by jphilo | Dec 28, 2009 | Current Events
Last week was a wild and wooly weather adventure for Midwesterners. Two storms came together, one from Canada and one from the southwest, resulting in six days of rain, freezing rain, drizzle, freezing drizzle, sleet, and snow.
The storm started three days before Christmas and ended two days after the holiday so we watched the weather reports religiously for days. The “wintery mix,” as the weather gurus called it, lit up our weather maps like Christmas trees. The longer I watched (and I watched plenty with a daughter and her fiancee heading straight into the mess), the more the precipitation color scheme mystified me.
My little brain understood why they used green to signify moderate rainfall. Rain makes the grass grow, and grass is green. The logic behind using blue to represent snowfall made sense, too, since it’s the color associated with the cold spigot, ice cubes and other chilly stuff.
But for the life of me, I can’t figure out why they use pink to represent a “wintery mix” which leads to the winter’s most hazardous drivIng condition. It’s kind of like using a Barbie Dream House as the symbol for a military fortress or the Barbie convertible to represent enemy tanks. It’s like dressing up GI Joe in Barbie’s pink feather boa and a pink sequined leotard.
Pink sends exactly the wrong message to everybody.
Women see it and think, “Oh good, it’s time for a party.” Then they put on halter tops,, capris and strappy sandals instead of snowsuits and boots before going to meet their BFFs for lunch.
Men see it and think, “A sissy, little pink storm won’t keep me home.” And they hop in the car and drive over to a buddy’s place to watch professional wrestling.
If the forecasters want people to take their “wintery mix” predictions seriously, they’d better pop the lid on the box of 96 colors with the sharpener and choose a color with some weight behind it. Maybe gray. Or brown. Or my personal favorite – burnt sienna.
Anything but pink.
If you have a new color suggestion for “wintery mix,” please leave a comment. I’ll compile all the suggestions and mail them to the National Weather Service for consideration.
by jphilo | Dec 18, 2009 | Current Events
For the past twenty-four hours, winter storm warnings have been flying around faster than snowflakes in a blizzard. The forecast inspired Anne to drive home last night instead of waiting until morning.
This morning, I peeked out the window, expecting a cloudy sky, a little wind, and a little snow to greet me. Instead, a bright sunrise blazed through the branches of the spruce trees in the back yard. Even now, three hours later, the sky is a clear winter blue and the tree branches are still, still, still.
But the forecasters promise a storm this afternoon, snow in the north part of the state, ice in the south, and a mixture of the two in the middle of the state where we live. I hope it waits until after noon when I visit my mentee over the lunch hour. We haven’t seen each other for three weeks, what with the West Virginia excursion, and I want to see her before Christmas and plan a time next week for us to bake treats for her family.
Then the storm can hit. We’ve got DVDs to watch, popcorn to pop, and five years of catching up to do around here. It’s not a storm warning at our house; it’s a blessing, one I intend to savor.
by jphilo | Nov 30, 2009 | Current Events
Though our family Thanksgiving was a good one, a peppy, glowing and grateful post-Thanksgiving blog just won’t work today. And though today is the anniversary of our son’s life-changing decision to seek treatment for PTSD, a blog about how God has healed and blessed our family won’t work either.
Here’s why.
On the way to the Twin Cities Wednesday, we passed a bad accident only a few miles east of home. “Someone’s Thanksgiving just got ruined,” I said to Hiram before whispering a prayer. After we returned home Saturday, I read about the accident in the paper. One of the men killed was from our town. He was only 54 and left behind a wife and three young adult children.
The day after Thanksgiving, I opened an email from my friend Scott. He and his family are featured in A Different Dream for My Child. Their youngest son Evan, who has been fragile since his birth seven years ago, passed away early Friday morning. Evan leaves behind his parents and a brother who is 11.
On Sunday one of my dearest friends described her difficult weekend. Without divulging details, I can tell you this particular Thanksgiving will not make it onto her Holiday Hit Parade. For months and years we’ve asked God to ease her pain and loneliness, to make His love and delight in her faithfulness real to her. As far as I can see, He’s not doing much.
In the face of such tragedy and suffering, I want to shake my fist at God. I want to say is, “No more pain, please! Make it stop!” I want to ask, “Why, God? Why do these people have to suffer?” I want to wrap my arms around them and take away their pain.
But in my own dark days, I learned that the best any of those things could do was bring temporary relief. The only thing eased the pain was considering the character of the God who saw me shake my fist and heard my questions – the God who didn’t condemn me or minimize my pain. Instead He gently revealed His understanding of it, as only a parent who lost a child can do.
