In my 20 years of pastoral ministry this was one of the most frustrating and also rewarding aspects of the calling.

Although there may have been an indirect correlation between how hard or well I worked on the one hand, and how much money was in the coffers (or in my paycheck) on the other, the pastoral ministry requires that such correlations be far from mind and heart.

If I run a business I can choose to work more hours, spend more money on advertising, or develop new proficiencies with the motive or goal of having more business and as a result more money. I may fail in those efforts, but there is nothing wrong with those efforts or their motivation.

Granted, one would hope that I see some greater good being served through my work, but seeking to provide better for myself and family is a perfectly decent motivation. It isn’t in the church. The moment I am connecting anything I do as a pastor with an increase in “business” (more money coming in) and the normally concomitant increase in “salary,” well, I have profaned the calling and am worthy only to be cast out of it.

Just think of the mischief to which such a motivational correlation would lead . First, it would cause me to spend more energy “courting” wealthier visitors than poorer visitors. Such favoritism is an obscenity. Second, it would lead me to focus pastoral attention and care more on those who offer possibility of financial return rather than on those who really need the care. Usually in such scenarios the mentally ill, the elderly, and the needy get shorted. Third, it would lead me to focus a church outreach on an affluent neighborhood rather than a poorer neighborhood. There is nothing inherently wrong with outreach in a more affluent neighborhood of course;, well, depending…(This reminds me of the almost universal tendency for church plants to be located in what are, on average, more affluent areas. Something seems wrong with that picture.) Fourth, the motive of “building the business” might be the driving force for all sorts of interesting and hip advertising campaigns. That would be bad.

Had he not been called to fast, and were he not being tempted to distrust his Father, there may have been nothing wrong with Jesus turning a stone into bread. Likewise as a pastor I gave up the right to work for my personal well being and benefit, especially financially. I gave up, as it were, the right to turn stones into bread.

On the positive side giving up that right forced me to trust and to pray more. God’s faithful provision over the years for my family’s needs also trained me to attend to the essentials of the calling while being able to rest in the knowledge that He had taken care of us all along the way and would continue to do so.

I was raised in a family of small businesses – my dad, his parents, my mother’s parents, my siblings, and so forth. I sought out work as soon as I was old enough to push a mower, and always had money. If I ran low I went out and made more money. If I needed to I advertised. If I needed to I sought work in the rich neighborhoods rather than the poor ones. If I needed to I worked dawn to dusk day after day.

And so, on the negative side, giving up the “right” to turn stones into bread went against almost every instinct I had and have. This reminds of my first rugby game at Clemson. I played left wing, and I remember on about our first offensive move down the field, after the ball came to me, my football instinct kicked in. I saw a crease and I cut and I ran for it. Had it been football I would have made a twenty yard gain, gotten a first down, and lots of pats on the head. But it was rugby. All I did was cause our team to lose possession once I was down. I got a few knocks on the head for being stupid, that’s about it.

After being well trained in the ministry mindset I am now back in that other world. All in all, I think I like it. It’s scary in a whole different way, but I am enjoying the opportunity to think creatively about how to survive.

As you think of your pastor or rabbi or priest, remember the unique challenge it may be to him or to her to give up the right to turn stones into bread. Be generous and do what you can to allay the anxieties that may eat away and tempt him or her to take that stone, that calling to trust and wait while being devoted to word and prayer, and turn it into bread. The temptation is always there. It can be insidious.