Reflections

    Perhaps because 65 years ago at this time I was in Marine Corps Bootcamp experiences from my time in the Marines keep returning. This is an old story but I think it bears retelling.

   During Bootcamp we were assigned to a week of mess duty, what the Army would call KP. One day it was my job to served food as Marines came through the line. There was a discipline platoon made up of Marines who were being punished for some infraction. As one member of  this group approached my station I engaged him in conversation. Me "Why are you being disciplined?" He "I have leg problems." Me "You're being disciplined for leg problems?" He "Yes, they keep running away."  Perhaps I should send it to Reader's Digest Humor in Uniform. 

   Bootcamp, long ago but not forgotten,

Takk for alt,

Al

                     There was much marching.

Renee Hunter: November 24, 1949-September 8, 2024

     Renee's memorial service was held in Golden Valley's Community Center and that huge space, maximum occupancy listed 425, was not large enough to hold the crowd. It was standing room only and even the hall outside the room had many others. The number in attendance was testimony to Renee, an exceptionally fine woman.

   One of the speakers remembering Renee asked "Have you ever felt supported? Renee was a supporter." That matched my experience of her. For twenty-two years we lived neighbor to Renee and her husband, Ron. When Joanne and I were looking for a way to connect with our neighbors we formed a book club. Renee joined immediately, faithfully participated, regularly contributed and often hosted. Her African-American perspective was a valuable asset. Her book suggestions were always helpful, leading us into literature we would have missed. In her humility she gave no clue that she had a master's degree in early childhood education. It wasn't until I read her obituary that I knew.

   Renee and I were almost related. Her nephew is father to Joanne's great-niece. COVID ended the book club in 2020 so it's been several years since I saw her. Having known her is a gift I treasure. Rest in peace, Renee.

Takk for alt,

Al

Septology Again!

    Rereading Norwegian Jon Fosse's Nobel Prize winner, Septology, was well worth the effort. The first reading of this lengthy book was focused too much on the incidentals of the protagonist's life. On second reading I focused much more attention on the main character's reflections. These were on the nature of God, God's method of revelation, light out of darkness and the ubiquitous of grace. Fosse has apparently read, and appreciated in a deep sense, the writings of the medieval mystic Meister Eckert. This is not a book for the literalist given as it is to thoughts about divine mystery. 

   Another inmate of the OFH, Michele, has also read Septology. By prior arrangement we met at lunch today to discuss it. She's erudite, well versed in Jungian Psychology and a Franciscan oblate. Our notes of the key passages, concepts and deep ideas matched almost perfectly. Beside the mutual delight in the contents of the book she helped me understand the interplay of characters, doppelgangers, intrinsic to the story. My reading in that regard was too literal. 

   Fosse is an author I will read more of. His short novelette, The Shining, was very profound. He is the author of numerous writings besides novels. He's written many plays and children's books.

Takk for alt,

Al

          Our tent camp on the base of Mt. Fuji, Japan where we were for cold weather training in 1961.

One of those days!

     Another day of leisure with no original thought. I'm well and grateful!

Takk for alt,

Al

For thirteen years after retirement I volunteered at a Hmong Charter school. It was very enjoyable, especially the last several years, when I was reading with exceptional students.  I'm pictured with a group of 8th graders. 

Harvest Report

    Having left The Little House on the cusp of harvest I've been wondering what is happening. With a telephone call from a local farmer I received one report about harvest. He said his soybeans were yielding about 60 bushels an acre. That's good! The only down side he said was that they were too dry, testing at 9% moisture. That can cause some shattering in harvesting.

   With that moisture report it makes me wonder about the moisture content of corn. This warm spell likely means that corn will be dry enough to bin without needing additional drying. That's a significant cost saving for producers.

Takk for alt,

Al

                          Green soybean pods.

Computer follies!

     Believe it or not the computer classes in my elementary school days were lacking. Yup, lacking as in non-existent. Never have I had a computer course so I stumble along and L does her best to be patient with me when I need help. 

    Now I've learned that my anti-virus protection source has been banned in the U.S., by the Federal Government. Why? Partial ownership by an entity in Russia. Our Government feared that                    nefarious operators in Russia might access our computers.

