Prayer in School

When I was in elementary school, I went to a public school for five years and a parochial school for three.  The reason given by my Roman Catholic parents for sending me to public school was that for the first two years, I was too small to walk a mile from my house to the parochial school. The parochial school had a bus, but if your house was less than a mile from school, you couldn't ride it.  Our house was half a block from the cutoff point. Thus. when I was a skinny five-year-old, I just beat the January cut-off, when you had to be six or start the next year, and started first grade at the public school, which was a block and a half away from our house. During the summer after second grade, when I was seven, I came down with polio and had to miss the first month or two of third grade.  The public school said I wouldn't have to repeat third grade, despite having missed a good chunk of it, so I went there for fourth grade, too.  In all that time, the parochial kept its ban on short-distance bus rides, and the weather in North Dakota did not warm up.

I'm saying all this because I think I can speak from experience about prayer in school.  My public school classmates--and neighbors--were mostly Lutherans of various stripes, some stricter than others, with Presbyterians and Methodists, at least some Plymouth Congregationalists, and one Jewish boy escaped from Germany tossed into the mix.  I can vouch for their collective piety, although it was not the same as my own.  Every morning in the public school we all stood up and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.  Period.  No prayers.

Then I went to the parochial school for fifth grade and enjoyed the long "short cuts" my beautiful classmate Judy and I devised--through alleys, over fences--twice a day (we walked home for lunch, too, unless it was more than -15F).  We arrived at school, shed our boots and jackets in the cloak room, then stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the Guardian Angel prayer: "Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's Love entrusts me here. Ever this day, be at my side to light, to guard, to rule and guide."  Period.  Even in the religious parochial school, we had the bare minimum of civic and religious piety.  It's not as if we spent an hour in prayer or anything, and it's not as if we knelt down, bowed our heads, or sang hymns, either.  The Guardian Angel prayer, to us kids anyway, was more like a rabbit's foot--something to have with you just in case.

As far as behavior being different in the two places--one with added prayer, one without--I can say with great assurance that the place WITHOUT the prayer was somehow better: less nasty, more fun, more open to whatever it is that makes one's small life worth singing about--good teachers, sensible curriculum (in the parochial school, all of our academic grades--say, for five classes--were divided by SIX:  the sixth being attendance at daily mass and communion.  go figger.)  I dunno.  I just think that those people who pine for the good old days when our young minds and hearts were blessed by religion are chasing an effing MYTH.  The pubs were no better or worse than the Cat-lickers.  The kindest and best teachers I had were both Protestant and Catholic.  There was no preponderance of beatitude on either front. 


   

"Stand Up and Let Them Have It."

Dedicated to LRH in gratitude for her call to use the anger....

Cathy gave me a book several Christmases ago:  Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Poetry As Insurgent Art.  It's propped on the tray of my easel, which I keep in the bathroom for lack of any other space, and I read it from time to time.  Yesterday seemed a good time to re-read it.

There was lots of hatred in DC yesterday, lots of anger, but none of it was in the black people with whom I spoke.  They were friendly and loving as always, despite the fact that some of the streets were full of angry, angry white people who were pissed off about almost everything--the heat, the metro, the non-white people everywhere they looked.  The place was a mini-tinder box--people howled if the metro doors slammed shut on them [well, they do...this is not the NYC subway...only the uninitiated try to prevent DC metro doors from closing]; they got on the wrong train and shoved other passengers aside roughly to get off.

I've said since arriving here from the MidWest almost 20 years ago, that the best thing about Washington is not the beautiful architecture or gardens or museums or rich cultural offerings, but the black people.  Oh, sure...knuckleheads abound in all races, but the black people in DC have something special:  they love each other, and many of them share deep roots with our nation's capitol. Their grandfathers grew up on K Street in small frame houses now replaced by granite buildings housing big law and PR firms, or their grandmothers grew up just southeast of Union Station where the slave pens used to be. They have a special sense of family that is simply awesome to me, coming from people who came through Ellis Island and think nothing of putting huge distances between themselves and other family members.  My DC coworkers would come to work on Monday and laugh when describing their weekends: "I had 18 people sleeping in my apartment Friday and Saturday night.  It was my cousin's birthday, and everyone came here for his party."  One of my coworkers memorably bought herself a motor home and parked it in her driveway when her kids became teenagers; she moved into it and turned over the house to the children.  "They are loud and happy and drive me nuts," she said,  "and I need my peace."  Her bumper sticker says "Too Blessed To Be Stressed."

