Off to the State Fair

Dear George, 

Having grown up in a rural area, fairs and carnivals were among the most exciting places of my youth, and I still have that attitude, even after many decades in the big city.  I can’t think of a more pleasant outing than going off to a county fair, and you can imagine my excitement when we travelled last week to Columbus for the Ohio State Fair.  Here are a few pics and thoughts.  

The State Fair is huge, maybe a mile long by a quarter mile wide.  The SkyGlide was one of the first attractions we came to, and we plunked down three dollars to travel from our entry point to the opposite end.  Heights make me uneasy, but the panoramic views were a treat.

We went straight to the “Poultry and Rabbits” barn, the latter being our fair favorite creatures on earth.  I’m going to estimate that there were roughly 300 poultry and 10 rabbits on display.  We were impressed by the variety of chickens in the world, but our hearts still belonged to the rabbits.  Later, cows, pigs, goats, sheep, horses.  

I think I like the arts and crafts building the best.  The amateur art is always inspiring, even though I don’t seem to take action by the time I get home.  We like the veggies and the flowers too.  

There’s lots of high quality entertainment scattered about the fair.  We enjoyed the country rock band, break dancers, and a doo-wop quartet.  The very best, though, was the professional hypnotist who put 19 volunteers from the audience into a trance.  They went deep sea fishing, turned into butterflies from their cocoons, had steel rods implanted in their hands which bound them to the magnets in their knees, and circulated through an audience in which all the people had become animals in a petting zoo.  

We were determined to have a Bloomin’ Onion for supper, and we looked for the food stand all the way back to our entry gate.  When the Information lady told us that Bloomin’ Onions were back at the opposite end of the fair, Katja insisted that we should walk back.  So we did.  The Bloomin’ Onion was worth it.  

All in all, our adventure was a success.  Ever since 2016, I’ve been fed up with the Heartland, and the fair did make me feel a little better about living in Ohio.  In particular, I’ve been infuriated with rural Trump voters, and it was encouraging to watch farm folk working with their livestock — a more immediate and pervasive part of their lives than politics.  We spend most of our social time with well-educated, upper-middle class, predominantly white people, and it was a treat to be out among the bigger community.  “Real people.”  Mostly the fair was a testament to things people value in their lives — art, quilting, raising animals, gardening, baking, canning, quilting, woodworking, collectibles, hobbies.  Fairs make me feel good.

Love,

Dave

Birthday Mullings

Dear George, 

Such a shock.  I woke up today, only to discover that I’m suddenly 82 years.  Who would have thought?   Now that I’m here, my main impression is that 82 isn’t nearly as old as it used to be.   Aside from some irritating hearing loss, I don’t really have many impairments to complain about, and I don’t feel much different from when I was 50 or 60 (with the exception of enjoying all the blessings of retirement).  I ran across an online article recently in which an expert predicted that people in the near future will be living to 150.  If that’s the case, I’m wondering if I might still be middle-aged. 

Actually I have no idea what to think about age 82.  It could turn out to be great, it could be a total disaster.  To get a better grip on things, I decided to check with the I Ching.  The I Ching is an ancient Chinese book of wisdom, dating back about 3,000 years.*   To consult the I Ching, the individual asks a question, then tosses a set of coins six times in a row.  Each coin toss results in a broken or an unbroken line.  (Three heads or three tails result in special lines and are given their own interpretation.)  The six lines, stacked vertically, make up a hexagram (see the example below).  There are 64 hexagrams possible, each divided into an upper trigram and a lower trigram.  Each of the 64 hexagrams represents a different life situation.  The I Ching gives an interpretation for each, describing a life situation, providing imagery for thinking about it, and suggesting effective courses of action.

