#191 - Falling Deep Into Autumn

Now that we are into the home stretch of October, fall has hit the area like a sledgehammer. A few weeks ago, temperatures pushed into the mid-80s; as I write this on a Friday morning, the temperature outside is a balmy 35-degrees.

If I have to pick a favorite season, I suppose fall/autumn is it, at least until it gets closer to the start of winter. Daytime temperatures are usually comfortable, mid to upper-70s, allowing a wide ranging of clothing options, while mornings are crisp but not frigid.

In addition, the color palette chosen by the Master Artist for autumn is, to me, the most vibrant of that used in any of the four seasons. Reds and golds and greens and browns all compete for place of prominence on the earthly canvas, while the skies above stake their claim with a mixture of vibrant blues and dazzling whites, mixed with the occasional gray tones.

Autumn is also in many ways the most complete season in terms of the cycle of life. Even as leaves give up their tenuous hold on life and flutter noiselessly to the ground, new life begins its uncertain journey as seeds fall and blow on the capricious wind to who knows where, and those amongst us with green thumbs plant fall bulbs in hopes of seeing springtime flowers.

Fall has it all, life and death, endings and new beginnings, a microcosm of existence played out upon this natural stage. Mother Earth gives and she takes back, autumn being the season of tallying and re-balancing the eternal equation.

This, even more than the traditional travel season of summer, is the time of year when I most think about being on the road. Autumn is when the nomadic pull in me is strongest. I long to be on the road to somewhere, anywhere, to see new things, new people, new places. This is the time of year I think about places like New Mexico, Arizona, southwest Texas, Maine, the Carolinas. This really is the time of year when I am going to Carolina in my mind (apologies to James Taylor).

Of course, the trade-off to the richness of the autumnal color palette is, as Dylan Thomas might put it, the dying of the light, as days get shorter. Soon, many of us will settle in for our long winter's naps, going through the motions of getting through each winter's day in a form of semi-hibernation, as we wait for the coming of spring and the beginning of another cycle, another chance to dance.

What is your favorite season and why? Please leave me a comment below.

#190 - Football, Flag Waving, and Facebook

A discussion on Facebook with a family member about Monday night's football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Detroit Lions got me to thinking, and that thought process led to this post. (Warning: Some may feel insulted or slighted by this post. That is not my intent. I am merely sharing my own imperfect observations.)

The vast majority of my family are devout, even fanatic Seahawk fans. Based on some of their Facebook posts, I suspect they think every announcer and every referee is biased against their team. I know of no empirical evidence to support or refute such a stand, but based on my game day Facebook News Feed, I have to conclude that is the general consensus of at least my more vocal family members.

The discussion about Monday night's game centered on the announcers post-game discussion of a controversial non-call near the end of the game. (The level of controversy no doubt depends on whether you are a Seahawks fan, a Lions fan, or a somewhat neutral observer.) The non-call centered around the apparent batting out of the football out of the back of the end zone by a Seahawk after it had been knocked loose from a Lions receiver.

According to the rules, deliberately batting the ball out of the end zone is supposed to be penalized, in this case by giving the ball back to the Lions and penalizing the Seahawks half the distance to the goal. That was not done, even though the NFL's own Vice-President of Officiating later said it should have been.

Because the announcers (with the help of a former NFL official) discussed the rule and the non-call, they were seen by some in my family as biased. However, being a fan by definition means that you are biased, so I suspect that filter would affect any interpretation of views being expressed (i.e., an announcer biased in favor of your team might be interpreted as being non-biased, and so on).

Our discussion (and the flavor of a political discussion it began to take on) got me to thinking again about Facebook in general. As I always have, I continue to have mixed feelings about Facebook.

On one hand, I think Facebook has been one of the great technological developments of the last 25 years. It has allowed me to stay in touch with family, find kindred spirits (in terms of my views), and reconnect with many of the people who have been a part of my life throughout the years (people I worked with and went to school with who are now scattered across the country). In this respect, Facebook has been a Godsend and perhaps even a life saver.

On the other hand, I think Facebook has been one of the worst or most dangerous technological developments of the last 25 years. It has made it even easier for us to speak without consideration or thought and, based on some of the hateful posts I've read, say things we likely would never have said in the days before Facebook to another person's face.

Facebook has helped to enable and embolden us to say things and express thoughts we would have previously kept to ourselves. Some might say Facebook has allowed people to be more honest and true to themselves, which may be true. At the same time, I believe it has allowed and even encouraged us to say things without thinking them through, things we might not even believe once we really examine them. It then all but forces us to defend those thoughts once someone responds.

So, football got me to thinking about Facebook, which got me to thinking about the political discussions, stories, posts, and feeble attempts at humor I see on Facebook. I think what I find particularly insulting is what I call "flag-waving" (so-called patriotic posts) from my conservative friends that insult moderates, liberals, and progressives and seem to imply that only conservatives are patriotic and that anyone else is a communist who hates America.

A number of these posts and shares involves some Internet meme that later turns out to be false, but because one person posted it and others shared it, it takes on the power of fact. It reminds me of the quote toward the end of The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence, when the newspaper editor says to the Jimmy Stewart character, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." One of the good and bad things about technology is that, once something is said, once it is out there, it is out there forever and cannot be unsaid.

Some time ago, I made the argument that Facebook is not the place for serious, thoughtful discussion. I find that still to be true. Although I have seen and been able to take part in some serious and thoughtful political discussions on Facebook, for the most part, I find the conversation to be more often than not talking at one another at best and talking past one another at worst.

Insults and name-calling seems to be the norm rather than the exception, and as we get closer to 2016, I suspect it is going to get worse. Our nation is devolving into one of extremes. As the extreme right gets louder, it pushes many others further to the left. The middle, once squeezed out by the two ends of the political spectrum, now seems somewhat vacant (much like the vanishing middle class). The result is a black or white divide where no gray area is allowed to exist.

One area where this divide is most evident is in the controversial arena of gun control. Calls for stronger background checks and better regulation of gun shows are interpreted as the government coming to take one's guns. People who own guns (or at least who own more than one) are increasingly seen by some as fanatical and dangerous.

I am somewhere in the middle on gun control, as I suspect most Americans are. If we could remove the National Rifle Association's hype machine from the equation, I suspect most Americans could have a rational conversation about guns and regulation. I do believe stronger background checks are needed, and I don't believe gun shows should get a pass. I believe private sales should be reported so that some kind of check might be possible. On the other hand, while I don't always understand the need or desire to own guns (especially more than one or two), I have no desire to outlaw gun ownership entirely. I do question the need to own certain types of guns, but I believe that is and should be a separate discussion to background checks.

One thing I do find ludicrous is the continuing argument from some conservative gun owners that regulating guns means that only criminals will have guns. By that logic, we should eliminate speeding laws and speed limits, auto insurance requirements, driver's licensing, and building regulations. None of these things prevents bad or even criminal behavior, but they increase the possibility that only qualified people are allowed to participate in these activities. They are there for protection and guidance as well as prevention, and while they are not 100% effective, I do think they beat total anarchy, which is the alternative.

