Saturday, August 09, 2003
MAYBE, PERHAPS AND IF
Is it time for a woman to be elected as President of the United States?
In our present era of re-definitions concerning who may do what in religious and temporal offices, the subject keeps coming up, I find. And I also notice, more people seem to be asking “when”, rather than “why” or “why not?”
This has been brought about by the fact that we have recently had more women who are showing distinct and deliberate interest in becoming “that” person.
If I were betting on it, I would say “no” - we will not see a woman in the oval office for some time. We are not quite ready, I'd say in a “grass roots sense “ whatever that term may mean to you and you. It will be achieved, in time, because there is, to me, no sound no reason why the office should be keep for males only. Many nations have had their Queens, Empresses, Presidents, Premiers, Prime Ministers and have done well in such times.
We can see a gradual progression toward such a climate. The word is now “when” and no longer “if”.
It is made more urgent with some recent addition to the potential troop of men who are seeking to be the nominee of the Democratic Party.
I still expect Hillary Clinton to seek the nomination of next years election. To me, it is a “now or never” situation. The impetus of her attainments to this time will not endure for four additional years. Much depends, for instance, on how the assistance being offered by the Clinton team to the beleaguered California “Recall Election” procedures works out. Notice, too, how many legislative bills Hillary Clinton has co-sponsored as a Senator. These are “back scratching” arrangements with each of them, and they number far in excess of the usual few and in a wide gamut, as well.
One might think the confusion caused by the complex movements the herd of Democratic hopefuls, could work to Clinton's advantage. It can. If Democrats come to see a Dean ticket as being too weak, she can rush in to “save the party” from possible extinction. Now, with an urgent tendency toward variety, the party could become even more fragmented and lose its overall identity with voters. “One size fits all” may work with some clothing items but not with political parties.
When a Democrat has to be as as a special breed of Democrat - "Kennedy“ “Old,” “Clinton”, “LBJ”, “North”, “South”, “East”,”West” or “Civil Rights” Democrat ... something vital has been lost. I have a feeling the so-called “Black Vote” has changed more than we realize, especially in non-metro areas.
The “If” elements seem to be in control; the “Perhaps” opinions are beginning to make sense and the “Maybe” factors more eager to become real. We shall see... and soon.
A.L.M. August 9, 2003 [c496wds]
Friday, August 08, 2003
SCARS
We my be able to cover and care for the wound and bring the tissues back to a reasonable state of health, but we cannot always prevent the formation of a scar to remind us of the injury.
The same is true of so many of the disappointments and tragedies and disappointments of our lives. We can forget the spate of school killings which haunted us for months in 1999, or the September 11th attacks and the Beltway shootings - and far too many other such event in our individual lives.
At times one might think they had best be left alone, at least for a time, until the horror elements fade a bit. It is difficult to see how regular re-runs of all the details can help survivors in any way.
It is done, very often, with a pretense of finding out what “really happened”. At least that is the reason I hear so often when by-gone events are being brought to the forefront again by TV, radio or the print media. Such actions can,if done thoughtlessly, destroy the confidence we have in our legal procedure and to suggest that something was amiss which ought to be set straight.
Sometimes I feel the real reason we tend to revive such events, is that we have never been convinced of “why" it all happened as it did. The element of “why ”is the spur to continued investigation. We examine the record and find nothing new. The big question mark looms through the fog: Why?
There is an unknowable quality there which we wonder about. The ancient religious person performed a mikvah - a purification bath - to remove such stains and scars, and a re-telling haunting events may help some individuals feel better about the past. If it helps them build for a better future - fine, but if it leaves them still in doubt it can lead only to ultimate despair.
Too often, the scar remains.
A..L.M. August 5, 2003 [c328wds]
Thursday, August 07, 2003
RIGHT NOW!
It has become acceptable in our present system of “eternity” elections for political candidates to start running for reelection as soon as the get in. By the time election day itself actually arrives, many of us are sated with statements explaining what has not been done.
Next years presidential election started far too soon for us to maintain any sort of impetus until election day arrives. Everything to be said will have been repeated many times over, edited, re-worded, reclassified or denied far in excess of normal TV, press, radio and Internet capabilities. About all that's left is outdoor advertising which points to the physical location of the polls. We are rapidly coming to the point of asking: ”Who cares?”
Lack of attendance at the voting booths might well be tied to this lagging interest in elections as they wander along through months of bickering and badgering. Shorter runs might save some money and get more voters to the polls. An average voter is not going to sustain praise for his candidate for such a long time.
England is among those nations which have shorter runs for the political roses, or whatever may be at stake. Their's is more of a “race” and stronger interest is created over a shorter time span. Our elongated election periods not only give the citizen a better chance to really get to know the candidates as set forth. In some cases they come to know too much about specific office seekers ambitions and become either connivers or quitters. We have an average of around twenty-per cent of our qualified voters who actually vote. That is not good.
