REFLECTIONS ON LIFE –December 2017

REFLECTIONS ON HOME IN COLUMBIA

The pond waters behind and beside our home have frozen over.  About two weeks before the freeze those waters had turned a deep black from the many fallen leaves deteriorated and settled on the bottom of the ponds.  One morning after that blackening and before the freeze, I spotted a lone male mallard gliding across the dark waters of our ponds.  There was not another single sign of life to be found in or around those ponds which a few weeks earlier were teaming with life. Then in a couple of days, a female joined him, and together they surveyed the waters, across and back, across and back, in absolute silence and surrounded by absolute stillness.  They exuded peace, and I found it impossible in their presence not to experience that same peace, in spite of the tumultuous world in which we are now living.  To me, that is one of the most important messages to remember.  Yes.  We are living in tumultuous times.  That does not mean that we cannot have a peaceful heart and soul in the midst of it all.

Now that the ponds’ waters have frozen, the ducks can no longer swim through.  The reflections in the ice take on a fractured image not present prior to the freeze.  The ice has some visible formations on its surface caused by the winds blowing the water. A recent light dusting of snow left a covering on the ice so faint that each flake could be distinguished. Then the morning there was a fresh full cover of snow, just a half inch or so.

Recently, a friend visiting us in our home after sunset after the dark began moving in, said “I want to see your bedroom and the two windows the view from which you describe in your Reflections.”  We walked upstairs to the room, and, although the advancing dark prevented her getting a clear view from the two windows, she said she grasped the gist of it.  I love my and Lloyd’s time looking out of those windows so much.  Have I per chance mentioned that before? It gives me great joy to know that others are vicariously experiencing some of that pleasure and insight.

Yes.  We are alive during a tumultuous time.  In the midst of it all, we can have peace and love in our hearts and souls, and we can spread it around

 

May we experience deep peace and love in 2018.

REFLECTIONS ON ZACH

During my 20 years serving as a delegate in the Maryland legislature, I sent out a constituent update at the end of each week of the thirteen-week session.  When we learned during winter break that Zach’s brain cancer had returned, I was receiving so many concerned inquiries about him that I began to include a weekly update on how he was doing.  Sometimes I would include one or two of his incredibly upbeat tweets.  Right after he succumbed and departed from this earth, after a couple of years taking emotional care of so many around him, including me, I decided to send out a compilation of a few hundred of his many, many Tweets.  I have now decided to resend them in this December 2017 Reflections on Life.

In the previous section on Home in Columbia, I wrote about the possibility of all of us living a life of love and peace in the midst of the current tumult on our planet earth. As you read Zach’s Tweets below, keep in mind what he was living in the midst of.  He remains my greatest teacher in life.

Zach's tweets

Sunshine blue skies* Blood comics were rock bottom today and the doctors didn't expect me to get out of bed. I worked out and went to a friend's' * I had a slight fever this morning. Maybe I am mortal.* "Just had an allergic reaction to a blood platelet transfusion. Too serious ^#hives #swelling #oxygen mask"*"Just heard that the word Zaching is now on Urban Dictionary" * "Waiting for my procedure to have a catheter placed in my neck without anesthesia."* "Just had an operation and I never took off my Nikes," * "Had a good time at the UMD Men's basketball banquet tonight. It was great to see all the guys one last time. #blessed * "Eighteen and living the dream."*"No voice today, karaoke with the boys got too serious last night" * "Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out" (John Wooden -one of Zach's favorite coaches and authors)* "I think my chemo's scared of me #justsaying" * "Calling it a night. Back to the grind tomorrow.. starting round 3 of chemo, #bringit Pain is temporary #truth * Not sure how I feel about being 19. #Idontlikechange *The First 10. Birthday wishes I got on FB were from people in Greece. It was May 1st in Greece before it was May 1st here. #crazy #cheating * 19 incredible years of #livingthedream #blessed Saw a streaker and a fight tonight, what more can you ask for out of an Orioles' game. *Stand by me * The nurses take so much blood from me ever^yday, I don't know how I haven't deflated yet, #impressive * The nurses are giving me a ton of Benadryl to knock me out before the transfusion. They're in awe that I'm not passing out.

#superman *More blood transfusion = more waiting #getmeouttahere * Good morning everyone. It's going to be another good Preparing all sorts of speeches*Finally got that base tan on m bald head yesterday. #crucial * I get all sons of messages from strangers telling me that they're proud of me and what I'm doing. I can't help but smile. #emotions* I'm going to be honest... I think I'm superman #FACT* Time is so precious.

#takenothingforgranted* I know what is within me. even if you can't see it yet.* Writing a speech as I sit outside in the sun. #beautiful * Look me in the eyes, it's okay if you're scared. So am I. #classic * My hair's departing words to me: "distance can only strengthen our relationship". I'm missing you bud. #bald In the middle of an incredible conversation with @KingHugel about heaven. #deep #beautiful * Happy mother's day Mom. You're the greatest, even if I claim to be * Be who you were born to be. #legendary * The other day l was introduced as a "cancer victim". 1 corrected him and said that I consider the cancer itself to be the victim. * Heading to DC to surprise a young man (Joshua Dupuis) at his pizza party.: He's getting brain surgery tomorrow and considers me a hero. #humbled * Among the greatest feelings in the world. Waking up in your own bed for the first time in a while:* Gonna he a good day. Already pounded out 112 pushups. #getstartedearly * Just finished my 30 days of radiation treatment. #emotional  *Slept through the night for the first time in a month. #grateful #radiationproblems * Fathers

Day to my best friend  @johnlederer. You do so much for me, and have made me who I am, #grateful * Woman at radiation saw the scars on my head, then proceded to inform me about "Zacking". I just went along with it. #tootunny * I just want to inspire one person as much as the kids fighting cancer at Hopkins have inspired me. #cantbedone * The first thing my social worker said to me was "I'm so sorry that you have

to go through this. "Don't be sorry for me, I'm #Iivingthedream * Can't sleep and my mind

is running wild. #goodstuff * Nurse kept me up all night. She was doing tests to see if l'm

crazy. Somehow I passed * Had an incredible conversation with Grandma today.

