Celebrating the Lottery

INOVA Women’s Hospital, Fairfax, VA

Five years ago we won the Lottery of Life…Diane’s breast cancer surgery was complete! Her journey had been a long one, first diagnosed in 2013 she went through surgery, then radiation, then chemo. All was well for six years, then boom…it returned, aggressively. Slightly different routine this time…chemo with some new drugs to shrink the tumors, surgery to remove everything, and finally radiation as insurance. The surgery was done five years ago this month; the radiation was completed in October. Success! Now that’s winning the lottery. Huzzah!

Pillars of the Earth

Stormy Day, Arboretum, Washington, D.C.

Imagine…a country divided. Last Christmas I asked for and received, books from my family they’d read and found influential or interesting. I enjoyed each of them and initially thought I’d be done reading them in February, no later than March. But…not so fast. Ken Follet’s “Pillars of the Earth” 900 pages took me until June to finish. The book was fictional but grounded in historical “facts,” although facts may sometimes become a function of an author’s whim. “Pillars’” action takes place in 12th century England in what’s been called the “Anarchy” period…

My thoughts…

As the book starts, Henry I was King of England. His son and direct heir was lost in the Channel when the “White Ship” sank. After Henry died, two “siblings” battled for and traded claim to the throne for years. “Pillars’” plot centers around a community and its people. They built a cathedral and Kingsbridge, a busy industrial town out of a small, wooded, remote monastery. A stunning, world class cathedral was erected over decades in the social, economic, and governmental framework of the landed gentry surrounding the monastery. The changing politics, the weak-then-strong landowners, the piling-on cult like bonds of loyalty…all influenced the people in the story and the backdrop of the cathedral’s construction.

The Royal Courts of “Pillars” were intended to bring order and justice to the land and its people. However, Royal leadership changed often and with little notice. One day Queen Matilda and the next day King Stephen. True order and justice seemed unattainable except at the very lowest level, off the grid, and away from the Court’s center. Power and wealth were all that mattered…the Magna Carta was still years away.

Lesser Lords and knights would declare loyalty to whichever wannabe King was strongest at the moment. These bullies, Lords and Knights, would raid small villages and markets, raping and pillaging without risk of retaliation. No traditional justice was available because the rapists and pillagers were themselves the seats of justice. A fear of going to hell deterred some, however, the royals befriended priests who, also for power and money, would take the royal’s confession and forgive all…no matter what.

My present day naivete, my Pollyanna-like attitude, and my faith in justice-for-the-good were slowly squashed as I waded through those 900 pages. Imagine, inciting riots against the seat of government, reducing commoners to true pawns in a royal game of power, treating women like objects. Thank God we as a species have matured.

Kings

Williamsburg Reenactment

It’s been 250 years or so since the American Colonies were subject to a king and to supreme royal and religious authority. That authority governed all life in England, including religion, society, and economics. Everything. Some folks thought living under the crown and the Church of England was oppressive and unpredictable…subject to the whims of rulers who didn’t care one whit about the people who served them. Consequently, many of these malcontents left England to escape the shackles of royal power, to leave the single religious channel, and to discover economic opportunity.

It was not, however, only the freedom seekers who left England for the Colonies; as economic opportunities opened, people loyal to the King also emigrated or at least established businesses in the Colonies. These folks were called Loyalists or Tories. In those days, loyalty to the crown had an economic benefit and if you were a commoner, you wanted to suck up to some royal personage to get their patronage, that is, their approval and their business. There was a pecking list…king at the top, followed closely by the church leaders, landed members of the royalty, and successful businessman. Eventually we fought a war against England and against our neighbors we’d labeled Loyalists. England lost the war, many of the Loyalists escaped to Florida, Canada or England, most stayed in place and were brought back into society. And our forefathers vowed we would no longer be subject to kings and to autocratic, intolerant religion. The debate was ferocious, how much responsibility did the US government bear for all of its people versus the state governments. They compromised. They tried to frame a government and documents that created a balance so no matter the disagreement about policies, processes, etc., the overarching principle was balance.

Enter the Supreme Court of 2025. They have created a new position…still called President of the United States, but with all the powers and privileges of a king or emperor. I find the decision shocking and I don’t think it makes any difference which party you belong to when you consider the implications. In fact, parties will become meaningless within one election cycle, they probably already are. So here we are, on the brink of losing all the promise envisioned by the Patriots of 1776. It doesn’t take a deep analysis to discover that money is the main driver in elections, no longer policies or issues. The Supreme Court enabled dollars for votes several years ago by allowing dark money to flow into campaigns. The balance is gone. What will “trip the wire” to full autocracy? Hmmm. Perhaps the election. After reading trump’s plan for 2025, I know he and his loyalists have fully bought into the plan for an autocracy or oligarchy. But if the democrats move swiftly, couldn’t they “Officially Act” by postponing the election? It’s awful. And yet most of us just toddle along.

Most people will pooh-pooh my opinion. I’m pretty sure the Germans of 1927 were the same way.

