Assigned Reading

There's been a lot of talk about the aid that the federal government is providing to American automobile manufacturers. Like virtually everyone else, I have an opinion. But nothing brings home the reality of the situation as well as this terrific article published in the New York Times magazine last weekend. It will be assigned reading for all of my classes when I return to school in the fall.

You should read it as well.

Then send it to your friends and ask them to read it. I'll warn you now: author Jonathan Mahler isn't going to provide easy answers. But he will make you think with both your head and your heart. And it strikes me that at least a few more of us could use that combination as we approach the making of public policy.

Progress

I planted my garden as early as possible this year, in anticipation of an early tomato harvest. I was secretly hoping to bring a plate of sliced tomatoes to the neighborhood 4th of July block party. Then we had an unseasonably cool and wet June; a reminder to me that Mother Nature will not be hurried along.

A few weeks ago, the tomatoes began to bloom. One evening, I counted two and then three yellow flowers on my tomato plants; soon there were too many to count. Promising.

But the rain and the cool temperatures continued (I haven't had to water my garden with the sprinkler since late-May); my basil plants long for warmth; the peppers are puny. The zinnias are barely knee-high. Nothing is thirsty, but the absence of warmth shows. Sigh. I figured that I wouldn't enjoy cut flowers or a warm tomato sliced-fresh for the supper table until late July.

And then this weekend, in my daily walk through the garden, I saw two tiny green tomatoes.
The zinnias are about to deliver a flower.
The Jack-be-Little pumpkin vine is looking incredibly fertile.
The hydrangea has been busy.
This is what I love about gardening. You work and work (and that alone is satisfying) and then all that hard work begins to pay off. No matter how hard-earned it is, the pay off always feel sudden. One afternoon's walk in the garden reveals that things are coming along. And then the next day there are two tiny, green tomatoes on a plant.

Success.

A Good Read

When I was in the 3rd grade, I started reading the Little House books. I was a late-blooming reader, and the Little House in the Big Woods was one of the first real books that I was able to truly read on my very own. I loved those books and read them all over and over. At times in my life, both happy and sad, returning to those books has brought me a deep and abiding pleasure.

When I gave birth to my son, I experienced a passing regret: he would never love the Little House books. I just assumed that the books would only appeal to a little girl.

I underestimated my 21st century boy.

In the 3rd grade, JT and his classmates read the Little House in the Big Woods and they learned about pioneers. They explored every corner of the pioneer world as they read that book. I came to JT's class every week and read Farmer Boy to the 3rd graders. That book is the only one in the Little House series that isn't about the Ingalls family. It's the story of Almanzo Wilder's childhood. As the book opens, Almanzo is 8 years old and attending school for the first time. Almanzo doesn't mind school, but what he really loves is life on the farm and the prospect of his own pony to train. Though the story takes place in the 1860s, it resounded with the 3rd graders, boys and girls alike.

JT and I talked often about Almanzo and Laura and the world in which they lived. Appropriately enough, this son of a history teacher is fascinated with history. Books with that theme engage his imagination and interest and provide fodder for many a conversation between the two of us.

Last week, JT discovered old Little House on the Prairie episodes on television and he recorded a few for us to watch. I remember the TV show (indeed, I was the target audience for that show), but it never captured my interest like the books. But JT was interested and we watched a few episodes of the show together. When I explained to him which parts of the show were real (the dreaded Nellie Olson, for example) and which weren't (Laura never ran away from home), he asked about the books.

I still have my collection of Little House books. And last week, I was delighted when JT set aside an enormous collection of Indiana Jones stories in favor of reading Little House on the Prairie. Within a chapter, he was hooked, chattering excitedly with me about packing the covered wagon to head west. We have since taken to reading the book together in the evening, taking turns reading out loud.

It is a deep and abiding pleasure for me to share these books with my boy. Last night, as we read about the Ingalls family building their home on the prairie, I was struck again at the rich detail of these stories. At the spirit and independence of a family who would set off seeking opportunity in a place distant from all that they knew. No matter how many times I read them, there is a familiar comfort to be found when I return to the fold of these stories that I have loved for nearly all of my life. And to now be sharing them with my child is even better than I had anticipated.

Life is a Beach

We've had a rather wet and cool month of June but on Thursday sun and heat was forecast. It seemed like a good idea to pack up the car and hit the beach.

Around here, that's called the shore, as in "I'm going down shore." We met my friend sb and had some quality time admiring the sound of the ocean rolling in. JT made some friends and they dug a large hole, the purpose of which was to.....well, let's just say that when you are nine years old, you don't need a reason to dig a hole.
And then the boys headed for some surf.
They caught the waves with the boy's boogie board and generally enjoyed the feel of the ocean.

It was a good day.

The Trouble With Good

Every time my ex returns JT to my house, the house where he makes his home, this place that I work so very hard to maintain, as she walks back out the door she tells us, "have a good week." It's a throw-away line to fill the silence. Polite chit-chat.

Sometimes I wonder if she ever really thinks about the weeks that now shape my life with JT. Does she ever think about the life we had together? I miss that life and the happiness that I thought I had. I miss the companionship of a shared joke; the satisfaction I felt in raising a child together. I miss the history we had and the certainty of the future. I wish that I wasn't in this all by myself. I know that wishing doesn't make it hurt less or make the lies disappear. I know that wishing doesn't make it so.

