The Christmas Season is upon us. My Christmas Tree (first one in 20 years!!) is up and decorated; my jingle bell wreath is cheering my front window (it's a bit too noisy to hang on the front door, and I think all the bells may prove too tempting shelter for spiders); a season's worth of Christmas cookies are stashed in my pantry; my stockings are hung on the bookshelf with care; and seasonal cds are in the stereo (The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Bing Crosby, Rockapella, and Mannheim Steamroller). Yes, indeed, my house is ready for the festive season.
The stores and shops are decked to the absolute limits of their halls. There is an overload of Santas. Bells jingle jangle everywhere. Balls of bright blue and green, glittery bows of pink and purple, silver bells and golden birds, sparkly ballerinas, chic shoes, and miles upon kilometers of tinsel in a variety of metallic colors are gaily festooned upon Christmas trees in a rainbow of colors. It's a festival of secular holiday excitement.
Here in my new home, I am having the hardest time finding religious items for the season. Save the one on the altar at the Catholic Church, I have not seen one Advent Wreath. People even look at me as though I'm crazy when I ask about them. I have not found the traditional pink and purple taper candles on store shelves. The one nativity scene I have found featured the characters in the form of koalas. Call me crazy, but I am sure there is something disrespectful and sacrilegious about a koala nativity scene. I have seen very few of the religious Christmas items I am used to seeing all over, even in public locations, at this time of year.
Stranger still, to my jaded holiday eyes, it's not only Christian religious holiday items that are missing. I have not seen one single menorah, no dreidels, no bags of gelt. The holiday season here seems to be truly secular. I miss the multi-cultural aspects of the winter season. My hometown has always been multi-cultural with equal opportunity holiday festivities -- from the Catholic traditions that run deep, to the Menorahs, St. Lucia Day processions, Greek and Russian Orthodox festivals, even Winter Solstice celebrations. Even the traditional Southern community, deep in the heart of the protestant Bible belt, in which I went to college celebrated the festive season with a Holiday Concert titled Love Feast. While it sounds like the end of a day of Hippie protests, it was actually a musical celebration of the season featuring music from Hanukkah celebrations to Epiphany, from Orthodox religious chants to secular winter music.
More and more I realize how blessed I was growing up in such a multi-cultural area. I miss sharing in not only my own cultural traditions, but those of other cultures as well. To me, nothing embodies the spirit of the holiday season -- peace on earth and goodwill toward men -- as much as welcoming and participating in all culture's holiday traditions. I miss that opportunity.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
The Cup (Day) Runneth Over
Today was Melbourne Cup Day in my new home. It's kind of a cross between Kentucky Derby Day and Mardi Gras, in that it's a holiday for a horse race, and on a Tuesday. I had the day off from work -- the first paid holiday since I started my new job nearly two months ago. Do you ever have that feeling when you have a weekday off that you really should be at work and that you have the days mixed up and everyone else will be laughing at you...? It was that kind of morning for me.
Having gotten over the panic of mixed-up days, I settled into a day off. I did some organizational housework I had been putting off -- balancing my checkbook, working out the budget for the current month, planning the menu for Thanksgiving dinner, and cataloguing my new book purchases (since arriving here in January, I have bought a shelf's worth of books, but more on that later). Those tasks kept me busy until dearest woke up and we changed the sheets and remade the bed. After that, dearest made breakfast for us and we worked out a plan for the rest of our day.
We headed out to my in-laws house to get their picks for the race, before heading over to the OTB to place the bets. Funny story of the day: I carefully studied the field report in the Sunday paper and picked my choices. I was going to put a win and a place bet on three horses: (1) Americain, (8) Fox Hunt, and (21) The Verminator. I wrote my picks down on a piece of paper and took them with me to the OTB, where I filled in the bet card based on the numbers I had written down.
