Stonehenge of Moore

The hay was cut today. "Today" is July 7th by the way. This will be posted on July 10th thanks to the wonders of Google's Blogger program and the Internet. But I'm writing on Monday afternoon in a few minutes of free time. So today isn't really today.

Mostly the hay was baled (originally I had haled was bayed) while we were at lunch although they had already cut and raked the pasture. We have 160 acres here except for the area where the house is. That isn't much land anymore as it relates to farming at least. It's quite a bit if you are trying to do something yourself, by hand.

When I was a kid it would have taken us a week or two to cut and rake and then bail that much hay. That wouldn't have gotten it stacked in the barn either. That took a while with a couple of high school kids and our old 3/4 ton truck. The equipment we used then was about like toys compared to the equipment in use today. We didn't have a tractor that would have lifted one of those big bales. The guys that farm for us all have other jobs and still do about 3,000 acres of land like ours - just bits and pieces here and there. They claim it is for money but I think there's more to it than that.

Those big bales strewn around the pasture like that remind me of Stonehenge. I'm not sure exactly why they remind me of Stonehenge. Something to do with the size of the bales and the roundness may have something to do with the feeling.

In a way it is strange that something made possible only by new technology reminds me of something so ancient.

By the way those crystal skulls that I blogged about a while back have been proven to be fakes. Not that anyone is counting fakes with it being political season and all. The Mayan's might still be right of course about the end of the world. That wasn't proven to be fake.

Starbucks is closing 12 stores in our area. We have 29 stand alone stores so that will leave us 17. I can probably get by with that many. Although I have been going over twice some days since I tried the blended lemonade drink and it has been really hot in the afternoons. I've violated my rule about just having coffee every other day so soon I will pay a price when I decide to break my addiction again.

Seaking of which, addiction that is, we have a big drug bust in town. It was synthetic steroids of some kind.

One Year of Blogs

I posted my very first blog entry one year ago: Alzheimers care for me Part I.

That was in the midst of my most difficult year of caregiving. I didn't know it then but things were going to get much more difficult in the ensuing weeks. I didn't know it was my last year of caregiving.

I thought I was prepared for about anything that could happen but I wasn't. Looking back I know it is not something you really can anticipate. I was prepared in the sense that I knew how to adapt to new situations and solve new problems and even take care of myself a bit while taking care of someone else. That's the only thing you can prepare for in caregiving. Maybe that's what you can prepare for in life.

I was worried that I might not live long enough to take care of dad. He was already 90 and I was just a few days from 59 then so that seems odd to some. But his care was taking a toll on me physically and emotionally. I knew it, too. I've seen people of all ages die and it is not always very predictable. I worried about who would take care of dad if I couldn't. I wore my Safe-Return bracelet in case I had an accident and couldn't get home. Funny the things you think about when you're caregiving.

And I was worried about my wife and my kids and their kids and a bunch of other people. Because I knew I was not being much of a husband or a father or a grandfather or handling business issues or much of anything else for that matter. If I tried to be better at one role then it seemed I had to neglect something else.

The financial part was worrisome, too. There was a time that year when I felt like I was between the jaws of a vice.

My Lord was with me all throughout and even until the end. How can I explain the emotion of knowing His presence? I can say it just like that in a few words and people that know it can and will understand it and appreciate it. But I can write libraries of books and never get it across to those who do not know His presence themselves.

I suppose in a secular sense someone will think about me that his religion or his faith or his superstition or whatever they think it is helped him get through a difficult time. It is so much more than that I am continually awed and amazed by it.

Even so I asked for help and received it from any number of people. Caregiving for me was both a solitary endeavor as well as a team project. Always there was that need for balance between the one and the other.

But that was the context of that time when I started blogging.

That first post was written because I had read a question on one of the Alzheimer's forums: "If you were the one with AD, how would you like to be cared for?" So I was wondering about my own arrangements for Alzheimer's care. Finally I decided it was going to be a 2 part essay. But I never have written the 2nd part.

So I answered in a circle really and finally realized it and just stopped. I said I wanted to live independently as long as possible. Duh. But the question is what do you want to have happen when you can't live independently?

I still don't know the answer. I don't want to be dependent. I'm procrastinating again, too, because I don't have a clue how to answer it yet.

I've done some future planning though but I never have Alzheimer's in any of my scenarios nor am I dependent. I have to think about this more. It is strange that it is easier to think about sudden death or physical disability than about being intellectually dependent.

I'm kind of surprised I'm still blogging after a year and nearly 9 1/2 months after dad's death. I'm certain in no small part it is because of those dear and gracious souls who befriended me by commenting on my blogs and allowed me the same privilege. I don't know how to measure all the different kinds of help I received but I know my blog friends were and are an important part of my support.

Reading back over the blogs of the last year is interesting and sad and happy and just about every other emotion I can conceive. My posts certainly covered a wide range of subjects.

One year of blogging at an end.

Investing Philosophies

I have been studying different philosophies about investing in the stock market.

What I've learned is that there are pretty much two opposing viewpoints: active and passive.

The one most people seem to practice is called active investing. It is the idea that one can maximize return through various hands-on, management techniques. These are generally ways of answering the questions of what to buy or sell; when to do it; and, how much to pay for it.

One active strategy is trading or attempting to buy low and sell higher. There are various means of doing this and nothing that anyone guarantees to work every time.

Another active strategy is called dollar averaging. This method is usually connected to mutual funds and requires investing regularly and periodically. Some people think it is passive but I classify it as active.

Yet another is called value investing. This is the Warren Buffet approach kind of. You hunt "good" companies and buy them and hold them. Some people think this is passive but apparently they've had an easier time finding "good" companies than I have.