   At least I'm competent enough to have my suspicions raised when I received and email saying that a new company was taking over for Kaspersky, the old company, and that my old passwords would work. Then I noted that the new software was already installed on my computer. Also installed was a VPN (Virtual Private Network). Because the internet at the OFH is quite public I always use a VPN. With my suspicions raised I immediately un-installed the new software. 

  Today, in conversation with my computer security pro, he affirmed that removal of software. He scanned my computer for virus and gave me the bad news. My computer is inadequate for Windows 11, therefore after October next it will no longer be supported. 

  Often I've mentioned that I seldom use TV. The exception being that here in the OFH I do watch sports. On the other hand the time not spent on TV is often spent on computer. One vice for another? or perhaps neither are vices.

Takk for alt,

Al

I voted!

     With time on my hands I decided to take advantage of Minnesota's early voting. Mailed absentee ballots were questionable given my peripatetic lifestyle, Now a resident of Ramsey County I chose to go to the courthouse to cast my ballot. Using GPS I motored through downtown St. Paul and over the Wabasha  Ave. Bridge. That is a familiar bridge I have crossed on occasion.

    There was a very short wait to cast my ballot. With that complete I pressed "Home" on my GPS. It treated me to a new route over a bridge I didn't know existed. This coast of the Twin Cities is still new territory for me. The river crossing was accomplished on the Smith Ave. High Bridge, previously unknown. It's quite dramatic as is suggested by its appellation "High Bridge." There is satisfaction in exploring my new  environs. 

Takk for alt,

Al

     You guessed it, the Smith Ave. High Bridge.

Also...

    In a recent blog I enumerated some of the gifts from the Marine Corps. Another gift came to mind. After initial training I was assigned to a rifle company on California's Camp Pendleton. A dental evaluation was part of the orientation to Camp. The dentist examining me noticed that I still had my wisdom teeth. 

   Now, 65 years later many of the details are lost to me. Was I asked if I wanted them removed? Did they just do it? I don't remember, but removed they were. Apparently they weren't impacted and removal was routine. While I remember the extractions I wasn't particularly incapacitated. Dental care was provided so their removal spared me the expense of doing it when I returned to civilian life, a gift.

Takk for alt,

Al

    While stationed on Okinawa I had a suit tailor made, which I'm modeling here.

WNBA Basketball Day

     WNBA playoffs began today. Cable TV is part of the deal at the OFH. Consequently, I was able to watch the first three games. The fourth begins later. New York beat Atlanta, Connecticut beat Indiana, Caitlin Clark did not have a good game, and MN beat Phoenix. Because MN was 2nd in league standings they get to play their first two games at home. This is a best of three game series so all these teams will play again soon. Tonight Las Vegas plays Seattle. None of these were upsets, the higher seeds all won their games.

  Women's basketball is a good antidote to  football, which we all know is morally bankrupt.

Takk for alt,

Al

             The victorious Minnesota Lynx, an old picture so there are some personnel changes.  

Two days in...

   By September 21, 1959, I was two days into USMC Boot Camp. Yes, we wondering what had hit us. Somehow we survived and came out the other side. There were some who didn't make it. Likely they received a general discharge and were sent home. Who paid their return fare?  I have no idea.

   Frode and I were comparing notes on persons being drummed out of the service. He said when he was in training in the Army Air Corps they were roused at 2:00 a.m., and stood in formation while one was drummed out. His infraction? cheating. While we stationed at Camp Pendleton the entire battalion, 500+ Marines, was assembled on the parade ground. The offender was placed in front of all of us. Charges were read including a dishonorable discharge and then the entire battalion was ordered "ABOUT FACE!" And everyone's back was turned to the offender. The drums played "Retreat." He was marched away. His offense AWOL, Absent Without Leave. The ceremony had its intended effect on the assemble troops. 

   Fall falls tomorrow while summer weather persists.

Takk for alt,

Al

Aboard ship I'm standing next to our beds, called 'racks' ,with about two feet vertical space between. They were quite comfortable with canvas roped to tubular, aluminum frames. All gear had to be off the floor (deck) during the day thus all the stuff on the racks. M-1 rifles hung nearby.