Bee

Bee on Salvia

I used to be afraid of bees…you know the fear, stories of swarming bees attacking you, stinging you until you died from their venom or from having your lungs close up with an allergic reaction. My fear wasn’t helped when the mysterious “Killer Bees” escaped from some South American laboratory and began migrating north…to the U.S. of all places. Oh, the irony.

The world seemed to slowly change and bees began quietly disappearing. I’m sure a conspiracy theorist out there on the internet would like to write (anonymously, of course) about how bees are not a required part of life’s cycles and any thought otherwise is a liberal conspiracy. Sigh, that’s life today. Misinformation. Targeted disinformation. Money buys airtime, Twitter space, news channels. The ever present anonymous hate mail. Faceless racism and rising extremism. But, the bees are coming back. I hope.

Our Yard

Monarch Butterfly and Friends

One of the benefits of having a yard that’s a Certified Wildlife Habitat is…well, wildlife. I looked out my studio window to a plethora of butterflies and bees all enjoying the flowers and plants. The monarchs arrived just a couple of days ago and we’re getting a few more everyday. The other butterflies, like the cheetah spotted one in the background, have been here for a while. We have many, many types of bees, mostly honeybees which the one in the image is not. I enjoy the sites and sounds of the garden which surrounds the house; we have water stations on each side of the house so birds, bees, whatever, can stay hydrated. We have noticed that some of our flowers have been chewed down so now we have little fences around the more tempting. I am reminded of Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit and wonder if we need a bunny relocation program. But, Diane, the architect and builder of this habitat, notes that “Wildlife” is not exclusionary. Hmmm…I will probably draw the line at snakes. Maybe even bears. As if I have a choice. Smile. In the meantime, this is cool.

Monarch Butterfly

ABANDONED

Front of main building of Cresson Sanatorium

It’s the last day of June, the days are getting shorter, the weather is hot, sticky and a bit uncomfortable. I’ve used all those reasons to excuse myself from wandering about with a camera. I’ve filled my spare time learning more about video and the software program I’m using, Davinci Resolve. The level of complexity built into the system is overwhelming however, I have learned enough to get started and am picking up a little more every day. Of course, making the videos is very different than making photographs. I don’t have any “actors” to bring into the process except for the bees in yesterday’s practice video.

Today I put together some images together from places that are abandoned or mostly abandoned, added some music and made a video. Belmead is mostly gone with just some of the larger buildings remaining, it’s closed to the public now. Cresson Prison is open for tours and special events, like Halloween. Lorton has been converted to condos, apartments and other facilities. Mt Assisi used to be the Schwab mansion but is now a Friary, semi-private. Dunnington mansion is private but tours are available as well as private events. The ruins at Seneca are interesting but not super interesting in the summer heat. Hopefully the weather will cool soon. Right.

My thing about trains…

Big Yellow, B&O Museum in Baltimore, MD

I grew up in a small town in the middle of eastern South Dakota…pretty flat, not a lot there except wind. And trains. God, we had trains, big powerful monsters that huffed and puffed and oozed power. I’d ride my bike to the train station to watch them come in, screeching, puffing, hissing and then they’d stop. The conductors jumped down to place the steps and help the passengers down. Yep. “Back in the day” we had many passenger trains coming through Huron…the Chicago & Northwestern (CNW) Railroad was huge and a major reason the economy was stable and people could travel in the United States. Railroad barons seem to rule the world much like oil and tech barons in the coming centuries. But, oh baby, these monsters could take you almost anywhere…they were the magic of a small town boy marooned in 1950s post-WWII South Dakota isolation. I remember going with my dad to put mom and sister on a train headed for Minneapolis, Minneapolis…only a rumor to me.

Just a few hundred yards from where my first wife’s family lived was a HUGE roundhouse with a turntable…I think CNW had 40 “Stalls” there for cars or locomotives. I am not sure if it’s still in one piece, it’s probably been converted to something else. As the rail passenger business gave way to airlines, the railroads switched to primarily carrying meat from Huron to Omaha and Chicago. Armour Meat Packing had its own siding, the railroad would leave half a dozen cars in the morning, they’d get loaded during the day, sit all night (watchmen had to check the coolers), get picked up in the morning in exchange for a new set… Then Armours began to kill only hogs so large refrigerator cars stopping at the plant were no longer needed, and, it was expensive to maintain the siding and pay for the train gangs to drop off and pick up. In the new scheme, the meat would get loaded onto containers that were on Semi-trailer tractors backed up to the loading dock. The truckers would drive the containers to the train station where the containers were picked off the trucks and loaded onto specialized flatbed railcars. I think a man named Dick Payne ran the trucking company that did most of that work. Then Armours closed. CNW had closed years before. The rail is still there, I’m told and run by the DM&E.