The opposing idea is passive investing.

This is pretty much the idea that it is not possible to predict the market either for a bunch of stocks or for an individual stock. There's a concept called "Efficient Market Hypothesis" that holds that it is simply impossible to predict the price of stocks. Period. It also holds that the market itself contains all the possible information about pricing for both individual stocks and entire markets.

I've been thinking about this quite a bit. I especially have thought about it when I've been watching the business commentators on the cable channels. I find it very interesting that they all say things like "the market reacted today to the shortage of goldfish in Peru" or some such thing. But the day before they didn't predict that the market was going to react to the goldfish in Peru problem. It is only afterwards.

Then I think of the Efficient Market Hypothesis and say to myself "hmmm."

So in this system you just buy all the stocks there are and you do not worry about timing and what not. Now it would take a lot of money to buy all the stocks individually so people have created these so called index funds and ETF's (exchange traded funds) and probably some other names. They are kind of like mutual funds except there isn't any stock picking involved.

Well, that's pretty much all I've learned.

One more thing actually that I will mention:

Someone asked an Oklahoma oil man how to make a million dollars in the oil business.
He answered "Start with ten million."

What Did Gneral Clark Say?

I heard some discussion the other day of something that apparently General Wesley Clark said in an interview on one of the Sunday programs. I searched for a transcript and found what follows posted on General Clark's web site: http://securingamerica.com/node/2993:

Bob Schieffer: Well you, you went so far as to say that you thought John McCain was, quote, and these are your words, "untested and untried," And I must say I, I had to read that twice, because you're talking about somebody who was a prisoner of war. He was a squadron commander of the largest squadron in the Navy. He's been on the Senate Armed Services Committee for lo these many years. How can you say that John McCain is un- untested and untried? General?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Because in the matters of national security policy making, it's a matter of understanding risk. It's a matter of gauging your opponents, and it's a matter of being held accountable. John McCain's never done any of that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in Armed Forces as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in Air- in the Navy that he commanded, it wasn't a wartime squadron. He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn't seen what it's like when diplomats come in and say, 'I don't know whether we're going to be able to get this point through or not. Do you want to take the risk? What about your reputation? How do we handle it-'

Bob Schieffer: Well-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: ' -it publicly.' He hasn't made those calls, Bob.

Bob Schieffer: Well, well, General, maybe-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: So-

Bob Schieffer: Could I just interrupt you. If-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Sure.

Bob Schieffer: I have to say, Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down. I mean-

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be President.

Bob Schieffer: Really?!

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: But Barack is not, he is not running on the fact that he has made these national security pronouncements. He's running on his other strengths. He's running on the strengths of character, on the strengths of his communication skills, on the strengths of his judgment. And those are qualities that we seek in our national leadership.

Bob Schieffer: Well, let me ask you this. Senator Obama announced yesterday that he's going to Europe and to the Middle East. Most people think that he'll probably stop off in Iraq where he hasn't been in more than two years. Why now?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: I think this is a good opportunity. It's a window of time. The Convention is late in the calendar this year, and he's got the window of time to go overseas, meet with foreign leaders. You know, we were meeting with him the other day and as he said he doesn't want to count his chickens before he, before they hatch. But he recognizes this country is in such a plight, both at home and abroad that no one can contemplate taking the office of the Presidency without having some very good ideas about what needs to be done from the get-go. There's not a learning period in this job. The next President's going to have to step right into the job. He's going to have to have the policies there. And I think Barack is taking a, a very sensible view of this by going abroad and meeting firsthand the leaders at this critical moment in, in times of America's needs abroad.

Bob Schieffer: General, what do you think would be the impact, let's say on Iran, on the neighborhood around Iraq if in fact Senator Obama is elected and he does announce that he's going to bring back the troops on a specific time schedule? As Senator Lieberman said, he's totally discounting things that could happen along the way. Would he follow that schedule no matter what?

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I don't think Barack Obama is discounting things that have happened along the way. I think the critique is more like this, Bob, that the Bush administration and Joe Lieberman in the forefront have from the beginning relied excessively on military force as the answer to all the nation's security problems. And what Barack Obama understands is that military force may have to be used as a last resort, but it's not the first resort. So, let's take the case of Iraq. This administration went to a war it didn't really have to fight. Barack Obama called it like it was at the time in a speech early on before we went into Iraq. And once there, the administration relied excessively on the men and women in uniform. It failed to put in place the overarching diplomatic strategy and the regional strategy that was necessary to deal with Iraq's neighbors. It more or less invited Iranian incursions by threatening that Ira- Iran and Syria were next on the hit list in military actions and, and efforts in the region without having an effective strategy in the region. So, when we talk about troop withdrawals from Iraq, yes, I think the major muscle movement for the United States needs to be less reliance on military power and more reliance on all the other tools of U.S. power, including diplomacy. So, it's within that vein that Barack Obama is talking about pulling troops back from Iraq. It doesn't mean that he's not going to be sensitive to other actions in the region. He's going to be much more sensitive to those actions than the kind of mechanistic, militaristic response that John McCain has habitually given. What I can foresee- ...

I think Clark will not be the Vice-Presidential candidate but probably Secretary of Defense or maybe Secretary of State.

My guess is that the Obama campaign knew and approved Clark's comments.

My Maternal Grandmother

Yesterday was her birthday. I believe we would have required 118 candles if we had been buying candles.

She died more than 20 years ago but July 5th is still her birthday. I don't think it's correct to say "would have been her birthday." Your birthday doesn't change at death just like any other fact about you. It is just that you don't celebrate it anymore - here at least.