We made a stop on the way home from the OTB to get some groceries I needed for dinner, when I got together and in my crock pot as soon as we got back. Dearest wanted to make some beer bread to go with the Spicy Cheese Chili I had planned, and he did that while watching Parliament Question Time, before switching over to the race. I finished organizing my newly catalogued book purchases, looking up and paying attention only when the call of "riders up" was heard on the coverage. I saw them putting the horses into the starting gates and then watched the race, with rapt attention.
It was an average race, with all the horses in a big clump until about 400m from the finish. The racetrack is not the oval with which I am familiar, it's actually more of an avocado shape, with one fat rounded end and a narrow one. I am used to watching Triple Crown coverage and expected that kind of event. I was a bit disappointed in that regard. The end was especially exciting -- a photo finish for the first and second horses and another photo finish for the third and fourth horses. Of those four horses, I was really only concerned with (1) Americain as that was the only horse I had money on. When it appeared that my pick as out of the money, I was gathering up the ticket slips when I noticed mine had a (3) on it, not the (8) I intended to place the bet on. I found the paper I had written my picks on and sure enough, I had written (3) Fox Hunt, rather than (8) Fox Hunt. As the bets are placed using the horses' numbers not names, I went with the (3) I had written and had not questioned it. I looked over the tickets and made sure I was not crazy and told Dearest what had happened. He called "Foul" on my winning bet, but laughed about it with me. When we told my in-laws about my bet, my mother-in-law congratulated me on my ineptitude.
After the race, I checked on dinner and began to prepare the shortcakes for dessert. Those baked, I futzed around on the internet until it was time for Jeopardy! (which only recently started to be broadcast here) and then it was dinner.
After doing the dishes, it was time for a shower and relaxing and tonight, that meant a few episodes of Hogan's Heroes. Dearest has his silly and I have mine, and there is almost nothing better for a quick dose of silly than Hogan's Heroes.
Two days later, we made it back to the OTB to collect my winnings. I spent $6.00 on all of my bets -- $1 on a win bet and $1 on a place bet for each of three horses. I won $11.30. That works out to be 188.33% return on my investment. I didn't complain a bit.
Having gotten over the panic of mixed-up days, I settled into a day off. I did some organizational housework I had been putting off -- balancing my checkbook, working out the budget for the current month, planning the menu for Thanksgiving dinner, and cataloguing my new book purchases (since arriving here in January, I have bought a shelf's worth of books, but more on that later). Those tasks kept me busy until dearest woke up and we changed the sheets and remade the bed. After that, dearest made breakfast for us and we worked out a plan for the rest of our day.
We headed out to my in-laws house to get their picks for the race, before heading over to the OTB to place the bets. Funny story of the day: I carefully studied the field report in the Sunday paper and picked my choices. I was going to put a win and a place bet on three horses: (1) Americain, (8) Fox Hunt, and (21) The Verminator. I wrote my picks down on a piece of paper and took them with me to the OTB, where I filled in the bet card based on the numbers I had written down.
We made a stop on the way home from the OTB to get some groceries I needed for dinner, when I got together and in my crock pot as soon as we got back. Dearest wanted to make some beer bread to go with the Spicy Cheese Chili I had planned, and he did that while watching Parliament Question Time, before switching over to the race. I finished organizing my newly catalogued book purchases, looking up and paying attention only when the call of "riders up" was heard on the coverage. I saw them putting the horses into the starting gates and then watched the race, with rapt attention.
It was an average race, with all the horses in a big clump until about 400m from the finish. The racetrack is not the oval with which I am familiar, it's actually more of an avocado shape, with one fat rounded end and a narrow one. I am used to watching Triple Crown coverage and expected that kind of event. I was a bit disappointed in that regard. The end was especially exciting -- a photo finish for the first and second horses and another photo finish for the third and fourth horses. Of those four horses, I was really only concerned with (1) Americain as that was the only horse I had money on. When it appeared that my pick as out of the money, I was gathering up the ticket slips when I noticed mine had a (3) on it, not the (8) I intended to place the bet on. I found the paper I had written my picks on and sure enough, I had written (3) Fox Hunt, rather than (8) Fox Hunt. As the bets are placed using the horses' numbers not names, I went with the (3) I had written and had not questioned it. I looked over the tickets and made sure I was not crazy and told Dearest what had happened. He called "Foul" on my winning bet, but laughed about it with me. When we told my in-laws about my bet, my mother-in-law congratulated me on my ineptitude.
