The Precious

Today, the FedEx truck brought me a present.

It is my class ring. I declare today my own personal "ring day."

This signet ring has the Hollins University seal on it. On the sides it has the year (2012) and "MA" for my master's degree. My initials are on the inside.

The Hollins motto is Levavi Oculos, which means "lift thine eyes." That is from the 121st Psalm: "I will lift up mine eyes until the hills."

I did not purchase a class ring from Hollins College when I was an undergraduate. I always regretted that, particularly after the college changed its name to Hollins University not long after I finally finished up in 1993. I was not going to make the same mistake this time, so I saved my pennies in order to make this purchase.

My graduation is May 20, not quite a month away. It took me 19 years to finish this degree

I wonder what the next 19 years will bring?

The Psalms

121

The LORD Is Thy Keeper
A Song of degrees.
1	I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2	My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3	He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4	Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5	The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6	The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7	The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
8	The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Books: The Little Prince

The Little Prince
By Antoine De Saint-Expurery
Translated by Richard Howard
Copyright 1943
83 pages

This is not, I think, a children's book, though I suspect it is often considered to be one.

I believe it is an adult fable. It's about loneliness, heartache, and love. Perhaps it is also about finding yourself and how, really, in the end, only you can accomplish that task.

The book has lovely drawings in it, to illustrate the words.

The story begins with a narrator who has grown up and is not an artist. He wanted to be an artist, but he was surrounded by adults who had no imagination.

He would draw a picture of an elephant inside a boa constrictor's body, but the adults all said he was drawing a hat.

So he studied math and geography instead of art, so that he would be doing something useful (we can't be studying liberal arts, you know).

He grows up to be an airplane pilot. He crashes his plane in the desert, and the next day he is startled by the voice of a child. And The Little Prince comes into his life.

The Little Prince comes from another world. He is on a quest, of sorts, and has been to several different planets. Now he is on earth.

His own planet is so small that The Little Prince can see the sun rise or set over 200 times a day, if he only moves his chair. His planet has three volcanoes and one lovely and very selfish flower. The flower is the reason he leaves home.

The story is rich in allegory and pathos. It is truly quite lovely.

You can read this story in its entirety, and see the illustrations, at this link.

No Warm Fuzzies

Last week I attended another budget hearing on the local county budget. The county supervisors put forth a tax increase of 7 cents per $100 value on real estate and 8 cents on personal property. The administrators figure that will cost every household an average of an additional $200 annually.

At the first public input meeting on the budget, back in March, the supervisors were talking about cutting library hours, canceling sports programs in the schools, closing an elementary school, and other draconian cuts to services. They were $3.6 million short.

About 500 people turned out to tell the supervisors that they want those programs. Many said they supported a tax increase to pay for them.

During that first meeting, the vibe in the room was positive. It was full of hope. I had a warm fuzzy afterwards.

The most recent budget hearing was attended by less than 60 people, and since many of those were county employees and journalists, the number of citizens was probably around 30.

About half that number spoke.

There were no warm fuzzies. I was glad the auditorium was too large for this crowd as the space helped keep the negative vibes from becoming overpowering.

A couple of the speakers took the supervisors to task for mismanaging money. They were familiar faces who tend to say the same things every year.

I do not believe there has been mismanagement. The county has done a good job with what it has. It is only mismanagement if you don't think the county should be paying for certain things, like parks or libraries. If, like me, you think government's role is to provide services for the citizenry (because let's face it, in a capitalistic society, who is going to provide a park for free besides government?), then there is no mismanagement. Sometimes they do things I don't agree with, too, but that is not necessarily mismanagement.

Others said they could not afford the tax increase. I confess I didn't really believe them. It has been my experience at these types of meetings that the people who really can't afford to pay higher local taxes don't come. They are so busy trying to survive that they don't have the time or the will to show up.

I do believe there are people in the county who cannot afford a tax increase. I know there are folks who are barely getting by. According to the 2010 census, the county has a 5.6 percent poverty level; that is relatively low (it's 10.3 percent for the state). It works out to about 2,000 people in the county, given the 33,000 population. That is still too many, for sure. I do not believe that a country as rich as this one should have anyone living in poverty. But that's another rant.