I think one of my older cousins had already named her when I came along. We called her "mah maw" in my best-but-insufficient way of trying to write it the way we said it. I never did know how to write it.

Dad and Mom cared for her in their home for a long while. I don't remember when she came to live there. I think she lived there at least 5 years though.

She never learned to drive. I don't know why.

She and her husband did a lot of things. They were very much depression era folks. The poverty of that time in general was worse for them because they were in the ministry. My grandfather was a carpenter before he was a minister. His particular calling was to go to a town and physically build a church building, pastor for a while, and move on to the next town.

My grandmother was extremely resourceful and must have been very smart I think. Because she managed to keep a loving home during all those moves and under the most difficult of circumstances. I recall my mother talking about how she was able to make a scrumptious meal out of just about nothing.

My mother also liked to remember her candy making ability. I remember eating candy from my grandmother's stove. My favorite was called "Aunt Bill's" and I have no idea who Aunt Bill was. But that was some good candy. It was a kind of brown color and was a little crumbly - not gooey like fudge and not very cake like either. But she made all sorts of candy. Mom said that she would make candy and sell it for cash during the harder times.

My brother researched her family line. As I recall her ancestors had moved from somewhere in the deep south to Texas before the Civil War. Apparently a lot of people did.

She was also a caregiver. Her husband had a stroke when he was pretty young. He died when I was 12 so it is hard for me to remember how long she took care of him but it was several years. They had a farm when he had the stroke and they had to sell that and move to the city.

Mom would drive into the City once each week and pickup her younger sister and they would then go to their mother's. The sister stayed with my grandfather while mom took my grandmother shopping for groceries. Neither the sister nor my grandmother could drive.

After my grandfather died my grandmother moved into a small quad-plex apartment. She loved African Violets and had many of them. They apparently loved her because they grew like crazy under her care. She lived alone a long while.

Then she started forgetting to eat and forgetting to take medicine and leaving the burners on and wearing too many clothes or sometimes not enough. So mom moved her down to the farm with them.

She loved to fish. I don't think I've ever known anyone who loved to fish as much as she did. Her favorite place was on the farm she and her husband owned over in Tuttle. It had a pretty, little creek on it and they also built a pond which they stocked. But the creek was her favorite place. She like to use a long cane pole. I mean long, too, as in 12' or longer. They were so long, those poles, that they had to be stored overhead in a garage or shed. Heck, maybe they were 16' even because they were nearly as long as a car. They were too long for me to handle very well. She had this little stool deal that she could sit on and she'd stick that pole out over the creek and let down the line with the baited hook. She always caught fish, too, and knew what to call them.

When she lived at the farm with mom and dad she would try to fish in the pond that was down below the house.

I've sold that area to Chick-Fil-A by the way. We haven't closed yet but will soon. In a year it will be built and operating and there will be thousands of cars per day going in an out of there. People really like Chick-Fil-A though and are really happy that we are getting one in our area. I've only eaten once at a Chick-Fil-A and I thought it was pretty good.

Anyway that's the spot where the pond was and my grandmother would go down and sit by the pond and fish. Only there really weren't any fish in the pond and dad kind of let it dry up several times. He said if he had it to do over he would have rigged up a well to have kept water in the pond and kept fish in it too just so my grandmother would have been able to catch something.

Before the pond there was a kind of depression there in what we called the meadow. Inside the depression had been this huge Cottonwood tree that had lived there much of my life. But between lightening and age it had become mostly dead and dad cut it down one year and then built the pond later. Mom used to take me and my brother down below that old tree for a picnic. She'd throw a blanket out and we would eat hot dogs with relish and mustard. I still remember that all these years later.

Another thing my grandmother did after the dementia set in was to write her name in everything. I've wondered about this. Dad did something similar but not to the same extent. Anyway you can't pick up a book at the house without finding "Myrtle" scribbled on the inside somewhere. Frequently she wrote "Myrtle's book" in fact. I wonder now if it was an attempt to hold on to her identity a little longer.

She was always wanting to go home. She was extreme about it. She was one of those wanderers you read about. Mom told me often that she would be awakened in the middle of the night to find her mother fully dressed and all her bags packed and ready to go home.

Near the end she would take off all her clothes and try to go home. Once dad caught her out in the road in front of the house and she was totally naked except for shoes. He got her back inside and put this old, red, Owens-Corning windbreaker on her until mom returned home to help him.

At the very end it became too difficult for dad and mom to care for my grandmother and they put her in a nursing home. She escaped from a couple of homes though and then they would have to move her. She would be so frail and bed ridden and you would think to yourself that she couldn't possibly walk let alone run off. But then suddenly she would gain strength from some unknown source and out she'd go. Once she climbed a pretty good gate as I recall.

Dad always regretted he didn't keep her at home so she could have died there with him and mom around her. He worried a lot about that. It was one of his big regrets.

Another thing I remember vividly about my grandmother is going to her house over in Tuttle. On the way we had to go over this really narrow bridge that had the steel sides and arcs. It was really narrow and scary when we met another car. It's still there but has been closed since I was in High school. We'd drive through the town of Tuttle. There was an old fashioned drugstore there that had the best chocolate ice cream. We'd cross this railroad at the end of town where the paved road would end. Then we drove a little farther down this sandy road and their place was on the right. It had a long driveway with Poplar trees framing both sides. The house was a tall one story with a dormer window (I think) on front and it had asbestos siding. They mowed their lawn with an electric mower. I thought that was funny. I think in the summer it was hot and I'm uncertain if they had air conditioning or not. I think maybe not but that's kind of in the time when we didn't really have air conditioning except in stores.