#emotions * Finished the fifth and final round of chemo #itsover • #grateful #emotions  '#blessed *Chemo: round five. I'm still alive * Hanging out with some crazy little kids. #cousins #vacation Had an incredible lunch with @KingHugel and my grandma today. #memories * Just got a call from the. Huffington Post. They want to feature me in "the greatest person of the week". #again #crazy Waking up at home. #itsthelittlethings *
Cancer cannot touch my heart, it cannot touch my mind, and it cannot touch my soul. Those three things will live forever. #JimmyV #truehero Heading to breakfast with grandma. #goodstart^. Just another opportunity to prove myself worthy of this life. #blessed #livingthedream * Nike and Livestrong dropped Lance Armstrong. #crazy * Had

a beautiful lunch with Grandma, then got to go visit Millie Bailey. #goodday * Great
report at the doctors .#thankful * Here we go! #surgery #pumped * Cancer cannot touch

my mind, it cannot touch my heart. and it cannot touch my soul" #JimmyV * Hearing
Christmas music on the radio. #goodstuff #tistheseason * I'm thankful for sooo much, ^#livingthedream * Already thinking/dreaming about the food tomorrow. I always enjoy my lunches with Grandma. #greatconversations * Gave it my all at therapy today. #gettingbettereveryday #improvements * Heading to the Comcast Center to give a Coaches vs Cancer Speech * Had a seizure on Thursday. #recovering * Home from the hospital #grateful * Had a great conversation with @browntown7 about heaven. #beautiful * No time for doubt #believe * It's been a great year full of opportunities. #beatcancer* At PT everybody stares at me because I yell when I'm doing the exercises. And the therapists tell their patients to #gohard like him." * A careful man I must always be A little fellow follows me, I know I dare not go astray, For fear he'll go the self same way. * I always have the best conversations with Grandma. #blessed * great day #school #therapy #family^. #blessed*

I want the world to be a better place because I was here. #truth * Just went to mass with mom. #blessed * Just shoveled the whole driveway. #therapv * Have to prove some doctors wrong. #enjoyeverychallenge * Relearning how to walk for the third time. #opportunities #grateful * Even on my mom's worst days when she's sick. she's #beautiful * Just had a legendary conversation with Grandma and my cousin. #blessed* One of my doctors told me. that I would never walk normally again. Today at therapy. I was pretty close. #driven #grateful "I'm so fast that last night I was going to bed, hit the switch, and was in the bed before the room was dark."

When I woke up the first thing I said to myself: We beat Duke! #blessed @alexlen25 and I shared an emotional moment in the lockerroom tonight. I love you big guy. * I predict cancer's dismemberment, I'm gonna whoop him so bad he'll wonder where October and November went. #arrogance * Beautiful day. We're all #blessed * ^IZaching' with @ZLeds at the  Terpthon!!! * Inspiration to many. Loved by all @ZLeds #FTK #terpthon13  Mom loaned her hair to me for a picture * We are all _'leant to shine like children do. * Keep practicing that smile. #loveyourself * Life is tough...But it's worth it. * Loving life. #everyday * Cancer is the challenger, and doesn't hold a prayer. He's beginning to get nervous as Lederer won't break the stare. * Good MRI this morning. Decided to Change it up and listen to the Temptations in my MRI today. #changes * Were going to beat this. * At

graduation for @write_aLEDERER. #proud * Had a great time at the und of the year basketball manager dinner * After a lot of struggling, got dressed by myself this morning. #proud *

Happy mother's day to my mother. I couldn't make it a day with out you #blessed #grateful

I have the greatest conversations with Grandma #blessed * Had a great time at the: Race for Hope in DC. #weregoingtobeatthis #inspiring Great day with

Dad. #livingthedream #blessed*

You must train your mind and your body will follow. #beatcancer* Going sailing with the family. #livingthedram * Going to see "42" with Grandma * Great day of physical therapy. #gettingbettereveryday^. Watching the #ravens game with mom arid dad. #livingthedream * Great day. #sailing #family #friends #livingthedream

REFLECTIONS ON BALTIMORE, MY HOME TOWN

Editorial

”The Finalists”                                       The Baltimore Sun    December 11,2017

This year’s contenders for The Sun’s Maryland of the Year award include an anti-violence activist, two attorneys, two artists and one of Baltimore’s top doc

For the two artists:

Sonja Sohn and Devin Allen

“After all the negative attention Baltimore has received since the 2015 riots, we recognize two artists who were able this year to grapple with the city’s seemingly intractable problems without losing sight of its beauty and spirit. Sonja Sohn, who is best known for her role on “The Wire,” directed the HBO documentary “Baltimore Rising,” which offers both an unflinching look at the social conditions that led to the unrest and a hopeful portrait of the young leaders who are dedicating their lives to changing them.  Devin Allen, the amateur photographer whose image of an African American man running from advancing police officers during the riots made the cover of Time magazine, published the book “A Beautiful Ghetto.” A title and a work that force readers to acknowledge the humanity of communities that are too often ignored.”

Born and bred in Baltimore, I am so proud of and grateful to Sonja and Devin.  Thank you for your courage.