I don't think the impoverished folks will have a $200 tax increase; if they are renters, they will have something like a $20 increase in the tax on a vehicle, depending on what they own. That is not a lot to pay and still have a deputy show up at your door if you are robbed or have your child attend school. I also know there are some homeowners who live in poverty but own their homes, especially older folks. They might have some problems.

However, the county already has a system in place to help those people. If you scroll down this page, you'll see that the county has relief in place for the elderly, disabled, and disabled veterans. Those folks can apply for, and receive, a break on the amounts they pay.

I was struck by the different feeling of these two meetings, one positive, the other negative. One supportive, and the other not.

One of the speakers at the most recent meeting said the schools should not be air conditioned. Let the kids sweat it out. Another said close the libraries. Or close a school. Put more people in jail! (So the county could collect the funds, I guess.) Or close the jail (that person was confused as to what they wanted, or perhaps I misheard). Sell the county's industrial park. Don't add more emergency service workers. Stop every initiative except for essential services (and even then I guess there would be arguments about what those should be).

At the first meeting, people wanted good schools (I would guess with air conditioning, though that didn't come up at the first meeting). They wanted the libraries open. They wanted security (but no one mentioned filling up the jail). They wanted emergency services. They wanted the things that a civilized society needs and utilizes.

There is a lot I can say about the difference at these two meetings, but I think I'll just end it here and let you, dear reader, think on it.

Spring Photos

A hawk flying overhead.

Cows far below me in the field.

The pond.

Thursday Thirteen

I saw a list the other day of 20 "useless" degrees. Not too surprisingly, my undergraduate degree in English is on there, as is my soon-to-be-received masters degree. (That's a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies in the Humanities (Literature)).

Most of the degrees listed as "useless" are life-enhancing degrees. They make life better for individuals and for society. They're thinking degrees or one kind or another.

I found another article that talks about liberal arts and careers. Apparently if an eduction doesn't lead to a job, it is worthless.

I disagree with that. But there is no denying that the liberal arts are at a disadvantage in a society that values the ability to make money more than it does the ability to think about *why* one must make money.

Anyway, here are few a few off-the-wall thoughts about the liberal arts and life.

1. The presumption about liberal arts for some is "We don't need them anymore." Can this be true? We don't need to know history? We don't need to read Shakespeare or other great works of literature? We don't need to study and understand pieces of art? We don't need to understand our society, or learn philosophy? We don't need to study and really understand religion? I guess thinking is so last century.

2. Apparently what we do need more of are ... techie people. Social media managers. Medical Records specialists. More UPS and FedEx drivers. That's according to this article and a few similar ones I looked at. Nobody listed plumbers but I can't see that getting fixed from India, so I will add them to the list.

3. If we have no journalists (one of the "useless" degrees), what happens to truth? I suppose everyone will be quite happy with the press releases issued by the government - there will be no news of job losses, corruption, pollution, food recalls, etc. We'll live in a nice little bubble where we go "falala" and all is well. We don't need no stinkin' truth around here, anyway.

4. What happens to all of these people who deal with the liberal arts when there are no jobs for them? Do we just warehouse them away in trailer parks, because of their useless thinking skills? Will we have whole sections set aside for useless librarians? Will they squat on the trailer steps day after day, comparing notes and quoting passages from Catch-22?

5. If everyone depends upon a single skill to survive - if they can't think their way out of a paper box - what happens to innovation? To creativity? What happens to poetry, to good books (apparently we'll read anything, judging from the crap I see on the Internet), to artwork, to humanity? Will we even BE human anymore?

6. What does "useless" mean, anyway? The dictionary definition is no practical of beneficial use. Is an ability to think through a problem, to create a piece of art, to invent something, really useless? Is reading with comprehension a useless skill? In the context of the so-called study in my opening sentence, doesn't useless really mean "lack of profit?"

7. Is everything, then, to be determined by a monetary value? If I love the view, does it have to be a million dollar one? If I love a tree, is its value only in its lumber? What good is a cloud, then, if it doesn't produce rain? Is there no room for beauty anymore?