I also remember eating Thanksgiving dinner at their house in Tuttle. What I mainly remember though is this heater they had. The way I recall it, it was kind of tall and shaped like a cylinder of sorts and burned wood I think. And it put out heat like crazy. Everyone liked to gather around that heater in that room. My Uncle Clarence would tell stories about Texas or Minnesota (or was it Michigan - can't remember). My Uncle Ed would tell stories about Georgia. My oh my he loved Georgia. I've known other people from Georgia and they all loved that state. My uncles were good story tellers. The women would be in the kitchen and at the table fixing food and stuff and some of us kids would be running here and there. The women got louder and louder and louder. I remember that still and sometimes it would be so loud dad would holler out. I think he was more sensitive about the loudness. I've seen that since though where a big group of people just gets louder and louder.


It's better to remember the Thanksgivings on her farm I think.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

This is a verse of The Star Spangled Banner that I have not often heard. At first glance I thought it might have something to do with the signers of the Declaration of Independence but that notion was rather quickly displaced.

Rather the reference is about the other side. I think we too easily forget that conflicts have two sides. History tends to emphasize the winners. The American Revolution was no different in this regard. Of course it was the British government that was being changed and the British military was sent to prevent it. But the Revolution was not unanimously supported by those who lived here.

They were called "Loyalists" and "Tories" and "King's Men" and probably other, less flattering names. I read that historians have estimated this group at about 15% to 20% of the population, or some 400,000 to 500,000 individuals. Another 35% to 45% were neutral. It is also interesting that 62,000 loyalists actually left the country after the war. The number of actual patriots or rebels (depending upon your viewpoint) was probably never more than 50%.

I guess the neutral group would be something akin to the undecided of our modern polls.

This verse seems to me to be about those who chose the active avenue of war as a means to settle the conflict. I thought for a while that the part about "their foul footsteps" might indicate just those foreign to the country but I think it is better understood in the sense of those willing to take action. That's as opposed to the neutrals.

Vauntingly is an interesting choice of words. It conveys the sens of bragging or boasting. Since the British army at the time was probably the best army in the world I am uncertain just how boastful it was though to expect an easy victory.

Better to not boast about how easy it will be to win a war. This lesson seems to elude us all regardless of our time. Whether it is a real war with bullets and guns or a lawsuit war or a dust up with the neighbors, invariably it turns out that wars are harder to stop than they are to start.

Anyway there are always two sides. At least two and sometimes there are more.

Really the American Revolution was the first Civil War. The Civil War was the second one.

People were loyalists for several reasons. Some simply felt a sense of loyalty to the King and the traditions of homeland. Some had economic concerns. Some had family ties or friends. Some simply disagreed with the idea of republicanism. One has to remember that the British Empire at the time was the most liberal government the world had seen in terms of individual freedom and liberty. Some were against war. I suspect it was much as now that people were pretty principled in their views and that there were more reasons than one that entered into thinking.

The loyalists were hated by the time the war ended. They generally suffered greatly for their losing allegiance. Many of those that fled did so to save their lives. It wasn't a good time to be a loyalist.

There just is not much evidence in human events of victors being magnanimous to the losers after conflict.

E PLURIBUS UNUM

"Out of Many, One"

I like the Great Seal of the United States of America.

The eagle clutches an olive branch with 13 leaves and 13 olives. There are 13 arrows opposite the olive branch and the eagle looks to the olive branch.

There are 13 stripes on the shield and there are 13 stars above the eagles head. But there is one shield and the 13 stars combine to make one.

Of course the 13 is symbolic of the original 13 colonies. The olive branch symbolizes peace and the eagle turning to look at it symbolizes preference for peace but the arrows symbolize preparedness for war. There are several other 13's.

The back of the seal is interesting. Annuit Coeptis means "He Approves Our Undertakings." Novus Ordo Seclorum means "New Order of the Ages." The MDCCLXXVI is 1776.

'The August 20, 1776 report of the first Great Seal Committee describes the seal as "Crest The Eye of Providence in a radiant Triangle whose Glory extends over the Shield and beyond the Figures."'

As you might expect there is some controversy over what some of these symbols mean. Seems more reasonable to me to accept the simpler explanations rather than look towards conspiracy theories.

E PLURIBUS UNUM is not the official motto of the United States. That is "In God We Trust" which was officially adopted in 1956.

I like the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, too:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

And I like the Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key, too:

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Recently I've heard some people that are not proud to be Americans. Several people this year suggested we did not deserve to celebrate.

I don't agree with them but the fact they can say stuff like that also makes me proud to be an American.

My first ancestor on my dad's side that came here arrived in 1738. His son fought in the Revolutionary War. He was murdered after a battle by Tories.

There are a lot of things I love about my country. I am proud to be an American.

Team Hoyt

I am about 5 years younger than Dick Hoyt and I suppose it was the closeness in our age that first interested me about his story when it was brought to my attention a while back. Recently the GodTube video below was sent to me as a link and that made me decide to blog about it.



Dick has a son, Rick, who is 46 this year. Rick has MS. Rick has accomplished things that many people thought impossible. But his dad and family didn't think it was impossible and they supported him beyond any measure I can imagine.

Dick and Rick have participated in an amazing 224 Triathlons and 25 Boston Marathons and many other events totaling some 958 as of January 1, 2008.

They have a web site - Team Hoyt.

The video made me cry.

Half Full or Half Empty

I read a post the other day about my city and state. The author had nothing good to say about either and plenty of bad.

Some negatives in his list had some elements of factual basis. It was the extremely vitriolic nature of the post that was wrong. The author knew it and even apologized. But then he excused his diatribe because of his passionate opposition towards Oklahoma City.

I've lived in Dallas and Kansas City besides Oklahoma City. I think it was a privilege.