The Baltimore Sun                                            December 28, 2017

“City reaches 343 homicides, highest per capita rate ever”

2017 total boosted by two fatal shootings Tuesday and another Wednesday”

…”The most homicides to occur in a year was 353 in 1993, but the city had some 100,000 more residents then.”

Some of my girl friends when I was attending high school in Baltimore in the late 1950’s lived in one of the neighborhoods cited in this article – Waverly.   My Aunt Doris lived on Poplar Grove Street.  My Mom lived near Monastery Avenue and attended mass there when she was in her 70’s. Her close friend, Father Richard Frechette whose current work among the poorest of the poor in Haiti was assigned to that church where they befriended each other. I have spent much time of my life in these three locations and experienced no violence.  Today’s young people don’t have that choice.                                 

REFLECTIONS ON PUBLIC POLICY

I have decided not to list examples of local, state, and national public policy during the month of December.  I will say that, at least at the national level, every example would be disgraceful across the board – social, economic, and environmental justice.  Increasing numbers of citizens are participating in the legislative process, demonstrating courage and insight, and yet the unjust public policy decisions continue to mount.  We must continue and increase that action for justice, and increase it until we succeed.  Our nation and the planet depend on it.

REFLECTIONS ON OUR PLANET BEYOND THE UNITED STATES

The Washington Post                                                    December 18, 2017

“Defiant German mayor takes in refugees”

“Despite attack on his life by asylum foe, official says he has no regrets”

…”That puts Hoslltein, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union, sharply at odds with the political moment in Europe

The Washington Post                                                   December 13, 2017

“France moves to take lead on climate without U.S.

“Summit seeks funding for climate solutions amid Trump withdrawal”

As our nation fails to take the lead, we are grateful, yes grateful, that others step up, despite our loss of the position of leader of the free world.  We are also grateful that France, filling the void in our own nation, is offering five year professorial posts to U.S. “Climate” scientists. Thank you, France, for putting these scientists to work on this global crisis.

The Washington Post                                                      December 28, 2017

“The work, by two researchers at Columbia University, examined potential links

between swings in temperature in 103 countries and the volume of asylum applications to the European Union over the 15-year period between 2000 and 2014.  The authors then tried to determine the likely rise in asylum applications as the Earth grows warmer between now and 2100.”

We have known for a long time of the connection between environmental and human rights issues.  This example should make it certainly clear to all.  Another big example of everything is connected.

REFLECTIONS ON OUR UNIVERSE

Our earth’s axis is tilted 23 degrees from the plane of the earth’s orbit around our sun, thus creating our seasons. I love following the view of rising sun from our bedroom window and it’s setting from our family room.

At this time of year, near the winter solstice, the sun rises at 120 degrees on the compass---which is 30 degrees south of east. It sets at 270 degrees---which is 30 degrees south of west. With the sun way down south of the equator we now have only 9 ½ hours of daylight.

Conversely, in June, at the summer solstice, the sun rises at 60 degrees---which is 30 degrees north of east and sets at 300 degrees---which is 30 degrees north of west. The sun’s path is still quite south of us, at the Tropic of Cancer, 23 degrees north of the equator, and we enjoy close to 15 hours of daylight.

The sun is coming back, verrrry slowly.

You get one guess as to who gave me this tutorial.  The same person who gives me a birthday card on December 21 of each year with the message “You bring the light back”.

 “Pools of sorrow, waves of joy

Are drifting through my open mind

Possessing and caressing me

Across the Universe

~Lennon and McCartney

Be well and love life.

~ Liz

Reflections on Life - November 2017

REFLECTIONS ON LIFE - November 2017

REFLECTIONS ON HOME IN COLUMBIA

The ponds’ waters, visible through our bedside windows, are now dark black, appearing deeper than we know them to be.  Particularly in the early light of day, every branch and even small twigs on the surrounding maples are reflected as clearly as in a professional photo.  In the first light of day, now about 6:30am, the rising sun, still shining from below the horizon illuminate the few yellow leaves remaining.  Their deep yellow/orange hue adds a special unworldliness to the ponds’ water.  These tree reflections are dominated by one tall evergreen. More than occasionally we can clearly see surface reflections of contrails, sometimes a parallel pair or more, from jets making their way south. During these early-morning observations, Ophelia and Virginia Wolfe sometimes come to mind, though my view is of the dark waters of a pond, not a river, and although deep thoughts accompany it, they are not tragic.  Rather they serve as an awareness of insights revealing themselves to my consciousness.  One Sunday morning this month before the sun had begun to show on the horizon I sat in the faint light of Lloyd’s office adjacent to our bedroom.  There arose in me, uninvited and peaceful, a very clear and gentle awareness that Lloyd and I, our family, and all of our friends will someday die.

As I wrote in my October Reflections on China, it took Lloyd and me a long time to get back to “normal” after returning home.  It took ten days or so longer than past return flights from New Zealand, India, Africa, and Brazil for example.  I would describe it as remaining in a foggy state of somewhat “otherworldliness,” as if through some spiritual connection that impeded my getting back to the regular “schedule” of my largely unscheduled life.  After all, since leaving 30+ years in public office, “unscheduled” has been one of my primary goals. Not until Thanksgiving Day were we fully back in sync, and for that we were thankful indeed.

REFLECTIONS ON ZACH

The Zaching Against Cancer Foundation, which Zach himself founded about four years ago after learning his brain cancer had returned, held its annual 2K/5K/10K race last weekend.  More than a thousand participants ran this year.  Each year, the atmosphere clearly gets more celebratory of Zach’s life.  Virtually everyone present - kids, friends from high school and college, young adults and not-so-young, like Lloyd and me - has his or her own unique story of how Zach continues to show up every day as an inspiration in each and every one of their lives. 

