A Just and Beautiful City -- A special graduation in Orange, NJ

I spent Saturday afternoon with community visionaries! Friends, neighbors, and family who are envisioning Orange, NJ, aka HatCity!, for the 21st century! The occasion? The University of Orange community graduation!
Complete with a magnificent organ rendering of Pomp and Circumstance, three doctorate degrees were awarded to longtime residents, Mrs. Ruth Tanaka, Mrs. Mary White, and Dr. Charles Steiner.
In a video interview, Mrs. Tanaka's grandson told the story of Mrs. Tanaka's experience with Executive Order 9066 (Relocation of Japanese American citizens); Mrs. White shared her ties to Orange and finding just the right place to raise of family; and Dr. Steiner told of his generational attachment and honor of being involved with Orange.
Citizens John Rappaport and Derek Griggs spoke briefly about the importance of participating in one's community. Dr. Mindy Fullilove handily emceed the program along with Molly Kaufman and Patricia Fullilove.
What does it take to have a Just and Beautiful City? Citizens actively involved in what happens. How to participate in the community University of Orange? Check the website for activities or design a course (more about that later). How to graduate from the UofO?

• Vote
• Attend a City Meeting
• Take two UofO courses
• Have Fun with Your Neighbor
• Volunteer

Registration is required.

I can't wait to see the photos for the day because in homage to the economic history of Orange everyone was required to wear a hat!!! Yeah! HatCity!

P.S. There was a reception, of course, afterwards -- the food was wonderful -- from Libretti's Restaurant and the Sanitary Bakery!

P.S. Thanks to Tia Aery, IHN, and Anthony Mark LaMort, First Presbyterian Church of Orange, for their contributions and presence!

Check out University of Orange!! http://www.universityoforange.org/

The Gulf Oil Spill

...reports in the media annoy and rile me as someone who feels an affinity to South Louisiana. When the oil rig explosion happened and I offhandedly commented that OMG this would be beyond the Katrina catastrophe few within earshot cared. Now they do.

I recalled a science project my then 13 year old researched ten years after the Exxon Valdez. I couldn't find her document but I found her tri-fold display. Interesting to note how limited the public understands about the danger of crude oil. "...[Crude oil] clings to everything, covering pores, fins, gills, clogging any opening, and coagulating feathers, fur, and hair. The fumes are toxic making anyone or any animal breathing them dizzy or worse, causing asphyxiation....The oil harms microorganisms, plankton, bottom dwelling organisms, coral, anemone, and larval fish..."

In other words, tourism may be hurt now in the Gulf states but the very livelihoods of of the wetlands populations are in dire trouble.

The state of ....

CHAOS!!!

Economy --- I get annoyed every time I watch the Sunday weekly news shows and smug, well-heeled news-pundits postulate on whether the economy is slowly recovering or if its the Obama administrations lack of agressiveness or if the Obama administration is doing what it can or whose fault what is!! The middle-middle class is taking all the hits!! The middle-middle class eats and lives the American dreamlike aspiration of life and pays, and pays, and pays. The middle-middle class teeters on losing big because most are employed (on the up-side) and stuck (on the down-side) in oppressive debt, ineligible or unwilling to risk the legacy of bankruptcy, or to meet the criteria for help so the middle-middle class is trapped and holding its breath hoping to make it through from day to day without some personal crisis siphoning off the little security that exists.

Employment -- The conumdrum --- How does the average person have money to spend? They work for it. Where does the average person seek employment? Well that depends on where they live, the culture or economic class they identify with, how well one is able to use one's level of education to acquire work that is meaningful and not demeaning, which depends on a person's outlook on life. What are you qualified and willing to do? What employer needs you and can hire you and not the daughter or son or relative of a spouse/friend/ or acquaintance. Employment is easy for the talented, skilled, and well-connected. The average, occasionally brilliant, but very reliable, too often thought of as mediocre population has an employment problem.

