Depression Baby

   I recently viewed Ken Burns documentary of the dust bowl.   In the depths of the great depression families of the dust bowl suffered almost unimaginable hardships and through the strength of the human spirit survived either in place or by moving on to new locations.    My maternal grandfather and family emigrated to South Dakota in the 1910's to try find greater opportunity.   He and my maternal grandmother were immigrants from the Netherlands before that and had established a successful farm in upstate New York.  However, my grandfather had a wanderlust.   The new venture was a disaster because of a drought starting in 1910.   My mother who was born in 1906 vividly remembered the difficulties of their time South Dakota decades after my grandfather gave up and returned to New York State.   Just like the people of the 1930's dust bowl, some of my ancestors stuck it out and other such as my grandfather gave up a moved to more verdant areas.
   This all leads me to think of my parents as optimists.   I was a depression baby!  Born in 1935 in the depths of the depression to a mother who had been widowed by her early twenties.   My father owned no property but basically ran the home farm for the benefit of his mother and special needs brother after his father died when he was 17.   Those were hard times.  We weren't exactly dirt poor but we were close to that at times.   Because we were farmers, we never lacked for food.  However, there was little money for other amenities.   No running water or central heat.  An outhouse served for waste disposal.   The good news for us depression babies is that things markedly improved in the 1940's in spite of World War II or perhaps as a result of it.

Sad State of My Boyhood Home

    Most of my cohort of depression babies of my area moved on the successful lives.  Many stayed where they grew up and prospered in the local economy often in the trades or in farming.  Others went on to professional careers in teaching, business, and nursing.   It is good to reflect on the strength of the human spirit that survives and thrives beyond the worst of times.

Let Sleeping Babies Lie

  I still can't believe I am a geezer enough to be a double great grandfather.   But truly that is the case and the two great granddaughters are gems.   Fortunately they live close enough for us to visit and see first hand their progress.   The magic of Facebook with modern parents gives us almost daily updates on their development but there is nothing like an hour or two with them.
   Sunday we had chance to visit Keelin and her parents in Binghampton.  Keelin is the daughter of grandson Tamdan and his wife Haley.  They both have busy, busy lives but were gracious enough to give up some Sunday time for our visit.   Keelin was awake and happy when we arrived and I held her for a while until she became a bit fussy.   I am skilled at a number of things but the maternal side is underdeveloped so she ended up being handed off to Nancy.   Although Keelin remained alert for a while sucking on her pacifier, it wasn't long before she was sound asleep.   See photo below.   Ah well, for those of us more senior folks that suffer frequent sleep interruption,  the sight of the pure contentment of a sleeping baby is a gift.   And yes it is wise to let sleeping babies lie!

Great Granddaughter Keelin

Back of the House

     In the restaurant business there is the front of the house and the back of the house.   The front is where the food is consumed and the back is where it is prepared.  I think that all organizations have back and front parts of their operations.  A week or so ago I took a stroll on the Cornell campus and focused on the activities comprising the "back of the house" support for teaching and research.  A couple of photos below show the kind of support we are grateful to have.

Painter

      Ski areas sure have a lot of "back of the house" activity to deliver a fun time on the slopes.   One needs to appreciate the lift attendants, snow groomers, ski patrollers, ticket sellers and mechanics who keep the whole operation going.   Many thanks to all those support people who make our time on the slopes enjoyable.   As the new season approaches I think I will try to more fully appreciate all those good people in any organization that are the unsung workers in the "back of the house".  I look forward to another season of feasting on the slopes.

Traffic Control

What's Your Lens?

   When explaining to me the reason for a book's or person's point of view my wife will tell me that a particular lens has been used.   I guess it means that the view is shaped by the distortions or focus that the metaphorical lens imposes on the situation.   Recently I  have been musing about the variety of lenses people use to view the world.
    Several recent events that I have experienced have underlined the importance understanding different points of view.   As many of  us anticipate the onset of the new ski season we react in a number of ways.   For the geezers who have 30, 40 or even 50 seasons under their belt there can still be an enthusiastic anticipation of one more great season on the slopes.  We can hope for lots of snow, great conditions, and another year enjoying the camaraderie of our associates and friends.  Even after so many yeas of skiing we can still feel the stir of excitement that we initially experienced in our first year of skiing.
   A week or so ago when we had a turn of colder weather, one of my Cornell associates stopped by my office on her way to coffee and asked me if I was looking forward to the ski season.   Her visit was prompted by not only her own anticipation of a new ski season, but more so by her 4-year old son's expectation to be skiing in a few days.   Observing his enthusiasm through veteran skier's eyes is heartwarming.   May he have lifetime pleasure at the sport.   In these early stages, his lens tells him he is an expert skier.  However, his mother's view holds at least more instruction to keep him in control and safe on the slope.
    This past week I also attended my 60th High School Class Reunion.   Our class of 28 graduates have met several times in the years following our graduation.   In the early years post graduation we did not meet.  However, we did begin to meet with our 25th reunion.   Our 50th was our biggest bash with the highest attendance.  Post the 50th we have had a lunch or dinner meeting almost annually.   At these gatherings the lens guiding the discussion tends to point to the past.   Certainly we have many good shared memories.   However, I sometimes find the sole discussion of the past depressing.   I prefer to view life focused on the future and enjoying the things yet to come.
    To conclude, I prefer to focus on the now and the future.   As an example, on my commute to the office, I try to put myself in the mindset of the artist, the agriculturalist, the naturalist. I can enjoy the rain, the sunlight, the cloud formations, falling leaves, new buds,  harvested fields, and especially the progress of new construction projects.   Onward good people.   I plan to make my lens pointing forward and as rosy as possible.
 