 

REFLECTIONS ON BALTIMORE, MY HOME TOWN

The Baltimore Sun                  November 3, 2017

“Baltimore passes the 300-homicide mark”

This tragic distinction for our neighboring city took place just before local activists launched a cease-fire.

The Baltimore Sun                    November 30, 2017

“’Baltimore Rising’ tells chaotic tale of injustice”

This documentary is directed by Sonja Sohn who played a leading role in David Simon’s acclaimed series about inner city Baltimore, “The Wire.”  She interviews residents of the Penn North neighborhood where Freddie Gray, a young Baltimore man, received injuries that proved to be fatal during a ride in a police van. Lloyd and I missed the first episode of this HBO series.  We intend to go back and watch it and then the rest of the series.

Since I last wrote of Baltimore-born author Ta-Nehisi Coates who has written about Edmondson Villlage, the Baltimore Route 40 neighborhood of my childhood, is receiving increasing fame for his latest book “We were Eight Years in Power:  An American Tragedy.”  The Washington Post’s Carlos Lozada in his column last week entitled “My Memorable Books of 2017” writes “At this point, any book by Ta-Nehisi Coates is an instant best seller and borderline cultural phenomenon.” It feels so good to see a Baltimore-born and bred author receive such acclaim.

REFLECTIONS ON PUBLIC POLICY—LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL

County of Howard

Although the Baltimore Sun article below is about Baltimore City’s granting of a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) for Port Covington and the resultant significant increase in debt for the city, we in Howard County can get some idea of the results of the $90 million TIF Howard County has given to Howard Hughes Corporation for the continuing development of Downtown Columbia

The Baltimore Sun                             November 12, 2017

“Debt will grow on TIF projects”

State of Maryland

The Baltimore Sun                            November 28, 2017

“Justices decline challenge to Md. Assault weapons ban”

Some good news.  I recall clearly the vote on this assault weapons ban legislation during the 2013 legislative session.  The gun lobby was the strongest I observed during my 20 years in the Maryland legislature.

United States

CNN has been running a very instructive 30-second TV ad sponsored by the network itself and entitled, “This is an Apple”. Lloyd and I first saw it in our stateroom on the ferry that carried us down the Yangtze River several weeks ago.

It portrays a lone apple shown against a blank background with an over-voice saying:

            “This is an apple.

Some people might try to tell you that it is a banana. 

They might scream banana, banana, banana, over and over again.

They might even put BANANA in caps.

You might even start to believe it is a banana, but it’s not.

This is an apple.”

                                                FACTS FIRST

Ten thousand words couldn’t say it better.  Clearly deserving of a Nobel Prize in Literature.  Look for “This is an apple” on U-Tube.

REFLECTIONS ON OUR PLANET BEYOND THE UNITED STATES

Haiti

The Baltimore Sun                               November 22, 2017             

”Change in Haitians’ status is urged”

I attempted to synopsize this article and can find no way to do so.  Every sentence contributes so significantly to the human tragedy that will be wrought if the U.S. administration moves forward with its announced plan to allow the temporary protection status of many Haitians, including those in Maryland to expire.  Columbia now has a Sister City Agreement with Haiti. I can see so clearly my dear friend, Father Richard Frechette living in Haiti for many years now working with local children in the hospital and schools he has established there.

GERMANY

The Washington Post                                           November 25, 2017

“Germany’s center-left party may throw a lifeline to chancellor”

I have written often in these Reflections of my deep admiration and gratitude to Chancellor Angela Merkel for her courage, skill, and determination. The lack of a conclusive result in German election last September makes her work all the more difficult. For me, she stands out as the virtual leader of the free world.

CHINA

The Washington Post                                               November 25, 2017

“In China, rule by fear and force”

Our (potential) sister city group was in Beijing just a few days before the commencement of the 19^th National Congress of the Communist Party of China where the new doctrine of “Xi Jinping Thought” was unveiled.

I don’t believe any of us who travelled to China in a visit to explore the possibility of establishing a new Columbia, MD sister city relationship had a clue, to put it mildly, about the extent to which we were visiting at such a pivotal time in the history of this huge nation.

The Washington Post                                               November 2, 2017

“Chinese universities rush to study Xi’s doctrine”               

“Critics see dogma eroding academic freedom”

“Renmin University of China (in Beijing) was the first to announce a research center dedicated to “Xi Jinping Thought.”

The Washington Post                                               November 10, 2017

“Trump’s China visit ends without incident or clear sense of long-term impact”

                                                                                              

Well, the lack of a “clear sense of long-term impact” is not surprising.

REFLECTIONS ON OUR UNIVERSE

When my mom, Helen Monnett Gilner, an avid reader who never graduated from high school, was well into her eighth decade, one of her favorite authors was a contemplative though previously worldly monk, Thomas Merton. In the 10+ years that I have been meditating, his writings have become one of the major influences in my spiritual life, right up there with Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn and Jack Kornfield.

“To be alone by being part of the universe – fitting in completely to an environment of woods and silence and peace.  Everything you do becomes a unity and a prayer.  Unity within and without.”                    Thomas Merton

In her 80’s my mom was living in an apartment in West Baltimore with my older sister, Martha.  About 20 years prior, I had shared that same apartment with her. I would often take lunch for us to share while Martha was working as the head of a soup kitchen in downtown Baltimore. One day very near the winter solstice, my birthday, I arrived very late for ”lunch” at almost 5pm.  My mom, who knew I was going to arrive late, was sitting in her favorite rocking chair in the living room near a sliding glass door that opened onto a small deck with a table and two chairs. Looking out this door, she had not yet turned on any lights in her apartment, though it was getting quite dark.  I commented that it was the first time I had seen her in this posture at this time of day.  The reply my mom made to me remains beautifully emblazoned in my mind.  “When I sit here at this time of day, I stay as quiet as I possibly can – both inside and out – and (her voice lowered to a hush) – I feel like I almost know something.”