Well then...

    Finally getting back to my Friday night dinner group it devolved down to two of us. COVID and other things detracted from out group. However, when the other participant, Dick, is a very alert 100 year old it remains a delightful meal. A good time was had by Al, and I hope Dick.

Takk for alt,

Al 

Old Folks Home

     Sensing a need for a change of scenery Kaia and I motored to the OFH today. Nice to walk into a comfortable apartment just as I left it a few weeks ago. It will be good to connect with family and friends. Kaia was unusually reluctant to enter the car for the trip to the OFH. Does she not like leaving the fields of So.Dak.? Usually she leaps quickly into the car. Walking down the hall to the apartment she stopped at the door remembering where we belong.

Takk for alt,

Al 

USMC Reflections

       In conversation with Frode last night we were comparing our military experiences. Mine were very plebeian compared to his. He was a bomber pilot in Asia during WW II. There was one point of agreement. He said "I'm glad I did it but would not want to do it again." That is also true of my Marine experience though in the depths of boot camp I had my doubts about the entire enterprise. My timing was impeccable; after Korea and before Vietnam.

    What did the Marine Corps give me? The greatest gift was 65 years of friendship with Ed. There were other lessor gifts, too. It instilled a level of confidence in me that has served me well. Travel was a major gift; from California to several places in Asia. Exposure to a variety of men who were much more diverse than those in the rural community where I was raised was valuable. Time to mature was a significant gift. The entire military experience provided many learnings. Months aboard ship gave insight into ships, shipboard life and some glimpses of Navy life. Today, access to VA benefits is a gift.

   Glad I did it!

Takk for alt,

Al

The USS Princeton, LPH 5,  was the ship on which I spent the most time. As the picture shows it was outfitted to carry helicopters.

9/19/1959

         It was on September  19, 1959 that I reported to the USMC to begin my enlistment. Dad took me to Arlington to catch the Greyhound Bus to Omaha. In Omaha I somehow, forgotten how, from the bud depot to the airport. At the airport we boarded a DC-6, for the flight to San Diego. This was my first flight and almost my first venture outside of South Dakota. A couple of trips to the Twin Cities was the extend of my travel.

      We were met at the airport by a Marine sergeant and it quickly became apparent that the honeymoon was over. The first day on the base we packed up our civilian clothes and shipped them home. Now we belonged to the Marines and the next 12 weeks were in boot camp.

Takk for alt,

Al

PS  The picture posted yesterday on the nets was descending into a waiting landing craft. Ocean waves made the transfer from nets to landing craft perilous. 

   

                                                  File photo from 1959.

Now what?

     This is another of those days without an original thought!  So I'll just post a random picture and see if anything original occurs to tomorrow.

Takk for alt,

Al

Cruise ships should offer adventure disembarking like this.

Ya, then

 

What is so rare as a day in September?

       The run of beautiful late summer weather continues. Even pessimistic farmers must find rays of hope. Crops are ripening quickly.

     Recently the blog was about the dilemma of a book that wasn't engaging in the chapter 1. To continue or not? It was quickly resolved by starting the second chapter. It rapidly became apparent that reading it was more work than I wanted. There are too many good books waiting to use so much effort reading one. Happily the next one was immediately engaging.

Takk for alt,

Al

                     A golden field of soybeans.

"Dropping like flies!"

       Perhaps in this balmy, late summer, weather another figure of speech is more appropriate than "dropping like flies."  "Dropping like soybean leaves" fits the local situation. Soybean leaves rather quickly turned yellow and now many are dropping. The beans are drying and soon will be ready for harvest.

    Corn fields are also browning as they ripen. Querying a real farmer about which harvest would come first corn? of bean? he didn't know. What is known is that this late season warm spell is ideal for ripening both crops. Corn that dries adequately in the field save farmers both the cost and work of drying in the bin.

   A large local dairy is making ensilage. The corn fields that they are chopping are miles from the dairy. The road is busy with tractors pulling huge silage wagons, the wagons have three axles.  Following one on the road today I clocked it traveling at 35 miles per hour. Fendt tractors are manufactured in Germany. I'm not aware of an American made tractors that travel that fast.

