More Construction

The bricks are being attached to the face of the Nelson Science addition. It looks like progress!

New sidewalks are being poured even as I write this. The "no-man's land" between the North side of Presser Hall and the Burnett Center walk way is being converted into another yellow brick road. I love the gently twisting and turning walkways!



The grass between ASH and the Burnett Walkway, however, is suffering. People don't want to walk all the way to Presser to get to Nelson and Burnett. It's sad to see the new grass, so carefully cultivated last spring, be trampled this way this winter. It is inevitable, however, and I congratulate Jeff Barkman on finding a compromise solution - letting a little path die so that more of the grass can live!

What The Heck's Going On?

The lot directly across Harrison Cole from Scott's parking lot is now under construction.

There are large construction vehicles on the property, and all the woody vegetation is rapidly being shredded. Nothing blocking the view of the lot now, just a big empty lot.

What's going into the lot? An expansion of the clog factory? Or maybe a very large house - but it is a house going in, why would you remove all the trees and tree like stuff on the property?

I'm going to have to check with some real-estate people and maybe post on this again tomorrow. Photos for sure.

Earthday News

Earthday is rapidly approaching. April 22 follows close behind Easter this year.

We're getting ready for Earthday on Campus. Noni Strand's Green Team is hard at work making the campus green aware. We're planning for Jimmy Sjöblom's arrival in early March, and I've begun to work on "Butch Words and Weenie Words: The Rhetoric of Anti-Environmentalism," my contribution to the day.

Click and you'll open a podcast of Mark's presentation, plus a little bit of music. Maybe we can get busy and make a few more of these this spring.

A lot of walking

UPDATE BELOW
I'm currently enrolled in Karna Peterson's LEARN class - I affectionately call it "fat class" - so I'm doing a lot more walking than I had for several years. I'm up to somewhere between 3 and 5 miles each day, according to the pedometer.

It is fascinating to see walking the things you don't see driving. Fascinating, and, at the same time, a little depressing.

The walking trail is wonderful, so let's start there.

One fascination is the skate park, between Olsson and Saline. It looks almost ready for use, and some of the folks adjacent to it have been out on the weekend giving it a go. Mostly, however, it has been left alone and the rope and pole fence has been observed. There's a sign on the east side of it, along side the trail, but nothing yet printed on the sign. Of course, no word on what when who where why or how. At least not that I've seen in the News Record. I admit, I've missed a few issues of the News Record, so it could have been there.

Another fascination is the old shed behind the MKC station, just to the east of the trail. The corrugated metal roof is blowing up like an old man's toupee in places. The pigeons have a semi-permanent home. As I walk by I see them busily bopping in and out of the holes under the eves.

Of course, the combination of birds and warmer weather reminds me that I have to bird-proof the eves of my garage.

The depressing part of the walk is that there are so many structures in Lindsborg that are dilapidated, run down and otherwise in disrepair. I don't mind a few industrial ruins - in fact I rather like them. But there are getting to be many residential ruins on the edges, under the trees and next to the railroad tracks. That's sad, because it speaks of an aging population that I'm powerless to help reverse.

After all, I'm getting older too.

UPDATE 1

Well, I was wrong. The skatepark is open! And there are rules posted! Think of that.

No one was out skating today. Let's see, it was 35 degrees and there was a twenty mile an hour "breeze" out of the north. Gee.

He is Gone

We received news last night that Pastor Martin Ringstrom has gone out of this life.

I am not surprised, but I am saddened by the news. I saw him just last Sunday. Kris helped him get a church bulletin for Charles Christensen. He looked and sounded healthy and strong.

I can't say that I knew him well, but I did admire him. I admired his piety - though I cannot emulate it. I admired his commitment to the church, his "churchmanship." I admired the way he stayed related to his extended family even while he stayed connected to that part of the family that had joined the saints in light.

Because of Martin we stopped in Wahoo, NE to see the ruins of Luther College. The photo in the upper left corner of this post is the Luther Science building as it looked last summer. Because of Martin (at least in part) there is a video of Augustana Synod memories. Because of Martin I look toward my future with considerably less dread. I see in his life the possibility of living to a great age with dignity and even pleasure in one's old age.

Martin Ringstrom is gone and I am saddened by his passing, but I am glad that I had the opportunity to know him. Later this week I'll publish the interviews I made with Martin last spring, in anticipation of the Augustana Heritage Society Gathering VI.

Doubt

I've seen lots of advertising for the film Doubt recently.

It's a good film and has won many awards. Merle Streep is a critic's choice - says the TV ad. I hope Philip Seymour Hoffman also gets an award or two for his work in the film. Kris and I saw it over the Christmas holiday, and we thought highly of the film.

But I fear that many viewers of the movie will become obsessed with the issue of whether or not Father Flynn was a pedophile. I think that that issue is a minor one compared to the universal issue of doubt and certainty. That, it seems to me, is what the film is about. After all, Shanley called the stage version of this play "A parable."