8. What would life be like if there were MORE liberal arts majors? What if MORE people could look at what is happening in the world and see the ridiculousness that is taking place? What if MORE people could understand the true nature of politics, the true economic status of the one percent, the true nature of religion? Is this learning and understanding what we're really afraid of? What if knowing stuff was NORMAL and EXPECTED? What if everybody did their own thinking for a change? How surreal would that be!

9. Is it possible that the liberal arts will one day make itself available to everyone - with information so free on the Internet - could EVERYONE in fact have their own self-made liberal arts degree? Could the world become a place where learning itself holds value?

10. Does it matter if no one learns Latin or ancient Arabic or Yiddish or whatever anymore? Do we care what the Bible REALLY says, or are we happy to have it spewed out of the mouths of our "betters" who rewrite and tell us what they want to hear, not what the Good Book actually has to say?

11. What if you're a person who doesn't want to learn how to create the latest and greatest widget, who loves books, who loves to learn, who loves languages and arts and all of those things? What is that person supposed to do with herself? Is her misery at the loss of the things she loves the price we pay for a society that grinds everyone down to the lowest common denominator, leaving only room for a few to stand on the hearts of the rest? Does not every single person matter?

12. Do we all WANT to become parts of an assembly line? Is that all we're good for? Are we not the voice of the universe, the poetry of the heart, the thoughts of the world? Aren't human beings more than that?

13. Would it be better to have a different degree? To have majored in computer science? Wouldn't I be a different person? Someone completely unlike me? Would the world even notice?


Mark my words, there will come a day when everyone wonders what the hell happened. When the educational system has collapsed, and we're all left standing with our thumbs up our collective you-know-whats. And we won't know what hit us, because we won't be able to think about it because we won't have the skills to use that part of our brain. Instead we'll stand there waiting on someone else to tell us what to think. We won't be able to read the US Constitution and see that some of the words have been changed.

We'll be like the animals in Animal Farm (only we won't even understand that allusion because we won't know the book) - a few of us will read the document and think something has been left out, but the majority will shrug and go back to their assembly line.

God help you if this is the world you want. This kind of unenlightened Dark Age scares me to death, but there are lots of people out there who think this is fine.

Don't count me as one of them.



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 238th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.


**The idea for this Thursday Thirteen came from a Facebook discussion I saw on a friend's page. She has a blog here, though she doesn't update it much. But I did want to give credit for the idea and, I am sure, some of the thoughts contained in this little entry. One cannot read interesting discussion without absorbing something.**

Hard to Believe

I have apparently run out of things to say.

A Day to Remember

Today is one of those historic days, the kind you tell young people about when you're (ahem) older.

It's not a national day, but more local. Five years ago today a gunman went on a rampage at Virginia Tech. Thirty-two people died. My best friend's son was a student on campus and one of the people killed was close to him.

I was at home, working on the computer. I was still working for the newspaper then. Something came across in my email, I think, alerting me to the possibility of a shooting. At first it seemed like a routine incident, then the numbers began to climb. One person, two people ... more. Twenty-two. I remember that number; it took my breath. I switched on the local news to watch the coverage. I was scared for my friend's son. Terrified, actually. And then I remembered that my husband's best childhood friend was a professor there. And I was terrified for him, too.

Fortunately both were not physically hurt, though they were scarred nonetheless.

I did not go to Virginia Tech, but as a citizen of the community - of the nation - I was stunned by the atrocity. As upset and saddened as everyone else.

It is such a shame that we have learned very little in the ensuing years. Instead of seeking to help people so that such things do not happen again, we've only turned inward, toward our fears, instead of reaching out. We've become a closed-off congregation of individuals, not a society that helps one another. I find it a painful turn of events.

I desperately want to see us become a country where we reach out to one another, in love and understanding. A place of acceptance, where differences, whether physical or emotional, are not problems to be ashamed of but are embraced as evidence of our humanity. A place where we resolve our differences not with guns and violence but with hugs and sympathy.

A land of love. A land of kindness. A land of joy.