That beautiful rocking chair with its label - MFG. by Hartwig & Kemp, Baltimore, Maryland - now gets heavy-duty use from both Lloyd and me in our family room.

So why write about this experience with my mom in the “Our Universe” section of “Reflections on Life”?  Surely some if not most of you have read of scientific research of mind-brain correspondence.  One current belief, if not fact, appears to be that “psychological states such as thoughts and feelings are real.  Brain states are real.”  (LF Barrett – researchgate.net)

So my quite unscientific mind goes to the question “how do I know that my mom’s words “I feel like I almost know something” are not out there in the universe, possibly connecting with Zach and my sister, Martha, and …………?

Now a “real” scientific article from washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science

The Washington Post                              November 10, 2017

“The strangest supernova’: A star that keeps exploding – and surviving”

By Sarah Kaplan

I can’t help but wonder what were the spiritual elements of time as described below.

“Some 500 million light-years away, in a galaxy so distant it looks like little more than a smudge, a star exploded five times over the course of nearly two years, spewing the contents of 50 Jupiters and emitting as much energy as 10 quintillion suns.  This isn’t even the first time this star has gone supernova:  Astronomers believe this same body was seen exploding 60 years ago.”

Can anyone tell me how much a “quintillion” is?

“Pools of sorrow, waves of joy

Are drifting through my open mind

Possessing and caressing me

Across the Universe

~Lennon and McCartney

Be well and love life.

~ Liz

REFLECTIONS ON LIFE - OCTOBER 2017

REFLECTIONS ON HOME IN COLUMBIA

Lloyd and I spent only one week at home in Columbia during the month of October.  The remainder of the month we spent in China where we had been invited to join a Columbia Association Sister Cities visit to that nation.  We returned home two days ago.

Having gone to bed quite late the night before, I awoke at home yesterday morning to see a lone pine branch silhouetted clearly against the blue sky outside the window beside my bed.  We simply loved our visit to China, literally “soaking up” its beauty, traditions, and wisdom, and are so grateful that we agreed to participate, We stayed mainly in high-rise hotels in the cities.  Rarely did we see the sun during the day or stars or moon at night.  That simple gracefully bent pine branch appeared yesterday morning as one of the most beautiful sights I had ever beheld.

Upon returning home, we found he ground surrounding our townhome covered with leaves - red, yellow, orange - that had been green on the trees when we left on our journey.Some are still holding on to the tree limbs, their yellow color catching the sun’s rays on this beautiful autumn day in Columbia, Some squirrels continue to scamper around storing up food in their nests to get them through the upcoming cold months.

Yesterday I prepared our clay flowerpots for winter.  About twenty of them are  lined up against the walls on our four decks, their saucers inverted and placed over the soil for wintering.  I love this annual preparation.  Although this autumn pot ritual is not as joyful as its spring companion of readying these same pots for planting, there is an accompanying peacefulness and an awareness of I know not precisely what.

The bustling streets of Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong momentarily appear as a distant memory, though in reality only two days past.  We are at home.  Back home in Columbia.

REFLECTIONS ON ZACH

Many times have I written about my calling Zach to mind when I am dealing with something difficult or sad in my life.  Lloyd always gives me a slightly wry smile when I tell him about my doing this and the beautiful results that occur.  Well, during our three weeks in China I visited with Zach a few times and found his usual love and peace available to me.  Then one day, Lloyd informed me that he had misplaced out passports in preparation for moving on to another city the next morning.  I confess to not paying much attention to him, feeling certain they would show up.  Clearly I have become quite “spoiled” by his taking care of all our travel logistics. In the morning I awoke to a jubilant Lloyd smiling broadly and holding up the passports for me to see as I awoke.  Then, as if he had said it countless times before, he told me “I connected with Zach.”  At first I thought he was kidding.  Then I realized he was not kidding at all.  He said, “I just didn’t know what to do, so I contacted Zach and he took care of it.”  Who am I to question that?

REFLECTIONS ON BALTIMORE, MY HOME TOWN

The Baltimore Sun          October 3, 2017

“The Bronx example”

The Bronx has all the same problems as Baltimore – except murders

Having been born and raised in Baltimore, as were both of my parents, I love this city and am anything but a “Baltimore basher”.  Furthermore, I cannot imagine being in the role of mayor of my beloved birthplace.   And yet, reading the difference between murder rates in the two cities referenced in the subject news article is astounding.

***

“Revival in Station East, rowhouse by rowhouse”

Neighborhood nonprofit is rebuilding and selling 41 houses

The Baltimore Sun          October 28, 2017

“Ted Rouse, the son of Columbia developer James W. Rouse, was attracted to the plan and invested $250,000 through his company, Healthy Planet LLC, in a partnership with the nonprofit neighborhood coalition.  ‘I saw an opportunity to do neighborhood transformation,’ he said.”

Father and son. This apple certainly didn’t fall very far from the tree.

REFLECTIONS ON PUBLIC POLICY—LOCAL, STATE, NATIONAL

County of Howard

“The Washington Post”                October 2, 2017

‘A bit of good news for local reporting’

”The real crisis in American journalism is at the local and metro level,”

I believe our own Howard County, including Columbia, is a strong and clear example of this dangerous phenomenon, and I cannot see a way through it can improve, and it simply must.

State of Maryland

“The Washington Post”                       October 2, 2017

“States taking the lead on curbing drug costs”

…and Maryland is one of the leading states. “Maryland’s measure goes further,

treating price gouging as a civil offense …” Thank you to our Maryland legislators and particularly to our Attorney General, Brian Frosh.