My question for the I Ching was, “How do I approach age 82?”  I tossed the coins six times and wound up with Hexagram 14 (shown above).  It’s named Ta Yu in Chinese and “Possession in Great Measure” (or “Abundance”) in English.  The upper trigram is LI (The Clinging, Flame), and the lower trigram is CH’IEN (The Creative, Heaven).  Thus the hexagram represents fire over heaven.  The Image for Ta Yu reads: 

Fire in heaven above:

the image of POSSESSION IN GREAT MEASURE

Thus the superior man curbs evil and furthers good,

And thereby obeys the benevolent will of heaven.      

According to the I Ching’s commentary, the fire above heaven (the sun) “shines far, and all things stand out in the light,” resulting in abundance on a grand scale.   Strength (the lower trigram) and clarity (the upper trigram) unite in Hexagram 14.  “The time is favorable — a time of strength within, clarity and culture without.”  Ta Yu is perhaps the most positive of the I Ching’s hexagrams.  It symbolizes a period of great abundance where everything is going well for the person.  The abundance can involve many different things, e.g., work success, finances, material objects, talents, time, food.  All obstacles have disappeared for the individual, and life is to be enjoyed. 

One of my coin tosses (three tails) resulted in a special line called “Nine in the second place”.  “Nine in the second place means: A big wagon for loading.  One may undertake something.  No blame.”  According to the I Ching, loading the big wagon means that one’s undertakings can be pursued without trouble or error.  The person possesses the resources to accomplish their tasks and reach their goals. 

I nearly always find I Ching readings to be on target and to offer food for thought.   In this case, “Possession in Great Measure” was most encouraging about my new age and life status.  While I’m usually gloomy and apprehensive about the aging process, the I Ching reading steered me toward a much more optimistic outlook.  Thinking about the theme of Ta Yu, I recognized more clearly that my current life is characterized by great abundance.  Thanks to a corporate retirement plan, Katja and I enjoy financial security.  I have much more leisure time than I ever had during my worklife.  I pursue more interests and activities — e.g., poetry, creative writing, exercise classes, OLLI classes, camping/hiking, photography, music and art.  I’m happily married; we appreciate our beautiful home; we live in a stimulating neighborhood.  Our son and daughter-in-law are successful and fun; our grandchildren are growing up wondrously.  There are few external pressures or “obstacles” in my life.  Basically I’m free to enjoy my world in my mellow elder years — “Possession in Great Measure”.  

I particularly liked the line about “Loading the big wagon.”  A few weeks ago our 2003 Chevy SUV broke down, and we replaced it with a sparkling new Honda CR-V.  It’s a big wagon, designed to carry a big load.  I expect to travel more than we have recently, and we are excited about the prospect of many new adventures.  So far age eighty-two looks to be a year of abundance. 

Love,

Dave   

*The I Ching or Book of Changes.  Wilhelm/Baynes edition.  Bollingen Series XIX.  New York: Pantheon Books, 1950.  

Weinberger, Eliot.  What Is the I Ching?  The New York Review of Books, Feb. 25, 2016.  (www.nybooks.com) 

NOLA Doings

Dear George,

Katja was too wary of the heat and humidity to consider a summertime trip to New Orleans, but I was all set to go.  (Being from northern Michigan, I consider extreme heat a novel and exciting  experience.)   I flew down in early June.  J and K, as always, were wonderful hosts.  K’s mom, Linda, has moved to New Orleans and has an apartment in the Esplanade at the edge of City Park, about a mile away.  The family is always busy doing exciting things.  I think the kids have the best lives imaginable.  On weekdays J and K were at work and the children were at camp, so I had the run of the city.   Here is a report of my trip highlights.

Love,

Dave

-Grandkid story: Turning eleven this September, L and V are taller, smarter, funnier, more grownup.  Both were on the end-of-the year Fourth Grade Honor Roll at St. Andrews School.  L is busy taking piano lessons, and V works every day on her art.

-Doggies: Little Paws was still in residence, but Iko, the family’s first dog, has gone to live with Linda.  Both dogs are much calmer as a consequence of being separated.  Little Paws was happy to see me and I him.  For a tiny dog he has a strong pull on the leash. 

 -City’s best new addition for NOLA residents and visitors:  doubling the size of the Besthoff Sculpture Garden in City Park.