Thus far, the field has been one made up largely of Democratic party runners. The incumbent seems rather secure, but the lines of potential spoilers seems to increase ever week. Even if we still get a few “Johnny-Come-Lately” aspirants, they will still be in time to get in on the 2104 elections. A fresh face, a strong personality, a well-known name, or a well-financed campaign could well work some last-minute wonders for the Democratic Party.
Both major parties need to work toward some positive ways in which voter participation can be improved. Shorter campaigns with more intense activity, may well be the answer. Active “politicking” does not appeal to a great many people who wish to be less demonstrative and more discreet about likes and dislikes. Moral values play a far greater role in our elections than some experts seem to feel they do. Such feelings are intensified by long periods for discussion. A short campaign period would help allay many such feelings - real or imaginary.
.A.L.M. Aug. 3, 2003 [c413wds]
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
ASC#2 - WE SING THE SONG
The old ballad is officially listed as Child #201, in case your wish to check out other versions.
It is titled: “The Twa Lassies”,or “Bessie Bell and Mary Gray”andit came to the Shenandoah Valley from Scotland by way of Ireland the early 1730's tells the story of two young girls who, to escape the ravages of the deadly plague sweeping their homeland in the year of 1645. The two girls placed themselves in voluntary quarentine near the crest of a large hill...a "'mountain"' in some tellings, where they build a hut in which to live.
Food was brought to them by a village lad who left the supplies nearby without contacting them in any way.
Most of the ballad has been los. .We have two fragments...the first verse and part of the concluding one.
You must translate rather freely for their version of our mutuaL language was somewhat different from our usage today.
“O Bessy Bell and Mary Gray!
They were twa bonnie lasses.
They biggit a bower on yon Burn-Brae,
And theekit it ower wi' rashes.
They theekit it ower wi' rashes green.
They happit it round wi' heather;
But the pest cam' frae the burrows-toun,
A slew them baith thegither.”
We have lost the melody to which the ballad was sung, of course, but fit one to it on your own and sing those words as best you can.word. They will begin to clarify themselves with familiarity. Bonnie becomes pretty;, biggit becomes built;...teekit become thicken or cover; rashes are rushes; happit equals some form of decorate and pest means pestilence. Borrows and towns are not unfamiliar ...the died both together. Let it all flow naturally and you will be ready for the final verse - the only other portion of the old song which has endured.
“They thought to lie in Methven Kirk,
Beside their gentle kin;
But they maun lie in Dronach Haugh,
And beak fornent the sin.
O Bessie Bell and May Gray!
They biggit a bower on yon BurnBrae,
An theekit it ower wi' rashes.
They theekit it ower wi”rashs green.
The happit ut riound wi' heather;
But the pest cam' frae the burrows- taun,
An' skew them baith thegither.”
Remember, this is the last verse of the old song. The girls, it seems, would have wanted to be buried in the area churchyard, but that was not to be. The strange line ”and beak fornent the sin.” seems to explain why hey were buried on the hillside where they died. I have yet to find anyone who can translate that line.
In time, we will look at the site and situation as it exists today. The two girls have not been forgotten. The twin hills at Staunton,Virginia are memorials and two identical hills exist in Tyrone County, Ireland - so named by Scot immigrants to Ireland before their passage to America. If you like, we will talk about them at another time.
A.L.M. August 5, 2003 [c542wds]
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
TWA BONNIE LASSIES (ASC #1)*
Have you ever wondered what the early settlers here in this Shenandoah Valley of Virginia did to entertain themselves?
It was self-made; you can count on that. And,there must have been a great deal of singing at times.
We have fragments of one Scottish ballad which, by way of Ireland, reached these shores and welled up from the hearts and souls of the first Irish to come into the Valley. They remembered their homeland and its traditions and tales and rephrase them to suit their need. In a sense, it was sung, were other such ballads, not only to treasure and sustain stories of love and romance or of adventure and danger but for comfort found in familiarity. These people, around 1730, faced the a wilderness in a very real sense, and they sustained themselves and each other by recounting memories of attainments and courageous actions in their past.
You can “see” this particular song I mentioned every time you visit Staunton, Virginia - in its early days known as Beverley's Mill Place. It was, at that time, about nine miles south of Augusta Meeting House on the Old Indian Trail. You “see” the song in the form of two dominant hills - ”mountains” to some folks. In time, you will come to know them by their proper names: “Betsy Bell” and “Mary Gray”.
There is a local story saying that the hills were named after two girls from the settlements killed by Indians, but there seems to be little truth in the tale because Indian raids did not become common until some years later.
The song itself was almost lost to us. We have only the first and last verses.
We sometimes forget the languages of our forebears was unlike our own in many ways, so much so that even these fragments need some translation. They will, however, easily come to have meaning for you if you just relax and let it all flow....
