A Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary Poem By My Dad

Dear George,

When we visited Menominee last November, I spent hours going through my parents’ photo albums and miscellaneous papers.  One of the treasures I ran across was a poem that my father had written for their fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration.  By way of background, my dad, Vic. L., was born in Marinette, Wisconsin, in 1908.  His parents were Swedish immigrants — his father a druggist, and his mother a prominent figure in the Wisconsin Republican party.  Doris (Cramer) was born in Omaha in 1910, and Vic and Doris met in college, marrying in 1932.  Vic began his law practice in Menominee shortly after that, and they had four kids: David, Steven, Peter, and Vicki.  Here is the poetic version of their story.

Love,

Dave

VICTOR AND DORIS LUNDGREN’S 50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

RIVERSIDE COUNTRY CLUB, MENOMINEE, MICHIGAN  

TUESDAY JUNE 1, 1982

(METER UNABASHEDLY STOLEN FROM LONGFELLOW, WHO IS NOT WELL FIXED TO PROTEST, HAVING STOLEN IT HIMSELF FROM THE FINNISH KALEVALA.)

THE SONG CONTINUES

BY THE SHORES OF GITCHEE GUMEE

BY THE SHINING GREAT SEA WATER

STOOD THE WIGWAM OF NOKOMIS,

DAUGHTER OF THE MOON, NOKOMIS.

(THE MOON IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE OF THE TIME.  

THIS WAS DURING PROHIBITION.)

HIAWATHA, IN OUR IDYLL,

WEARS THE FEATHERS OF A WARRIOR,

BUT EVEN LOYAL OLD NOKOMIS

IN DISMAY SAID: “HE’S AN INDIAN?”

“NOT BY THE HORNS OF ALL THE MOOSES,

NOT BY THE FLIGHT OF ALL THE GOOSES,

THIS IMPOSTER COMES FROM SWEDEN

WORSE — BY WAY OF MARINETTE,

CHRISTENED MARIE AND ANTOINETTE.”

BUT THE CHILD DEFIED HIS GRANDMA,

SAID “GET LOST!” TO OLD NOKOMIS,

TOOK THE NAME OF VICTOR LUNDGREN,

TAUGHT THE ANIMALS TO SAY IT,

TAUGHT THEM TO VOTE GOP

AND TO SPELL “MENOMINEE”.  

WHEN TIME CAME TO GO AWOOING

VICTOR PASSED UP MINNEHAHA;

“I’LL MAKE MY OWN JOKES, “ SAID HE-HE,

NOT FOR HIM WAS MINNESOTA.

INDIANS FROM THE PLAINS ARE BETTER

AND HE WENT OUT THERE TO GET HER;

FOUND A CUTIE NICKNAMED CRAMER,

SPOILED A BIT, BUT WHO COULD BLAME HER?

THEIR HONEYMOON DID SURE EXCELL,

A CHRYSLER FULL OF DIXIE BELL;

AND, NO LONGER BEING SINGLE,

VICTOR HUNG HIS LEGAL SHINGLE.

THE RUSH OF CLIENTS WASN’T SPEEDY, 

BUT THE NEWLIES WEREN’T NEEDY.

LUNDGREN’S DRUGS’S SODA BAR

DID MORE BUSINESS — AND BY FAR —

AFTER LOOSCH HAD LOCKED IT UP

AND VIC AND DORIS CAME TO SUP

BRINGING LOW-LIFE PALS AND CHUMS

WHAT A FINE ASSORT OF BUMS!

WHEN THE SOUND OF LITTLE VOICES

FILLED THE TEEPEE WITH REJOICES;

DAVID, SOLEMN AND QUITE PROPER;

STEVIE, YANKING OUT THE STOPPER;

VICKI, LATER, BUT NOT LEAST

AND — VOILA! — PETER THE BEAST!

The First Snowfall of the Season

Dear George, 

Compared to the U.P., we don’t get a lot of snow in Cincinnati, i.e., an annual average of 14 inches vs. 45 in Menominee or 149 in Marquette.  Nonetheless, we get enough to claim that we have real winters, and the season’s first snowfall is always a major event.  Cincinnati drivers get nervous when an inch of snow accumulates on the road, schools are prone to shut down quickly, and people are hesitant about walking outside.  Though we take snow for granted as adults, adopting a childs-eye perspective makes one realize that snow is one of the true miracles of our natural world.  First of all, it falls out of the sky, and it’s hard to imagine how it’s been resting up there and where exactly it’s coming from.  It comes down in tiny flakes, barely larger than a grain of sand, yet soon it covers the entire landscape as far as the eye can see.  Perhaps a trillion snowflakes or more, every one of them unique.  And, most of all, the visual world is completely transformed.   The browns and grays and greens and blues vanish, replaced by a homogeneous white carpet.  A brand new and beautiful world.  

I set out on Ludlow Avenue on Sunday after our first snowfall of the season to take some pictures in Burnet Woods.  A young Indian couple was walking ahead of me.  She was stopping to take photos of the snow.  He was walking fifty feet ahead, clothed in bermuda shorts and flip-flops despite freezing temperatures and six inches of snow on the ground.  Maybe, I thought, they’re from Southern India and don’t have any winter clothes.   In any case, they both seemed happy with the exciting winter weather.   

There were already four large snowmen gracing the playground at Burnet Woods, and a mother and her pre-teen daughter were halfway done on a fifth.  Families were busy sledding on the hillside, and there were lots of footprints on the trails.  Everything looked wondrous.  Here are some photos to help envision the scene.