My own conclusion based on what I see and read on the Internet? Where we were once a nation where two sides compromised to get things done, we are now a nation where two extremes prevent things from getting done. As the right has moved further right and become more strident, I have moved further left. Others, I suspect, refuse to be aligned with either side and have dropped out altogether. Based on what I sometimes read on Facebook, it is tempting to join them.

#189 - Looking Back, Looking Forward

On this day, 22 years ago, my wife Teresa became my wife. I remember it was a warm, sunny day, with only a smattering of clouds in the skies above the church in Madison, Alabama. Though there have been clouds from time to time, I'd like to think our 22 years have been mostly sunny.

We were married on a day which almost straddled the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. Just as one season was preparing to transition into another, so were the two of us preparing to transition from one way of life into another.

Looking back, the scattered clouds dotting the sunny skies above us that day seem appropriate as indicators that not everything would go smoothly. We both entered marriage after the age of 30, meaning we'd had plenty of time to develop bad habits and become used to certain ways of living and of doing things.

We also had to learn to merge two different ways of thinking and of approaching things. Teresa is often more of a planner. I joke that the she has a spreadsheet for everything, even a spreadsheet to list all of her spreadsheets. She doesn't like to be caught off-guard or unprepared.

Me, I tend to be a bit more spur of the moment. An idea pops into my head, and I instantly want to act on it. It is the way I write, and it tends to carry over into other aspects of my life. The problem comes when I act without saying anything to Teresa. When that happens, our two approaches clash, and clouds form overhead.

Over time, I think a little of my approach has rubbed off on Teresa, and vice versa. We still have our moments, often caused by what the Strother Martin character in Cool Hand Luke would call "a failure to communicate." Our marriage (and I suspect most others) is nothing like what you would observe in a Lifetime Movie or a Harlequin romance, but it has been life changing. And life affirming.

When we were planning our wedding way back in the spring of 1993, we jokingly (I think) agreed that we would try out being married to one another for 40 years, after which we could call it off. Now that we are more than half way through our "trial" marriage, I am hopeful that once those 40 years are up Teresa will decide to renew the option for another 40 years.

While I suspect there are times when she might think I've made her life a living hell or at least more difficult than it needed to be, I can say that Teresa has made life for me possible. Although I can't say I've accomplished a great deal in my life, I can say I would have accomplished even less without her encouragement and stubborn insistence. For that, I say thank you.

The song itself is not fitting of the situation, but the opening lines of the Little River Band song seem appropriate: "Happy anniversary, baby. Got you on my mind."

#188 - Is Stupid Stamped on My Forehead?

It's been a while between posts, but life has a habit of getting in the way. It has been a very busy summer working with our son, working around the house, running errands. You know, living.

Recently, though, I had a few episodes that got me to wondering about the state of the world we live in and helped me, perhaps, to understand some of the stereotypes we as Americans, generally speaking, tend to use to describe people from other nations and other cultures.

First, let me explain that I am of an age (albeit still at the lower end of that age range) that puts me in a group susceptible to "unscrupulous" people seeking to separate me from my money. Yes, I am a member of the AARP crowd.

Within the space of a few days, I had not one, not two, but three different calls from "agencies" calling me to discuss my "problem," with which they were familiar. All three calls came from people who were either calling from India (or that general region) or were originally from that part of the world.

The first call was from a "pharmaceutical" company calling about my medications. Fair enough, except for the fact that I do not take any medications outside of an over-the-counter allergy pill. Click.

The second call was from a "help desk" calling me about the problems I was having with Windows on my computer. Just one problem. I do not use Windows on my computer; I use Linux. Another click.

The third call in as many days came from "(inaudible) Home Security." While I want my home to be at least as secure as the next person's, I also prefer to be the one to initiate any inquiry into home security systems. Needless to say, I hadn't. So my only response was "No" followed by hanging up yet again. Third click.

While I know anyone can be duped by a scam that seems straightforward and legitimate at the onset, it seems that scammers have a lower opinion of the over-50 crowd than they do of other age groups. Either that, or they think I'm even older than I am. Or maybe they simply think I'm stupid.

I also know I am not the only person ever to receive such calls, but it seems with every year that I age, the number of such calls I receive increases exponentially. Oddly enough, they nearly all seem to come people with an accent resembling that of someone from India.

I say oddly enough because my admittedly limited knowledge of that part of the world includes an understanding that elders in general and the elderly in particular are revered and cared for. Perhaps these people never learned that. Perhaps their elders are long gone. Or perhaps it is simply that they figure since America tends not to revere its elders the way other cultures do those people are "fair game."

Maybe someone saw my wife and I out while she was wearing an "I'm With Stupid -----> T-shirt. Who knows? All I know is that the word stupid is not stamped on my forehead. At least it wasn't the last time I checked. Perhaps I'd better take another look.

#187 - Blood, Sweat, and Fears

It is said that blood is thicker than water. Having seen both, I would agree. What blood does not appear to be thicker than is politics and emotions.

I recently returned from a family gathering from which a number of family members were missing. I don't know and don't care to know the particulars, but it is safe to say that something got said and some feelings got hurt, to the point that said family members decided not to attend an even that has been going on for seven years now.

I won't speak for the host, but I will say I missed their presence, although no enough to keep me from having a good time. If anything, I would argue they were the ones who missed out. But that is neither here nor there. I have not been asked to take sides and at this point don't plan to. (For some reason, I am suddenly reminded of the old adage, "be careful what you wish for.")

Perhaps it is because I live a fair distance from most of my family, but I have never caused or been the recipient of that level of animosity where family members are concerned. Perhaps it's because I haven't cared enough or worried enough about what they thought.

Until I was almost 12 years of age, I didn't even know I had aunts, uncles, and cousins. We became close for a time, drifted apart for a time, and then came back together to some extent. Perhaps that puts me in a good place as far as balancing family goes. I don't know.

I do know that I have received some push back from family on occasion because of my political views, which admittedly do not line up with the majority of my family. Said push back has, in my case, been temporary. I suspect that my family, being what it is, will find some way to come back together before this time next year. Unless it doesn't. We are, as those who know us will attest, a proud and stubborn clan.

What is interesting to me these days is that the people I felt closest to in my teens are people I sometimes am not really sure I know. At least they are people I don't often talk with, while a cousin I hardly knew growing up has been the family member I perhaps most relate to and have the most in common with.

It's funny sometimes how life works out.

#186 - Marriage, God, and the Supreme Court

As I type this, pundits, analysts, naysayers, and average citizens are discussing the 5-to-4 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court legalizing gay marriage. My only regret about this decision is that the vote was not unanimously in favor.

As I see it, this issue was and is a matter of civil rights an equality under the law, not a religious, spiritual, or moral issue, even though many have tried to paint it using those colors. However, if the constitution precludes the establishment of a national religion, as it does, then it must also preclude using religion when making such a ruling.

A number of the posts opposing this ruling have used God and God's Word as a justification for their opposition. I assume many of them are using the King James Bible as their moral foundation. But who decided that version (or even any version of the Bible) should be the "official" word of God?

Every version of the Bible with which I am familiar is a translation. Or, more accurately, a translation of a translation of perhaps yet another translation. I am assuming that most people do not have access to the original Hebrew and Greek texts, and even those were written down mostly by people who were told something by someone else who may or may not have been around at the time the events were said to have occurred.