DC is the only place I've lived where--especially in the "bad areas" warned against by the teabaggers this past weekend--young and old get up and give their seat on the bus to a pregnant woman or young mother struggling with a baby in arms or a crippled guy or a woman laden with grocery bags or just an old(er) person.  These are sweet people, through and through.  One of the best things about being able to hear again is to hear the people chatting and laughing on the bus home from work on Friday night.  They all know each other in the "bad areas," (where I guess I live, too) and they love each other.

I'm afraid I don't love the Faux News stooges who headlined this past weekend's non-event at the Lincoln Memorial.  That bothers me.  I feel so angry with them that I entertain many ugly thoughts about them and what I hope will be their fate.  I haven't found a good use for my anger yet.  But I have discovered the smile.  So I smiled this past weekend at my fellow passengers on the metro.  Only the black ones smiled back.  They especially appreciated my Michelle Obama t-shirt "Yes, We Can!!"
I think that's what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was trying to tell us: Love is stronger than even death.

Ferlinghetti has some great lines in his book on poetry, and they fit the present situation in DC and the USA in general:

I am signaling you through the flames.

          The North Pole is not where it used to be.

Manifest Destiny is no longer manifest.

Civilization self-destructs.

Nemesis is knocking at the door.

What are poets for, in such an age?
What is the use of poetry?

The state of the world calls out for
poetry to save it.

If you would be a poet, create works
capable of answering the challenge
of apocalyptic times, even if this
means sounding apocalyptic.

You are Whitman, you are Poe, you
are Mark Twain, you are Emily
Dickinson and Edna St. Vincent
Millay, you are Neruda and Maya-
kovsky and Pasolini, you are an
American or non-American, you can
conquer the conquerors with words.
. . .
If you call yourself a poet, don't just
sit there. Poetry is not a sedentary
occupation, not a "take your seat"
practice.  Stand up and let them
have it.

DC Cake Trail

One of my favorite blogs is Scotland for the Senses, and today's post (well, I think it's today, but the author talks about going on hiatus, so maybe it was written earlier) is on her Edinburgh cake trail!  What a great idea!  Like most great ideas, they are somebody else's, but who cares?  I'm happy to reveal the sources of my genius so other can enjoy it, too.

It occurs to me that blogging about a DC cake trail would be something I could do--go somewhere and have a cup of tea and a piece of cake.  That's not too hard or expensive to do.  In fact, I already have a couple of entries on my DC cake trail--even though two of them are not in DC per se.  They're more in the greater DC metropolitan area. I'll make sure to take pictures after this first post, too.

#1 is the carrot cake at Joe Muggs's Coffee, which is inside Books-A-Million on Dupont Circle, where New Hampshire Ave heads off toward Maryland.  Really, there are a gazillion places to get carrot cake in DC, but this is really good!  It's moist and tender, and even the carrot bits are bright and fresh.  Also, there is just enough of their dreamy cream cheese frosting.  A+, Joe Muggs!! 

#2 is the Citrus Pound Cake at Mon Ami Gabi in Bethesda, 7239 Woodmont Ave.  (And yes, Cathy, there IS a Mon Ami Gabi in Las Vegas!!)  Because my faithful luncheon companion and I always share one dessert, I'm happy to say that this is one big slab of tender pound cake splashed with lemon curd, fresh fruits in a vanilla sage sauce, and plenty of whipped cream!  Verra good.  Leave room for dessert if you want this.  I'm not kidding.

#3 is the sweet potato cupcake at Delectable Cakery by the south side of the traffic circle on Rhode Island Avenue and 34th St. in Mt. Rainier, MD.  (Disclaimer: this happens to be right next to my landlady's frame shop, so I've had lots of them--still, their appeal never dies.)  It's a little sweetie darling of a cupcake. A great way to get your veggies, too.

 I spotted what looked like a great piece of cake in Georgetown's La Ruche this afternoon, too, although I eschewed dessert so I could get to the previews before "Eat, Pray, Love" started.  I'll go back and see if it's any good.  Nothing like proper research!!!

I have a dream--full version

Today, the (pick one) Teabaggers/pseudo patriots/whiners about government/the shockingly ignorant and disrespectful will be claiming to "restore honor" to (pick one) the National Mall/the Lincoln Memorial/white trash everywhere in this US of A.  This is shocking hubris from who else? Faux News and its house puppets.

If you're not inclined to add to the crowd count, you can stay home and honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who spoke it on this day many years ago, by listening to his speech.