“O Bessie Bell and Mary Gray
They were two bonnie lasses ....”
Notice, we prefer the old Scottish selling the first name: Bessie Bell, rather than the harsher, clipped “Betsy”. It was Bessie in the old song.
The were real girls. Tradition holds they were pretty (“bonnie”) young girls, as well. The names are of Scottish origin and records indicate Mary Gray's father was Laird of Lednoch – sometimes spelled as “Lyndocks”. Bessie Bell's father was Laird of Kinvaid.
An intimate friendship sprang up between the two young girls and when Bessie was visiting Mary in her home – the year would have been 1645, the terror known as “The Plague”struck the neighborhood. In an attempt to escape the pestilence, the two girls went into seclusion. The constructed a hut
or, bower, for themselves on a hill near Lednoch House and lived there ,in quarantine, for some time. They covered their bower all over with rushes, green reeds and decorated it with heather.
But the plague raged on in great fury,and a young man who loved both - his name lost forever with the missing verses of the song - brought them – and also- in time – the plague as well!
Next: ASC#2* - ”WE SING THE SONG.” - a closer look at the old ballad itself. his will be the second a series of essays titled ASC dealing, in some way, with the history of Augusta Stone Presbyterian Church, of Fort Defiance,Virginia.
A.L.M. August 4, 2003 [c608wds]
Monday, August 04, 2003
THE LOWLY RAT
The common rat - in a variety of sizes – has been universally detested and hated by mankind. Yet, this basic beast has serve us well in many ways - actually saved human lives as well as having brought about the death of many.
The steady use of the rat as a helper has been because the laboratory rat studies which are intended to improve the physical condition of Man can be carried on over several generations of rats. Comparative figures concerning body functions and reactions in various bodily structures can be studied in a readily accessible form. The role of the rat has been largely a passive one. All the rat usually has had to do is to be present.
His newest job, however , has been a bit more demanding.
Tested under discreetly “fenced” conditions, it has been found that rats – trained to do so - can sniff out buried land mines. The breed of rats selected is one which learns quickly and retains much of what is has been taught. It retains enough procedural knowledge to enable it to seek out the exact locations of deadly mines.
Initial shipments such rats were sent to Africa for field testing under actual combat conditions. In the controlled tests the questing rodent was “turned loose”on a light leash, to go seeking the scent of the mine over a set are. They are trained to sit when they find such a scent. The spot is then marked with paint spray and the rat is fed a reward. He will eagerly search for other such locations to merit additional food treats.
The rat is even more suited to this mine sniffing task than dogs trained in the same way. They are smaller, lighter and can be transported with greater ease and fr greater numbers if needed. The life span of a rat, though shorter than that of some dogs used in such work, shortens their usefulness, but the rat is better suited to the task because of his special special sense of smell. The rat's sense of is higher developed because his entire life depends on it this ability. It is his natural way of seeking food. in common with the squirrel, perhaps, which goes around all summer burying nuts and seeds. He has no knowledge of where he puts them and when winter comes he has to go sniffing all over the area again to locate his hidden stores ...or those hidden by other squirrels. The mine sniffing project puts the natural instinct of the rat to good use.
Feel sorry for the rat? Is this cruel treatment of animals? Far less, one might say, than lab work done on thousands of rats. The rat does not like the explosive materials as food, so he does not attempt to dig up the land min he has found. None knows, for sure, how the rats will act under broader conditions. Trainers are pretty sure that if a rat is released on its own on more than an acre or so of land, he or she will wander off and be lost, so a thin wire leash must be used, at least to start with, in field operations which are supposed have been started by this time.
Watch the news for the role of the rat. His work may well go unreported.
A.L.M.. August 2, 2003 [c497wds]
Sunday, August 03, 2003
SHARE THE HEALTH
Today, be the unusual person you are!
You are unique, even if you don't claim to be. You are, in many ways set apart from all others.
And if you enjoy good health you are especially blessed.
If, perchance, you have been very ill, you know how valued good health can be. To keep it, learn to share it with others.
Did I just hear you say.... “that can't be done?”
It can.. And, very easily, too.
To start with, let your happiness show. If you have good health you can smile if you choose to do so, or you withdraw into a corner and smugly make believe you can hide it. Happiness cannot be hidden. It will out, in spite of everything one might attempt to confute it.
So - let your happiness show! You cannot be other than happy if you have wellness or major portion thereof. To be in good health simply means that the physical mechanisms of your body are in sync - physical, mental and emotional parts... all working together with ease and assurance. Isn't happiness pretty much the same as that. at emotional and mental levels?
Listen for that tiny note of hope in their voices! Be ready to see the glint or faint glimmer in their eyes agreeing that much is right with this World.
For the good of all - share the Health!
A.L.M. August 2, 2003 [c251wds]
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