Also, many versions of the Bible are translated in such a way as to support and reinforce the philosophy of the church for which the version is being produced. For instance, the King James Bible was produced based on instructions from King James that the translation uphold the theology of the Church of England, which placed the monarch at the head of the church, unlike the Catholic Church, where the Pope is the head.

In addition, there are many who would argue that nearly all (if not all) translations were produced in such a way as to support the power structure of the church in place at the time (ordained clergy, the placement of men in positions of theological power, the subordination of women, etc.). Perhaps even the original scriptures were written in this way.

People are wont to cite the Word of God whenever stating an opinion on something they seem as a moral issue, forgetting that all of these texts were actually written by men. Humans are not perfect beings and are sometimes prone to error, misinterpretation, and even willful disregard of the truth. I think it is highly likely that at least some writers of the Bible were trying to cement their positions within the then fledgling church and wrote their sections in such a way as to do so.

I think those who wish to use their version of the Bible as moral guide to how they should live should be perfectly free to do so - as long as they recognize that other deeply spiritual people may not agree with their views or interpretation of God's Word.

Personally, the God I believe in is much bigger and much greater than any book purporting to be God's Word can represent. The God I believe in is one of love, not of judgment. If, as 1 John 4:18 states: "God is love," how could God be opposed to the Supreme Court ruling or, for that matter, anything that furthers the cause and the expression of love?

The Supreme Court decision will not end the debate, but I believe it is a step in the right direction. To quote from an old Pablo Cruise song, "love will find a way." Today, it did.

#185 - The Dog Days of Summer Come Early

I know the so-called dog days of summer don't really hit until August, and summer doesn't officially start for another two weeks, but I think I'm justified in saying that this summer has been a real dog so far. Literally.

This past week, I took our ten-year old Beagle to the vet to have what was apparently a harmless growth on his back left leg removed. I say apparently harmless because the rate at which it grew in the previous seven day would have made the growth a prime target for the upcoming NBA draft.

The situation with our dog was only the latest in what has already been an expensive summer. In the last two-plus weeks we've had the air conditioner on our fifth-wheel replaced, the rear differential fluid and one of the two batteries on our F-350 truck replaced, and we are now waiting for the motor on the black tank valve to be replaced.

This latter repair, the cost of which is still unknown, caused me to cancel a planned two-week trip to Utah with my son to go visit a friend I haven't seen in six years. So the cost has not been simply financial. Hopefully I can make the trip next year.

On the bright side, Teresa and I will have more time to practice for what I hope will be another performance at this month's Idaho Songwriters Association forum. However, I won't find out if we're guaranteed a slot until the middle of the month. Fingers crossed!

At this stage of my life, I have no illusions of anything approaching stardom, but it is fun to get some of my music out there and to have it well received. I would be able to do neither without Teresa's help and encouragement. I guess she can add arranger and accompanist to her resume.

One thing I think I am learning is that, while dreams may have to change or be reshaped a bit, growing older does not mean an end to dreams or to dreaming. Nor does it mean one has to completely abandon the dreams of youth. My musical dreams began when I was 18, but I lacked the confidence, the courage, and probably the ability to pursue them at that time. 40 years later, those dreams have been modified a bit, but they are coming true. So keep dreaming!

#184 - The Circus is Back in Town

(imagine calliope music in the background)

Step right up folks! See the amazing tap dancing presidential candidates. Watch in wonder as they spout platitudes and verbally slam one another with half-baked innuendo and overwrought criticism.

Yes, the political circus is back in towns all across America as the political machine gears up for the 2016 presidential campaign. Yes, I know the election itself is not for another 18 months or so, but the pollsters, strategy architects, and political pundits have to justify their existence somehow.

So far, the race is shaping up to be some Republican against Democrat Hillary Clinton, a polarizing figure even to many in her own party. Not that any of the GOP candidates so far are great unifiers.

Entered into the fray thus far for the Republicans: Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who is categorized as pro-life, anti-same-sex marriage (leaving it to the states to decide), anti-gun control, against the Affordable Care Act, anti-IRS, pro-Israel, and anti-net neutrality. Cruz is also widely seen as one of the main forces behind the 2013 government shutdown, in large part because of his efforts to include de-funding and removal of the authorization for the Affordable Care Act in any stop-gap funding measure. He also support abolition of the IRS and believes in climate change, though not in the role of humanity in global warming.

We also have Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a pseudo-libertarian who nonetheless wants to restrict a woman's right to an abortion (something of an oxymoron there, someone who wants to reduce the influence and reach of government yet wants to increase it, at least in this area). He has also proposed gutting the Department of Education and eliminating the Department of Housing and Urban Development, played a leading role in blocking a treaty with Switzerland that would have allowed the IRS to conduct tax evasion probes, and been accused on a number of occasions of plagiarizing speech and article material from other sources. Like Cruz, he is opposed to gay marriage but would leave the issue to individual states to decide, and he is against all forms of gun control.

Then we have Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. Like Cruz and Paul, he is pro-life. He also supports raising the age for Social Security benefits eligibility and opposes same-sex marriage, suggesting (like Cruz and Paul) that it be left to individual states to decide. He supports extension of the Bush tax cuts as well as elimination of both capital gains taxes and the estate tax. Unlike the other two announced GOP candidates, Rubio held elected office prior to becoming a U.S. Senator, serving nine years in the Florida House of Representatives.

These are the three GOP candidates announced so far. They have one thing in common aside from many of their political views - they are all considered Tea Party activists. Both Cruz and Rubio are under age 45.

Other likely and potential Republican candidates include retired surgeon Ben Carson (expected to announce May 4), largely identified as a conservative who opposes same-sex marriage and does not believe in evolution but who at one time stated that for-profit insurance companies should be eliminated and has said that semi-automatic weapons should be better regulated in large cities and high-crime areas.

The GOP field could become even more crowded if former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, current New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorino, U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker decide to run.

Then there are the usual Republican suspects, who have run before and could decide to run again: former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former Texas Governor Rick Perry, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, and business magnate Donald Trump of New York.

So far, the circus is primarily restricted to the GOP, as the Democrats have only one announced serious candidate to date: former Secretary of State, U.S. Senator, and First Lady Hillary Clinton. Unlike her GOP counterparts, who appear to have always been politically conservative, Clinton was not always a liberal. She campaigned for Barry Goldwater in 1964 and was president of the Young Republicans for a time while a student at Wellesley College. At the time, she was a moderate Republican but left the GOP after the 1968 national convention.

Clinton has supported repeal of the Bush tax cuts (announced as temporary when first enacted), release of oil reserves, exploration into alternative energy sources, including hydrogen-powered vehicles (along with tepid support for nuclear power), campaign finance reform, and a retention of the Social Security tax cap (unlike many of her fellow Democrats), and health care reform somewhat similar to the Affordable Care Act.

She has also faced criticism for her role as an advisor to her husband while he was president (perhaps an argument by some that a First Lady, much like a child, should be seen and not heard) and for sitting on the Board of Directors of Wal-Mart. Unlike her GOP challengers, Clinton is identified as pro-choice. While initially opposed to same-sex marriage (but in favor of civil unions), Clinton appears to have changed her view over time. She also supports net neutrality.