Takk for alt,

Al

                      Picture of a Fendt tractor.

Conundrum

       During her working years Joanne and little time for reading. That changed in her retirement and she did much reading. She would give a new book one chapter and if she wasn't engaged she'd move to another. Now I've begun a book that PMF said is one of the best he's read and he's read multitudes. After one chapter I'm not engaged. Way too many characters with unfamiliar names. 

     There's the conundrum; do I follow Joanne's example?  If I do, might I miss an excellent book? This illustrates the weighty decisions that fall to me. PMF is very astute, so should I struggle on? Ah, yes, the weight of this decision is immense. To whom should I be loyal?😄

Takk for alt,

Al

Culprit Identified!

        Last spring I mounted three nesting boxes miles from the previous ones. Two of the boxes were observable when I accessed this property. Never did I see any activity of birds around the the two boxes. Today when cleaning the boxes the reason was clear. A  wren had stuffed those two boxes full of twigs. (See the photos below.) The third box had been used for nesting. "The male house wren will fill the neighboring nest boxes with twigs to prevent other birds from using the boxes – these are called dummy nests & you can remove them."  Internet

Takk for alt, 

Al

Small world!

      Because this story is about only two counties, Brookings and Kingsbury, it is of itself a small world. However, it's also a small world because of an interpersonal connection. Kaia and Al, both needing haircuts, it worked out to do them on the same trip to Brookings.

     Sitting in the barber chair the barber asked "Where do you live?"  "Sinai" I said. The barber replied "Oh, my uncle used to live by Sinai."  "What was his name?" "Earl."  "Earl Sorenson?" "Yes."  "I worked for his brother Harold, one summer."  "Harold was my grandpa."

    It was the summer of 1957 and labor was adequate at the home place so I needed a summer job. In conversation with Earl he said his brother was looking for a hired man on the farm. That's how I got the job. The farm was about 30 miles from my home so I stayed with Harold and his family, wife and 2 year old daughter Joanne,  from Monday morning until Saturday afternoon. Harold was a worker. Breakfast was at 5:30, the work day began at 6:00. Dinner was at noon and supper at 9:00 pm. thus the work day was roughly fifteen hours. There were no morning or afternoon lunches to which I'd been accustomed.  Stacking baled hay and cultivating corn were my main activities. 

    Not long after that summer I was in the Marines, Harold's work regimen was good preparation for boot camp. There wasn't much contact with them subsequently.  As I was always wondering what became of them it was fun to learn of their lives from the grandchild.   

Takk for alt,

Al

MJV, home run!

     One of the gifts of the USMC was meeting Ed in boot camp 65 years ago this month, forming a decades long friendship. One of the gifts of being posted to a church in Davenport, IA, less than 25 miles from Ed's farm, was friendship with Ed's wife, MJV. She and Joanne quickly bonded into close friendship and I also claim her as 'friend'. 

    MJV is a compulsive reader and her post book essays are worthy of a Master's In English, as she has. When she sent me home with a short book, 191 pages, I was ready after the last 660 page book. Nor, was I disappointed. 

    The Stranger In The Woods, Michael Finkel, begins as a story of  Christopher Knight, who lived as a hermit in the Maine woods for 27 years. He sustained himself near a resort community by burglarizing unoccupied cabins.  His capture occurs early in the book and Finkel, who is a journalist in Montana, is able to establish a relationship with Knight while Knight is jailed. Eventually he receives Knight's tacit approval to write Knight's story.

    The account of Knight's survival in the Maine woods is fascinating on its own. However, Finkel, while reporting that story, enlarges it by a major reflection on solitude. Perhaps MJV noting my adaption to solitude gave me the book, thanks MJV! well chosen!