The Baltimore Sun                             October 6, 2017

“The bay undergoes the acid test”

“One finding: As oceans around the world absorb carbon dioxide and acidify, the changes are likely to come faster to the nation’s largest estuary.”   That reference is to our own Maryland estuary, the Chesapeake Bay.  We each have a deep responsibility to pay attention and act accordingly, even if it is not popular in some circles.

United States

I am so deeply grateful to Maryland’s U.S. Senators Cardin and VanHollen and Howard County’s Congressmen, Elijah Cummings and John Sarbanes not only for their diligent hard work to preserve our democratic government but also for the dignity and integrity with which they do this most difficult and serious work.

Our flight back from Hong Kong was on Air Canada. I was surprised at how many Canadians with whom I spoke were familiar with Elijah and very positive about his public service.

REFLECTIONS ON OUR PLANET BEYOND THE UNITED STATES

The Columbia Association is considering adding another sister city in China to its existing four in France, Spain, Ghana, and Haiti. Having been involved in the formation of the agreements with Tema in Ghana, and Cap-Hatian in Haiti, Lloyd and I were invited to join an exploratory visit to China.  Departing in early October, Beijing was the first city we visited in China.  Upon landing I was aware of our proximity to North Korea, just 400 miles away.

China - many people, extremely dense cities with severe air pollution, magnificent mountains and rivers, deep and revered heritage, rich cultural practices,

During our two week stay, in addition to Beijing, we visited Xi’an, Liyang, our potential sister city, Suzhou, Wuzhen, Hangzhou, and Shanghai with the contingent from the Columbia Association, We had known most of the twenty people prior to the trip.  We were so fortunate to travel with such an engaged and interesting group devoted to improving Columbia’s relationships around the world.

I could fill endless pages about the Chinese people, their customs and history, their foods, the magnificent scenery, arts and crafts, government, For purposes of this monthly newsletter, I will focus on major impressions that came home with me.

Smiling people, moving busily and swiftly through the streets of the cities, shopping for food and household goods, often with one or two beautiful children in tow or in arms.

A few days after our arrival in Beijing, the Chinese Communist Party held its 19^th National Congress in this city. It was a fascinating time to be there.  Throughout the next two weeks we were often able to get CNN coverage of this gathering of.  The mood was very upbeat and the conference impeccably organized.  We had no idea we would be in the country for this major government event when we signed up to visit Columbia’s intended next sister city.  Days later, a welcoming dinner was held for us in Liyang.  I was seated next to the head of the Communist party for the area.  We spoke at length with the assistance of a translator covering numerous topics, the benefits of meditation among them.

 

Today’s Washington Post contains a major feature article on China’s President Xi’s plans for his nation’s leadership role in Asia.  In our U.S. President’s future visit to meet with President Xi in the near future, we can only hope that he will be equally well prepared.

POST article

Two days before our Columbia group ended its travels, Lloyd and I flew to Chongqing to catch a three-night ferry down the Yangtze, our first cruise boat experience ever.  On boarding the ship’s steward pulled us aside and said he wanted to reassign our quarters.  Having reserved an average space, we ended up in one of the two largest spaces on board at the rear of the top deck.  Through large windows at the rear and side of the ferry, we had a perfect view. The mountains along the river were magnificent.  River trade was in full force with many commercial boats carrying cargo of overseas shipping containers and rocks and sand as well as other raw materials.  We also took a guided tour of the magnificent Three Gorges Dam.

We then moved on to Hong Kong for a few days.  There the crowds walking on the streets surpassed any I had seen in any other place in the world.  We crossed by small ferries between sections of this magnificent city.

Throughout China, people were very warm and welcoming to us.  A beautiful experience.

Flying back to Toronto from Hong Kong took 14 hours nonstop, breaking our record set five years ago on a flight home from New Zealand.  We are fortunate to still travel quite at ease.

*******

“The Washington Post”                   October 5, 2017

“Earth has entered a new era, Smithsonian book warns”

“As never before, People are becoming urban dwellers.

A new publication “Living in the Anthropocene” contains more than 30 essays by experts in disparate fields affected by climate change.

Coincidentally this review leads with an example in China, the community of Shenzhen.  When John Kres, a veteran Smithsonian Institution scientist …recalls that when he encountered the southeast Chinese community decades ago, “it was a village of 30,000 people and today has 15 million inhabitants.”

We did not visit that particular Chinese city, though we did visit Beijing and Shanghai in which the population exceeded 20 million.

“The Baltimore Sun”                    October 1, 2017

“Critters crossed ocean on (Japan’s) tsunami debris”

…and from one of China’s neighboring nations

REFLECTIONS ON OUR UNIVERSE

We are reveling in the stars at night.  During our three weeks in China we saw none.

***

The Washington Post                                    October 4, 2017

“3 Americans win Nobel Prize in physics”

Professors are part if LIGO team that detected gravitational waves

“Albert Einstein predicted in his 1915 general theory of relativity that distortions in gravity would travel through space-time like a shock wave.  It took nearly a century to confirm that these distortions exist.”

Another Einstein quotation that has hung on my home office wall for many years:

 “I want to know god’s thoughts.  The rest is details.”

It helps me to remain peaceful when I recall these words as I go about my days, particularly in these turbulent times.

“Pools of sorrow, waves of joy

Are drifting through my open mind

Possessing and caressing me

Across the Universe

~Lennon and McCartney

Be well and love life.

~ Liz

REFLECTIONS ON LIFE

SEPTEMBER 2017

REFLECTIONS ON HOME IN COLUMBIA

I begin this message with a stronger than usual clear and deep realization that everything, absolutely everything, is connected in our universe.

