View From Here

Yes. Lawn mowing videos. Water drainage videos. And now, pressure washing. Fascinating. All tasks needed to be done. All routine. All physical. All motion based. As dirt cascades from flat surfaces outdoors, bright clean tomorrows beckon. Satisfying, this work. Quieting, calming. Soothing lives ruffled by other happenings. Neat and tidy we can make the world around us. The size of that world is tiny, of course, but it is our world. We neaten it. We can clean it. We can appreciate it up close and personal. So much of the world is beyond such control. Especially when that control has ends we don’t agree with or even understand. Making something great is exciting. The unmaking it appears to be also exciting. But which is preferred? And by whom? Pressure washing is not the topic here. Nor lawn mowing. Or finding ways to drain excess water from places we don’t want to be awash. No. the topic is order itself. Perhaps that is why the current administration in the USA is such a bot...

Yep, we will discuss draining water from unwanted places. Notably, flooded streets and public areas as one such place, and country landscapes as another. The latter has much to do with plugged culverts usually running under roadways, as well as beaver dams which muck up drainage requirements for open lands. Beaver dams. Creative and effective engineering marvels accomplished by small, furry rodent-like creatures living in the wild. Such videos are readily available on YouTube. Watching passersby crouch down by a curb of a flooded street, they are reaching blindly below the water’s surface to find drainage grilles and openings, sweeping away masses of leaves and clutter that plug the drain so water can once again find escape. This is how streets, intersections and parking lots are cleared of standing water during storms. These heroes struggle to create the desired whirlpool that means drainage is happening. The eddy means an escapeway has been found and the water flows eagerly out o...

Today we remember the lives lost in defending our nation and way of life. All lives lost in an act of war are remembered this day. People asserting the right of our nation to exist and live its promise to its people. Life. Liberty. Pursuit of happiness. Equality. Equity. In all of our diversity. In all of our inclusion in society and one another. It has become our birthright. Our American identity. And yet in 2025, on this day, we are witnessing the loss of many of those things from within our own social order. The poor get poorer and more disrespected. The sick and elderly become more set aside and ignored, uncared for. People of color and nationalities not our own, are discriminated against and targeted. People in uniforms arrest people on the street and spirit them away to detention and a flight to a foreign land. People with correct papers, identities and lives of American purpose, are dumped outside our borders and separated from their families.  The legislature – House of Rep...

The trip from West Chicago to downtown Chicago was more arduous than I remembered. Traffic. Much too much traffic. Bumper to bumper and side to side, all at 60 to 75 miles per hour. That was when we were moving; when we weren’t moving, stopped dead in a quagmire of steel on rubber on asphalt. It was Sunday. Daughter Liz was driving me, her mom (my ex) Ann along for the reverie. Along the way we picked up youngest granddaughter Kira from her downtown Depaul campus. We wended our way to Lake Shore Drive and headed south. Down along the lake with the burgeoning skyline to our right. Countless buildings looming where they once were not, at least in our memory. Through thick traffic we did not recall, we reached Midway Plaisance and drove west toward the University of Chicago. Our goal was to visit the previous site of the Chicago Theological Seminary where I was once enrolled in 1968. That’s 57 years ago! Nearly 60 years. Gosh. I knew the seminary building had been bought by the U of...

Lawns being cut. Landscapes being changed. Transformations of homesites happening before our eyes. On YouTube. Everyday. Hours and hours of lawn mowing. It’s fascinating. Alluring even. Something about orderliness? Something about simple logical actions making a difference? What is it about these hours of TV viewing that attract so much attention? My attention. I stumbled on these YouTube videos one day several weeks ago. I’ve been drawn to them daily ever since. I know I am not the only one, else they wouldn’t be readily available to watch. Are you watching them as well? Is this a male thing? Or is it of interest to both genders? I have not talked with my son about this yet. I think he will be interested, but somehow, I don’t think he will have heard of them yet. Or even watched them. We have shared the thought that mowing a lawn is somehow very satisfying. In my homeowning days when yard work was an ever-present demand, I dreaded the time demand to do the work, even some of t...

It was June 10 th or so, 1965. I was a fresh college graduate living in Chicago. My parents had dropped me off at my new apartment and driven back to Syracuse, New York. I was alone, really alone. For the first time. I had a new car, a poppy red Mustang with an all-white interior. Fun car. New home. Vast new city. All to explore in my new car. So, I ventured forth and drove just about everywhere. Downtown Chicago for starters. Lake Shore Drive for certain. Far north first, then south as far as I dared go. Must have been Hyde Park or so. I really didn’t know where I was so needed reassurance that the expressway system seemed familiar and had directional signs, or the lake was firmly visible. The lake is always east of Chicago. That’s the first thing people told me. Remember that and you won’t be lost. I remember those early days well. One thing was the noise. Traffic was constant, not just the jumble of vehicles, but the noise they made. The occasional motorcycle, too. Vroom, vroom...