I'm not going to get into the entire Benghazi thing as that has been beaten to death by so many others and will no doubt come up again during any presidential campaign.

It is still possible that Clinton could face challengers for Democratic nomination. Former Rhode Island Governor (and Republican U.S. Senator) Lincoln Chafee, former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, and former U.S. Senator (and former U.S. Navy Secretary) Jim Webb of Virginia (another former Republican) are all said to be exploring a possible run.

Other possible candidates who have expressed interest or who have been speculated about include: current Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders (who runs as an independent), former Vice President Al Gore, former Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, current Delaware Governor Jack Markell, and current U.S. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

All in all, it promises to be another overwrought, over-analyzed, over-advertised, overreaching, over-attacking, over-criticizing campaign, generally lacking in substance from either the candidates or those who report on them. In the end, the nominations and ultimately the general election itself will likely be decided by which candidate wins the most favor with the Super PACs and garners the most money in campaign contributions from said shadowy political organizations. This truism is perhaps never more true than when it comes to political campaigns; "money talks."

#183 - Moving Toward a Post-Christian World

I have debated writing this post for some time because I suspected I might disappoint some of my friends or cause them to distance themselves from me. However, in light of recent events and discussions, I've decided to no longer worry about that.

A number of my friends identify themselves as Christian, (Many of them go further and also identify themselves as Catholic.) I used to be one of them. I am no longer.

I was baptised a Catholic at Easter, 1984. For 20-some years, I tried to be a good Catholic. Yet something about the Catholic Church did not feel right.

So I tried other churches, but I always came back. If nothing else, the rituals of the Catholic Church felt safe. And yet, something did not quite seem to fit.

Something about the Catholic Church in particular and about Christianity in general struck me as contradictory. I had trouble identifying it an making sense of it until I began reading the Conversations With God series of books by Neale Donald Walsch.

I can't pinpoint it specifically, but something in Neale's depiction of God resonated with me. After reading several of his spiritual books, I concluded that none of the faiths with which I was familiar truly understood the nature of God. Many of them had some aspect of God, but none was complete.

I have also come to realize than many so-called Christians cherry-pick Bible verses to fit their faith's view (and by extension, their view) of the world, all the while forgetting that the Bible was written or related by one group of men (mostly), translated by another group of men (mostly), and interpreted and explained by yet another group of men.

In the last several years, I have come to the conclusion that all religious groups may have some understanding of God, but no religious group can claim to be The Way. Not Judaism, not Christianity, not Islam. Each has at least one fatal flaw.

That fatal flaw is that each kills in the name of God. Yet Christianity says "Thou shalt not kill" and claims that the ways of God are not the ways of man. By extension, that would seem to imply that Christians do not understand God since they kill in God's name. (The same could certainly be said for many of the other major faiths.)

Reading through a number of books of Neale Donald Walsch, I feel I have come to a better understanding of God and of the contradictions inherent in many of the organized religions now in existence. For instance, it never made sense to me that we would be called upon by the Bible to love our neighbor as ourselves even as we are trying to bomb them into oblivion.

Another contradiction is the call to love God and fear God at the same time. One cannot fear and love together; they are mutually exclusive.

I'm sure there are some who will begin praying for my soul or will begin worrying that I am headed to Hell. Don't. I truly believe God is bigger and is more than any faith can express. Because of that, I don't believe any faith does God justice. I don't think any organized faith can.

#182 - Taking Chances, New Toys, and Other Random Thoughts

Several days ago, I wrote a little something about technology, touching on a few good and bad points from my vantage point as a Baby Boomer miles away from friends and family. As I recall, that was the first post I had ever written and published from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 tablet. This will be the second.

One thing has changed for me technologically since that prior entry. I have now paired my tablet with a Bluetooth-enabled keyboard. The keyboard, while a bit smaller in overall size than a traditional computer keyboard, has close to normal sized keys, meaning that even someone as fat-fingered as I can be is able to type without too much frustration.

The keyboard was fairly easy to pair with my tablet. Within about 30 seconds, I was up and typing. In fact, the hardest part of getting the keyboard up and running for me was finding the two AAA batteries needed to power the keyboard.

The keyboard itself is about eleven inches wide, so it is a little wider than my table in widescreen mode. However, both are small enough and easy enough to balance that I can write a blog entry from an easy chair, as I am doing here.

Obviously, Android and Bluetooth have been around long enough that choosing to use either technology or both is not a great leap of faith. Enough people have come before that new users are unlikely to face any insurmountable hurdles when adopting these technologies for the first time.

Technology is certainly one area where early adopters at least are asked to take a chance on new devices, new programs, or new ways of doing things. As with anything new, there is always the risk of failure or at least the chance that things will not go as expected, as hoped, or as planned.

Of course, this is the case with any new venture, activity, or risk taken. I experienced those fears, as well as the relief when the worst did not come to pass, when I ventured onto the stage of the monthly Idaho Songwriters Association Forum the last Tuesday of February. The forum is an opportunity for Idaho songwriters, young and old, experienced or just beginning, to try out material before an actual audience.

My wife and I attended our first forum in November, and I came away thinking I could be up there and thinking I'd like to try it at least once. For me, the biggest problem was not a lack of material; I've been writing for 40 years. The biggest obstacle is the fact that I don't really write music. Thanks to my wife's help, I was able to get something I'd written into presentable form and was able to offer it up for public consumption. Thankfully, it was well received, although you never know how people will respond until you put something out there. The reception was positive enough that I am now working up a few other songs for future forums.

It is now several days later. The earlier material has just been left dormant, in some sort of electronic limbo, waiting for me to decide how or whether to finish the entry. I guess I've decided to finish it.

This morning, I went to start up my laptop only to find that, while the hard drive would spin up and the laptop would make all of the normal noises of booting, it was for all practical purposes a paperweight, simply because I could see nothing but a dark screen. Preliminary research indicates the CPU may have gone bad. Oh, joy!

My laptop is by no means new; I bought it about four years ago, but I had hoped it might last another year or so. The challenge for me in finding a new laptop, aside from not really wanting to spend any money, is the fact that I do not run Windows; I run Linux and have done so for more than a decade.

Unfortunately, it is hard sometimes to find a machine that is fully Linux compatible, a task made slightly more difficult with the advent of Secure Boot and UEFI-compliant BIOS. Don't ask me what either means or adds to a machine. All I know is that it make the challenge of a Linux user when selecting a new machine that much more difficult.

Sitting here thinking about the challenge ahead in terms of finding a new computer, I am reminded slightly of the ongoing Net Neutrality debate and of the old adage "Knowledge is Power." There are those who think knowledge and technology should be accessible to all people equally and those who believe those willing to pay more should get more Perhaps an oversimplification, but you get the point. As a Linux user, I guess I would fall into the equal accessibility camp, which is why I am not a big fan of Secure Boot or UEFI.

Perhaps there is a bit of Don Quixote in me wen it comes to such things, especially as I have neither political clout or big bucks to pump into any PR campaign. However, I have hope that a majority of people will reach the conclusion that equal access to information and technology is in everyone's best interests just as I have hope that I will not have too much trouble finding a new computer on which to run Linux. To quote the old reporting cliche, something we were advised as reporters never to say, time will tell.