Books: Forty Thorns

Forty Thorns
By Judy Light Ayyildiz
Copyright 2011
335 pages

I am pleased to tell you about this novel by my friend, Judy Ayyildiz.

Forty Thorns is a fictionalized story of Adalet, a progressive woman who grew up in Turkey during a period of great change in that country's history. She lived through the fall fo the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the Turkish Republic, enduring a war and the changing face of a country.

The story is based on the life of Ayyildiz's mother-in-law. The author researched Turkish history in great detail and links Adalet's journey through life to the historic changes in Turkey.

The heroine was born in Thrace in 1901. The novel gets its name from an incident early in Adalet's life. She is called upon to perform a heroic act to save her sister's wedding. She must remove 40 evil thorns from a wedding gown cape so that the nuptials can move forward. While she is disposing of this evil, she catches the eye of her future husband.

In many ways this story is a coming-of-age novel, for Adalet grows up as the reader moves through the tale. This heroine has great courage and must face many hardships as she embraces the new republic and its changing ideals for women. She defies her parents to marry, and must live with the consequences of having a mind of her own at a time when such activities were frowned upon.

This is very much a women's book, and a feminist's one, at that. Americans will find it filled with information about a part of world history that they no little of, and will find themselves rethinking every stereotype of Middle Eastern culture that they believe they know.

For ultimately, Adalet is a strong woman, encompassing the roles of women of all nationalities. She is wife, mother, daughter - she gives and loves, feels pain, and finds her inner strength when she thinks she will not have hope again.

It is no mistake that "Adalet" also means "justice," in the woman's native language. For she seeks justice throughout the book, not only for herself, but for her country.

The book has received much acclaim in Turkey. Ayylidiz in interviews has found the reception less ardent in the United States but is hopeful that will turn around. She took 19 years to write the book; her mother-in-law asked her to write her life's story as she neared death. After hearing the tale, Ayylidiz felt compelled to move forward with the request.

At the end of the book, Adalet tells her sister that she wants a book written about her life. Her sister laughs and says:

"We've had small and average lives."

"Nations come from wombs like mine," Adalet answered, feeling again like the teacher. "Our hands keep fires while wars rage. We clean the burnt homes, help re-stack the rocks, gather the suffering ruin to our breasts and hide what we can."

Indeed, the story of women is a powerful one, and Ayylidiz has made certain that this woman's life will not be lost to the winds of time. Her history will endure, and the author should be thanked for this.


***

I have known Judy for many years. I interviewed her for an article in the late 1980s, and we have spent time together in writing groups and in arts and letters organizations. I am very pleased to recommend her work and I thank her for giving me the opportunity to read this fine work.

Thursday Thirteen

We just finished with Easter, and finally that means less chocolate in the aisles of the supermarkets.

I am, I confess, a chocoholic.

So here are 13 favorite chocolates. These are not specialty chocolates or anything; I'm not very picky about my candy.


1. Milky Way Midnight. This is my favorite candy bar. I love the dark chocolate and the nougat.

2. Cadbury Creme Eggs. I do not care for any but the original, but I absolutely adore those.

3. Hershey's Milk Chocolate Eggs. These football-shaped little pieces of milk chocolate are delish.

4. Three Musketeers Bar. Another long-time favorite.

5. Cella's Chocolate Covered Cherries. Another holiday favorite; on of the best things about winter!

6. Chocolate covered strawberries.

7. Chocolate covered blueberries (I sense a theme. Fruit and chocolate.)

8. Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate.

9. Nestle's semi-sweet chocolate morsels. This is what my mother always used in her toll-house chocolate chip cookies. And they are what I use.

10. Cadbury's Royal Dark Chocolate bars.

11. Nutella. This is an odd thing to include, really, as it is a nut thing and not a candy bar, but I learned of it from another blogger and it is terrific stuff.

12. Chocolate lush. This is an old family recipe, a kind of cake and pudding concoction that involves a lot of coco. Best with Cool Whip dressing on top and served warm.

13. Whitman's Sampler. I don't like *everything* in one of these, but I like most of the pieces.

And yes, I am supposed to be on a diet. Certainly not eating chocolate!


