A Poem in Honor of a Good Man #ShadowshotSunday

His daughter love lilacs so much that she planned her 1995 wedding for when the lilacs were in bloom.

May 10

 Yesterday, I attended a memorial service (via Zoom) for my last living uncle, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 100.

From my yard, May 10

The youngest brother of my father, he was raised by his siblings, including my late father, when his mother died way too young.  He was a scientist and a man of many interests, including poetry.  I remember him reciting poems - long poems, at that.

Today I will honor my late uncle with a poem he used to recite to his children as they grew up in Texas and Iowa:  Some Little Bug by John Leroy Atwell, from 1915.

In these days of indigestion
    It is oftentimes a question
        As to what to eat and what to leave alone;
    For each microbe and bacillus
    Has a different way to kill us,
        And in time they always claim us for their own.
    There are germs of every kind
    In any food that you can find
        In the market or upon the bill of fare.
    Drinking water's just as risky
    As the so-called deadly whiskey,
        And it's often a mistake to breathe the air.

    Some little bug is going to find you some day,
    Some little bug will creep behind you some day,
        Then he'll send for his bug friends
        And all your earthly trouble ends;
    Some little bug is going to find you some day.

    The inviting green cucumber
    Gets most everybody's number,
        While the green corn has a system of its own;
    Though a radish seems nutritious
    Its behaviour is quite vicious,
        And a doctor will be coming to your home.
    Eating lobster cooked or plain
    Is only flirting with ptomaine,
        While an oyster sometimes has a lot to say,
    But the clams we cat in chowder
    Make the angels chant the louder,
        For they know that we'll be with them right away.

    Take a slice of nice fried onion
    And you're fit for Dr. Munyon,
        Apple dumplings kill you quicker than a train.
    Chew a cheesy midnight "rabbit"
    And a grave you'll soon inhabit
        Ah, to eat at all is such a foolish game.
    Eating huckleberry pie
    Is a pleasing way to die,
        While sauerkraut brings on softening of the brain.
    When you eat banana fritters
    Every undertaker titters,
        And the casket makers nearly go insane.

    Some little bug is going to find you some day,
    Some little bug will creep behind you some day,
        With a nervous little quiver
        He'll give cirrhosis of the liver;
    Some little bug is going to find you some day.

    When cold storage vaults I visit
    I can only say what is it
        Makes poor mortals fill their systems with such stuff?
    Now, for breakfast, prunes are dandy
    If a stomach pump is handy
        And your doctor can be found quite soon enough.
    Eat a plate of fine pigs' knuckles
    And the headstone cutter chuckles,
        While the grave digger makes a note upon his cuff.
    Eat that lovely red bologna
    And you'll wear a wooden kimona,
        As your relatives start scrappin 'bout your stuff.

    Some little bug is going to find you some day,
    Some little bug will creep behind you some day,
        Eating juicy sliced pineapple
        Makes the sexton dust the chapel;
    Some little bug is going to find you some day.

    All those crazy foods they mix
    Will float us 'cross the River Styx,
        Or they'll start us climbing up the milky way.
    And the meals we eat in courses
    Mean a hearse and two black horses
        So before a meal some people always pray.
    Luscious grapes breed 'pendicitis,
    And the juice leads to gastritis,
        So there's only death to greet us either way;
    And fried liver's nice, but, mind you,
    Friends will soon ride slow behind you
        And the papers then will have nice things to say.

    Some little bug is going to find you some day,
    Some little bug will creep behind you some day
        Eat some sauce, they call it chili,
        On your breast they'll place a lily;
    Some little bug is going to find you some day.
 

More about my uncle (and my connection with him) in my Music Moves Me post tomorrow.

Joining Lisa at Lisa's Garden Adventure for her #ShadowshotSunday.

Still Another Iowa Tragedy Update

Before I begin:  we (fortunately) weren't impacted by the New York/New England flooding, although the area where my spouse grew up was.  My heart goes out to those in the areas impacted by the terrible flash flooding.

 On November 6, 2021, I blogged the following post.  Today, where are we?

I am in mourning today, for a town in Iowa I haven't been to in almost twenty years, for a high school that three of my first cousins went to, and for a teacher I never met.