I received a number of thoughtful replies to my question about writing a book. All respondents urged me on. Write! They said. Finish the book, even if it only benefits one person. And that would be OK with me.  The book is an intellectual goal, not a financial one, although the dollars would be welcome. A realist, I doubt very much that the book will sell well enough to amount to much. That’s as it should be, really; books should be written to complete complex thoughts so as to mean something in the larger world. The writer feels it is right but most always doesn’t know that. That’s where the feeling enters the picture! The upshot is that I have resumed writing the book. Bits and pieces at first, but I continue to complete my original outline. Momentum is restarting and words are flowing. In a few weeks I shall know whether this will lead to completion. You are my witnesses! The blog will continue as well. Something tells me there is a connection between the book and the 14 yea...

Or your future. The process I will cover here can be used by anyone. Perhaps you have already used it? Or perhaps someone you know? Whenever I question what lies ahead for me, I begin writing lists. Such as, what are my interests, the kind of things that capture my attention quickly and keep my focus on them. Also, what kind of activities do I enjoy doing? If I can match interests with activities, it seems something good will click. Before jotting down the lists, it helps to clearly articulate what the situation is that is causing this lack of focus in the first place. In my case, it is simply this: nearing 82 years of age, my future seems dim if not without purpose. What options lie before me to explore to rectify this situation? Of course, your current situation is likely very different from mine. Maybe something like: out of work for 6 months, now what do I do with my experience, talents and interests? It will help to inventory the specifics of your experiences, your talents a...

From an early age, I wondered how the world worked. Well, at first it was how the family worked, life in general, then how school, government and all of that worked. You know, how did rules become laws, become regulations. How did society tell everyone else what was what and how it worked. So many details to keep in mind. So much process. I pondered about all that. I even wrote essays about it to myself. I really did. I don’t know if that is usual or not, but for me it was. I even shared some of those documents with friends in high school. Decades later they shared them back with me and asked if I still thought the same way. Good Lord! No! I have changed my mind many times as I gathered more information and worked on fresh ideas. So, I have witnesses to my behavior! As years became decades and they ticked off life's clock, I felt I understood how America worked. I understood government very well. I even worked for government, was even elected to some minor parts of it and ser...

Many of you know I cleared my SCORE ties to write a book. I quickly wrote seven chapters complete with introduction, table of contents and title. Before last Thanksgiving I took a break from the book, then the rest of the holidays happened, and then I was confronted with a large rent increase. After a couple of months wrestling with rent and apartment decisions, I moved to a smaller unit in the same building. That has been a good choice. But the break from writing the book has become more permanent. I continue to write three blogs weekly. Those flow easily still. But the book? That is still an open question. I ask if a book is even needed. Will anyone read it? Will it have any impact at all? The book is about unleashing the inner person we all harbor. Growth of potential and finding self is a process many of us fail in doing. So many fail to even start the process. The book aims to help that folk journey on. The trek is worth it to them and the rest of us benefit as well. Giv...

I have led a busy life. When not working at career assignments, I donated time and talents to causes I felt were important. I was especially drawn to causes that helped individuals grow and expand their skills and life futures. This involved work in churches, chambers of commerce, university projects and programs, credit unions and SCORE.org. With others I served on a park board of commissioners, a city council, a chamber board and executive committee, credit union boards, and a community newspaper. The latter was something that replaced an earlier paper that went under. We recruited a volunteer group of 32 and produced a quality newspaper weekly for 8 years. I wrote a lot of it. I edited all of it. I was the managing editor for the full 8 years, and together our team worked hard to earn the trust of the community. I think we succeeded at that, but we simply couldn’t attract enough ad revenue to pay the bills or build a solid operating reserve. So, we ended the paper. We mailed the p...

Technology is touted as the end all and be all. Although it is very helpful and provides magical improvements in productivity, it also delivers mountains of frustration to a lot of people. Elders in particular are affected mightily by technology. Especially the rate of change. I filed my income taxes electronically this year and for the previous two years. I also provided a printed form just to be safe. I did all this on January 27 th . I used Turbo Tax. The IRS returned my file on April 16 th , one day after the tax deadline. I don’t know if this will make a difference or not. The IRS didn’t like the printed format of my submission and wanted an inked signature. None of this was necessary because the electronic filing was the primary submission. So, I contacted Turbo Tax for help. None was forthcoming. Technical barriers performed that task. Nearing 82, I didn’t know how or what to do. These days, phone calls don’t work well even if accepted. So, I finally reprinted the 1040 and...

As much as he wants us to believe it, Trump is not the ruler of America, nor of the global community. Yes, his personality and behavior have affected our nation and others greatly. Not for good, but for bad. But he acts not alone. He has a group of movers and shakers in the back rooms of the White House doing the work of Project 2025. Others authored that project and waded through years of work to build it and put it in place. All they needed was a president to be elected who would follow the project and its team of managers. We know who some of these people are, but not all. Besides, they work in networks behind the scenes. And throughout the GOP. That’s what it takes to govern a nation, state or county. And yes, also towns and cities no matter their size. Teamwork and planning, preparation and hard work. And then a figure head who plays the role of leader. Trump is not the leader, but the figure head of it. He is not smart enough to think this up entirely, only a person to go a...