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 237th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Spring Sights

Looking across the farm.

The woods.

Another shot of the farm.

Wildflowers

I am never certain I have the names of wildflowers correct, so feel free to correct me if you see something in need of change.

Dew Drop

Some kind of violet.

Trillium

More trillium.

Spring Beauty (name of the flower, not what it is!)



Trillium



Spring Beauty.

The County Chorus

The Botetourt County Chorus in the first weekend in April put on their spring performance. I went to the one at Lord Botetourt on a Sunday afternoon.

They were singing Broadway tunes.

The whole group settling in for their songs.

My brother and father. My brother doesn't look too thrilled, does he?

My brother during a solo.

My brother and others singing "Footloose."

I thought they did a nice job. They had a good crowd of listeners, too, for which I was glad. It is good to support local things and efforts.

Books: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
By Mark Twain
Audio read by Carl Reiner

I don't know how I missed reading this Mark Twain classic when I was younger, but I did.

This is the story of a factory worker from Connecticut who, in the late 1800s, is conked on the head. The resulting blow sends him back in time to the 500s, when King Arthur was head of Britain.

Hilarity ensues as the Boss, as he comes to call himself, up-ends Britain and its society. He brings about factories, electricity, telephones, and other modern marvels, all of which he ultimately destroys.

The story is a great fantasy, and we're all familiar with the notion as there are many movies today that follow this line of thinking. I've seen a number of them where someone for some reason ends up backwards in time in the Age of Chivalry.

The story also had a great deal to say about society, class, and progress.

Smart guy, that Twain.

Yes, It's This Green

Our early spring continues, though we are having a bit of a cold snap.

The trees are already dressed in their finest greens. They are a month early; I don't usually see leaves like this until late April.

Baby Calves

Thursday Thirteen

The other day on Facebook someone posted a list of 12 things not to say or do to introverts. Oh,I thought, I could add one more and have a Thursday Thirteen.

Of course I did not take care of it then and when I went back I couldn't remember who had posted it and I could not find it.

But I liked the idea so now I am going to talk about introverts anyway, even if it may not be 13 ways to take care of your introvert.

1. A lot of people are introverts, but no one knows how many. Some people say 1/4 of the population, others say just under half. I found a quote that says introverts are "a minority in the regular population but a majority in the gifted population." I like that one.

2. So what is an introvert, anyway? It is not, as you might think, shyness or depression. They are not socially inept. Instead it is a personality trait. The introvert generally does not find other people energizing; they find being away from people energizing. They work well on solo projects, in other words. They like to think about things before they speak. They are idea people.

3. Introverts generally do not talk a lot, nor or they in the public eye. You won't find many introverts in politics, for example. Extroverts think by talking, introverts think before talking.

4. Words that describe introverts include reflective, independent, level-headed, refined, sensitive, contemplative, etc. They are the daydreamers, the readers, the writers, the artists of the world. They are also inventors, engineers, and others upon whom the feet of society tend to walk. People might want to look down every now and then.

5. Studies using brain images indicate that the brain activity of introverts take place in the frontal lobes. These areas are activated with solitary activities and at that time, introverts find their energy and expend it in solving problems, introspection, and complex thinking.

Extroverts think with the back of their brain. These areas process information from the external world, so they need stimulus from outside of themselves. They seek out other people and thrive on these interactions.

6. If you really want to make an introvert happy, try not to talk so much. Skip the small chats and go straight to something serious and amazing. Introverts don't care much what happens in Hollywood, but ask them what they think about Pluto no longer being a planet, or their thoughts on some major hot button issue, and you'll have an interesting conversation. Though you might find it a little heated at time, so be careful. Introverts like deep conversation.

7. Keep it short. While you might be able to carry on for hours at a party or an event, such things wear on introverts. They grow weary and need their alone time to recharge. I myself have been known to seek personal space in bathrooms or by taking a quick walk outside when I'm at crowded events.

8. Don't constantly ask your introverted friend if everything is okay. Being quiet doesn't mean something is wrong. Just give them space. They'll be okay.