#181 - Technology - For Better or Worse

After breakfast this morning, our son starting talking (yet again) about some particular figure he wanted to get for his Wii U console. I then tried to have a conversation with him about spending so much money on these things and the fact that Nintendo would probably not make these figures (known as Amibos) or the games forever, especially given that the Wii U is a distant third in the video game arena behind XBOX 360 and Play Station 4.

That got me to thinking about technology, both the good and bad. Developers are always coming up with some new way to do things. Often, the new way is an improvement. However, there are times when perhaps the better technology loses out to a lesser technology simpler because the marketing and PR effort was not as strong.

Anyone remember the Beta vs. VHS wars back in the 1980s? I came down on the Beta side since, working in television as I did at the time, I was convinced Beta was a better recording technology. Many experts and reviewers agreed. However, VHS had a bigger and better marketing push behind it, and Beta recording technology became but a footnote.

I suspect my son must somewhere possess a fondness for underdog technology, something he must get from me. Stored in a closet in one of our bedrooms now used as office space we have an old Iomega Zip drive (remember those?) and about a dozen Zip disks. They were going to replace floppy disks (yes, we also have working external floppy drive) for users who needed more storage space than a floppy could offer. That lasted a few months until writable CDs hit the market. Another technological footnote.

However, not all of our technology is stuck in the past. I am typing this blog entry on my Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 using a stylus and the on-screen keyboard. If I get the hang of this, I may get a Bluetooth keyboard to make this progress even easier. At that point, my tablet may relate my four-year old laptop for many of my everyday technology needs. It also looks like Android is big enough and ubiquitous enough that it is not destined to become a technological footnote anytime soon. Thank goodness.

#180 - It's The Little Things

It's a Sunday morning, and I'm waiting for the day's NFL playoff games to begin. At the moment, I'm sitting at my desk and looking around at stuff, lots of stuff and clutter. It seems there is no end to all of the stuff we possess.

Several months ago, we began trying to de-clutter and downsize. We made some progress, but it seems for every thing we get rid of we obtain two or find two that we can't yet part with. On my desk are 3.5-inch floppy disks (anyone remember those?) from 15 years ago, dozens of them. The plan is to dispose of all of them, but I first have to go through them one by one to see if there are any files we need to keep or want to save. No wonder we can't ever seem to make much headway.

My son like to make things out of paper and draw different things on paper. From time to time, we have made him go through his collection and get rid of some of his creations. We've tried to put in place a rule that each time he makes something new he must dispose of something he'd made previously. That effort has met with limited success, and I suspect if I were to look in his bedroom closet I would find shelves filled with his paper creations.

My wife has a box of textbooks from her college days years ago, and I have numerous books I've acquired over the years, many of which I will likely never get around to reading. Yet I have kept them - just in case. Over the past few years, we have disposed of perhaps a few hundred books, yet it seems new ones grow to take their place. It's as if the old books left seeds behind from which new books sprouted.

Aside from a few hundred albums (remember those?) and the necessary stereo on which to play them, I didn't have a lot of stuff as an adolescent or a young adult. Perhaps that is why it later became so hard for me to get rid of things or why I began to accumulate so much. Then again, perhaps that is the true definition of "the American way."

We work hard to make money to buy stuff which we then trade in for newer stuff, bigger stuff, more expensive stuff. Many of us immediately had to have the new iPhone 6 when it came out, even though our iPhone 5 was still perfectly serviceable and likely better than most other cell phones available. Or maybe it was a need to replace a perfectly nice 42-inch television with a 60 or 72-inch screen because we bought into the marketing that says bigger and newer is better.

The indoctrination process began early for most of us, with commercials on Saturday morning television and colorful Sunday newspaper advertising inserts. Those who are much younger may have escaped some of that but were instead influenced by ads on websites, by their friends, and perhaps worst of all, by their own parents who rushed out to buy the latest in technology, home entertainment, transportation, fashion, etc.

Children do indeed learn from their parents, but what are we actually teaching them? In many cases, we are teaching them to be good and dutiful consumers, which no doubt is exactly with the marketing people want us to teach. What do we want?

As we get older, it gets ever harder to get off the consumption train, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. I am not suggesting people stop buying stuff, but perhaps we can learn to be more discerning in our purchases and even learn not to throw away things every time a new version comes out. The environment will no doubt stay cleaner; our landfills will last much longer; and who knows, our children might one day thank us.

#179 - Another Auld Lang Syne

As I sit here, there are less than four hours left in 2014. My son is busy playing away on his WiiU, and my wife is asleep on the sofa in the other room. I'm sitting here trying to figure out just what I want to say as one year ends and a new one begins. Do we know how to party or what?

As is the case every year, new names and faces entered the world as well as the public consciousness while other people gave up their earthly existence, their souls embarking on the next stage of their cosmic adventure.

For some of my friends, the losses hit closer to home. One friend and former colleague lost her father. Even though children are supposed to outlive their parents, I don't think it's any easier for a child to lose a parent than it is for a parent to lose a child. In some ways, that kind of loss may sum up better than anything what life is really all about.

Life is not supposed to be easy. It is not supposed to stay constant; life is fluid, always changing, much like a river changes over time. The other part of the lesson in all of this may be that nothing worth having is gained without effort.

A different kind of loss befell another friend of mine this year. Her longtime boyfriend lost his job after working for the same company for many years. That kind of loss can put stress on a relationship and create all kinds of uncertainty. Being that he is the same age as me, I can relate a bit to the challenge ahead as he tries to re-enter the workforce, especially when it comes to landing a good-paying job. The one difference is that I was lucky enough to be able to leave on my own terms.

Just as in any year, 2014 was not without its positive moments. We welcomed a grand or great niece into the family. Teresa and I enjoyed a wonderful week with her brother and his wife and without children. I wrote more than I have in years, and Teresa and I worked up one of my lyrics that we may perform publicly for the first time in early 2015.

Sometimes I think about things that might have been and things I might have done if I'd had more ambition or drive or strength of personality. At the same time, as I get older, I realize that as long as I'm breathing it's never too late to start working on making one's dreams a reality. Having said that, I also realize that it probably wasn't the smartest thing to wait so long to get started.

May the coming year bring each of you health, happiness, and peace. Most of all, though, I hope 2015 brings each one of you the desire to pursue and achieve at least one of your dreams. Make new friends and remember old ones. Reconnect with your inner self and with those around you. Happy hunting and happy new year!

#178 - Lessons Learned

"Lessons learned are like bridges burned, you only need to cross them but once."

- Dan Fogelberg

I don't think Dan Fogelberg had someone like me in mind when he wrote those words thirty-plus years ago. Over the course of my journey through this lifetime, it seems I have had to learn some lessons more than once. At least it feels that way.

As I prepare to mark another year in the book of life, I look back and ponder the question of what, if any, lessons have I learned. I'd like to think perhaps I have finally learned a few, albeit at a slightly later stage in life. However, the reality is that I am still learning. At least I hope I am. Among the things I am trying to learn:

1. Stuff is replaceable. Friends and family are not.
   
   When I was four years old, my favorite toy was a working mockup of a car's dashboard. It had a  little windshield with working wipers, a steering wheel with a working horn, even a radio (which for some reason never did work). One day, some other child picked up this favorite toy of mine and threw it into the swimming pool of the apartment complex where we lived. I tried to go in and save it, but being unable to swim at the time, I guess I was lucky not to have drowned. It was my first real sense of loss. The following year, my father left for good. Although I now know there were good reasons for him being banished from our lives, you can probably guess which loss had the greater impact.
   