XE thanks Charles Blow in today's NY Times for this great idea.  Blow writes,

I’ve come to the conclusion that anger is the wrong reaction to Beck’s rally in Washington. Anger provides too low a return on investment. It consumes a tremendous amount of energy, but yields little progress. Instead, we should each take this opportunity to listen to the “I Have a Dream” speech once more, paying particular attention to how the echoes of yesterday’s struggles reverberate in our present struggles, and to recommit ourselves to the nobility of righteous pursuits.

We should use Glenn’s nightmare to reconnect with Martin’s dream.

[If the above link doesn't work, here's the video:

 

TGIF

Got the latest update on Best in Blogs from SixApart this ayem.   And while snooping around, I found this gem on Foodinista (one of the top 10 food blogs of the Best in Blogs):

http://thefoodinista.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/preschool-packed-lunch-week-in-review

This may be too late for you, or maybe you have found it....but these are the BEST preschool lunches
I've ever seen!!  in fact, I think this would make fabulous DIET lunches for fat old folks like me!! 

TGIF!!

We don't want THESE Leaves of Grass!!

This past weekend, I got this email from a fellow Mt. Rainier resident in the town website:

[On Sunday] I will be up at Little Paint Branch Park to work on clearing a patch of two aggressive invasive plants that are threatening the wonderful native woodlands plants that live there, and I'm inviting people to join me. The two plants (wavyleaf basketgrass and Japanese stilt grass) are very easy to remove, and it only takes a few minutes to learn to identify them.

I googled around and found this about wavyleaf basketgrass in the blog Invasive Notes

An invasive species is spreading from the Baltimore area of Maryland south to Washington and west to the Blue Ridge of Virginia. Like a fire in the forest, wavyleaf basketgrass (Oplismenus hirtellus subsp. undulatifolius (Ard.) U. Scholz, Phanerog. Monogr.) [1] is spreading rapidly and replacing the natural diversity with its mono-culture habit of eco-system and eco-service destruction. This grass, which remains taxonomically confused and, therefore, not precisely identified or categorized, is spreading in public parks and on private lands in the Baltimore Washington Metropolitan area.

The other invasive species, Japanese Stilt Grass, is featured here.

Japanese stilt grass is currently established in 16 eastern states, from New York to Florida. It occurs on stream banks, river bluffs, floodplains, emergent and forested wetlands, moist woodlands, early successional fields, uplands, thickets, roadside ditches, gas and power-line corridors, lawns and gardens. Japanese stilt grass threatens native understory vegetation in full sun to deep shade. Stilt grass readily invades disturbed shaded areas, like floodplains that are prone to natural scouring, and areas subject to mowing, tilling and other soil-disturbing activities including white-tailed deer traffic. It spreads opportunistically following disturbance to form dense patches, displacing native wetland and forest vegetation as the patch expands. Japanese stilt grass appears to be associated with moist, acidic to neutral soils that are high in nitrogen.

 I took these two photos of stilt grass; the bottom photo shows the shiny midrib on its leaf.

 The leaf of stilt grass has a distinguishing shiny midrib so you can tell it from other plants.  It looks sort of like very delicate bamboo. They're easy to pull up, and we want to get them now before they start flowering and producing seeds next month.  (One of the distinguishing characteristics of stilt grass is that it is very easy to pull up.  If you have to tug or feel a wiry stem, it may not be stilt grass.)

Alas, I didn't take any photos of the wavyleaf basketgrass.  (You can see these in the link to Invasive Notes above.) The leaves, as described, are, well, way...kind of rumpled and thicker than the stilt grass and also a bit hairy or fuzzy on the top.  Some of that has started the flowering/seed process already.  I found almost a dozen plants with seeds on them, and they require careful handling so as not to knock off the seeds.  We put them in bags, but I don't know what our leader/guide will do with them.  All the plants with seeds were growing under fallen branches resting about 6-8" above the ground.  The basketgrass also sends out shoots from nodules along the stems, so it does produce a mat fast. The long shoots make it harder to pull up, too.
 
Even though my college degree is in biology, it was all human biology or microbiology--no plants.  So I'm enjoying this tremendously.  I think I may have found a good volunteer niche. 

We were going to go yesterday (Sunday) but got rained out.  Today was dry, sunny, and cooler...perfect for pulling weeds in the forest.

Happy 90th Birthday, Dear Lida!!!

Lida Moser and her family know how to throw a swell party!  Lida joyfully greeted her many guests for her 90th birthday fete this afternoon.  Lida's birthday was really this past Tuesday, but as she said, "Nobody can come to a party in the middle of the week," so we all gathered today instead.  Lida's cousin Stephanie set it all up at Lida's favorite Greek restaurant, and it was a blast.