Last night, we turned on the 6:30 pm national news and one of the headlines was about a murder in Iowa.  When I saw a picture of a park entrance I knew exactly where it was.

My heart sank.  I used to have family in that city of about 9,700 people.   I lived there for a brief time and had walked in that park with my uncle several times, back in the 1970's.

A 66 year old Spanish teacher at the high school in Fairfield, Iowa, had been reported as missing on Wednesday morning. She had taught in that school since 2012.   Her body was then found, later that day, in a local park where she loved to walk in the afternoons.  Now, two high school students, both 16, are being charged in her death.

Apparently, they had discussed her murder on social media.  They are being charged as adults.

A couple posts I've written about Fairfield.

My introduction to Fairfield

Why I Didn't Become a Librarian 

The Fairfield I remember was - how can I put it? Different?  Original?   I don't remember it as a place where you had to be afraid.

People think of Iowa as a flat place with miles of cornfields and nothing much.  That's far from the truth, although there is lots of corn grown in Iowa and some parts are flat.  But there are also a lot of surprises in Iowa.  And, yes, hidden gems.

In our pandemic times, there is an upsurge of violence, including an upsurge of violence against teachers.  So much doesn't get reported, but this tragedy made the national news.  

Last night, there was a vigil for this teacher, with hundreds attending.

I can't bring myself to even start to understand.

And then, in 2022, I blogged this:

Time flies, but justice doesn't. Not in our modern times. The alleged murderers (who were both 16 at the time) haven't been tried yet.  The trial of one of the teens was supposed to have begun on December 5 but it has been pushed back.  Right now, the new date isn't known but it is interesting that the trial is not going to be in the county where the murder took place, but, rather, about 100 miles away.

The other trial is set to begin next March.

Speedy justice, in these times, seems impossible.

Finally, some progress.

On July 6, 2023, the first of the teens (who was 16 at the time of the murder and had previously pled guilty to beating the teacher to death with a baseball bat) was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole in 35 years.  

The motive?  He was failing her class.

Oh, did I mention that the slain teacher's husband (who was disabled) died from cancer on June 29?

I still don't have any words for this additional tragedy, at  a time of so many other tragedies.

May they forever rest in peace.

An Iowa Tragedy Update

 On November 6, 2021, I blogged the following post:  Today, one year later, where are we?

I am in mourning today, for a town in Iowa I haven't been to in almost twenty years, for a high school that three of my first cousins went to, and for a teacher I never met.

Last night, we turned on the 6:30 pm national news and one of the headlines was about a murder in Iowa.  When I saw a picture of a park entrance I knew exactly where it was.

My heart sank.  I used to have family in that city of about 9,700 people.   I lived there for a brief time and had walked in that park with my uncle several times, back in the 1970's.

A 66 year old Spanish teacher at the high school in Fairfield, Iowa, had been reported as missing on Wednesday morning. She had taught in that school since 2012.   Her body was then found, later that day, in a local park where she loved to walk in the afternoons.  Now, two high school students, both 16, are being charged in her death.

Apparently, they had discussed her murder on social media.  They are being charged as adults.

A couple posts I've written about Fairfield.

My introduction to Fairfield

Why I Didn't Become a Librarian 

The Fairfield I remember was - how can I put it? Different?  Original?   I don't remember it as a place where you had to be afraid.

People think of Iowa as a flat place with miles of cornfields and nothing much.  That's far from the truth, although there is lots of corn grown in Iowa and some parts are flat.  But there are also a lot of surprises in Iowa.  And, yes, hidden gems.

In our pandemic times, there is an upsurge of violence, including an upsurge of violence against teachers.  So much doesn't get reported, but this tragedy made the national news.  

Last night, there was a vigil for this teacher, with hundreds attending.

I can't bring myself to even start to understand.

A few nights ago, I turned on a national news program on a cable channel and one of the headlines was along the lines of "Possible motive in Iowa murder". I had a feeling (correct, as it turned out) that this Fairfield murder was what they were talking about.

So, the possible motive for the death of a beloved high school teacher was:  bad grades?