No Longer Valued

    Conversation with my colleagues during my coffee breaks today centered around the evolution of education in my academic discipline.   In my early career and education the identity was engineering applied to agriculture.  We were concerned about agricultural machinery, farm structures, electrification, soil and water involving drainage and tillage and so on.   Our education focused on assuring that our students were well versed in mathematics, engineering principles and engineering design.   We were agricultural engineers.
    However, by the late 1980's the advances of biological sciences began to intrude upon our domain.  The focus on the physical began to be replaced by a burgeoning emphasis on biology and the engineering of biological systems.  In part our knowledge in the traditional engineering disciplines and agriculture was subsumed by the biological revolution.   As chair of my department in the late 1980's I recall writing about the coming emphasis on biology and the opportunities it afforded for our institution.   Educationally we needed to evolve to become a biological engineering discipline.   Some aspects of our traditional knowledge certainly no longer had the same value.  And perhaps it became no longer relevant to the needs of our students and society.  To remain valued and relevant we had to change both as mid or even late career faculty to embrace the new norm.   We did change.   From Agricultural and Biological Engineering in name  and practice starting 1988 to Biological and Environmental Engineering in the 2000's.   In the new normal we manipulate  biological systems with an engineering mind set to produce devices, processes and products relevant to the new world.   From this point on, the debate will be about how we need to adapt our education to be relevant for the next generation.   Perhaps we need to give our graduates not just the tools for the current environment, but also instill in them attitudes and capabilities to adapt to new paradigms.
     As I review the history of technology it is clear that some things we once valued become irrelevant as new technology evolves.  At one time the ability to operate a telegraph key was a prized skill.  With the advent of radio, television  and now the internet that skill is irrelevant.   In the early stages of computer programming, skill in machine language was prized since speed and memory were limited.  Today with massively parallel computing these older skills are much less relevant.
    Finally in my musing about value and relevance I conclude that all of us have a need to feel and be valued by someone or some institutional entity.  Even though we may no longer be operating at the cutting edge of intellectual creativity we still can remain relevant.

Life Lessons

   I just read of the tragic death of a 22 year old West Pointer from a accidentally self inflicted gunshot wound.   While demonstrating his weapon to some friends he removed the magazine and then for whatever reason he pointed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger.  Unfortunately a round had remained in the chamber and he was fatally wounded.   As a youngster, I grew up with guns in the home.  They were all long guns used for hunting deer, squirrel, rabbits etc.   My father had a severe aversion to hand guns.   He was always safety minded and ingrained in me forever the rule you never pointed your gun at  yourself or any other human being at any time.   This rule was rigidly enforced!   Thus in the 60 years my dad hunted he never inflicted a wound on himself or anyone else.   However, he did not escape the stupidity of a hunting companion.  Fortunately the ammo was bird shot from a significant distance that hit him in the back of his hunting jacket with no penetration of the skin.
    Ownership and use of a gun is a huge responsibility.   In my opinion civilians have little need for a hand gun other than recreational target shooting.   The decision to use a weapon for protection is huge and the margin for error is very small.   The statistics show that the presence of a hand gun in the home sharply raises the probability of accidental death of the residents.
   The young man that died was not as fortunate as I was to have a  responsible father who ingrained safe behavior.   I grieve for his death and for the deaths of all those that die from gunshot wounds.   I am grateful for the life lessons of my father and mother that have protected me in many ways over my life time.

 

Carousel

     A dental appointment took me to Syracuse today so I took this opportunity to visit the Carousel Mall (Destiny?).   A new Apple Store has just opened so I wanted to look at the latest iPads and iPhones.   After my Apple Store visit, I noticed I was in the vicinity of the Food Court which also houses the Carousel.
   The Carousel is a part of my personal history.   During my youth we would occasionally visit Roseland Park in Canandaigua, New York  where I would ride the very Carousel that has been installed in the mall.   This carousel has a long history since it was manufactured in 1909.   After use in many other places this carousel arrived at Roseland Park in 1941 and remained there for 43 years until Roseland Park closed.   The Pyramid Companies of Syracuse purchased it in 1985, restored it, and installed it as the theme piece of the new mall.   I have fond memories of riding this carousel, grabbing the rings from the  supply chute and attempting with my toss to hit the bell with the ring.   Today, about 65 years after my first ride on this carousel I bought my token and took another ride.  Not only did I enjoy my ride, I also enjoyed the looks of pleasure on the faces of the youngsters around me.  However, it didn't seem like the carousel moved as fast as it did when I rode it as a kid. Maybe the modern age safety requirements slowed it down.

The Carousel

A Beautiful Horse - Originally Hand Carved

    Beyond the ride itself there is great beauty in the decorations, mirrors and painted horses.   It is indeed a work of art.   For me the mall at Syracuse will always be the Carousel Mall even if they try to rebrand it Destiny.

A Post Ride Smile

A Dad and His Sons - More Generations of Carousel Riders

On The Horse - Mirror Image