There's nobody at all like Lida: acclaimed photographer, artist, and writer; warm, affectionate, loyal friend; generous companion; lover of all that's beautiful and good. Lida says she loves being old. She says this stage of her life has been wonderful and full of grace.  It hasn't been easy, but she's fought off illness and injury with her characteristic vigor and persistence.  

Happy birthday, Lida!  I'm so lucky to be your friend. 

Three steps backward--and another step back, too.

1.  I am flummoxed by my cell phone camera.  Or is it the PC?  the Mac?  I can't download the photos any more.  I used to be able to email them from the camera to my laptop, but in their efforts to improve my life, HP and/or Mac have removed a step from the process--the one that puts the URL of the photo in the email and thus allows me to move it to my desktop, drop it into iPhoto and fiddle with it, and then move it back to the desktop whence I can attach it to my blog or an email.  Hmph.  It still arrives in my email, but when I go to download it, I get this program that won't let me have my way with my own photo.

2.  One of my back teeth fell apart!  Too much brushing and flossing, I say.  For years, the only thing holding my teeth together has been the plaque!

3.  I firmly believe I had the right to vote for President Obama, but after his flipflop on the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" (which is not exactly an accurate description), I'm not so sure about the wisdom of doing that.

4. My ongoing fitness program goes on--or sometimes--away.  Today I got to the swimming pool and was too tired to go down, get into my suit, take the shower, etc., then go find giant-size flippers and a bouyancy belt, and swim.  So I just sat in a nice comfy chair in the lobby, read my new book while a bunch of exuberant, post-swim 4-year-olds pounded on the windows overlooking the pool, and fell asleep.  Bliss.  I so needed that nap.  







 

Happy Ramadan from Guess Who?

Digby has a great post on Hullaballoo today, and here it is:

Commemorating Sanity

by digby

It's great to see President Obama stand up for religious tolerance at a time like this:

According to the teachings of Islam, Ramadan commemorates the revelation of God's word in the Holy Koran to the prophet Mohammad. The word has become the foundation for one of the world's great religions.

During Ramadan, we are reminded of Islam's long and distinguished history. Throughout the centuries, the Islamic world has been home to great centers of learning and culture. People of all faiths have benefited from the achievements of Muslims in fields from philosophy and poetry to mathematics and medicine.

This reminds us that one of the great strengths of our nation is its religious diversity. Americans practice many different faiths. But we all share a belief in the right to worship freely. We reject bigotry in all its forms.

And over the past eight years, my administration has been proud to work closely with Muslim Americans to promote justice and tolerance of all faiths.

Oh sorry. That was President Bush, well known left wing terrorist sympathizer.

Here's Obama:

Let me be clear: as a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances," Obama said.

"This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable."

Considering that the majority of Republicans ignorantly believe he is a Muslim (and a large number of others are fine with tossing the First Amendment if it makes someone -- of the right persuasion --- uncomfortable) I think that's pretty bold and I'm glad to see him unequivocally stake out the sane, rational position, regardless of the polls. But it's a sad comment on this country that two years after Bush spoke those words and almost nine years after 9/11 that the president reaffirming religious tolerance is suddenly considered controversial.

Again, I ask, why now? I realize that there was always a fair amount of Muslim hatred going on after 9/11, but shrieking harpies like Pamela Gellar were in the margins and nobody felt comfortable saying that mainstream American Muslims should be shunned. Perhaps it's a coincidence, but the only thing that's happened between then and now is the election of Barack Obama, who millions of morons believe is the (secret) first Muslim president, apparently bent on turning the US into Saudi Arabia.

What the hell is happening to this place?

\

Oh, the Places You'll Go....!!!

Xtreme English welcomes The Skoog Farm Journal and its companion blog, Art Walks on Water to its pages--i.e., to the list of "Blogs I Love" on the right-hand side of home page.

These two blogs astonish me with their beauty and warmth--if it's not photographs or splendid writing and art, it's Skoog Farm Radio!

Lori Skoog, their creator, is a retired art teacher who lives with her husband and a bunch of critters on a horse and organic garlic farm (that's what it says) in western New York. 

Welcome, Lori...and thanks for sharing your riches with us.

Thoughts in the Jurassic Age.....

I've been reading Eat, Pray, Love for the past week.  It's been out for a while--five years--and Cathy lent it to me at least four years ago. She was full of enthusiasm for all sorts of things after reading it--going to an ashram, travelling to Italy--but for some strange reason, I couldn't get past the first few pages.