Time flies, but justice doesn't. Not in our modern times. The alleged murderers (who were both 16 at the time) haven't been tried yet.  The trial of one of the teens was supposed to have begun on December 5 but it has been pushed back.  Right now, the new date isn't known but it is interesting that the trial is not going to be in the county where the murder took place, but, rather, about 100 miles away.

The other trial is set to begin next March.

Speedy justice, in these times, seems impossible.

I can hope for the trials soon.  The two teens should get a fair trial.  It shouldn't take years for a verdict.  For the sake of the family and friends of the late teacher, the students at the school, and, yes, the accused, it shouldn't go on for year after year.

One can only hope.

Tragedy in A Small City

I am in mourning today, for a town in Iowa I haven't been to in almost twenty years, for a high school that three of my first cousins went to, and for a teacher I never met.

Last night, we turned on the 6:30 pm national news and one of the headlines was about a murder in Iowa.  When I saw a picture of a park entrance I knew exactly where it was.

My heart sank.  I used to have family in that city of about 9,700 people.   I lived there for a brief time and had walked in that park with my uncle several times, back in the 1970's.

A 66 year old Spanish teacher at the high school in Fairfield, Iowa, had been reported as missing on Wednesday morning. She had taught in that school since 2012.   Her body was then found, later that day, in a local park where she loved to walk in the afternoons.  Now, two high school students, both 16, are being charged in her death.

Apparently, they had discussed her murder on social media.  They are being charged as adults.

A couple posts I've written about Fairfield.

My introduction to Fairfield

Why I Didn't Become a Librarian 

The Fairfield I remember was - how can I put it? Different?  Original?   I don't remember it as a place where you had to be afraid.

People think of Iowa as a flat place with miles of cornfields and nothing much.  That's far from the truth, although there is lots of corn grown in Iowa and some parts are flat.  But there are also a lot of surprises in Iowa.  And, yes, hidden gems.

In our pandemic times, there is an upsurge of violence, including an upsurge of violence against teachers.  So much doesn't get reported, but this tragedy made the national news.  

Last night, there was a vigil for this teacher, with hundreds attending.

I can't bring myself to even start to understand.

 

They Built It - Will We Come?

We humans are creatures of music, and creatures of storytelling.  Our relationships to people, to places, to our world, to our fellow humans, can be marvelous, hurtful, or both at the same time.

This is a story about relationships.

In May of 1995, my spouse, my then young son and I flew to Iowa from our upstate New York home to attend the wedding of a cousin.  The lilacs were in bloom and it was a beautiful spring.

Iowa and I have a complex relationship, but that's a story for another day.  Returning to today's story...

During the visit, another cousin (the bride's younger brother) offered to take us to the Field of Dreams move site in Dyersville, Iowa.

Back in 1995, Field of Dreams wasn't quite the same as it is now.  But how did it come into existence?

In 1989, a movie set was built on parts of two farms a few miles outside Dyersville, a small city (population then around 4,000)  in eastern Iowa for a movie called Field of Dreams. My son wasn't that interested in baseball but I wanted, very much, to see the Field of Dreams.

After all, dreams (or visions) can come true.  The plot of the movie is simple, in a way.  A farmer hears a voice coming out of his cornfield whispering "if you build it, he will come" and has a vision. The rest of the movie basically has to do with the vision, the farmer's complex relationship with his father, and finally, what happens when the protagonist builds the field.  I plan to see the movie again in the near future.

One of the two farm families, the Lansings, decided not to plow the set over after the movie was filmed.  The other farm family did plow their land over.  The Lansings made a good decision.  By 1995, the field was a tourist attraction. 

On that day in May, we took a two lane road (what some call "blue highways") from where the bride lived, to Dyersville. 

We walked the grounds. We could have played catch on the field, and maybe this would have been a better story if we had.   But that wasn't my son's thing.   We didn't play catch, but we soaked in that special plot of land.  Neither I or my spouse remember going into the house.  Did I take pictures?  Maybe.  I don't have them available to me -they would have been film, and I didn't own a computer at the time.

But I do have this.   I bought this t-shirt.  I still have it. 

Afterwards, we visited the Ertl toy factory located in town, enjoyed seeing all the toys (many of them based on farm equipment, and bought my son a Thomas the Tank Engine toy.Earlier Ertl toys can be collectable but I don't believe any of them are made in the U.S. any more.  I hope I'm wrong.  

