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TRAVEL IN PANAMA – IMRESSIONS REPLACE STEREOTYPE

April 2, 2012 My imagination was stimulated by standing where Balboa, hearing that Panama had another coast, crossed the narrow isthmus of Panama and became the first European to gaze upon the Pacific Ocean. This is the place where several centuries later the engineering masterpiece of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries a canal was cut throughContinue reading “TRAVEL IN PANAMA – IMRESSIONS REPLACE STEREOTYPE”

THE AKA PYGMY: LESSONS FROM THE FOREST

March 12, 2012 The spring issue of the Washington State Magazine features: “Lessons From The Forest – The anthropology of childhood”, an article discussing anthropological research of Barry Hewlett, professor at Washington State University – Vancouver. The article’s focus portrays paternal infant and child care among one of the last hunter-gatherer populations, the Aka Pygmies of the Central African Republic andContinue reading “THE AKA PYGMY: LESSONS FROM THE FOREST”

POINT TAKEN: SKILL AND INTELLIGENCE

Morning ritual involves coffee and a thorough reading of the Star Tribune front page and related articles with special attention to the opinion page. Scanning the sports pages follows with small expectation of finding engaging material. Just keeping tabs on my favored teams. Recently a sports article caught my attention: “POINT TAKEN: we’re blessed with four of the best point guardsContinue reading “POINT TAKEN: SKILL AND INTELLIGENCE”

BECKETWOOD COOPERATIVE – WELLINGTON GALLERY AND ART MUSEUM

February 22, 2012 Becketwood Cooperative’s resident art curator announced the fortieth consecutive monthly art exhibition for March. Submitted art is to be accompanied with a descriptive statement of 75 words or less. SENTIMENTAL TREASURES PICTURES OBJECTS

VALENTINE DAY – WHEN THE LOVEBUG BIT THE BARTLINGS

Fred was not one to get into Valentine Day but he married a woman who was. So when the children were young and all under our roof Valentine Day was a day to celebrate. This was the evening we ate in the dining room using a white tablecloth and red candles. And I believe IContinue reading “VALENTINE DAY – WHEN THE LOVEBUG BIT THE BARTLINGS”

BLACK HISTORY MONTH – Blacks in the Civil War

Historians in assessing the role of black soldiers in the Civil War until World War II and the Civil Rights Era rather consistently minimized or ignored the role of black soldiers in the Union army. Interpretations of the Civil War usually ignored the institution of slavery as a primary cause of the conflict. Since the Civil Rights EraContinue reading “BLACK HISTORY MONTH – Blacks in the Civil War”

GORBACHEV – THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION : Twentieth Anniversary

January 30, 2012 Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s last leader and first constitutional president, on the twentieth anniversary of the collapse of Soviet Russia, argues (The Nation, 1/15/2012, p.10-12) that “a secure and just world order was missed.” Western commentators, Gorbachev observes, tend to celebrate the collapse of the USSR of Stalin and Brezhnev as havingContinue reading “GORBACHEV – THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION : Twentieth Anniversary”

“GRANDMA SCHMIDT’S APPLE KUCHEN” DISAPPEARS

January 26, 2012 Recently one morning my wife and I hosted the Concordia Retiree Book Club in the East Dining Room. The evening prior Ruth baked “out of this world” rolls and also “Grandma Schmidt’s Apple Kuchen”. Our guests enjoyed the pastries served on elegant silver trays along with hot steaming coffee or tea. Book discussion completed enough “goodies”Continue reading ““GRANDMA SCHMIDT’S APPLE KUCHEN” DISAPPEARS”

COSTA CONCORDIA AGROUND – LESSONS FROM THE MANCAVE

Each mid-morning a group of Becketwood Cooperative gentlemen meet for coffee hour in the carpentry-electrical workroom, their mancave, discussing topics of mutual interest. Virtually all these men are WWII veterans well into their mid-eighties or early nineties. Upon occasion their war experiences surface for discussion. Such was the case on a recent morning when talk dealt with the capsizing andContinue reading “COSTA CONCORDIA AGROUND – LESSONS FROM THE MANCAVE”

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY – “We Shall Overcome” – HAVE WE?

January 13, 2012 The Civil Rights Decade is bracketed by the Supreme Court Oliver Brown et. al . decision of 1954 ordering that schools were to be desegregated with “all due and deliberate speed”. The decade’s bookend is marked by the Civil Rights Act signed July 2, 1964 by President Johnson in the presence of Martin Luther King Jr. The decadeContinue reading “MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY – “We Shall Overcome” – HAVE WE?”