I am certain there were many problems. But I really cannot recall many right now. In Kansas City I recall that the river was a bit of a problem in that you had to cross a bridge and your choices were limited. In Dallas the traffic was always heavy and unpredictable. I'm pretty sure there were lots of others but I can't remember them.

On the other hand there were so many good things about living in Kansas City. I took a tour once of the fountains in Kansas City. Another time I visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. I had coffee with friends at the plaza. Many great restaurants that we tried and enjoyed. My favorite was this little place that had a pasta bar a couple of times a week. It was a great experience for me.

Dallas was great, too. It was different than Kansas City and Oklahoma City. There's a pace of living in Dallas that's different. There are unique businesses and shops all over Dallas that are amazing.

My church in Kansas City (actually Gladstone, MO) was Sherwood Bible Church. I had many friends there. I also had many friends from my work there and even after we stopped working together we got together a couple of times. In Coppell I attended Sandy Lake Road Baptist Church. I was really new there but was already being made to feel right at home.

The places were great but the people were better.

I've known people who complained about where they lived. It didn't really matter where they had come from but that place was the best place they ever lived and this new place was the worst.

I guess I'm not like that. Every place I've lived has been great.

I think it is the old half-full versus half-empty perspective things.

Ruth

I was reminded the other day of the story of Ruth.

It is a beautiful story from beginning to end and in many different ways.

In particular I am impressed with this part for this post:

But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."
Ruth 1:16-17 NIV

I think that is just so incredibly beautiful.

Later on in the story a man named Boaz reveals that he also thought it was beautiful. He apparently is much older than Ruth. At the instruction of her mother-in-law, Naomi, Ruth goes to the threshing floor and lies down at Boaz's feet because he is kinsman-redeemer to her. He awakens surprised to find her there. He tells her that this action on her part is more kind than the kindness she showed to Naomi. He adds that she did not seek the younger men. So that's why I suspect he is much older.

I like Boaz, too. He has already expressed a great deal of kindness towards Ruth and Naomi. He arranges with his men that she can glean the grain in his field and find plenty. Ruth must have been a proud woman but not prideful. I thought the way that Boaz handled this situation was remarkable because he is concerned both with Ruth's dignity as well as her material well-being.

We would do well as a society to remember that our race requires sustenance on both fronts.

A Night To Honor Israel

In 1978 then 38 year old Pastor John Hagee made his first trip to Israel. He was praying at the Western Wall and observing an orthodox Jewish man who was also praying nearby. He realized that this man distrusted him and felt impressed by God to do something to try to heal the rift between Christians and Jews. That began what is now the organization known as Christians United For Israel.

It has not been all that easy according to Hagee and has included many death threats and a good deal of danger. Before the first event he approached the San Antonio Jewish community to see if they would be honored. The idea was received with considerable reluctance. Eventually it was agreed and an evening was scheduled and announced. Immediately death threats poured into Hagee's Cornerstone Church.

He says he called the FBI and asked them what to do and was told he probably should take a different route to work every day. He said he did and it was pretty airy because all the windows had been shot out of his car.

I know this because I heard Pastor Hagee speak in Oklahoma City recently at our own "Night To Honor Israel" event. It was in recognition of Israel's 60th year as a nation restored to her land. My beautiful and talented wife played her saxophone in the orchestra for the event. That alone required uncounted hours of rehearsal and practice. Just on the day of the event she spent more than 7 hours on stage and that was after morning worship.

Rabbi David Packman was one of the speakers. I was particularly interested in his remarks because I know something about him and because he told something I had never before heard.

The image is of this large menorah that sits in a little area across from the Israeli Knesset. There are various scenes from different Jewish traditions in relief on the menorah. One such scene is the martyrdom of Rabbi Hanina ben Teradion depicted on the 6th branch. But I don't know if you count them from left to right or right to left. I did wonder but haven't found the answer.

He was killed in Hadrian's rule which ended in 138 ad. His crime was teaching the Torah which had been forbidden. He taught it anyway. The method of his execution was being wrapped in his own large Torah scroll and then being burned to death in it. Packman said that as the scroll burned Rabbi Hanina ben Teradion said the letters on the scroll were returning to God.

I found this story particularly moving.

Arrogance

I found this arrogant.

Ambition

Something very prominent in the book I'm reading (Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin) is ambition on the part of the characters. Abraham Lincoln is especially ambitious but all the "rivals" are as well.

I was thinking about ambition this morning during my workout while I was watching CNBC. There was a segment on that had live interviews from the floor of the Chicago commodities trading floor. Those guys are ambitious for sure.

Lincoln's great ambition was to be recognized I think. He is quoted in the book describing Stephen Douglas's great achievements and how well known and admired he was. Lincoln says he would rather have that recognition than be a king. He was also ambitious to succeed in his law career as well as everything else he tried. Once he is hired to represent a client and then subsequently the client hires someone else. But Lincoln gets to see his replacement in action in court. He immediately goes home to really study the law and prepare himself. I thought that was interesting. He was astute and humble enough to learn and then to prepare himself so he was better. He had a lot of failures but he never gave up.

Then on CNBC they interviewed the President of McDonalds USA. I bet he was ambitious or he would have never made President.

His name is Don Thompson. He is responsible for nearly 14,000 restaurants. He started out working for McDonalds as an electrical engineer.

This made me think about some comments I've read before on various forums about people who work at McDonalds. Mostly the comments are disparaging of the jobs and usually the people.

I've wondered about those people that make such comments. What I've wondered is whether or not they think that the people who are working at McDonalds are all going to stay in those jobs forever? Do they have no ambition themselves? Do they believe that you start out at the top job in a company or even stay at whatever initial job you get?