   "One's desire to be alone, biologists  have found, is partially genetic and to some degree measurable"    P. 69.  "Studies of humans...have shown that passing time in quiet rural settings, subjects were calmer and more perceptive, less depressed and anxious, with improved cognition and a stronger memory. Time amid the silence of nature, in others words, makes you smarter."  P. 114 (I rest my case! 😀 )  "Silence, it appears, is not the opposite of sound. It is another world altogether, literally offering a deeper level of thought, a journey to the bedrock of the self." P. 146.  Finkel's research, extensive, included interviewing prison inmates who had experienced extended solitary confinement. He also surveyed numerous health professionals about a medical diagnosis of Knight.

     The epigraph was particularly appropriate and resonated with me personally. "How many things there are I do not want." Socrates. My father, walking through a department store, "Look at all the things we don't need."

Takk for alt,

Al

Ya then 'reading the 'funnies'

 

Pheasant Hunting Season

      As long as I can remember South Dakota's pheasant hunting season has opened on the third Saturday in October.  In later years its purity has been corrupted by an earlier youth hunt and a public lands hunt. For many years opening day was shared with others. The last few years it has been a solo event.

     With today's 80+ degree temperature riding a tractor was agreeable. The abundant rainfall this year produced chest high big bluestem grass thick as hair on a dog's back. Surprising as it may seem I'm not as vigorous as once. Using a tractor I drove some walking paths through the grass to accommodate my hunting. It didn't disturb much habitat cover, just offers a footpath for a lazy hunter.

Takk for alt,

Al

                       A field of big bluestem.

Rapid Change!

     All summer soybean fields sport a beautiful deep green foliage. As the beans ripen the green turns to yellow then brown and the leaves drop off. Harvest is near. Given the cool summer crop maturity may be a bit late.

   From morning until evening today bean fields visibly moved from green to yellow. Perhaps the change is this rapid every year and I've not noticed. Weather predictions for the week are for temperatures in the 80s and no precipitation.  It's will be interesting to see the changes in a week of warm weather.

Take for alt,

Al

Light Out Of Darkness

     Light out of darkness is a constant refrain in Jon Fosse's Septology.  Asle (1) not to be confused with Asle (2) or his wife Ales or his friend Asleik, is painter who gains fame from the quality of his painting. Every painting needs black, he argues, because it's out of the dark that light shines. Apparently his paintings are abstract with an attraction that draws in the viewers. An art gallery shows his works, most of which quickly sell.

    Light out of darkness is Alse's mystical understanding of the presence of God.  "....it's always, always the darkest part of the picture that shines the most, and I think that that might be because it's in the hopelessness and despair, in the darkness, that God is closest to us,... P. 79. "...,because it's in the silence that God can be heard, and it's in the invisible that He can be seen.... P. 167.  "....when I went to The Art School they said you should never paint with black because it's not a colour, they said, but black, yes, how could I ever have painted my pictures without black? no, I don't understand it, because it's in the darkness that God lives, yes, God is darkness, and that darkness, God's darkness, yes, that nothingness, yes, it shines, yes, yes, it's from God's darkness that the light comes, the invisible light,..." P. 267.

    For this work, and his corpus, Fosse received the Nobel Prize in 2023. Well deserved I'd say and the second reading brought me greater understand and deeper appreciation of this magnificent book. 

    It caused me to reflect on the darkness and light in my own life. First attempting college unprepared both academically and too immature led to failure.  Seeing that I lacked focus I enlisted in the USMC. That move felt like failure...darkness. However, out of it came a 65 year friendship with Ed, light out of darkness! Returning to college after military discharge led me to Joanne, light out of darkness! Yes, and much more.

    It's one of the best books I've read!

Takk for alt,

Al

Rock Picking Day

      It's better than a gym membership. Worked a hillside that was worked last year and the good news is that there were many fewer rocks. Ah, the gift that a glacier left 10,000 years ago. That's even before I was born! 😀  The weather was beautiful and Kaia ran to her hearts content. The best part? I get to decide when I quit! 

Takk for alt

al                                                                        

  This is an illustration of cutting a cedar about which I often blog.