Love,

Dave

A Nancy Pelosi File

Dear George, 

The big news this past week, of course, is that the Democratic majority was seated in the House and Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker.  She is the only speaker in over sixty years to be re-elected for a second term after a period out of office.  Pelosi has been an extremely effective in the past, and we are optimistic about prospects for the next two years, certainly in terms of curtailing Trump’s destructive influences.  Here is some pertinent Nancy Pelosi information.

Love,

Dave

BORN:  Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro Pelosi, March 26,1940, Baltimore, MD, age 78,  the youngest of six children.

FAMILY BACKGROUND: Her father, Thomas D’Alesandro Jr., was Mayor of Baltimore for 12 years and a Democratic U.S. Congressman, and her brother Thomas also served as Mayor of Baltimore.  Her mother Annunciata attended law school and organized Democratic women.   

RELIGION: Roman Catholic 

EDUCATION: Institute of Notre Dame (a Catholic all-girls high school); Trinity College, Washington, D.C. (1962, B.A. in Political Science). 

SPOUSE: Paul Pelosi, San Francisco native, owner  of a real estate and venture capital investment and consulting firm (married 1963) 

OFFSPRING:  5 adult children and 5 grandchildren.  

CURRENT OFFICE: Representative (CA 12th District, 80% of San Francisco city and county) (2013-present), Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (2019). 

PAST OFFICES: Democratic National Committee member from California (1976-96); chair of California Democratic Party (1981-83); Representative, CA 5th District (1987-93); Representative, CA 8th District (1993-2013),  House Minority Whip (2002-03), Speaker of the House (2007-11), House Minority Leader (2011-19). 

HOUSE SENIORITY: 10th ranked Democrat 

NET WORTH:  In 2012 Business Insider reported that Pelosi’s net worth was $26.4 million, the 13th richest member of Congress.  Her assets include a San Francisco home in Pacific Heights, a combined home and vineyard in St. Helena, CA, two commercial buildings in San Francisco, and a townhome in Loomis, CA.  

LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Instrumental in passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to create millions of American jobs; Affordable Care Act (Obamacare); Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act; health insurance reform legislation expanding insurance coverage and strengthening Medicare; strong Wall Street reforms; Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; child nutrition and food safety legislation; clean energy and security act; assessment of environmental impacts of development; ethics reform legislation; minimum wage increase; college aid expansion; GI education bill. 

IDEOLOGY: Based on an analysis of voting record, National Journal ranked Pelosi 66th in the liberal rankings in 2013.  Based on bill sponsorship, GovTrack categorized Pelosi as a “centrist Democrat” in 2014 and as a “rank-and-file” Democrat in 2013.  She voted with the Democratic Party 97.4% of the time in 2013 and 94.5% in 2014.  ProgressivePunch.org ranks her 29th in lifetime progressive votes among all congresspersons.     

FUND-RAISING:  Since 2002 Pelosi has raised over $700 million, more than any other congressional Democrat, and at least $100 million in the last election alone.   

HONORS: National Women’s Hall of Fame (2013).  Ranked #26 on Forbes list of the world’s 100 most powerful women.  Barbara Walters’ Most Fascinating Person of the year (2006).   Honorary Doctorate of Law degree, Mount Holyoke College (2018).  

DISTINCTIONS: First woman, first Californian, and first Italian-American to lead a major party in Congress.  The highest ranking woman in American political history.  

RATINGS FROM ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS: American Civil Liberties Union, 100%; Human Rights Campaign, 100%; Planned Parenthood Action Fund, 100%; League of Conservation Voters, 93%; Americans for Prosperity (Conservative), 2%.   (govtrack.us) 

APPRAISALS: “An extraordinary leader for the American people” (Barack Obama).  “The most powerful woman in American politics and the most powerful House Speaker since Sam Rayburn a half century ago” (Christian Science Monitor).  “The strongest and most effective speaker of modern times” (Thomas Mann, Brookings Institution).   "As the first woman to lead a party in Congress, Ms. Pelosi, elegant and energetic, has the kind of star quality that many say makes them again excited to be Democrats” (Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times).  “She’ll cut your head off and you won’t even know you’re bleeding,  That’s all you need to know about her”  (Alexandra Pelosi, daughter). 

CRITICISMS:  Republicans often call Pelosi a “latte Democrat” for her progressive views on the environment, women’s reproductive rights, labor unions, and other issues.    RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman said she was neither a “new Democrat” nor an “old Democrat” but a “prehistoric Democrat.”  

TWITTER FOLLOWERS: 1,744,975  

PERSONAL:  Nancy Pelosi is a chocoholic with a special passion for Ghirardelli chocolates from San Francisco.  She held off running for office until her youngest child was a senior in high school.  She is known in Washington for her stylish suits and ready smile.  One of her favorite leisure pastimes is doing the New York Times crossword puzzle. 

QUOTE: “I didn’t run as a woman (for party whip).  I ran again as a seasoned politician and experienced legislator.  It just so happens that I am a woman, and we have been waiting a long time for this moment.”  

SOURCES:

www.ajc.com, “Who is Nancy Pelosi?” 

www.ballotpedia.org, “Nancy Pelosi” 

www.cbsnews.com, “New Congress: Democratic members sworn in…” 

www.forbes.com, “#38 Nancy Pelosi” 

www.govtrack.us, “Nancy Pelosi”

www.media.caq.com, “Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.” 

www.nytimes.com, “Nancy Pelosi, Icon of Female Power…” 

www.notablebiographies.com, “Nancy Pelosi Biography” 

www.pelosi.house.gov, “Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi”

www.progressivepunch.org, “Progressive Score” 

www.time.com, “Nancy Pelosi backtracks on defense of John Conyers” 

www.usnews.com, “10 Things You Didn’t Know About Nancy Pelosi” 

www.votesmart.org, “Nancy Pelosi” 

www.wikipedia.org, “Nancy Pelosi”