   
2. Define your stuff. Do not let your stuff define you.
   
   So often we are defined by what we do or by what we have. People with big houses and new cars are seen as successful. People with smaller houses and older cars are not. It seems to me the really successful people in this scenario are the marketers and salespeople who convinced those with the big houses and new cars that they needed these things and the added expenses that go with them. As I get older, I think about getting rid of stuff, stuff I don't use or need. At the same time, my son talks about getting more stuff. The battle of the bulge with regard to stuff is a never-ending one. In the new year, I hope to put our house on a stuff diet.
   
   
3. Sometimes, less is more.
   
   This piggy-backs on the previous point about stuff. We work five or six days a week, 40, 50, even 60 hours or more a week, volunteer for overtime, etc., all in search of a bigger paycheck to pay for our toys and the things we want. Perhaps if were a bit more selective or held on to things longer or perhaps did not jump on every bandwagon or take part in every new craze that comes along (the hype over the new iPhone 6 comes to mind) we would not need quite as much money and would actually have time to enjoy what we do have and perhaps spend time with friends and family. Yes, there are things I want, but I try to wait patiently as we save toward those things. In the meantime, I look at some of the things around me and wonder whether I could get rid of some of them.
   
   
4. Once you reach a certain age, time is no longer on your side.
   
   When the Rolling Stones sang that time was on their side, they were all in their early 20s. Once you reach the age of 30 or 40 (definitely 50), time is no longer on your side. In other words, if there is something you've dreamed of doing, do it. I struggle with this one because of a variety of factors: lack of self-confidence, lack of ambition, lack of discipline, just a lack of. Throughout my life, I have had a number of dreams. Many of them I've long since given up on, some I stubbornly hold on to.
   
   
5. Chase your dreams while you are young before life gets in the way.
   
   This could almost be point 4b. I am not saying here that it is impossible to pursue your dreams after a certain age. However, I do think it is easier to chase a dream when one is younger and still firmly holding on to the strength of their convictions. Older people sometimes refer to the young as being idealistic and/or naive, as if that were a bad thing. I suspect that some of them are actually lamenting the loss of their own innocence and of their own dreams when they say something like that. They realize that it is easier to chase a dream before one gets tied down with a job, a family, a mortgage, etc. Having said that, however:
   
   
6. Never stop dreaming.
   
   Even as we get older, it is important to keep dreaming. Dreaming may not keep us young, but it can help keep us young at heart and give us a reason to get out of bed each morning. Even at my age, I continue to dream. I truly believe that the day I stop dreaming is the day I die, even if the body lingers for years after. Do not listen to those who tell you to grow up and start living in the real world. They are the walking dead who stopped dreaming years ago. Having seen the real world, I can attest that it is not all it is cracked up to be.
   
   
7. Find your passion in life and pursue it.
   
   I believe that each of us has something we were born to do, and only rarely does it coincide with what we do for a paycheck. Often, it may not bring any financial reward at all. Riches, though, are not defined simply by one's bank balance. I have struggled with this for years and have yet to truly define my passion, but I know it's out there. I think, perhaps, that my passion is writing, though not the type of writing I've often spoken to others about, novel writing. I think lyric writing may be my passion; it has certainly been my lifeline for 40-plus years. I will never be mentioned in the same breath as Paul McCartney or even Irving Berlin, but I think I occasionally come up with something pretty good. So I keep writing. If you cannot identify your passion, ask a friend to help you. Brainstorm, do whatever it takes, but find it. Having a passion, more than a big paycheck or lots of stuff will help keep you sane and will likely lead to a happier life.
   
   
8. Look beyond the black and white to the shades of gray. It is there that the truth is found.
   
   I am fearful of people who speak in absolutes. No one has all the answers. No one religion or philosophy has all the truth. There are always at least two sides to every story, sometimes many more. I also believe there is more to truth than mere facts. One needs context as well. Without context, facts are like random numbers, meaningless. Often, looking beyond the words to the speaker and the circumstance is much easier said than done. I myself probably fail as often as I succeed. But I believe it is worth the effort.

Keep trying. Keep learning. Keep laughing. Keep loving.

#177 - Season of Change

I haven’t had much to say in this space of late. Most of my thoughts lately have been more lyrical in nature, and so I have been posting them on my writing blog, My Wordsmithing. I’ve also been trying to think of what exactly to write about in this space. This morning, it came to me.

Waking up this morning and getting ready to work, I began to think about the dwindling days – getting light later and dark earlier. It seems, somehow, a perfect metaphor for my current stage in life, as I get older and move closer to life after work.

For all of that melancholia about growing old, I realized that autumn is my favorite season of the year and has been for a long, long time. When I was younger, the falling of the leaves and the dormancy of most plant life seemed to suit my angst-filled teenage life. I didn’t feel as if I fit in with those around me and knew no one else could relate to that feeling. Years later, I realized that most teens probably feel something similar at some point along their rocky road to adulthood. That education did not go to waste!

These days, autumn remains my favorite season, although the reasoning has changed. When I speak of autumn, I mean after the calendar changes over to October, not the period immediately following the autumnal equinox in September.

For me, October is the quintessential autumnal month. The days, while getting shorter, still possess enough daylight to produce moderate temperatures. (Here in SW Idaho, highs reach the upper 60s and lower 70s, typically.) The nights, while crisp, are not bitterly cold. And the colors are often breathtaking.

October is to me the perfect time for a camping outing, especially if you have something other than a tent. Campgrounds are uncrowded and sometimes empty, and weekend outings become an opportunity for relaxation and reflection and not simply a two-day escape. The pace is slower and quieter.

Autumn is also my favorite season because it is a season of change. Or, perhaps to be more exact, it is a season that promises change as the old makes way and the landscape prepares for the promise of new life with the coming spring.

That aspect of autumn rings more true than ever for me this year, as I am about to embark on change of my own. After some discussion and deliberation and perhaps some second-guessing, my wife and I have decided it is time for me to leave the working world, at least the working world as most people define it. In a sense, I am giving up work to begin what may end up to be the most important work I’ve ever done.

Instead of punching a time clock at a job that offer little in the way of a challenge and less in the way of advancement opportunity, we have decided that I should work on our son. Specifically, I will try to help him and teach him some basic day to day skills that might help him to live a more independent life. In the last year, I think we both have seen some of his intellectual capabilities kick into a new gear, demonstrating capabilities I've long thought and hoped he had. As a result, we decided now is the time to strike while the iron is hot, as it were.

At the same time, I will also try to do some work on me. (In a sense, I guess you could say I am also developmentally delayed.) Some of that work will revolve around household management: menu planning, organization, cooking (rather than simply throwing something together for dinner), arranging appointments (car, medical, etc.) Another part of that work might fall under the category of personal improvement and development and will likely involve more physical activity and hopefully involve more writing. Underlying all of this, however, is the goal of helping our son to be all that he can be (to borrow a military marketing slogan).

