“At least,” my daughter tells me, “We learn about countries we’d never hear about otherwise.” This on the second day of summer vacation and about 15 minutes after a tedious lecture on the short, sad history of Yugoslavia. We’re watching the USA get beat by Slovenia in World Cup action while the angry bees in the stands sound as if they approve. This is how we bond as a family, learn about the world, and generally pass the time these days – sports.
Monthly Archives: June 2010
Public and Private
Like any good urban dispute, it seems simple enough on the surface. Along a stretch of golf course known as the Town and Country Club there is no sidewalk, but many people walk there. A well-worn dirt path to the bus stop seems out of place in the middle of the city, so paving it with concrete to look like the rest of Marshall Avenue is only logical. But is this something that the club should be charged $42,850 for – and be held responsible for keeping clean from now on? It won’t benefit them or their members, but this is how we build sidewalks in Saint Paul. A suit has been filed to stop it.
A court case over a sidewalk may seem trivial, but it’s a great illustration of how the public realm is a kind of neglected after-thought based on The Way Things Are™.
Swearing
The first thing anyone wants to know when they learn a language is usually the bad words. It is important if you want to understand people at their worst. For example, the refs for the World Cup match between England and the USofA did their part to brush up on how the players would be taunting each other. But as practical as learning the swear words has become, we still have our limits as to when we can use them. It’s just that those limits are fading fast.
Nurses’ Strike
Yesterday Minnesota was home to the largest nurses’ strike anyone can remember – 12,000 nurses picketing 14 hospitals. There was a sea of red-shirted union members outside of United Hospital here in Saint Paul, including many from a new generation that hasn’t seen a labor action before. Today, they are back at work without a contract. The action was taken not for more pay or benefits but for something we all take for granted from a hospital – the nurses simply do not feel that the long hours they put in are reasonable or safe. I, for one, cannot believe that it has come to this.
Narrowing
The following is a repeat from two years ago. It’s a topic I’ve had on my mind as I wallow in a few details for a while. When I came across this piece in my archives I was hoping to riff off of it to create a new piece, but I decided that I like it just the way it is. I hope you do, too.
When a child first opens its eyes, it has no idea what it is looking at. All it has are bizarre images and an imagination that works to make sense of it all.
In between is a sense of wonder, the deep feeling that it all makes sense somehow if you just keep drinking it in. That, and keep playing with it.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 