Seems strange to me is all. There's nothing wrong with staying in a job you like. In fact that's a good thing. But most people I've known take an entry level position and hope to move up in the company or at least to better and improve themselves. What's so strange about that?

Mr. Thompson didn't start out as President of McDonalds USA. I bet it is not accidental he made President either. I bet he was willing to exercise the discipline and effort necessary to make it happen.

Dad and Mom always said to me that I should do my best at any job I was given. They both respected work and held no job to be beneath them. And if they did it then it was done right, too.

That's ambition - ambition to do your best. Some people have the ambition to serve. Others have the ambition to do this or that.

Ambition can be negative of course. Like Hitler wanting to rule the world and impose his own sense of order on everyone else.

But I think for the most part ambition is a good thing.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln - Part III

In the book I now am in Chapter 7 (of 26) entitled "Countdown to the Nomination" which begins in 1860.

The period I have just finished reading about is from the 1840's through the 1850's.

It is all very interesting to me and not only describes the politics and the people but I think gives an wonderful perspective about the culture of the country and the era. I found several things that I thought worth mentioning.

The Mexican-American war began in 1846. Lincoln's Whigs were nearly unanimous in opposition and there were many passionate speeches made against the Democrat President, James K. Polk. I was very surprised to read some of this history. If I heard some of the same speeches without knowing the details I could easily assume the speaker was talking about President Bush and Iraq. I suppose I must have studied this once but I surely did not remember the details. Apparently there really is nothing new under the Sun.

Slavery is just a huge issue and I knew that already. But I think I am getting a better sense of just how significant it really was and how nothing else was left untouched by it.

The courage of the abolitionists and just ordinary people who were anti-slavery is amazing. One of the main characters stands against a mob by physically planting himself inside a doorway and defying the entire group. So many other stories. I found these stories to be exceptionally moving.

I am not going to again complain about how uncivil our politicians are to one another after reading this book. Good grief!! One guy beats another with his cane and the victim has permanent damage. Another guy pulls a pistol. Yeah, these are congressmen.

Another thing I thought was interesting is the change in the political parties. The two main parties at the time were the Democrats and the Whigs. The Democrats were pro-slavery. But the Whigs were pretty much anti-Democrat except on slavery where the party itself was divided. The issue of slavery became so important though that people began leaving the Whigs to join the Republican party which was entirely anti-slavery. Specifically the Republican Party was created in 1854 in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska act which extended slavery into those territories. The Democratic Party dates from Jefferson and Madison and other anti-federalists.

What interested me most was that the Republican Party came about because the Whig Party was unable to come to grips with slavery. Mainly Whigs were against too much power concentrated in the executive branch. I just found it ironic that Lincoln was a Whig but became a Republican because of his anti-slavery views. Then he becomes the first Republican president and has to wield tremendous power as President to preserve the union.

It made me think of the case where Obama wins the presidency and then has to wage war to preserve the country when he has been so anti-war. Lincoln was one of the most vocal opponents of Polk because of the Mexican-American war.

I found a couple of quotes by Lincoln that Goodwin includes and that I really like. The first is where Lincoln describes to someone how his mind works:

Lincoln told Joshua Speed, "I am slow to learn and slow to forget that which I have learned. My mind is like a piece of steel, very hard to scratch anything on it and almost impossible after you get there to rub it out."

I think that's great. I guess I'd have to characterize my mind to work the opposite way: fast and like a white board followed by an eraser.

Another that I found particularly interesting and rather sad has to do with Lincoln's observation of Stephen Douglas's accomplishments and his own failures:

"Twenty-two years ago Judge Douglas and I first became acquainted," he confided in a private fragment later discovered in his papers. "We were both young then; he a trifle younger than I. Even then, we were both ambitious; I, perhaps, quite as much so as he. With me the race of ambition has been a failure -- a flat failure; with him it has been one of splendid success. His name fills the nation; and is not unknown, even, in foreign lands. I affect no contempt for the high eminence he has reached. So reached, that the oppressed of my species, might have shared with me in the elevation, I would rather stand on that eminence, than wear the richest crown that ever pressed a monarch's brow."

Development

There are a lot of factors involved in development.

For one, there are many parties to be satisfied by the developer including various public bodies, possible lenders, potential investors, and last but certainly not least, potential tenants. The latter are often represented by an assortment of other agents, bankers, marketing specialists, insurance providers, and other practitioners of little known but important specialties. Every single one of them has his own ideas about what is wrong, or more rarely right, with the project in question. Just imagine this forum trying to build a project except worse.

At the same time the legal negotiations are underway with the developer on one side with her attorneys (one for each required specialty). Across the table, or more accurately the Internet now, the other constituencies gather also armed with attorneys. One important constituent is the land owner. In that group may also be pipe line and other strange easement holders and (or) specific restrictions represented by document that originated with the run. And then there are new proposed restrictions sought by each of the new tenants as well as more imaginative proposals submitted by the land owner family.

If the project survives sufficiently to move into the serious (as in making plans that a contractor can use to bid and build) civil engineering stage, then it turns out that the site is either too flat or too hilly. The engineer might say something like "you can't defy the laws of physics regardless of who you are" to the developer.

At each stage those cherished plans and elevations and scribbled renderings undergo vicious modifications, each one an emotional blow to the poet heart of the developer. And, it must be remembered, that with each tedious step the developer's wallet loses a little cash.

Finally, say a couple of years or maybe longer from first thought, the project is far enough along to submit to "pandz" (the way it is said). There are opponents who demand this or that. So begins another chapter.