So “Me and trains?” you ask. Well, I have a dream that trains will command a larger part of my life than they do now. In truth, I didn’t ride on a train until 1986. 1986!! Well, except the 1880 Train in Hill City, SD, when I was a little kid. No…trains went out of style in Huron. Then I moved to West Texas…nada. Then Iceland. Nothing. Then Florida…but I’d lost the bug. Back to Texas. Nothing for me. And then to Utah for four years…land of the Golden Spike. I was interested but it was way low on the “to do” list. Alabama. Minus nothing. Then to the D.C. area. Lots of trains!! And subways. I loved the subway…clickety, clackety, click! Perfect. And then I had a chance to go to England! My job was to convince the Brits they should buy the US AWACS instead of their own Nimrod. Off I went, staying in London for the most part, but journey north to the Nimrod base on a TRAIN!! At last! I was riding real trains for the first time. Seventh Heaven. I loved it. Oh…and the Brits bought the AWACS, it took 6 months to convince them but the trains made the time there so worthwhile. Meanwhile, back in DC, they found another job for me doing international support for the F-16 programs in Belgium, Holland, Denmark, and Norway. Oh, the trains in those countries. Awesome! They were all gorgeous and wonderful experiences…no matter how short. I think my favorite might have been the Oslo to Bergen line…over the glacier!!!

In the meantime, trains in the US are not flourishing. And…there’s always conflict about repairing or replacing or adding or almost anything. Which, I think is counterproductive. Figure out how to do this without hurting people or the world. But…the glory days of railroad in the 19th century were certainly not filled with glory. Railroad barons stole land in a variety of places and communities often gave up significant rights to convince the rail to stop at their community. It wasn’t a perfect system but it has good bones remaining. I wonder if an enhanced infrastructure of rails and pipelines is possible. Imagine water going from rain drenched pockets of the midwest to water-starved communities in New Mexico.

I made a quick four minute video of several years of train walkabouts in the greater DC area which includes DC, Northern Virginia, Richmond, Baltimore, and West Virginia. Click on by and leave a comment or subscribe.

Bubble

Samurai Helmet Detail

I live in a bubble, a fragile bubble. I can see what’s happening on the the other side of my bubble’s skin and I’m filled with concern and fear. I imagine myself sitting in Germany in the 1930s in a similar bubble, watching extreme nationalism, hate, and racism capturing the attention of the monied and influential and hence the common “voter.” Back then propaganda, bullying, the nazi party’s use of the legal system helped Hitler rise to power.

I don’t remember who said this, probably Abe Lincoln or Mark Twain or, I paraphrase, it’s not going to be an enemy from across an ocean that conquers America, the conquest will be from the inside, America will destroy itself. Self-cannabilism of the ideals, goals, and unity we think we worked so hard to define and attain. I shake my head and wonder. A convicted felon running for president. I can feel the hate mail coming on…mostly from the same folks that think the January 6 attack on Congress was a legal demonstration. Germany. And, there’s the opposing party who is afraid to make changes and find new ideas and people. And, they’re probably afraid. Germany. Theoretically, we voters choose who runs for office but, IMHO, the party bosses really choose. And one party is running on a platform of “Same-O, Same-O” while the other party runs on a cult system. Germany.

Voter’s opinions are often influenced by television/radio, social media, occasionally newspapers, and sometimes old fashioned snail mail. In the last few days I have received almost a dozen notebook sized postcards telling me how bad the other guy is in the primary election and America is doomed if he gets to office. Since he’s already in office, that might be right. In my home state of South Dakota the overwhelming number of voters are Republican. Many of them will be quite honest with you, they won’t vote for a Democrat no matter how bad the Republican is and how good the Democrat might be. It’s against their DNA. Really? Perhaps if the candidate were a child molester they might choose not to vote at all…I wonder.

But…I’m watching the sun rising slowly above the trees. My bubble remains intact. I hope my kid’s generation can fix this. On the other hand, Martin Luther King, Jr, said that to ignore evil is to be a part of it…I should probably step outside.

SAMURAI

Full Armor With Feather Symbols

I am learning a little more every day about Japan. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is exhibiting a collection from Ann & Gabriel Barbier-Mueller that includes armor from hundreds of years ago through the middle of the 19th century. The workmanship is exquisite and the colors outrageously powerful and symbolic. After having watched “Shogun” on TV this winter I was hoping for some awesome armor and I wasn’t disappointed. The phases of Japan’s governing warriors was well represented and the wall descriptions were helpful in learning about Bushido, the warrior’s way. The exhibit is on through August 4, I recommend a trip.

I also did a video during my walkthrough which has more images and some video of the exhibit. The light is low but the content was worth the challenge. Please take a look at the video on YouTube…there is music.

Cogs

Slow Sippin’

Backyard Butterfly

This little guy was flitting about around our deck one day last week. The wind was blowing…not storm-like, but hard enough to make him work very determinedly at flying from blossom to blossom. (I say him because he has large, brightly colored spots and a small area of blue. Of course, I could be wrong.) I watched him for several minutes and then went inside to fetch my camera. When I returned and stood next to the planter, he darted away which was easy given the steady breeze. But, I guessed he was obsessed with this particular plant and so I just stood still, camera pointed and waited. Less than a minute later he came back, intent on getting to that same flower. From just a few feet away he looked like he was solid black and with blue highlights and smaller vibrant circles of orange and yellow. But when I got closer, much closer, I could see that he’s covered in pollen, like tiny dots of gold.

Diversity of pollinators keeps nature alive and vibrant. Same with humans…