And so, mostly, I try not to bother. But sometimes when she carelessly advises us to have a good week, I just want to say, "You have no idea." Because though it might look the same, my life these days is very, very different from what it used to be. This life is a daily reminder that I must look after my son; that I cannot fail him. That I must keep going. That I cannot give up.

Good would be so much easier.

OMG, Don't Tell the Tech Guy About This

I'm guessing that it's the combination of the sunlight and the warmth of the computer that has Tiger feeling that this is a good idea.
Memo to Tiger: You need a new place for napping, my feline friend.

Healthcare Reform: The Business of Insurance

Before we can even talk about healthcare reform, it's vitally important that we understand how most healthcare insurance policies operate. Health insurance is a business and it works according to same principle as all insurance: The individual buys an insurance policy for a set amount of money and the policy is a protection against individual payment for a health calamity. For example, let's say that I pay for insurance in the amount of $500 a month. I could just place my $500 in the bank as a hedge against my need for healthcare. But instead I pay it to a company. For their part, the company promises to pay up if I get sick and require medical care.

The company is betting that I will be well and thus the amount I pay in premiums will not be used to keep me healthy. I am hedging against the fear that I will need more healthcare than I could otherwise afford.

Many of us find this arrangement morally dubious and it may very well be. But if you have insurance, whether it's with a not-for-profit or traditional business, that's the arrangement. You are betting that you might get sick, in which case the company will pay out money to get you well. The company is betting that you won't get sick and therefore they can hold the cash paid in premiums.

For obvious reasons, it's in your best interest to stay well. The company feels the same way, of course, because if you get sick it will cost them money. The company is looking to hold onto premiums. This, of course, is where the problems begin. The company prefers not to spend money on treatment; individuals hope that they won't need costly healthcare. But should the need arise, they expect to have their care covered; that's why they pay premiums in the first place.

Healthcare costs have not kept pace with inflation; not by a long shot. Whereas yearly inflation in the U.S. has typically been 1 – 3% per year, over the past 30 years, healthcare costs have risen as much as 5-15% per year. It doesn't take an accountant to figure out the problem. If we seek to ensure the entire nation within the framework of the current healthcare system, we will go bankrupt.

As this debate moves forward, we need to find ways to reduce the cost of healthcare. It may very well be easier said than done....and it will be the subject of my next post.

Extended Dancemix Playdate

JT's buddy D is the first playmate he met in New Jersey. There's about 18 months between them, so as they have patiently explained to me, they could be brothers. They are clearly good friends and yesterday D's mom delivered him unto us for a sleepover and playdate. We will return D this afternoon.

Between now and then, there will be a whole lot of playing. Yesterday, they put on their swimsuits and ran around the backyard.
All that running around can build up quite a hunger. So they scored a pizza and watched an episode of Wipeout.
(please pardon the fuzzy picture......I'm still learning how to use the camera....those of you still judging should try getting two boys to sit still and then get back to me)

And then they heard the ice cream truck in the neighborhood so they shot outdoors to score a treat. Apparently, that was a serious business.
And that was just last night. Who knows what today will bring?

JT's Latest Installation

My friend P, who joined us for super the day this installation went up, wonders if it is JT's latest statement on deforestation in the Americas.
I can't say for sure, but I do think that the neighbors should continue to use caution when passing by our home.

A Waiting Game

Early Friday morning, when the news revealed that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei pronounced the results of the recent Iranian election "fair," I thought to myself that saying it's "fair" just doesn't make it so. But that's an historical lesson that more than one leader has had to experience before it gets learned.

Khamenei might be forgiven his somewhat foolish announcement if one considers it in context. He's certainly not the first Iranian leader to announce things are just fine only to find himself overtaken by events on the ground. That kind of hubris brought down the Shah of Iran in 1978. The next year, a false belief that things were just fine would eventually turn out the seemingly moderate leadership who replaced the Shah. By the end of the year, Iran went from one dictator (the Shah) to another (the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini) and his system of constitutional theocracy. That's the system still in place In Iran today.

In my mind, the most instrumental lesson to be learned from the events of 30 years ago is that those changes didn't happen overnight. Over the course of 1979, a year best remembered in the United States for the dismal and demoralizing imprisonment of Americans in the U.S. embassy in Tehran, what had been a hopeful democratic movement was overtaken by a form of radical Islamic fundamentalism that has held sway in Iran ever since. Though we are loathe to recall, it was democracy that gave Iran it's peculiar political system. Sometimes, people make choices that are not good for them.

Until now.

Maybe.

The fact is that current Supreme Leader Khamenei and his government, headed now by President Ahmadinejad, may have both the will and the power to violently shut down the people who have taken to the streets to protest the results of the election. Or Iranian citizens who feel the election was dishonest and unfair, a people perhaps numbering the millions, may prevail. It's really to soon to tell.

The Obama Administration has to try and work with whatever government is in place in Iran. Whether or not the Americans view the Iranian government as a legitimate one is an interesting question, but it won't necessarily change the facts on the ground. If anything, what the Iranian resistance most needs right now is to be seen as a truly domestic insurrection, not as an agent of western pressures. That's a task best fulfilled by brave Iranians willing to take a risk on behalf of their own freedom.

And so we wait.

PS: Those of you interested in the role of social networking sites in the Iranian protests might be interested in this NPR interview with Ethan Zuckerman, who studies that very issue at Harvard's Berkman Center of Internet and Society. Fascinating.

PPS: And then there is Juan Cole, a first-rate scholar of the Middle East. Read him to make sense of events on the ground in Iran.