Assuming that one concludes and another begins - not necessarily a good assumption either - then there are likely a few more public appearances necessary before zoning and platting can be finalized.

Then there is the final title work perhaps and the final investor and lending efforts. The latter may well have been disrupted by the price of oil, the collapse of Bear Stearns, or an overly cloudy day. The former is just disruptive period.

Now it is time to solicit bids and find out that the budget figure for the cost of the project (the same budget that was supposed to be overly conservative) is about 1/2 what is actually needed.

At the same time one (or several) of the future tenants withdraws his letter of intent because of the immigration bill, the cost of corn syrup, his chapter 11 filing, or, perhaps, he got a better deal across the street.

I've omitted the more complex and nefariously detailed steps in the interest of brevity and sanity.

Servant of the Public

Our courthouse in Oklahoma City.

He who has most zeal and ability to promote public felicity, let him be the servant of the public.

Samuel Adams

Online Alert

My bank sent me an email that I received at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The message was " You have 1 message(s) waiting." There was a lot of other stuff in the email about how it was confidential and and private and not to respond to it and so on. But that one little line was the message.

Sometime Sunday morning I got around to reading the message. I understood it. There was a message for me on the bank's website under my account login.

I don't get many messages from my bank so I was pretty interested in this one. So I surfed over to the site. But the login page had a message that the site was down for maintenance. I wondered if that was the message.

I tried again a few times on Sunday but the maintenance notice was present.

Finally on Monday I was able to log on and checked my message first thing.

Sure enough it was that the site was going to be undergoing maintenance on Sunday.

You just have to love the new Internet age.

Minneapolis

We could have flown non-stop direct on Northwest but it would have cost more than twice as much as flying American. So American it was. But as with all compromises there were disadvantages. The American flight left at 6 and that meant a pretty early start.

So we decided to spend the night at the farm. The house is being organized and packed by my darling daughter. Every time she cleans something out she puts a little yellow sticky on the door that says "empty." My old room is pretty much as a I left it except that we've put a lot of stuff in there that will eventually go to my house.

The extra room is livable though and my daughter washed the sheets and made a clean bed. She said there were bug remains in the sheets. It's been a while since anyone slept there.

I decided I wanted to exercise so I wanted to get up at 3. We, my son and I, each set our phone alarms just in case. But I didn't really need mine. After my workout I showered and then it was time for Jason to get up and get ready.

We were out the door by 4:45 and at the airport by about 5:15 or so. We left the car at one of the off airport places and they took us over. We had our boarding passes and headed for security. Took my shoes off and my belt and everything out of my pockets. Had to pull my driver's license out of the wallet and show it along with boarding pass first. Then the plastic box and my carry on bag were started into the scanner and I stepped between the uprights of the people checker. Apparently I passed and proceeded to redress.

Then it was on to the gate and a short wait and we were on the plane. Jason sat in the middle seat and he gave me the aisle. Planes have not become more comfortable in 10 years. There were no empty seats.

The flight to Dallas was uneventful and short. We found our next gate and headed to it along with about a million other people. Others of our group were already there and we visited awhile.

Then we boarded that plane and I took the center seat this time. I can't cross my legs in the center or window seat. I can in the aisle seat.

About 2.5 hours later we landed in Minneapolis. I read a lot during the trip. I slept a few minutes but not enough to count for anything. When we left the plane we figured out that 6 of us were at the Westin and the others were at another place.
The Westin is a beautifully restored old bank with a grand banking hall. It reminds me of a much older bank in Oklahoma City that I hope is someday restored in some similar way.

I also like the name tags the Westin employees wear. Underneath the name is a a little message that reads "My passion is " along with some subject like travel or a sport or something. The fellow that checked us in had "volleyball" written on his and we talked about that while he got our room key. Our room was great, too.

We had enough time to put our meager belongings in our room and get back downstairs to meet our associates. Then we all walked over to this place called "The News Room" for lunch.

On the way over I was really interested in the number of people out on the street. The weather was fantastic.

Since we were eventually heading to Target I took this image of their downtown retail store. You can see some of the people on the street and believe me there were many more than this.

Many were gathered at little outside restaurants enjoying lunch outside in the beautiful weather. I was told that this is very unusual for Minneapolis and so when the weather is good people really like to enjoy it.

We had to walk a couple of blocks further I think to get to our "Newsroom" place. It appears also to be an older building that has been restored. As you might imagine it has a "newspaper" theme. It was packed, too. I had the Cobb Salad and it was really good. My impression is that it was a little more expensive than Oklahoma City but maybe not. They have a web site.

After lunch we walked across to the Target building and our contact came and collected us and helped us get through security. Then we were taken way up (maybe 20+ floors) to a conference room.

We're getting a Target store on our farm and this meeting was all about the project. It is unusual for someone like us to be invited to such a meeting but we were invited as a special guest of our developer and the Target manager. So we were both in awe of what was happening about us.

Also I was so impressed with the Target people. Very young and very professional and very well prepared and just makes me proud of these younger people that are coming up now. People that are so pessimistic about our country and its opportunities and our younger generations just need to see some of these folks in action.

There were more women than men I think and there were lots of "P.E.'s" and other initials behind their names.

The meeting explored in great detail all of the aspects of our project. On one wall were all of the civil engineering plans and on another were the architectural elevations. Different members of the team stood and discussed various aspects of the project from drainage to government permits and electrical utility options and a myriad of other details. Our manager led the group and did an incredibly efficient job of it. Everyone was especially well prepared.

It made us feel that we are in especially good hands to trust the transformation of our farm from agricultural land to retail space. Everyone near the farm will be so excited to have this opportunity to shop at a Target.