Racing Form for (1) Americain
Racing Form for (8) Fox Hunt
Racing Form for (21) The Verminator
Racing Form for (3) Dunaden
Handwritten list of picks to take to OTB
Winning Ticket
After the race, I checked on dinner and began to prepare the shortcakes for dessert. Those baked, I futzed around on the internet until it was time for Jeopardy! (which only recently started to be broadcast here) and then it was dinner.
After doing the dishes, it was time for a shower and relaxing and tonight, that meant a few episodes of Hogan's Heroes. Dearest has his silly and I have mine, and there is almost nothing better for a quick dose of silly than Hogan's Heroes.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Nit(tany Lion)-Picking
Fair Warning: I will be delving into controversy in this post, and my position is more than likely not yours. I'm not asking that you, as the reader, agree with my position, only that you respect it.
I have been following the Penn State/Joe Paterno situation since it broke last week.
I have read the Grand Jury's Findings of Fact with regard to Victim #2. I have read articles and I have read tweets and I have reactions by the general public. I have read people who insist that Joe Paterno could have done more. I am in no way sanctioning or condoning child abuse of any kind. What I do not understand is the public's eagerness to declare Joe Paterno guilty of condoning child abuse.
The facts, as reported by the Grand Jury, are that the graduate student saw what he considered a disturbing sexual act between former defensive coordiantor Jerry Sandusky and a child. He immediately left the area and called his father, who told his son to report the incident to Joe Paterno. The graduate student did so, by going to Paterno's house the next day. Paterno listened to the graduate student's report and, in turn, passed on the suspicions to University officials. This is the story as reported in the Grand Jury's Findings of Fact. No one is disputing the facts as they are laid out.
Joe Paterno has not been indicted (to date) and is under no investigation. He did what he could do at the time. It's lovely to say, now, with the privilege of hindsight, that he should have done more, that he should have followed up with the University officials, or even gone to the police himself. Of course, at the time, he had the report of an upset, but not upset enough to call the police, graduate student. It is impossible to use knowledge held today to shape decisions made nine years ago. If we all had nine year's future knowledge when we made decisions, what a better world it would be. Under the law, Joe Paterno has done nothing wrong. He was not in a position of mandatory reporting and he turned the matter over to the proper officials at the time. The fact that the officials took it no further is not Joe Paterno's fault.
Think about it:
Say you saw a former co-worker driving erratically down the highway, enough to disturb you, but not enough to cause you to call the police yourself. Instead, you tell you boss the next day, after which your boss told the building security and building management. They take the report of erratic driving to no higher authorities, and do nothing other than ban the driver from the building parking lot. Now, nine years later, because that former co-worker has a history of driving erratically and has caused 8 accidents, someone complains that your boss should have done more. Your boss should have manoeuvred his car to prevent the erratic driver from going further, even though he was never on the road with him. They say your boss should have called the police for them to stop the erratic driving. What more could your boss have done with the knowledge he had nine years ago?
What more does the public want Joe Paterno to have done? Not what he could have done today, knowing what we know as a result of the Grand Jury's Findings of Fact, but what he could have done nine years ago, knowing what he knew then; remembering that by the time he found out about the alleged abuse, it was two days later.
Joe Paterno has done nothing wrong.
I have no connection to Penn State. I neither cheer nor despise the Nittany Lions. No one in my family is a graduate of Penn State. I know no one who has ever attended the university. The only times I have been anywhere near State College, Pennsylvania, I was on a layover flying through Pittsburgh.