This year we have been commemorating the 50h anniversary of Jim Rouse’s new town of Columbia with numerous gatherings, performances, retrospectives and perspectives.  Films have been produced and books published.  I have previously written about the books. This month the films were shown – one paid for by voluntary contributions from members of the Howard County Citizens Association and produced by Richard Krantz, a Columbia resident who also produced a film for Columbia’s 20th anniversary.  The other was produced by Howard Hughes Corporation and featured various builders of Columbia’s structures – residential and commercial.  I viewed both films and learned from each of them.  Lloyd and I were interviewed for the Krantz film, which, in addition to featuring Columbia’s gems, also shines a light on potential pitfalls that require our attention, such as becoming an elite community affordable only to those in the upper middle class and above. May each and every one of us never forget Rouse’s words: “a place where the CEO and the janitor can live in the same neighborhood”. You can view this film entitled “Columbia at 50” by going to YouTube and looking for “HCCA Presents: Columbia at 50—A Bridge to the Future.”

Since the unveiling of these two films, both Howard Hughes Corp. and Howard County government have made know their interests in being selected as the next home for Amazon. 

***

From the window above the headboard of our bed some gaps have appeared in the virtually solid green formed by the maple leaves.  Through it we can catch glimpses of the stars and moon at night and the sky, blue or gray, in the morning.

Going about our day we see a growing carpet of leaves beneath the tree.  I can remember so clearly rolling around in piles of such leaves, sometimes being completely covered by them, in my childhood Baltimore neighborhood

Although some of our most plentiful bird species that feed on insects and nectar have migrated, the blue heron is in its prime time and visible from our windows and decks by the ponds alongside and behind our home.  Sometimes one of these majestic creatures will stand as still as a statue for up to an hour before spotting its prey in one of the ponds and darting so quickly as to be nearly invisible. The fully-grown cattails and other growth around the ponds provide perfect camouflage for this fish predator. What a great example of patience.  The milkweed plants around these ponds are now dried out and virtually devoid of monarchs.  The hummingbird feeders outside our kitchen, dining room, and bedroom windows are cleaned and packed away for the winter.

On several September evenings, Lloyd and I have enjoyed dinner at outdoor Clyde’s in the lakeside pavilion.  We love the now virtually constant flow of walkers, runners, and bikers around Lake Kittamaqundi.  We eat dinner earlier than usual on those evenings in order to get a seat with a good view of the lake. Sometimes, before getting settled at a table, we join other walkers in a mile+ stroll around the lake.  At about 6pm one recent warm evening, having placed our order with the waiter, we heard the unmistakable sound of a gaggle of geese heading in for a landing on the lake. After swimming around for about half an hour, they took off in a perfect V formation. Following several swoops and swirls, they headed up higher in the sky, still in perfect formation though with greater spaces in between.

At times like these we ask each other what would be our impression if we came upon this magical place for the first time on our travels.  Thrilled, enchanted, grateful.  Just as it is. 

REFLECTIONS ON ZACH

In several of my earlier monthly Reflections I have written about the beautiful walks Zach and I took along the beach in North Carolina on our family summer vacations.  I also described the way he explained his deep respect and admiration for Muhammad Ali as a strong human being willing to suffer being banned from professional boxing because of his public opposition to the Viet Nam War.  Anyone who has watched Ken Burns’ recent documentary about this war may respect Ali even more today for his courageous stance. Zach would demonstrate Ali’s style on the beach for me, accompanying this great show with a recitation of some of his poetry: “Float like a butterfly.  Sting like a bee.” The Washington Post’s recent book review of  “Ali--A Life” says it like this:  “Ali’ stirs together the sweet and the spicy, the gifts and the failings, the charm and the rage, the grace and the greed, the pride and the ego.  Together, they made Ali the transcendent athlete of his age.”  I am going to ask Lloyd to order this volume for us.  Zach, my first and wisest teacher and on the subject of Ali, will be with me as I read it.

THE WASHINGTON POST                October 1, 2017

“How Ali transformed the worlds of sports and race”

Zach attended the University of Maryland in College Park for one semester.  His brain cancer re-emerged during winter break and he never returned as a student, although he continued his role as assistant basketball coach.  We now have two grandkids attending the University in College Park – one a sophomore and one a junior.  They loving visiting the locker room in the basketball center on campus where the walls are adorned with Zaching paraphernalia and photos

REFLECTIONS ON BALTIMORE, MY HOMETOWN

Both of my parents were born and raised in Baltimore.  As young adults they were also engaged there.  My dad gave my mom a silver ring embedded all around with small diamonds.  I never recall seeing my mom without that ring on her left finger until not long before she died at the age of 94.  While she was still quite aware, she gave me and my two sisters – Martha and Mary – a piece of her small collection of jewelry.  Mary, nine years older than I, was the recipient of that ring.

Recently Lloyd and I met up with Mary and her daughter, also Mary, for lunch at Clyde’s.  After our meal, while still at the table, my sister removed that most precious ring from her finger and handed it to me saying “I want to give this to you while I am still alive.  This ring embedded in small diamonds has been on my little left finger since, where it will remain there for the rest of my life.  I love that this beautiful family experience took place overlooking Lake Kittamaqundi.