In this case I don't think Shanley means "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning." Rather, I think he means parable as an extended metaphor.

I think this film brings viewers to realize the burden of certitude and the grief of doubt. It's a feeling one gets, not an idea that you immediately derive from either the action, or the dialog of the drama.

Doubt and certitude. The country is full of folks certain about their religious conviction and unable to entertain doubt - at least not intellectually. These folks have done great harm to our political and scientific discourse in the past two decades. I've several colleagues who are absolutely certain of the correctness of their opinions. They do damage to their personal relationships with this certitude.

Me, I'm not sure about much of nothing.

Blago Goodbye

I've not had much sympathy for Rod Blagojevich and I'm not sorry to see him go.

But I wonder about people like the former governor, like the current Republican obstructionists, like the past President. I wonder about people who create their own worlds and dwell in them.

Just about every commentator has noted Blago's corruption. My sister, the commentator I most respect once said to me, "That jackass! He could have made the governance of Illinois Democratic for a generation, but he screwed things up so badly that people won't vote for Democrats for statewide office."

Things Blago claimed as his legacy, the prescription drug packages, for example, haven't gone the way Rod claims they've gone. They have been, mostly, a bust.

His claims on Wrigley Field seem bogus. His movie references are strange and strained. His press conferences are just weird. But he seems to genuinely believe what he asserts.

Likewise, the Bush White House seemed to believe what it asserted. That Iraq was a good idea, that the "war on Terror" is winnable, that the economy is strong and growing. I truly believe that Bush believed those things. Unfortunately, it isn't true.

Now for something completely different

No photos and no comedy and no politics.

Eunice Liljegren passed away two weeks ago. I heard the announcement of her death on a Sunday morning. I'd known her and Leon only slightly, but I really felt a connection to the both of them.

When I heard the announcement I immediately thought of the Christmas when we went and caroled at their house and Leon sang along with the carolers. I recalled the day when I dropped by to pick up a cake for "Cakes, etc." I was moved by the announcement of Eunice's passing.

I was moved to write a poem. I'm not a poet, but the moment captured me, and I tried to capture it.

When Oscar took his final ride

Stepping through the church doors,
down the five concrete grey steps to
the big black waiting hearse.
The sunlight blinds us, Jon and me,
and all the pallbearers who

shovel the plain
wooden box into the gaping
jaws. We watch, Jon and I.
Then the funeral director clasps
the door, taps
on the roof and the hearse wheels away

the crematorium its
final destination. We walk, Jon and I,
north on Rockwell, across Brown
Line tracks, sniffing the sewer gasses
at Argyle street.

Consumed by crematory fires
he is gone forever.
The sun still shines and
I do not want to give up
the neighborhood, the church,
the sights, the sounds, the smells,
of my childhood.

Hope and Fear

From Inauguration

Many of the folks at the college spent the morning watching the inauguration. It was inspiring to be among the crowd, even though I had to spend much of my time taking photos for the newspaper and the yearbook.

From Inauguration

Several times during the President's inaugural I felt myself chocking up. I heard myself mumble inside my head "I need to be inspired, I need to be inspired."

I was inspired by what I saw and what I heard. I was particularly moved by the line: "On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord." I was looking for a third "On this day," to complete the series - that's the speech teacher in me. Overall I felt it was a great speech, entirely appropriate for this moment in our history.

Rick Warren, on the other hand was highly inappropriate. He was to give an invocation, not preach a sermon. He was to give an invocation for the whole country, not just the Christian part of it. What was with using the Lord's Prayer? Pastor Warren has to be reminded that this was a national event, not a church event. He prayed the Jews, the Muslims, the Hindus, the Jains, the Ba'hais out of the union.

Later that day I was listening to the critics on NPR. "Good, but not great," was one of the critic's comments. What was the memorable line? It was pedestrian. Blah, blah, blah.

What speech did he hear?

I think it was a great day for the country and the beginning of an important period in our country's history. I'm glad I was alive to see it.

A New Beginning

dems 013
Originally uploaded by Ike60

Lindsborg's Villa Ro community room was the site of the new meeting of the McPherson County Democrats.

The presence of a core of young adults who may become the foundation of a Young Democrats Club was part of the energy of the evening. The crowd in this room was a part of the energy of the evening.

The major change came in the willingness of the new leadership to talk about the potential to put more Democrats in local offices. There are a number of Republicans who are vulnerable, if you ask me (nobody did, but I'll give my opinion anyway).

I think Clark Schultz is vulnerable. I think that we could capture a seat or two on the McPherson County Commission. I think that there are non-partisan seats where Democrats could be elected - though elected not as Democrats but simply as citizens.

The key, it seems to me is excitement, enthusiasm, and better ideas.

I heard Newt Gingrich on NPR this AM. "Republicans have to become the party of better ideas." I'm sorry, but I haven't heard a better idea from Republicans in my lifetime.

But Democrats could be, ought to be, the party of better ideas. It all could begin in McPherson county.