Ertl collection, Tioga County Museum, Owego, New York (taken by AM)

Over the years, many made that pilgrimage to eastern Iowa.  Eventually, a decision was made to build another ball field, this one a genuine major league dimensioned field, and play a major league game there. It was supposed to be played in 2020, but the pandemic moved it to this year.  I had wanted to try to go to the 2020 game and lost track of it.  I wasn't there for the game on Thursday physically, but I was, in spirit.

On August 12, the Chicago White Sox played the New York Yankees at that adjacent field  built in late 2019, based in part on the old Comiskey Park in Chicago where the White Sox played for many years. This time it was a real life 'if they built it' that never would have been possible without the original story and movie.

And yes, there will be a 2022 Field of Dreams game, possibly with the Chicago Cubs as one of the teams.

I'm thinking of making plans.  My relationship to Iowa is complex, also.  It will take some thinking and planning.

We'll see.

Back To The Past with Voting?

Normally, I participate with a couple of "Wordless Wednesday" memes, but not this Wednesday.

I'm not wordless.

In July of 2009 I blogged a post called "New York's Electronic Voting - Back to the Future". If only I could see into the future - almost 11 years, to be exact, and the Iowa caucus that showed us how electronic voting results could go so badly wrong. 

Since I blogged this, New York State has adopted the electronic voting I described below. 

But now, we must ask ourselves:  Just because we can do it electronically, is doing it electronically the right thing to do?  New York's system may be a good one, as we actually still vote using paper ballots which are processed into a box.  The boxes are not connected to the Internet.

It's like we've gone full circle from 1952.

 The only reason why we have results from Iowa is because all the caucus goers were asked to fill out paper.

So...now what?  Do we go back to the past to record and report votes?  The below is from 1952, the year of my birth., the dawn of using computers, this time just to count paper votes.

Perhaps not Univac, but we need a better way.

Here's my post from 2009 with small edits:

Today I experienced the future of voting in New York.

New York, to the best of my knowledge, is the last state in the union to adopt some version of electronic voting. Up to last year, we were using those old dinosaur lever machines with the curtain - you stood there and had 3 minutes to pull levers for your candidates.

Before that (as my 80 year old plus neighbor tells me) New York had paper ballots.

Guess what. We will have paper ballots again. Sort of.

I went to a demonstration of the new voting system at the Broome County Library today and this is how it works:
First, you have to fill out a paper ballot. You do this at a "corral" accommodating four voters. It is on an approximately 8 1/2 x 14 sheet. There is a square box next to each candidate's name. You have a pen, like a fine magic marker, that you fill in the boxes with. Then, you will need to put this in an envelop (so it remains secret) and wait on line to feed your sheet of paper into a machine.

The machine reads your ballot and if all is OK you hear it drop into a box. It is also scanned and there is also a paper receipt (which wasn't demonstrated). The demonstrator emphasized safeguards so the results wouldn't be hacked.

If you "overvoted" (filled in too many boxes) the ballot is spit back out and I assume you have to get back into the line for the corral.

If you "undervoted" the machine will tell you and you can override and tell it to accept your ballot, or have it spit out to correct.

What happens if you start to fill out a box and change your mind? What happens if you put a stray mark near a box? I had a lot of questions but of course I thought of them after I went back to work (this was on my lunch).

I'm not sure if I'm sold on this. I did find an interesting blog devoted to keeping the lever machines.

THE END?

 

Iowa #atozchallenge

When the plane my father and I were traveling in from New York City to Des Moines, Iowa touched down, my life was about to change.

My uncle, my father's youngest brother, was there to greet us, and to drive us to where he lived in a small town called Fairfield.  When I visited Fairfield, Iowa that first time in 1968, I never imagined the future of this small town of around 9,400. in southeast Iowa.  Nor did I realize the connection I would have with Iowa for the next few years.

I wish I had pictures, but I haven't been there since 2003, and may not return for a long time.  But, allow me to visit by traveling through time and space....

My uncle was a college professor, my aunt a stay at home Mom.