Last week, don't ask me why, I was looking for something to read, pulled it off the shelf, and haven't been able to put it down.  Ordinarily I'm a very fast reader--it's nothing for me to read a whole book in one day.  I don't want to go fast on this one, though.  I want to savor it and think about it and marvel at the effect her spirituality has had on her. 

I mean, spirituality! Spirituality, I'm afraid, has completely eluded me.  Starting when I was about 14 or so, I gradually became very pious (after a childhood of low-grade naughtiness, which included raiding my older brothers' supply of cigars and sharing them with my friend Joanie. I was maybe 10, and she was 8).  I started reading Thomas a Kempis's The Imitation of Christ and going to Mass every day. Then, at the age of 17, instead of going to medical school (which I'd wanted to do even before piety laid me low), I entered the convent. I lasted there for five years until I decided one day, while reading the Summa Theologica, that I did not HAVE to become a nun to save my soul. Whew.

Last night I wanted to see what Elizabeth Gilbert looked like, so I googled her website and found not only her picture, but this video recording of the talk she gave at TED last year. 

Gilbert's spirituality and how it relates to her writing is powerful stuff for me. I meditated and practiced Yoga and went to daily Mass for years, but it all came to a screeching halt when I moved to DC almost 20 years ago.  Don't ask me why.  Now I'm in the Jurassics (the 70s), and I feel as spiritual as my favorite shoes.

Still, this book, and this very young woman (good god, she's only about 40!), fascinate me. Perhaps we really do revert to our childhood when we hit the high numbers.  Is spirituality possible?  It's always bothered me that I don't feel spiritual at all. Oprah harps on spirituality all the time, and I like Oprah--she's given up the fight with her weight.  It's highly recommended for one's personal growth (gack....I can hardly write those words).

Things to do this week....UPDATE

Ole Phat Stu asked me to prioritize this list--ha.  He must have some punch line in store, so here's the status of the items.  It's not exactly the priority, but it's the order in which they've been accomplished fully, partially--or not. 
 
1. Unsubscribe from bastard Target's mailing list                      1

2. Buy a loaf of Italian rosemary bread from
         farmer's market                                                              2     

3. Cook the two remaining turkey burgers and one NY strip
         steak so they don't spoil                                                  3         

4. Mark up client review checklist to divide chores into 
          Client's&Mentor's and mine                                      ?

5. Clean the top of the stove and the area around the 
          toaster & coffee maker                                             4

6. Get serious about finding my next place to live                       ?

7. Read editor's comments on 2nd draft                                    ?       
8.Download and print BIG copy of Rook photo and
           frame it for my wall. (Spectacular picture.)                      ?

9. Clean off top of desk (easier said than done....
           pile is nearly a foot deep all over).                                   ?
10.Vacuum entire carpet in room.                                              ?          
11. Check on progress of PC repairs over at Geek Squad. 
          (Thank God Mac always works.)                                     5
12. Zzzzzz....boring, huh?

Thoughts for the day....

(Tonight's post is by AnonymousNFS)

 
We drop to 12th in rate of college grads. We close school in Hawaii on  
Fridays. In California, state workers stay home. In DC, metro  
escalators lie broken and dormant, while people climb down the stairs  
and ride in 30-year-old cars that are no longer safe. Around the  
country, teachers, firefighters, nurses and others worry about keeping  
their jobs.
 
The reason, they tell us, is money. There isn’t enough of it.
 
At the same time, a tiny few of the super rich pledge to give away  
half of their money, at least when they die. Perhaps it is in  
anticipation of this private dole that the Republicans fight to keep  
the Bush tax cuts for the super wealthy?
 
Does no one else think this is nuts?
 
We should not just restore the pre-Bush tax rates; we should restore  
taxes to the rates of the 1960s. We should open our schools, pay our  
cops, help our young people graduate, and stop an insanity that--in a  
land where free once meant equal--borders on criminal.

Streets of DC cluttered with politicians!

Crossing the street by Starbucks, who do you suppose I ran into this afternoon just before the deluge hit?  Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. They were out flacking for the Washington Nationals baseball game.  Who wouldn't want to spend a baseball game talking with these two guys??  Only problem is, the game is in *gack* Arizona today.  Maybe Abe and Teddy are staying away cuz of the immigration flap down there, but they still want to show their support for the Nats!!  Go, Nats!  Beat the crap outta Arizona!!!