Privilege. I have argued before that I have some privileges because of my color and culture. The seminal memory that made me aware of cultural privilege was learning my good friend Paul Vega had to travel 20 miles from the small town of Newton, Kansas, to my home town of Read more…
Gordon Parks. The Mobile Museum of Art has a display of photography by Gordon Parks. I was familiar with him for several reasons. A major reason is — we share a Kansas heritage. He was born in 1912 in Ft. Scott, Kansas, and lived to be 93 years old. He Read more…
Road Trip. We are back from two weeks on the road. I hope all of you are well. I hope the heat wave is not causing too many problems. We had a wonderful time— other than traffic jams! We faced several massive bumper to bumper messes. The GPS actually saved Read more…
I wrote two poems last week and sent them to a friend. He liked the poems. His analysis was— they were good, but dour. His analysis caused me to reflect about my attitude. I soon realized, COVID, politics, and cultural problems have shaded my outlook in recent months. I decided Read more…
Memorial Day: When I was a child, we occasionally visited a cemetery on Memorial Day. We visited graves of family members. I was unaware of the military significance of the holiday until much later in life. Military Families. I have very little understanding or experience with the military. My dad Read more…
Alternatives. We face some choices. We were hoping for a clean bill of health for Jeny but her medical report was not what we hoped for. The doctor did not see visible evidence of cancer. However, the tests revealed the type of cancer is rare and known to be a Read more…
I had more family duties this week for obvious reasons, so my blog will be short. Jeny. I am very pleased to report Jeny is recovering. Not without pain, not at the speed she would like, but she is showing slow, steady progress. I am so proud of how many Read more…
Science. In the COVID and ultra-political environment in which we find ourselves, one of the buzz phrases is, “follow the science.” The simplest form of scientific research would be two groups that differ in only one condition. If the outcome activity in one group differs from the outcome activity in Read more…
We had wonderful time at our grandson Miller’s wedding. Miller is Scott’s younger son. The couple dated since middle school. The minister did a great job of continuing the relationship in a positive direction. The surrounding events enabled us to have quality time with family. We are very thankful we Read more…
John Boehner. I do not watch late-night television. Not only has my bedtime moved up with age, the self-righteousness of modern comedians is not nearly as much fun to me as the humor of Johnny Carson. However, a friend sent me a clip of a late-night host, Stephen Colbert, interviewing Read more…