My relatives lived on an elm tree-lined main street - except it was in the process of losing these trees, as they were dying of Dutch Elm disease.  But, the experience of hearing trees being chopped down daily didn't ruin what else I was experiencing.  I was plunged from an urban world of just me and my father to a boisterous family of five (my cousins were ten, eight and four when I arrived) plus a male exchange student staying with them. 

I loved that small town.  I loved walking on the tree lined streets and visiting the Carnegie library up the street.

I saw a picture online, and was amazed - I believe my young cousins took piano lessons in this house.

When I visited next, in 1976, the college my uncle taught at  had closed, and then had reopened under new management (more on that in a minute).  I lived in Fairfield with my family for two months, while my spouse underwent military basic training. I remember walking almost daily to the library, still in the Carnegie building, and nighttime trips with my cousins, by now all teenagers, to the local ice cream stand.

My uncle was working out of town by then.  The marriage to my aunt did not survive.  Eventually, both moved away from Fairfield - my uncle to Illinois, my aunt to Iowa City, where her job moved her.

Still, many happy memories remain of the days I spent with them in Fairfield.  Days, in a way, of carefree youth.  And heartbreak, as I came to realize that my cousins, once grown, barely remembered me and the days I spent with them. Those days still seem fresh in my memory.  Another life lesson learned.

I've been on this town square many times, the most recently in 1995, when I took my then young son for a visit.

And now about the college.

The college (well, the buildings) my uncle had taught in was purchased by followers of the late spiritual leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and became Maharishi University.  Townspeople were split between the traditional residents and the meditating students and faculty of the University.   The townspeople didn't quite know what to think of these students, especially after they built a dome where levitation was said to regularly take place.

I ate, with aunt and cousins, in one of their food halls several times; I still remember how good the fresh butter tasted.  Real food!

In writing this post, I found (searching online) the University (now the Maharishi University of Management), is still alive and well. And the people the townspeople once called "meditators" have changed Fairfield forever.

Near Fairfield is Maharishi Vedic City.  Fairfield, now, is a way different place than what I remember in 1968. 

International food.  An art colony. Meditation.  The place to be in Iowa if you are interested in starting up a business.  Forbes Magazine has even written about Fairfield several times.

Never underestimate Iowa.

And, although I haven't been back since 2003, I have been feeling Iowa calling.  Perhaps one day...

"I" day for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

Riverside, Iowa - Trekfest Tomorrow!

Riverside, IA.  One of the most fascinating small towns in America.

Huh?

Well, what if I told you that tomorrow there is a Trekfest in Riverside, Iowa, the future birthplace of Captain James Kirk?  That Walter Koenig is going to be there along with BarBara Luna?

But I won't be there.  I already took my vacation.  Darn.

This is my (weak) link with Riverside.  I used to have relatives in Iowa City which isn't all that far (about 15 miles) from Riverside.  We took a drive one day, found ourselves going through Riverside, and started seeing this Star Trek stuff.  As they would say nowadays, a real "WTF" moment.

I think it was in 2002.

I have photos but I don't know where they are.

Now I love Iowa (I've been there oh, maybe 15 or 20 times in my life).  But you have to admit that Iowa has some pretty unusual (even strange) stuff.  Maybe one day I'll even write about some of it.  But Riverside?

Well, Riverside may be best known (?) for a TV show called "Invasion, Iowa" (also known as the day Riverside got Punk'd).  This came out of a brainstorm someone had one day to contact Gene Roddenberry about making Riverside the Future Birthplace of James T. Kirk.

And, Mr. Roddenberry, rest his soul, went for it.

I guess this was their idea to try to get tourists to Iowa. I don't know if it did.  But they did get someone's attention.

James T. Kirk's.

Actually, the real William Shatner showed up to supposedly film a movie in Riverside.  He enlisted the good folks of Riverside, who were asked to do things more and more outrageous.  It was supposed to be a spoof on Hollywood and a joke on Riverside.  But you know who really got punk'd?  James T....I mean, William Shatner, and crew.

You see, the place was so genuine, and I think the folks there touched Mr. Shatner so much,  that he (or the show) ended up giving them money for their community center.

Looks like they spent the money well.  And, they even have a casino now.

One day...maybe one day I will get back to Riverside.  Maybe even for a Trekfest.