-Great local transportation bargains (a tie): 40 cent senior fare on NOLA trolleys and buses; $2 bus to and from the airport. 

-NOLA community grief and Second Lines: for Creole restauranteur Leah Chase (age 86) and R&B musician Dr. John (age 68).

-Excellent new look: J’s beard (which makes him look sort of like his father did at middle age).   

-Grandparent  education: the children taught me the fast-paced card game, Lord of the Goats, but I didn’t come close to keeping up with them.  

-Best digital slip of the tongue: when J arranged for his friend to drop off the kids to me but I didn’t hear the doorbell, J texted his friend, “He’s in there but he’s dead (sic, deaf).”

-Movie night out: Avengers-Endgame at the AMC Palace (with post-movie explanation of plot subtleties by the youth).    

-Best social outing: family dinner at Linda’s Esplanade apartment.

-Best New Orleans cuisine: sausage PoBoy at Dooky Chase’s.

-Best Louisiana regional meal: catfish dinner with J at Middendorf’s Seafood Restaurant in Manchat, La. 

-Best international meal: lamb kafke kebob at Shaya, the acclaimed Israeli restaurant on Magazine St. 

-Most misleading restaurant name: Chez Pierre French Bakery & Restaurant (serving exclusively Vietnamese fare). 

-Sports thrill: watching the Warriors defeat the Raptors, 106-105 (game 5 of the NBA finals), with J at Finn McCool’s neighborhood bar.  The crowd was cheering for the Raptors.

-Big Easy wickedness: ladies of the night at the cheesy motel on Tulane Ave. 

-A touch of spirituality: St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square.   

-Funniest sitcom watched: Parks & Recreation. 

-Children’s favorites: Harry Potter movies.

-Most impressive craftsmanship: Kenny fitting a new prosthesis for L’s leg.    

-Shopping disappointments: no T-shirt purchases at Goodwill (Mid-City), St. Vincent de Paul (Hammond), or Goodwill (Hammond).

-Least successful afternoon trip: to the JCC for swimming (but closed); to the public library for the weekly book sale (but wrong day); to Cosco to buy hearing aid batteries (department closed); battery purchase at Walgreens (dead; expired in 2014).  

-Most curious nature encounter: fish jumping on all sides as we swam in the Gulf of Mexico. 

-Most nervous nature encounter: family picnicking on the bank of St. John Bayou where a 9-foot alligator had been spotted a day or two before. 

-Best photography exhibits: “Photography and Place” and “Timothy Duffy: Blue Muse” at the New Orleans Museum of Art.    

-Most emotional museum experience: touring the D-Day wing at the World War 2 Museum during the 75^th anniversary week of D-Day.  

-Best NOLA history exhibit: history of gay carnivals at the Presbytere.     

-Most unusual art museum:  the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs, MS.  Anderson regularly rowed 12 miles in the Gulf of Mexico to Horn Island to commune with nature and paint watercolors, as well as riding his bike from the Mississippi Gulf to and from Philadelphia and other distant destinations.

-My personal favorite art exhibition: “Self-taught, Outsider, and Visionary Art” at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art (plus surreal and abstract art by Dusti Bongé and videos by Courtney Egan).

-Pleasant and relaxing: the NOLA botanical garden in City Park featuring outdoor sculptures from the WPA era by Enrique Alvarez.

-Most exotic costumes: homeless youth in the French Quarter.  

-Cool jazz: street bands on Jackson Square.  

-Sweet tooth treat: dark chocolate at the French Quarter candy store on Decatur St.  

-Signs of climate change: we took a look at the Spillway they’d opened outside the city (with resultant flooding of farmlands) to relieve the dangerously high waters in the Mississippi.   

-Saddest moment: Time to leave. 

Grandkid Interviews: Going On Eleven

Dear George,

One pleasant moment on my recent family trip to New Orleans was when my granddaughter V asked me if I were going to do interviews this time.  I always worry that this is a sort of onerous task for the youth, but V seemed enthusiastic.  V and L will turn 11 and enter fifth grade this September, and it’s always interesting to know what’s going on in the kids’ minds as they grow up.  Here is what V and L had to say this time around.

