MIRRORED IMAGES – Marilyn Armstrong

06/09/201906/09/2019 / Marilyn Armstrong / 19 Comments

DNA is a funny thing. It doesn’t kick in all at the same time. That’s why, as a toddler, you can be the spitting image of dad, but by the time you’re 30, you look like a clone of your maternal grandmother. When you are old, you look in the mirror and say … “Mom??” Because she died years ago, yet there she is. Alive. In you.

We carry the physical imprint of our ancestors. It’s obvious and visible.

Less evident are the emotional footprints left in our psyches. Positive and negative, our parents and many others change us, leave bits of themselves behind for us to absorb. Good and ill. Relationships and marriages we should have skipped. Friends who were there for us in our darkest hours and those who weren’t. The doctor who took our case when we had no money or insurance. The one who botched the surgery and left us hanging out to die. It’s all there, imprinted in the way we see the world and react to it.

We are such untidy packages, made up of bits and pieces. Funny and sad, honest and untruthful. Self-pitying and brave. Lazy, yet determined. No one is of a single piece. No one is all good, all bad, all anything except all human.

Me? Today’s me is much changed from the young, idealist who planned to fix the world. Now I know I won’t fix it. I try to make a few little tweaks here and there, but the big bad world needs to look at younger souls to get the job done. Assuming the job can be done and assuming anyone has the power and will to give it a go.

I sound shockingly like my mother. My opinions, my way of expressing them. I thought she was so cynical, so lacking in faith. She made me crazy and I loved her anyway … and now, I am her.

The plain-spoken way she had of saying what she meant without bothering to pretty it up or disguise it with polite protestations. And the tenacity. Like a dog with a bone, she never let go and neither do I. Whatever it is, I worry it to death. It gets me into trouble. With everyone.

Yet I wouldn’t change it. It is my most useful and least pleasant character trait. It’s abrasive and annoying, but it’s the thing I appreciate most in me and which has best served me professionally (less so personally).

The whole famdamily. I’m the one with rolled up jeans.

My fuse is too short (dad), but usually under control (mom), except when it isn’t (dad). My humor rarely fails me (mom) and being able to see the funny side of disaster is a saving grace in a life fraught with crises. Arthritis makes it hard for me to do much (I think I have an entire family tree to thank for that piece of DNA). The cancer is plain scary (mom, brother, grandma, grandpa) and the heart disease (dad, you just never stop giving do you?) is an unpleasant surprise. I didn’t get a really healthy package to work with. I can’t seem to fix things as fast as they break down.

Intellectual curiosity? Definitely mom. Passion for books? Mom again. Ability to tell a funny story? Okay dad, you get a point on that one. All those jokes you told over the years … gads, I’m still telling some of them. They were hoary 50 years ago, no less now. And dad, thanks for this great line. I still use it:

“It isn’t what you don’t know that’ll get you. It’s what you do know that’s wrong.” — Albert Friedman, terrible father, great salesman.

For everyone who gave me a piece of themselves to carry along this strange path called life, I give a hearty: “Thanks. I think.”

LIVING IN TWO PLACES – Rich Paschall

06/09/201906/03/2019 / Rich Paschall / 18 Comments

A Tale of Two Cities, by Rich Paschall

A while back I saw this Daily Prompt question: “If you could split your time evenly between two places, and two places only, which would these be?” Normally I am not a Daily Prompt kind of guy. I am on the subscriber list, but usually by the time I read the email notice, it is a day or two later and I just delete. This one sounded rather intriguing, so I stashed it away for later use.

St Petersburg bridge What would you pick? Would your home town be included? Would your current residence be a choice? Remember, in this scenario you can have any two cities. Shall it be a northern city for summer and a warmer climate for winter? I guess you can reverse that if you are in the Southern Hemisphere. If you are close enough to the Equator, you have no need to move away from the cold.

Maybe you need somewhere exotic as one of your stops. Fiji comes to my mind. There must be somewhere in the South Pacific that is warm and inviting. If you think we must be restricted to cities, then I will say that Nadi, Fiji has over 42,000 people so we will count it as a city rather than a village. If your home is in Nadi, I guess you can still spend plenty of time on a beach on the other side of the island.

How about a European capital? I have always found London inviting. Author Samuel Johnson once famously stated, “…when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” I guess that could be said of many of the great cities of the world. I found Rome, Paris and Brussels all to be interesting and vibrant cities. I have not been to other European capital cities. Perhaps our choice of two cities should include one unknown and one known.

If you have not been to the other side of the world from where you are, would you chose a city solely on the recommendation of others? Would you do an internet search of other places, or strictly stay with what you know?

When my father retired and moved from the cold of the Midwest to Florida, I began to understand the attraction of what they called “snowbirds” in the South. These were the people who kept their homes in the north, but spent the winters in the south. I loved Tampa, Clearwater, Sarasota and many of the Gulf cities. I could see doing exactly that. Perhaps your second city would be in another warm climate. Arizona? Southern California? Hawaii?

Chicago skyline from the museum campus

Actually, it did not take me long to settle on two spots. When I eliminated the fantasies and considered what is most important, I knew the answers. First would be Chicago. It is a world-class city with world-class attractions. It has major sports teams and fine stadiums, old and new. It has theater and concert venues. The major shows and Rock and Roll acts make it here when they tour. There is a lakefront that stretches the entire east side of the city, with open parkland, beaches and museums.

Al Capone does not live here. We are not the murder capital of the country, we are not even in the top 10. We do get a lot of publicity when there is crime. Like every big city, we have big city problems. I would say these problems are increased by the NRA suing the city over any attempt to keep guns away from gangs and criminals, but that is another column. We have friendly people who celebrate diversity.

You may not have heard of my other choice. I guess it is not really a city, but rather a small town of about 20,000 people. It is in the beautiful Alsace region of France. You will find small towns with ancient buildings sprinkled among the vineyards. In the distance on top of some of the hills, you will find castles left from centuries ago. If you say that this will not do, I must pick a larger “city,” I will move a short distance to the north and the lovely city of Strasbourg, capital of the European Union.

Selestat, France

Why would I pick such completely different places on two different continents? Why would I choose places that have similar climates, where neither will escape the snow and cold? How could I spend half a year in a big city and half in a small town which holds none of the major attractions? The answer to me is quite simple.

The locale is no longer the most important consideration when deciding where to live. At one time it may have been important. When I am retired and tired of shoveling snow, maybe I would desire the warm weather locations. Now it is about family and friends. Aunts and cousins of various generations are here in Chicago. Friends made recently and friends since childhood are here too.

In France is one of my best friends. He spent a year here in 2009 and when he left we maintained our friendship through visits once or twice a year, here and in France. When I go to France we always see things I have not seen before, so it is great adventure. If he was somewhere else in France, then I would name that city instead. Spending time with family and close friends, no matter where they reside, makes their locations the places I want to be. For now my choices are Chicago, Illinois and Communauté de communes de Sélestat et environs. Where are your two homes to be?

YOU CAN’T KILL HOSTA – Marilyn Armstrong

06/09/201906/08/2019 / Marilyn Armstrong / 21 Comments

Hosta, The Unkillable – FOTD – 06/09/19

Last year, it almost died. I don’t know what did it. The winter? The long, cold, icy spring? Some combination of that? But it barely grew at all.

I was shocked. As far as I know, you cannot kill Hosta. It is permanent. Endurable. Grows in sun, grows in shade, grows anywhere you put it. Gets so big, you have to separate it to give it room to breathe.

So this year, when it magically reappeared — big leaves in all its many shapes and colors — I was relieved. Maybe last year it was dividing itself from being too crowded in its bed.