My issue with this situation is that an innocent man is being tried in the Court of Public Opinion, not with facts, but with half-truths and outright lies. It is an emotional situation, but at the same time, people are letting their emotions cloud the issue. I am as guilty as anyone of getting emotional and incensed by the situation. But the facts are that Joe Paterno has done nothing wrong.
Let's stop giving into the hysteria and step back a minute to determine the facts. Child molestation is wrong. We can all agree on that. Joe Paterno is not accused of child molestation. He is not accused of anything! Working with a person who turns out, nine years after his working relationship with you ends, to be a child molester is not a crime. Neither is not knowing he was a child molester at the time he worked with you.
I have been following the Penn State/Joe Paterno situation since it broke last week.
I have read the Grand Jury's Findings of Fact with regard to Victim #2. I have read articles and I have read tweets and I have reactions by the general public. I have read people who insist that Joe Paterno could have done more. I am in no way sanctioning or condoning child abuse of any kind. What I do not understand is the public's eagerness to declare Joe Paterno guilty of condoning child abuse.
The facts, as reported by the Grand Jury, are that the graduate student saw what he considered a disturbing sexual act between former defensive coordiantor Jerry Sandusky and a child. He immediately left the area and called his father, who told his son to report the incident to Joe Paterno. The graduate student did so, by going to Paterno's house the next day. Paterno listened to the graduate student's report and, in turn, passed on the suspicions to University officials. This is the story as reported in the Grand Jury's Findings of Fact. No one is disputing the facts as they are laid out.
Joe Paterno has not been indicted (to date) and is under no investigation. He did what he could do at the time. It's lovely to say, now, with the privilege of hindsight, that he should have done more, that he should have followed up with the University officials, or even gone to the police himself. Of course, at the time, he had the report of an upset, but not upset enough to call the police, graduate student. It is impossible to use knowledge held today to shape decisions made nine years ago. If we all had nine year's future knowledge when we made decisions, what a better world it would be. Under the law, Joe Paterno has done nothing wrong. He was not in a position of mandatory reporting and he turned the matter over to the proper officials at the time. The fact that the officials took it no further is not Joe Paterno's fault.
Think about it:
Say you saw a former co-worker driving erratically down the highway, enough to disturb you, but not enough to cause you to call the police yourself. Instead, you tell you boss the next day, after which your boss told the building security and building management. They take the report of erratic driving to no higher authorities, and do nothing other than ban the driver from the building parking lot. Now, nine years later, because that former co-worker has a history of driving erratically and has caused 8 accidents, someone complains that your boss should have done more. Your boss should have manoeuvred his car to prevent the erratic driver from going further, even though he was never on the road with him. They say your boss should have called the police for them to stop the erratic driving. What more could your boss have done with the knowledge he had nine years ago?
What more does the public want Joe Paterno to have done? Not what he could have done today, knowing what we know as a result of the Grand Jury's Findings of Fact, but what he could have done nine years ago, knowing what he knew then; remembering that by the time he found out about the alleged abuse, it was two days later.
Joe Paterno has done nothing wrong.
I have no connection to Penn State. I neither cheer nor despise the Nittany Lions. No one in my family is a graduate of Penn State. I know no one who has ever attended the university. The only times I have been anywhere near State College, Pennsylvania, I was on a layover flying through Pittsburgh.
My issue with this situation is that an innocent man is being tried in the Court of Public Opinion, not with facts, but with half-truths and outright lies. It is an emotional situation, but at the same time, people are letting their emotions cloud the issue. I am as guilty as anyone of getting emotional and incensed by the situation. But the facts are that Joe Paterno has done nothing wrong.
Let's stop giving into the hysteria and step back a minute to determine the facts. Child molestation is wrong. We can all agree on that. Joe Paterno is not accused of child molestation. He is not accused of anything! Working with a person who turns out, nine years after his working relationship with you ends, to be a child molester is not a crime. Neither is not knowing he was a child molester at the time he worked with you.
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