The adventure begins November 1. In the words of Bob Dylan, the times they are-a changin’, and I’m looking forward to the change. I just hope I’m ready.

#176 - What Were They Thinking?

According to a news report, a nine-year old girl in Arizona has accidentally shot and killed her shooting instructor while learning how to fire a gun. Note that this was not a pistol or even a normal rifle. It was an Uzi submachine gun.

I don’t know and don’t really care where anyone stands on the issue of gun control. I would hope that no sane person could rationally argue that a nine-year old should learn to fire an Uzi. For that matter, why should anyone outside of the military even have an Uzi, let alone learn to fire one. I can’t see it as a legitimate weapon for hunting, and I personally would find it too dangerous to have one in the home. To me, the only purpose of such a weapon is to kill other human beings.

I don’t normally write about such hot button topics, but I just did not feel I could let this one go by. I get that some parents want to teach their children how to hunt. I personally don’t hunt, but I know for many it is a chance to bond with their children and also serves as a rite of passage.

What I don’t get is how any parent in their right mind could think their child needs to learn how to fire a weapon like an Uzi, which is capable of firing up to 600 rounds per minute. I find it even more incredible that these parents could think it make sense for their nine-year old daughter to hold, let alone try to fire such a weapon at an age when they might reasonably be expected to have trouble controlling any gun, let alone a machine gun.

I can’t pretend to know or understand what was going through the minds of that girl’s parents when they made the decision to have their daughter learn to fire the Uzi. Nor can I pretend to know what went through their minds in that instant when it all went horribly wrong. I don’t know what the girl thought about learning to fire such a gun or what she thought when she realized what had happened.

What I do know is that, at nine years of age, this girl has taken a life. Accidentally, yes, but taken a life nonetheless. It is an act of such finality that even some soldiers never get over it. I can’t begin to imagine how she ever will, though I hope she can. As for her parents, they could easily be accused of child endangerment. They are at least guilty of incredibly poor judgment. Whatever else they might be guilty of is up to their conscience.

#175 - Fighting That Blah-g Feeling

Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit blah and nothing feeling like I have much to say or write about. My day to day life is not all that exciting – eat, work, sleep, rinse and repeat – and some things are best not blogged about, at least until I get the okay from “the boss.”

None of that explains why I’m feeling a bit blasé these days. Perhaps it’s the fact that summer is winding down, which means colder weather won’t be far behind. I know many sweltering in triple-digit heat would welcome some much cooler temperatures about now, living in Idaho, I won’t be one of them.

Perhaps it’s knowing that, while we try to use our RV year-round, with school about to start back up, our opportunities to get out will diminish. Even though we still have a few trips planned before the end of the year, it still feels as if RV season is ending for some reason as we will have to winterize the beast before too long, which means we won’t be able to use all of its systems to their fullest.

Maybe it’s simply that I’m feeling in a reflective mood, and I’m not all that happy with the reflection I see. I look at where I am, where I thought I’d be, what I’ve done, and what I haven’t done in my life. As it likely is for most people, the picture is a mixed one.

At some level, I've always been a dreamer. This can be both good and bad. It is good in the sense that having a dream or two has made it possible for me to get through many a mundane 9 to 5 day. On the other hand, having a dream without possessing the willpower, determination, or perhaps talent to make that dream come true can be frustrating and demoralizing. I struggle occasionally with that one.

It could be that I’m simply over-thinking things. Or maybe I just need to work some more exercise (mental and physical) into my routine. Perhaps I simply need to reflect more on what I do have – a wonderful wife and son, a home, a beagle (can’t forget him), fairly decent health, no massive debt, and the aforementioned RV.

While I do that, simply think of this entry as a placeholder until I think of something else to write.

#174 - Feeling Random

Heard a co-worker come in this morning and state that she wanted to leave early today because she had an appointment for a pedicure. That sent my mind off in a dozen directions at once. At least. With apologies to Stephen Wright, here goes:

Why do people call it a manicure when women are much more likely to get one? If, as the Rolling Stones once said, “time is on my side,” why do I need to wear a watch on my wrist? If you’re not Formica, are you against it?

Why are UFOs called “unidentified flying objects?” If we call it a UFO, haven’t we just given it an identity? With all the current debate about immigration in America, do you suppose the French ever think about asking us to return the Statue of Liberty?

Do you think prostitutes ever get tired of being confused with garden implements? Why is an oven also known as a range when it isn't wide open and never goes anywhere? If you were a groundhog and saw a shadow that looked like that, wouldn't you be scared too?

How much lettuce should you feed a dust bunny? How long did it take God to stop laughing after putting Jimmy Swaggart and Jerry Lee Lewis in the same family tree?

Is the population in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico lower because they've killed all the liars? In order to get more done in Washington, should Congress consider changing its name to Progress?

Why do people buy big houses then spend most of their time in a couple of rooms or the garage? If you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, what does a one-legged person wait for?

What exactly is "a stitch in time," and why does it save nine? Nine what? If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, how would you really know whether it made a sound? Can a sound truly exist if no one hears it?

If it's true that the movie "The Greatest Story Ever Told" really was, why does anyone else bother? Finally, if a movie flashes up “The End” on screen, why does it sometimes then follow with ten minutes of credits?

#173 - It Makes a Village Online

Since rediscovering a love of camping more than eight years ago – after moving to Idaho – and then discovering an even greater enjoyment of life in an RV (recreational vehicle, for those not up on the lingo), I have had in the back of mind the goal of taking to the road full-time in an RV once my working days are done. The road and some of the places I see help to make more real the journey aspect of life.

The move to life on the road in many ways seems a natural for me and my wife. Our fathers were both truck drivers, as was my grandfather. I also have an uncle and a cousin who drive a truck for a living, so it seems a natural that we would take to the highway at some point. In addition, my wife has lived in at least six states for some period of time, and I have lived in nine states, so there is a bit of the nomad in our blood.

Roughly five years ago, I began exploring the notion of full-time RV living. I discovered that an entire subculture of “full-timers” exists, complete with blogs and organizations  geared toward RVing and RV life. One of the blogs I stumbled across in my research features a retired teacher from Georgia who had never done any RVing before beginning her grand adventure. RVSue, as she is known travels with her two dogs, known affectionately as “the Crew,” across the West mainly in her van and small travel trailer.

Although I read several blogs on full-time RV life, Sue’s is the blog I read most often and most consistently. Part of the reason is her entertaining writing style. An equally important reason is the fact that Sue does not write about typical destinations (state parks, RV resorts, and the like). She prefers to get off the beaten path, away from the crowd. It is the type of RV life I envision living, at least most of the time.

What perhaps makes RVSue’s blog the most entertaining of any blog I read is the multitude of comments from her readers (affectionately known as “blogorinos”) and their interaction both with Sue and with each other. The conversations that take place in the comments section are often as entertaining in their own way as the blog post that got everything started. Even though Sue’s blog does not contain flashy animation or graphics, does not usually feature videos or have interactive games, chat rooms, or a discussion forum, it is certainly much more than a static web page.