Taking time to reorganize

Staying organized is a habit of mind that one must exercise daily.

Snow, later in the day...

Stopping By Woods

On A Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it's queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there's some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Rambling on a Snow Day!

Feb. 26th, 2010

Softly, silently, floating by
crystalline, whirling lacy traces from the sky....

Want to read poems about the snow?

http://www.blackcatpoems.com/s/snow_poems.html

What does one do on a snow day? Some of the things that you have been putting off to do at home, get through essays and responses you were planning to score anyway only now you can do it without feeling the pressure of minding your time before the next class begins, and meeting the commitment to do some "seat time" for writing.

Ah yes, those are the comfortable parts about a snow day. Now, for the sort of downside: having to deal with clearing sidewalks, driveways, steps, wet shoes/boots, jackets. I said sort of because as long as I feel good I really don't mind dealing with any of that either (besides I have help).

Looking out a window I see... A snow laden tree -- beautiful, inspirational, calming in a sense, even when it masks impending danger.

Then there are the sounds - breaking, cracking, slissh, whooshing, falling, pweff! - a sinister, no, secretive woo of the wind still carrying the silent flurry of flakes.

After moving more north than south, I very much remember my first reaction to waking in the middle of the night to look out of a window to see if it was snowing. "the breast of the new fallen snow, gave the lustre of midday" popped into my head at the breathtaking sight.

Having grown up where the average winter temperature was in the 40s in January, 50s to 60s in November/December, it was not unusual for the temperatures to range from 30 degrees to 75 degrees. Fog I knew well, having walked out my front door into a foggy day. Snow was a fairytale; on the other hand, well, there were frosty mornings, cold enough to freeze the dew before sunrise quickly began to warm the day. (Yes, half the fun of growing up is being outdoors-- witness to the dawning of a new day, examining grass for dewdrops.) Snow -- was on the news, in movies, in photos in the newspaper -- but not an expected event in south Louisiana.

I do remember one time we did have a "snow accumulation." There was such excitement in the house! We younger siblings barely had on our coats as we followed our brother out with a cup to scoop up the watery, icy stuff before it just became wetness on the grass. He said we could freeze the snow and save it for later to look at after dinner. Well, if you don't know how that turned out then you haven't been around little kids with warm hands.

Snow was stuff you put on "flocked" Christmas trees. Artificial snow was available for purchase in a can from the hardware store. We used the canned snow to "frost" the squares of the large picture window that let the sunlight flood the living room by day. I think I recall that canned snow was found to cause cancer and all sorts of ailments. I expect the formula has been improved. Of course, we didn't exactly ask mother if we could "play" with the "snow." Every time she found us doing something she thought might cause a problem we were scolded, but hey we weren't thinking about our safety -- we were kids who wanted to play in the snow even if it came in a can.

We played pretend snow storm once or twice by tearing up bits of toilet paper, or starting a pillow fight and sending feathers flying! Needless to say, that was trouble for us. The cleaning up after our "snow storm" was not fun and back then, no one made us hot cocoa for our efforts!

Ah! childhood!

Oh well, I guess I'll go help shovel.

How this got started

As a veteran teacher in search of meaningful professional development I had the pleasure of taking a course with the NJ Council for the Humanities the summer of 2009. It was a week-long course entitled The 20th Century and the African American Experience. I truly not only enjoyed the week and learned more than I had expected, I also decided to break through my fear of tackling new technologies -- yes, blogging. Well, let's see how that went.

First of all, deciding what to blog was a challenge, then learning how to set up a blog and doing it was another challenge, and then trying to figure out how to maintain the blog was a another challenge. Nevertheless, I was inspired and managed to launch my blog. Although I did not keep at it the way I had hoped I would I am going to try again.

So, if you happen to visit and want to know about last summer's wonderful professional development experience you have to read my past entries. If you just want to see what happens here next, then just check in from time to time.