Love,

Dave

Interview with V, 6-6-19

What do you enjoy most about school?  Art class.  

What do you like about it?  I love art in general.

Are you good at it?  Yes.  

What seems challenging to you at school?  Math.  We’ve started learning decimals.  

How would your teacher describe you?  Silly.  

What is your least favorite part of the school day?  Spanish class.

Why is that?  The Spanish teacher is mean.  

Do you like working in groups?  Not really.  A lot of times I like to do my own thing.  

What do you like best about your friends? How nice and kind they are.  And accepting.  

If you needed special help with a school assignment, how would you get it?  I’d just ask my parents for help.  

What do you like to do in your free time?   Listen to music.  And draw.  

What do you like to read outside of school?  Usually novels — having to do with kids getting through something.  

If you could be any character in a book, who would you be and why?  Meadow.  In a book called The Death Code.  She is like the heroine.  

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?  Tokyo.  I love animals and Japanese food.  I love the culture and the architecture and the art.  I watch a lot of anime movies.  

If you could meet any famous person, who would you meet and why? Probably Vincent Van Gogh.  Because he’s an amazing artist, and I want to learn how to draw better.  

What do you like to daydream about?  Usually the shows I’m watching.  

If you joined the circus, what would your circus act be? Probably helping with the animals.  

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever eaten?  I think escargot.  

What is your favorite sport?  Soccer.

Are you good at it?  Yes.  

If you had to give everyone in your family new names, what would they be?  L** = Liam.  K****** = Rosie.  J***** = Justin.  

Do you want to get married someday?  Yes.  

What is your favorite thing to do with your mom?  Talk.  

What is your favorite thing to do with your dad?  Play games.  

What was your favorite family event in the last twelve months?  Costa Rica.  

What did you like best about it?  All the animals.  

What is something about your age ten year that you never want to forget?  A chain mail text that I got.  

One word to describe you would be _____?  A foodaholic.  

What do you love most about your brother?  How good he is at like playing card games.  

What is one of your best talents?  Reading.  

What do you want to be when you grow up?  I want to be a teacher.  

If you could have a new name, what would it be?   Nova, like a Supernova.  

* * *

Interview with L, 6-6-19

What do you enjoy most about school?  Math.  

What do you like about it?  It gives me a good challenge. 

How would your teacher describe you?  Kind.   

What is your least favorite part of the school day?  Reading.  

Do you like working in groups?  Yes.  With friends.  

What do you like to do in your free time?   Video games.  

What’s your favorite video game?  Splatoon2.  

What do you like to read outside of school?  Graphic novels.  

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?  Canada.  

If you could meet any famous person, who would you meet and why?  Juan Manuel Miranda.  Because I like Hamilton.  

Where in the world would you most want to live?  The U.S.    

What do you like to daydream about?  Video games.  

  

If you could make up a new holiday, what would it be?  Me! 

If you joined the circus, what would your circus act be?  A juggler. 

What is your favorite animal?  Cat.  

What is your favorite food?  One is sushi.   

What is the craziest thing you’ve ever eaten?  Escargot.  

What is your favorite song of all time?  Shotgun.

What is your favorite sport?  Soccer or tennis.  

What makes you sad?  Seeing my pets hurt.  

Do you want to get married someday?  Yes.

What age?  Around 30.  

What is your favorite thing to do with your mom?  Go out to dinner.  

What is your favorite thing to do with your dad?  Play games.  

  

What is something about your age ten year that you never want to forget?  Going to Canada.   

One word to describe you would be _______?  Amazing.  

What was something nice that you did for someone?  Helping set up dinner.  

What do you love most about your sister?  She’s generous.  

What is one of your best talents?  Video games.  

What would you do with a million dollars?  Buy a lot of food and eats.  

  

If you could have a new name, what would it be?  L**.