Comments, replies, rebuttals, and further responses, all help to make RVSue and Her Crew perhaps one of the most interactive sites on the internet. Her blog serves as an example of what good writing, done in an entertaining fashion, can lead to, even in our mile-a-minute, always connected world. The fact that her readers and commenters almost always get along and respond to one another with humor, respect, and civility further go to show that meaningful discourse is still possible in our electronic and often divisive world, the example of the current Congress notwithstanding.

In many ways, RVSue and Her Crew is a 21^st Century carrying on of the long standing tradition of talking after dinner, a practice carried on by cowboys around a campfire, guests at a fancy dinner gathering in the drawing room after the meal to discuss the issues of the day, even such things as a girls’ or boys’ night out. More than that, Sue’s blog is an opportunity for people of different backgrounds, different incomes, different demographics, different locations to come together to discuss things they have in common, creating in effect an internet village.

The RVSue and Her Crew blog is a shining example of what the internet can be and all too seldom is, judging from the many comments I glance through on other web sites. Even though she looks to escape in some ways from civilization, Sue’s blog actually gives me a little hope for the civilization she seeks to leave behind. I hope to hold on to that hope, at least until I, too, can escape.

#172 - Idaho Dumbing Down or Just Needing to Take a Different Look?

New figures indicate that the percentage of Idaho high school graduates who go on to attend college dropped from 2012 to 2013. The decline occurred in spite of – or perhaps because of – the state’s somewhat lame Go On campaign aimed at encouraging more grads to pursue post-secondary education.

According to the story at Idaho Ed News, a little more than half of Idaho’s high school graduates in 2013, 52 percent, opted to continue their education. The Idaho State Board of Education president says an improving economy may be partly to blame, with grads opting to work now and save money to attend college later. It’s a nice thought, but I suspect it has little to do with the actual reasons.

The same Idaho Ed News article also seems to suggest that Mormon grads putting off college until they complete a mission may also play a part in the decline. The idea that God told me to wait before attending college doesn’t seem to me to carry much validity, either, despite the large Mormon population in Idaho. Especially when the article only attributes that reasoning to the decline in the one Idaho country where the branch campus of Brigham Young University is located. As if graduates in that county would only consider attending that university.

The article’s loudest alarm bells are reserved for the declining numbers in Idaho’s two largest school districts, declines that took place despite their proximity to two and four-year colleges. The fact that both the two and four-year schools in and around these districts have, rightly or wrongly, reputations as commuter schools more likely to attract older students than recent grads is ignored.

Also ignored are what I think may be the main reasons for the decline. First is the fact that Idaho, despite the growth of Boise and the surrounding area, remains a largely rural state dependent on the land for its people’s livelihood. For better or worse, many in agriculture or other trades may not see the need for continued formal education after high school.

The next fact, I suspect, is the fact that Idaho does not allow much overlap in educational offering between the state’s institutions of higher learning. As a result, many programs may only be offered at a single school. Given Idaho’s position near the bottom in terms of per capita income, coupled with the rising tuitions cited by the article, this restriction may put higher education out of reach for some.

Finally, with the shift in focus in recent years by many colleges toward more business-oriented offerings, colleges have come to more closely resemble vocational schools. The latter, because of more accelerated programs, can be less expensive. Plus, they are often easier to get into.

So what is the solution? It is doubtful that one size fits all. However, it is equally doubtful that Gov. Butch Otter’s “spectrum of educational opportunities” (whatever that means), with “an emphasis on reading in the early grades and a rigorous high school curriculum” will translate into “college or professional-technical training and completion.” Idaho, along with a number of other states, is already trying that with Common Core. Yet the numbers are still falling.

Idaho needs to try to think outside the box, which leads back to Otter’s “spectrum of educational opportunities.” The first opportunity is for Idaho to stop trying to remake all higher education into expensive, glorified vocational schools that no longer put money, let alone emphasis on anything other than business, engineering, and science. Yes, those are important fields, but the arts and humanities are no less important.

I might argue the arts and humanities are even more important than business fields in terms of living. It is through the arts and humanities that a person learns discernment, critical thinking, and appreciation of life outside of work, as well as the ability to articulate one’s thoughts in spoken and written word. A broadening rather than a narrowing of one’s education leads to a balanced and well-rounded mind and spirit. It is people such as this who will best be equipped to survive, if not thrive in an increasingly demanding and ever changing social and economic landscape.

The next thing I think Idaho should do is look more at forming partnerships between various schools so that students in one part of the state do not have to move to another part of the state to pursue a particular program of study. This could be conceivably be done through online courses taught with an on-campus component or support person at the student’s home school. It could also involve online or teleconference discussions with student’s on the campus of the school where the program is centered.

The same kinds of partnerships could also be explored between four-year schools and vocational schools, whereby vocational students might take classes in the arts and humanities but geared more closely to the needs of the student’s chosen field. Regardless of whether a person is studying to be a lawyer or an auto mechanic, the need for critical thinking skills remains as does the need for exposure to areas outside the person’s chosen field, especially if those areas can somehow be related or tied back to that field.

Something else that would definitely be out of the box would be for at least some of Idaho's colleges and universities to develop programs for the developmentally disabled. These programs could be both degree and non-degree programs designed to help these people live more independently and also help them pursue areas and fields they are interested in at their own pace and with the necessary accommodations to allow them to succeed. As the father of an autistic son, I admit to an ulterior motive here, but I also think such programs could bring a new clientele to college campuses and also cause education to be looked at in a different light, by administrators, educators, and students alike.

I also think Idaho has an opportunity to lead in the area of making money for college more affordable to prospective students. I find it no coincidence that college tuitions began to rise more rapidly and more often once private lenders were given more leeway and freedom in what they charge for student loans. Some sort of state-private partnership, whereby the state given some financial benefits or tax breaks to lending institutions offering reduced interest rates (say five-percent or less) on student loans, is one possibility.

Another possible component of this could be an Idaho version of AmeriCorps. In such a scenario, the state might pay a portion of the student’s tuition or make a student’s loan payments for a time in return for a specified length of service by the student in a part of the state where the student’s talents might be most useful or needed. This might also work as part of a beefed-up internship program.

Any or all of these will require forward thinking and a willingness to risk failing. Because of that, I don’t expect Idaho to explore, let alone implement any of these suggestions. Which leaves me with my last and easiest to implement idea. Reduce the focus on recent high-school graduates and turn attention to those considering a return to school and those who perhaps need additional education and/or retraining.

At least one of Idaho’s four-year universities is already referred to as a “commuter school,” although most of those who use the term do so in a derogatory manner. However, just as some people don’t need or aren’t meant to go to college, others don’t need or aren’t ready to go to college right out of high school. I tried and failed simply because I was not ready. 15 years later when I decided I finally was ready, I went back, earning a B.S.Ed. and then a MA in English. That 15 year interval allowed me to gain some maturity, as well as an appreciation of what I was learning, and I suspect it made me a much better student.

Since the population as a whole is aging, it is likely that the greatest potential for growth in Idaho’s colleges will not come from those fresh out of high school but from those who already have a few years out of school (or more) and perhaps a few jobs already under their belts. That “real world” experience will allow students to bring a different perspective to the classroom, and the added maturity that often comes with age may allow them to better appreciate the new ideas that the classroom can bring to them. It’s worth a shot.