After the meeting we all met again for dinner at this place in St. Paul called Plazzaluna. It was great and we were exceptionally well fed and watered. I had the Pomodoro & Basilico Gnocchi. These are little potato dumplings but rather small. We were a very large group so we kind of became better acquainted with our immediate fellow diners. We did some sharing. It was quite interesting and the food was exceptional.

Then it was back to the Westin for a very short sleep and a 4:00 a.m. wakeup and a quick ride to the airport. But Dallas was socked in with lightening and rain and storms and so we were delayed. We did a little sliding on the runway but not bad. Then we found out that our flight to Oklahoma City was CANCELED.

So we rented a car and drove back to Oklahoma City.

I found out that I am much too old to be doing this kind of stuff.

It's Friday as I write this and I am one grouchy bear and so tired I hardly know what to do. But it was a great trip.

This is "Bullseye" the Target dog from the commercials. Our contact gave me one to take to Judy.

Pretty cool of her and pretty cool trip.

Energy Policy

There are two candidates and they are opposites on so many levels.

Energy is no exception.

Mr. Obama's primary solution is conservation and secondarily emphasizing the development of alternative energy sources. Obama's perspective does not view the increasing cost of gasoline as necessarily a bad thing since higher prices should propel the search for alternatives.

Mr. McCain's primary solution is production including existing fuels as well as the development of alternatives. Foremost in McCain's plan is the construction of 45 nuclear reactors by 2030. We have 104 now which produce some 19% of our electricity.

Pretty simple dichotomy.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln - Part II

I began reading this book way back in March and blogged about it on the 23rd.

This book is pretty long. The chapters are long, too. (Note to self: I prefer short chapters in case I ever return to writing.) It has taken me a while to become involved with the book. Some readers have posted less than flattering comments about Goodwin's writing. I can understand that but now I am at the point where I am very much enjoying both her style and her story. The book is in two parts and about 26 chapters.

I have not made it to the 1860 Presidential race yet. The first part of the book is about the lives of the five men (Stanton, Chase, Lincoln, Seward, and Bates) preceding that event. It is a giant undertaking because to discuss the rivalry you have to know about each of the five men - almost like a bio of each before the subject even gets started.

There are several things that I have found particularly interesting. These things don't really have to do directly with the subject of the book. That surprises me some since it was the subject of the book that originally interested me.

But books are like that sometimes.

And that's one thing I've noticed in the book very quickly is how important are books to all of these men. It simply cannot be overstated.

I suppose the next thing that impresses me is just how difficult life was in the United States during that period. It was hard in many ways, too. Earning a living - and by living I mean the most basic food, shelter, and clothing - was excruciatingly hard and tenuous at best. Gaining an education was up to the individual and pretty much required determination and ambition beyond anything imaginable by our present standards. Books and paper were not only scarce but nearly nonexistent. Medicine was amazingly crude and bleeding was commonly employed and once in this portion of the book is probably responsible for a death.

Death is the other hard part of life then. Lots and lots of death. Mothers frequently, and I mean frequently, died giving birth. Children died from illness and injury. Everyone died from disease. Animals, too. When the mothers died the children usually got a step-mother and often that wasn't such a good experience. When the fathers died the children were often farmed out to other family members. Often that wasn't a very good experience either.

So the harshness and hardness of life was a significant part of the development of the character of each of these five rivals. And of the five none had more hardship than Lincoln himself.

Another thing I found so interesting was the idea that someone could make his life better. This was still a stunningly new concept. In the old world it simply was not possible to improve one's life. The very fact that the possibility of a better life might be achieved was such an amazing thing. The means of improvement was books and self-education and unimaginable effort and enough ambition to start and stay.

The culture and fact of slavery has to be listed as something that looms over everything else. I wrote prejudice and bigotry first because it isn't only slavery I notice. Women are nearly slaves and children maybe a little worse. But really those aren't the correct words. I don't know the right words. I don't really know the right concepts even. If things were hard for white men they were in many ways somewhere next to intolerable for white women and children. For black men and women things were considerably worse than intolerable.

I know I am making broad generalizations and certainly there were many individuals whose quality of life was better or worse than others. People adapt and you see that but compared to our world today things were so different.

There is a place in the book where Goodwin recounts a story where one of the rivals takes his family on a vacation into the south. During the trip the family, riding in their carriage or wagon, pass a group of black boys. The boys are young, none over 11 or 12. There are a dozen of them. They are naked. They are in pairs and the pair is tied at wrists. There is a rope around each neck that ties them all together much like a team. Behind them is a tall white man with a whip who mercilessly strikes them in order to drive them on. Earlier that day they have been torn from their own families and sold at auction. Their new owner drives them to a horse water trough where they drink. Then they are allowed to rest where the children collapse in spasms of fear and tears. The wife is sickened and tells her husband she cannot and will not continue the vacation and begs to leave the south as soon as possible. The husband concurs and they turn around and flee the horror they've witnessed.

I thought that in a way that group of 12 black children could represent the entire population and the master with the whip could represent the times they lived in. Someone might say that I am overreaching the plight of women and children if not the blacks. But women worked so hard and were so often pregnant and had so many fewer ways to find individual freedom and expression. Children were nearly chattel it seems to me. I'm not saying they weren't loved. I'm not saying any of this was totally unnecessary either. It was so hard to survive and the need to survive and live imposed its own constraints.

One of the most interesting thing to me was the difference in the nature of the relationships between men during this time. Or at least some of the relationships experienced by these men and described in this book are surprising to me. They are emotional relationships - romantic relationships but they are non sexual. They have all the markings of romantic relationships though including jealousy and infatuation. I did not realize this at all.

I'll write more as I read more.