The Last Kennedy

Ted Kennedy's passing is, for me, a very personal sort of passing.

I was never as fond of Teddy as I was of his brothers. It was Robert who was my hero, despite his service to the anti-communist congressional committee. Robert's change of heart and his anti-war stance brought me to his cause. His eloquence, tied to that simple "I ask why not."

These were my political heroes. But Teddy was the last of the Kennedys, and his passing marks the passing of a moment of hope. With the Kennedys, despite what we knew about their duplicity, we who were young in the 1960s really felt that there was hope that our country could become what we claimed we were, but had failed to be.

With Obama I felt that hope restored. I still hope for our new President, but it is a hope sobered by the passing of that old guard, the old un-repentant liberal Teddy Kennedy. He will be missed.

Projects

What is it about projects? Why do they always get bigger in the doing than they were in the conceptualizing?

We started, this summer, to do something pretty simple - replace the last three fuses in the basement with breakers, and thus qualify for a lower insurance rate. That became a major basement project involving the removal of ceiling, busting out plaster, and now considering covering the old floor tile with sheet vinyl.

Well, if we're going to do sheet vinyl in the basement, shouldn't we also do a new floor in the bathroom upstairs? And if we're doing a new floor there, shouldn't we replace that old, hardwater stained sink and the crusty faucet? But if we're going to do that, can we get a new sink that will drop into the vanity that's already there?

By the way, how do you skim coat a basement floor? Do I need to remove tile that feels "loose" to the step? What about the bumps and holes? And do I need to skim coat the bathroom floor before I put down new and after I take up the old? And do I need to take up the underlayment as well? How big is this project going to get?

Wait - one piece got smaller! I was afraid that if I took out the old vanity I'd have to chip tile or place tile. Turns out the tile is all in place behind the current vanity. Well that's one bright spot.

But I'm afraid to start - everything I've started this summer has turned bigger - and I'm back to school next Tuesday. As Charlie Brown once said, "Arrrgh!"

Presser Hall Elevator

The elevator is now removed from Presser Hall. All the equipment for the new elevator sits outside waiting to be installed. The doors to the elevator shaft are locked and no one, besides the installation crew from Otis, and a few other select individuals, has access.

But that doesn't mean you can't - well - anyway.

I was talking to one of the installers yesterday. "How's the elevator coming?" "Oh, it has it's ups and downs."

I was talking to Frank Ballew this AM. "Oh no! They took our elevator and gave us the shaft!"

I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself.

Windfarm

Last Sunday, August 2, Kris and I stopped at a Wind farm on highway 14, south of Lincoln. As you hear from the video, the turbines make no noise. The only noise in the video is the sound of the wind itself, and Kris saying, "Hi" at the end.



It was an awesome, eerie sight.

Happy Shopping

More to come, but for now let me just say that the IKEA store in Chicago is going to enable a bit of redecoration at the Isaacson house without breaking the bank. If we had a truck we'd be bringing home a new range. As it is, it's new shades and curtains in one room.

More to come, as I say.

On The Road Again

Off to visit family. All the family, all the time. On Saturday, the end of the first week, we took a walk around Phalen Lake and found the Dragon Festival. Dragon boats and a beautiful new statue.

From Summer 09

The beauty of the statue was matched by the beauty of the day. Sunny, low 80's. The only problem is that the Twin Cities are suffering with an extreme drought. Minnehaha Falls, I hear is totally dry this year. That's really sad and I don't want to see the falls without water.

Apparently the big event of the Dragon festival is the Dragon Boat races, on Sunday. Here's a photo of the Dragon Boat, from the east side of the lake. I've got some video from the West side of the lake I'll post later.

From Summer 09

The best vacation events are those you just happen upon.

Juokse sina humma

I came upon this wonderful Finnish tune, Juokse sin humma. The video is Dan Palmquist and the Arvika Blues Band. Tuta plays a Gambian xylophone. I have no idea what any of it means, but it has gotten into my head and won't go away. I hope I can inflict this on some of the rest of you.



The original is also online, sung by Tapio Rautavaara.

Easter Opens

Tonight is opening night for Easter, our 2009 Messiah Festival Theatre Offering.

This is the largest play we've done for Messiah festival since I've been here at Bethany. Naturally, I'm a little anxious that we drum up an audience.

So come. It is a wonderful show that is entirely life affirming - and even - in places - funny. Yes, it is Swedish and Yes, it is Strindberg.

And yes, it is 7:30 pm Friday April 3, Saturday April 4 and Saturday April 11.

It's FREE!!!!!

Earth Hour

Following notes in several places - most crucially a promo on television - Kris and I joined "Earth Hour" last night.

From 8:30 - 9:30 we turned off the lights. We lit all kinds of candles in the living room. I got out my uke and plunked. We talked, we sang (sort of), I played in the candlelight. It was a pleasant hour and a good way to remind us of how much electricity we do use.

I noticed that the town wasn't dark for that hour - I wonder if any towns in Kansas went dark for "Earth Hour" or if it's too Al Gore.

We liked it. We talked about doing it on a regular basis. If we do, we'll have to schedule it and make sure we live up to our schedule. Regardless, it was a pleasant way to put earth first, even if just for an hour.

Surviving the Day

We all seemed to have survived the day, and what a strange day it was.

Around 1 I went out to get to Scott's and to check on snow removal at Bethany Church. This is what the video looked like:



I'm actually pretty proud of this, considering I couldn't see what was on my screen when I was recording the video.

From the church yard I walked east to Scott's. Someone headed west on his bicycle. Lan Nelson was heading west, said that the home's pickup had gotten stuck in the street and he decided walking would be easier. A few hardy souls were out at store, but overall Scott's was kind of empty.

After getting fresh water and Cheerios for an ailing wife (strange flu like symptoms), I headed home. Then north to the campus to see what was going on there. The Sandzen was open - that was unexpected. Ron Michaels had come to work. I was the only visitor.

To the office. I broke virgin ground when I entered the lower level of Presser Hall. Home again.

What was strange was how quickly the uncovered sidewalk was drying out. The remaining bits of slush and snow melted quickly and where ever pavement was exposed, it dried. Unfortunately, no one was clearing things at the college. We'll have to see how it is tomorrow when Messiah has dress rehearsal.

The other thing that amused me about our response to the snow: the vast numbers of homeowners who had to have their drive cleared. Patty Karstad, for example, had a fellow with a plow attached to the front of his Grasshopper come and clear her drive. Later, her garage was open and the car might have been taken out.

But it seems as if this is the most important thing for many people: to get the drive cleared so that you can get the car out if you want to get the car out.

Here's some before and after pictures from the day before the snowstorm and the afternoon after.