9. Let your introvert stay in what you perceive as her shell. It's not really a shell, it's where she is in her comfort zone, and most likely she's happy there. If she asks you for help of course that's another matter entirely.

10. Help your introvert find her focus. Sometimes introverts have so many thoughts running around in their heads, they can't keep them straight. You can best do that by listening when she does talk, instead of talking over her. Don't tell her what you think she should do, listen to what she is saying and help her figure it out herself. She'll be much happier that way.

11. Myers-Briggs test indicate what kind of personality you have. You can take a free test here and see what it says about you.

12. As for me, I tend to score 100 percent on the "introverted" part of these tests. Depending on the test, I am either an INTP or an INTJ - with the latter coming up as I've aged. This was predicated when I first took the Myers-Briggs in the 1980s and it has come true. But I score so evenly in the latter number that I am not sure it matters where I am concerned.

13. As an INTJ (my score on the test this morning), I am a MASTERMIND. "Masterminds are rare, comprising no more than one to two percent of the population, and they are rarely encountered outside their office, factory, school, or laboratory. Although they are highly capable leaders, Masterminds are not at all eager to take command, preferring to stay in the background until others demonstrate their inability to lead.... their aim is always maximum efficiency.

Yes, world, I am an INTROVERT. Thank you very much.


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 236th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Books: Grimm's Fairy Tales

Grimm's Fairy Tales
Read by Sheila Hancock
1983

This adaptation of Grimm's Fairy Tales includes Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, The Frog Prince, Cinderella, Rupelstiltskin, Tom Thumb, Sleeping Beauty, and The Brave Little Tailor.

Grimm's tales have been softened up and watered down so much over the centuries that it is hard to know what you're listening to. I suspect these versions were of the watered down variety, but without comparing I do not know that for sure.

It was a joy to listen to these tales of my childhood, even if they seemed a little different than I recall. My favorites of the ones listed above are Tom Thumb and The Brave Little Tailor. I learned the the latter as "Seven at One Blow" some time ago and recall it fondly.

National Geographic offers a dozen Grimm Fairy Tales at this website.

Some of them have audio.

You can find other fairy tales all over the Internet. There are over 200 of these stories; we're only familiar with less than half of those.

These tales resonate still today. A good background in fairy tales is very helpful in reading, research, movie-watching, and writing.

Try something a little different!

Clouds

I shot this photo the other week when we were having storms and tornado warnings.

When the Dogwood Blooms

We are having quite an early spring this year. It is not unheard of for dogwoods to bloom in March, but generally April is normal.

Books: War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds
By H. G. Wells
Radio Play by Orsen Wells
1939
Audio


It has been a long time since I read this book. I ran across an audio of the 1938 radio drama by Orsen Wells in the library the other day, and I snatched it up.

The story tells how big machines from Mars attack the world and begin to take over the planet. They have a heat ray gun and some kind of dark gas that destroys people. However, just like the native tribes in North America 400 years ago, the Martians have no immunity to our various diseases. These plagues save the world from annihilation and/or enslavement.

The radio dramatization was put on by Mercury Broadcast Theatre and the Columbia Broadcasting System. The first 2/3 of the play take place in the form of news broadcasts, supposedly interrupting symphony play.

The last third is from the point of view of an astronomer, Richard Pierson, who visited the first landing site and somehow survived the initial blasts and gassings.

Reportedly, during and after the original broadcast (which took place on Halloween), some people believed it to be real and thought aliens really were invading the United States. There was a public outcry about this alleged hoax.

It is important to remember the time period. This was a few years before the bombing of Pearl Harbor; World War II had not yet broken out but tensions were high.

Listening to this radio drama reminded me of two things. The first was September 11, 2001. I do not know why this reminded me of the attacks on the Twin Towers, but it did.

The second was an incident that occurred in 1933 here in Botetourt County. Around Christmas that year, the county allegedly came under a series of "mad gasser" attacks.

Local newspapers wrote many stories about these attacks, and my great-aunt remembered one of them happening just down the road from her home. The gas emitted by the Martians reminded me of this odd bit of history.

I am sure I listened to this radio dramatization when I was in school, but it was interesting listening to it in the 21st century. It remains surprisingly current.