A bit about "Nurture" and "Launch"

In the early days when my wife and I visited other couples with kids, it was common to hear couples recite the exploits of their kids...and I would assert that every parent from the moment of his childs birth, believes that his or her child is the finest thing that the world has ever produced...that kind of devotion and dedication and well..bonding...goes with the territory... I guess we could call the first 18 years or so, "the nurture years", when in order to be the best parent one would like to produce the best child, and yes...do it in better style than ones parents did...yes...a little generational rivalry...all in good spirit of improvement... Then the graduation...and I well remember the whooplala that I made of the first two daughters...I thought it necessary for members of the family that had a band to show up and produce a complete extravaganza...and of course it was necessary for my wife and I to redecorate the house completely...just for the graduation mind you...If I had been more savvy I would have known that launching takes a decade or so..and to save some energy....the kids are your kids and need you till the end....and being a parent never ends... Then comes the "Launch" or the launch to college, and then the launch to the work world....The nurture period takes "love" but the "Launch" takes Love and Faith...Of the two...I would assert that "Launch" is harder...cause it means having faith that you did a good job, and can let go...faith that you have instilled the independence and wisdom to your child that they do not need micromanaging any more...but know how to be themselves...yes...it is harder...and painful... I know: the Sermon on the Mount did not cover "Launch": Trust me...HE would have said it best..."Of all these, "Launch is the hardest".

"Facetime" not "Facebook" is the key

It is amazing that folks have bit hook line and sinker into the "Facebook" obsession---designed by a guy that was not good socially in order to help his friends, and "the whole world" get connected so he could then spy on them and sell the data for revenue...now nice is that? As a result, we have millions of homes that are so obsessed with facebook that they cannot focus on each other, as in "Shut up, I am working on facebook." Take a little time off world from the keyboard to get back to a glass of wine and a friend and some real conversation, in person, without earphones please....

"I've Been Working on the Railroad"

When I was a young boy, living in Mahtomedi, Mn, the song, "I've Been Working on the Railroad" was a big favorite---maybe because my dad did work on the railroad, as a railway mail clerk, and indeed his father before him had worked his whole life on the railroad also, and at the very end, at the age of 63, he was appointed the "Supr of Mails"...I know because I saw the article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press from 1926 or 1927 that said "Irishman makes good"...and detailed his career....After this, Michael worked for the railroad, the Hill family, and I believe it was Lewis Hill. Growing up in a railroad family, when my dad came home from a trip, his "grip" or satchel, was in the hall...and he usually came home late at night, but in the morning on the way to school, I would check the "grip" because where he stayed in Williston there was a bakery next door, and he always brought home a bag of cookies, and some glazed ones were favorites of my sister Suzie and me....A cookie in the morning on the way to school meant all was right with the world.. Those were the days before zip codes...when the test to become a railway mail clerk was one of memory...and one that to "throw the case" or demonstrate that one knew above 90% or so, the proper mail order of the destinations...because the mail was thrown off the train on hooks that were next to the stations...so memory was the key to the job....another thing...was the payroll..it went by mail...and the head of the crew always carried a pistol to protect the money...I probably always imagined that Wyatt Erpe would have rode up to the train and then my dad would have to fight him off with the pistol....but it was real low key...and I never did hear of any incident.

A bit about "Perfection"

As a youngster growing up in Mahtomedi, Minnesota, I spent a lot of time playing basketball on the outside court at St. Jude's school, and working on my outside set shot from the point...I thought that because I was pretty short,( I know that is hard to believe), I probably would not be a center kind of guy, and that the key was that outside shot...once the dream of perfection as a point guard faded, I turned to ice hockey---or more precisley broom hockey...but here again, after several years of hacking, I looked for other areas of perfection.... Every day after school, my mom had me empty my bookbag and place any papers, or holy cards( those were the old days) and put the paper on the refrigerator....There was nothing better than getting a 100% in red on a math assignment and having it on the fridge for a week following...and I really grew to love perfection...and learned that 100% shuts up a lot of people...and vowed that THIS was the secret to life...perfection...and I was firmly determined to attain it.

"Social Media" means you are good with "Clickers" and "Mouses"

It is really breathtaking to behold the development of society from the olden days when folks gathered over coffee in the early morn to talk of issues...and for the locals, farmers gathered to talk of crops, weather, etc, and the ladies talked of other matters... Nowdays, with all the development of "social skills" kids can stop by a Starbucks...and well just stop in one and see what is happening...all the students with their headphones on, sipping a coffee, and checking their phone every couple of seconds to make sure that they will not be criticized for not responding fast enough to every little digital need... Nowdays, a "friend" is someone that you have clicked on, and "Liked"...How wonderful is that...pretty special and satisfying I would guess if one was a modern, and satisfied by clicking... So how about you?...time to take off the headphones and respond to the wonder....I just wonder how social you have become, and whether in your old age, with a weathered mouse and mousepad, you will be wonderfully happy alone.

The Legend of Theodore Robinson---reflection

Many years ago, Chris Eager, the then president of UBT bank, and activist in the move to create the Evansville Senior Center, came to a meeting of the Evansville School Board, to introduce the concept of the Evansville Community Center, and why it was expanded to a broader concept to get public support...during the question and answer period, he was asked why the middle school was called the "Theodore Robinson Middle School"--to which he replied, " Theodore Robinson was a student here who left and became a great painter in Europe, studying under some of the great masters...and our goal for our city and school should not be to be able to say that we have created graduates that have lived their whole lives in Evansville, but that we have launched students to form successful lives and families and careers." I who had favored the name "Grove School" was stunned, and recognized instantly that Chris was right....I hope to launch our children to the larger world, and even ouselves, and to be able to say to strangers, "I am from Evansville, Wisconsin."