There you have it, quoted from Heather Cox-Richardson

 When asked at an event at the New York Economic Club “what specific piece of legislation will you advance” to make child care affordable, the 78-year-old Trump answered:

“Well I would do that. And we’re sitting down. You know I was somebody. We had Senator Marco Rubio, and my daughter Ivanka was so impactful on that issue. It’s a very important issue. But I think when you talk about the kind of numbers that I’m talking about, that because—look, child care is child care. It’s—couldn’t, you know, it’s something you have to have it—in this country you have to have it. But when you talk about those numbers compared to the kind of numbers that I’m talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they’re not used to—but they’ll get used to it very quickly—and it’s not going to stop them from doing business with us, but they’ll have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country. Those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we’re talking about, including child care, that it’s going to take care. We’re going to have—I look forward to having no deficits within a fairly short period of time, coupled with the reductions that I told you about on waste and fraud and all of the other things that are going on in our country, because I have to stay with child care. I want to stay with child care, but those numbers are small relative to the kind of economic numbers that I’m talking about, including growth, but growth also headed up by what the plan is that I just told you about. We’re going to be taking in trillions of dollars, and as much as child care is talked about as being expensive, it’s, relatively speaking, not very expensive compared to the kind of numbers we’ll be taking in. We’re going to make this into an incredible country that can afford to take care of its people, and then we’ll worry about the rest of the world. Let’s help other people, but we’re going to take care of our country first. This is about America first. It’s about Make America Great Again, we have to do it because right now we’re a failing nation, so we’ll take care of it.” 

Edward Markquart 7/29/40-9/3/24

      It was 1964 and we were juniors, first year students, at Luther Seminary. This is where our friendship began and continued until last Tuesday. A third classmate, Rollie Martinson, formed our close-knit trio. Staying connected over the years, though geographically separate, first letters and visits kept us bonded.  In later years it was regular phone calls and Facebook postings that maintained the relationship.

    Ed's last years were marked by one medical event after the other, all of which could have been fatal. Through it all he maintained his zest for life and love of people. Caring for his wife, Jan, as she suffered memory loss was his main endeavor.  Regularly he visited persons in care facilities who were without family. Forming deep bonds with them through regular visits he brought joy to their lives.  Every call from him brought news of some project on which he was working. Facebook pictures were often with those in care facilities. He's one about whom it is accurate to say "he was larger than life."

    His death makes me very sad and deeply aware of how blessed I was to have him as a friend. Generosity was a driving force in his life. It was a not a value that he learned at home. In a phone conversation I asked him the source of this commitment in his life. He didn't answer immediately but did in the subsequent call. His answer; his passion for generosity came from the Gospel!  There is the secret to his abundant life and ministry.

    Rest is peace good and faithful servant, Ed, and multitudes will call you blessed.

Takk for alt,

Al

                         With Ed, center, and Rollie in 2019.          

The Little House

    With a journey of 1100+ miles since Thursday, I should echo my grandfather's doxology, "Praise the LORD we got home safely."  He came to automobiles late in life and was a notoriously bad driver. Retiring in St. Paul, MN., he never stopped at an intersection unless another vehicle was approaching. My mother's opinion was that it was the LORD who got him home safely.

    In old age it becomes even more clear that time with friends is a gift not to be taken lightly. While I'm finished with airports short road trips like this are fine. Arriving at my friends I announced "I think I am good for another ten years of this!"  Why did they laugh?

   Now Kaia and I look forward to happy hours in the field. Much better than a gym membership, cheaper too!😀

Takk for alt,

Al

Still re-reading....

OFH

      The drive from IA City went well and seemed to go fast. Kaia was happy to see me when I picked her up at doggie camp. When I asked for Kaia at the kennel the attendant asked,  "Which  one, the Bernese Mountain Dog or the Springer?"  So Kaia has a namesake!. We'll just be here one night before returning to The Little House.

Takk for alt,

Al

History

       In early 1980 Ken and I began as collogues. Eight years later we parted ways at work but left as best friends. Forty four years of relationship offers great opportunity for shared memories. While we've been apart since 1988 we've remained in close contact. Typically it's the phone that connects us. But this annual  reunion offers both the chance to reminisce but also to create new memories. Friendships, one of life's greatest gifts.

Takk for alt,

Al

My bad!

    Made it to Iowa City yesterday and got to involved in conversation didn't post.  Sorry! My apologies to you both!

Takk for alt

Al