So God, would you reveal to these hurting people what you revealed to me? Would you do it now, today, immediately, in their hour of need? And would you continue to do it every day until they can live with their losses? Would you ease their pain, God? Please?
by jphilo | Nov 6, 2009 | Current Events
The big, bad world touched our safe, little neighborhood this week. Around Halloween, I found three smashed pumpkins littering our gravel road. Sadness engulfed me as I thought of the children who lost a little of their innocence and trust when they discovered the theft of their decorations. My heart ached to think of the anger, hurt and self-absorption of thieves who would behave so callously.
When I noticed one of the pumpkins was intact, having landed in the soft grass lining the ditch, my mood brightened. The thieves hadn’t been completely successful.I toyed with the idea trying to find the owners. Maybe an ad in the paper or posters on telephone poles. In the end, I decided to give the stray pumpkin a home on my doorstep and eventually cook it down.
“Take that, thieves,” I said, in case any pumpkin snatchers lurked in the woods beside the road, as I lugged my find home. “Your nastiness won’t triumph here!”
My bright mood lasted until Sunday afternoon when our neighbor called. She’d found a meth lab across the road from ours, while walking in the woods behind their house. “The police thought it was pretty recent. They thought the manufacturers were probably dropped off by their cohorts and picked up again once they were done.” She called all the neighbors. Now we’re on the look out for suspicious vehicles, strangers in the woods, bad odors, muddy footprints.
I’m sad again today. Our little gravel road let in the big, bad world again. Strangers invaded our woods. This time they left nothing to be rescued, only a sense of violation and an atmosphere of fear.
What can I do in the face of such calculated evil? Lock the doors at night, walk in the daylight, and pray for our neighborhood’s safety and the transformation of such depraved men.
by jphilo | Oct 27, 2009 | Current Events
Since his first appearance in St. Elsewhere, Denzel Washington has been one of my favorite actors. I haven’t seen all his movies, but his performance in Glory and The Great Debaters, which he also directed, are two of my faves.
A couple days ago, I listened to him on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and was impressed with his down-to-earth attitude about acting. Near the end of the interview, Terry asked Denzel about growing up as the son of a Pentecostal minister. Denzel’s response was one of the most gracious witnesses of faith I’ve ever heard.
But, do you think I can locate the interview? No matter how many times I search NPR’s website, it doesn’t show up. But, I did find the following interview at the Reader’s Digest website. While it doesn’t tell as much about the effect his father’s integrity had on Washington’s life, it’s a fair substitute.
Take a look the interview and see what you think. If you’re like me, you’ll be renting every movie he’s been in – perfect entertainment as the nights get longer and the days get colder.
And if you locate the link for the Fresh Air interview, send it to me, please. I’d love to post it so more people can hear it.
by jphilo | Oct 6, 2009 | Current Events
When the Harding County newspaper arrived yesterday, I couldn’t believe the headline. Our old friends in the remote, northwest corner of South Dakota had approved a $5 million bond issue for a new K – 12 school.
That may seem ho-hum to you, but the county’s population is only 1,353, which means if you spread the citizen of that vast high-grass prairie evenly across its 2,678 square miles, every single person would have 1,280 acres of elbow room. Those 1,353 people, none of whom live extravagantly and all of whom work hard to eek out a living in untamed and beautiful semi-wilderness, passed a $5 million dollar bond issue.
The new school will cost considerably more than that. But because the proposal passed, the project will receive $5 million federal dollars, thanks to the stimulus package. A sizable amount in their school improvement fund whittled the amount down further, but $5 million is still a sizable amount for the tax payers in Harding County.
Of course, their only other option was to pass a bond for $6.5 million to repair and renovate the old school. Apparently, the fine folks in that county did the math and voted for the cheaper option. Even so, the vote was remarkable. 58% of voters went to the polls and passed the bond issue with an 84% majority. I’m proud to report that our old friends in the small town where we once lived, Camp Crook, voted 76-13 (85%) in favor of the bond issue.
The superintendent of schools said she was surprised the vote passed on the first try. Maybe she wasn’t familiar with the big-hearted generosity of the independent, tough-as-nails townsfolk and ranchers who live so close to the McFarthest Spot in the United States. But Hiram and I are. After Allen was born in 1982, the residents of Camp Crook had a fund raiser for us and raised over $1,500 in one night.
So I wasn’t surprised when the bond issue passed. But I am bursting with pride for a county full of people willing to put the needs of the next generation ahead of their own wants and desires. I’m kinda hoping their attitude is as contagious than the H1N1 virus and spreads all over the country. Our children and their children could use a little of that kind of medicine.