******************************

I recently went for a ride through Edmondson Village and Edmondson Ave. neighborhoods of West Baltimore with my friend, Mary Lou, who had been a frequent playmate of mine when we lived very near each other during two of our elementary school years.  About 25 years ago we bumped into each other several times in Howard County where we had each moved with our families.  She worked as a nurse in the Howard County Health Department when I held elected office. Then about a year ago we arranged to reminisce over coffee and a bagel.   My daughter, Chris, Zach and Julia’s mom, happened into the shop and got to meet my childhood friend. I occasionally take a ride alone through those areas of Baltimore.  Sometimes Lloyd goes with me. I asked Mary Lou whether she would like to do that with me sometime.  This month we finally took that drive.  We started at Edmondson Village on Edmondson Ave. (Route 40).  Although all the names had changed, we recognized all of the stores we, occasionally with our moms, had frequented.  Hochchild Kohn’s, at that time a large department store with a “notions” department where my mom occasionally sent me for thread, snaps, hooks and eyes; Arundel ice cream shop; Tommy Tucker’s Five and Dime (which I had never remembered when I had previously driven through by myself, and on the corner, Wehland’s Drugstore with a long fountain counter and high stools serving ice cream sodas among other delights.  Then we went across the street to the movie theater that had a bowling alley on a lower level; Hess Shoes with live monkeys in the window and x-ray machines to detect whether the potential purchase of a pair shoes was a good fit (we now understand how healthy that was for us!)

 Although I have driven through these places more then a few times, it was a totally different and moving experience to share this visit with someone who had lived there at the same time as I. So much fun and joy, mingled with some wistfulness.

We proceeded to drive behind “the Village” to the local roads where we had played with friends – Rokeby Road, Flowerton Road, and eventually Walnut Avenue and Side Hill Road where we respectively lived.  We recalled roller-skating with our skate keys tied around our necks, sitting on the steps of our homes and those of other kids in the hood exchanging “trading cards” with pictures of mountains, flowers, or horses and other animals.  Mary Lou recalled playing Monopoly on the living room floor of my house where I lived, single family shingled with a large wrap around wooden porch. She also clearly recalled climbing a tree in our back yard.  I had forgotten this tree, a large Chinese red maple, which I had loved because it was so easy to climb.  At approximately seven years old, I would sometimes climb that tree and sit in the crook of its branches for half an hour or so, quietly contemplating I now know not what.

My mother and father and my sister, Mary, lived there until she started residential nursing school when I was eight years old. Three years earlier my other older sister, Martha, had moved out to enter the novitiate of a Pennsylvania motherhouse for nuns of the Immaculate Heart of Mary order.

After Mary Lou and I had driven through our immediate neighborhood several times, we headed to Wildwood Parkway off of Edmondson Avenue past an apartment where I had lived with my mom when I was in high school. Then we made our way back to Edmondson Ave. and my parish church, Saint Bernadine’s and the parochial school I attended for grades 1 through 8.  Mary Lou and her parents attended St. Williams Catholic Church a little further west on Edmondson Ave.

We parked the car and walked toward the large grey stone church to see if it was open. Two guys sitting on a stonewall surrounding the church said they didn’t know, and then another guy appeared with a set of keys on a big ring and asked if we would like to go in.  We said yes and thanked him.  He walked around to the sanctuary at the front of the church and up the granite stairs.  We followed.  After unlocking the doors and letting us in, he flipped several switches and turned on all the lights.  We checked the marble steps where I so frequently received Holy Communion and checked out the carved wooded cl set where I had made my first confession.

This Edmondson Avenue area of West Baltimore has developed into a place much more and way beyond my childhood community.  I now know through reading “The Beautiful Struggle” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, that he too lived near this area.  The map in the front of his book shows Leakin Park right down the street where I grew up and where I played, at times by myself.  Roughly fifty years after I played in that beautiful large park, Ta-Nehisi described it as “the place where the bodies were buried.” Where is the justice in my having had such good and fond memories and he having haunted ones?  I know.  There is none.

Ta-Nehisi has written other books, among them “Between the World and Me,” about which Toni Morrison has said  “This is required reading.”  I would be so brave as to add “particularly right now.”

The Washington Post very recently published a review of his latest publication, “We Were Eight Years in Power.”

The Washington Post                      October 1,2017

“The Obama era’s faded hope”

Baltimore recently gained another distinction, this time on its football field where the now familiar image appeared on our TV screens of some players “taking a knee.”

The Washington Post              September 30, 2017

“Birthplace of anthem at center of NFL protest debate”

REFLECTIONS ON PUBLIC POLICY: COUNTY, STATE, AND NATION

Howard County

Our County Council recently took the vote on legislation introduced by Councilmembers Ball and Terrasa.  It was a bill that would have repealed the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) approval that was passed earlier this year by a vote of four to one, Teresa being the only one voting in opposition. This financing in the amount of roughly $90,000,000 will go to one of the largest and most profitable development entities in our nation, Howard Hughes Corporation.  This is at the same that our Department of Education’s free and reduced meals program, a leading indicator of poverty in our nation, is growing rapidly, approaching 50% of the students in some of Columbia’s schools.  Pointing out and protesting the numerous grave injustices at the federal level, does nothing to promote economic justice at our local level of government.  Living in one of the wealthiest counties in the U.S., we are abandoning the low-income families, particularly the kids.

Our Board of Education has received the Superintendent’s proposed changes to the school district boundary lines.  It is crucial to economic and social justice that these lines be drawn democratically and serve to improve the economic mix of the schools’ populations.

Maryland

I recently attended a meeting of “Indivisible” in Howard.  This is one of the progressive groups that sprung up in the wake of our national election.  I am very impressed by their organizational skills and grasp of so many issues, including social, economic, and environmental justice.  One of the topics of this meeting was protecting the security of our voting systems, which is gaining more attention now in the face of Russia’s recent history. Having led a similar effort in the Maryland Legislature a few years ago with great assistance from Johns Hopkins professor of Computer Science, Avi Rubin, and having met with only partial success, I made a comment during the recent meeting in Howard Co on this issue.   In doing so, I described myself as “one of the most radical members of the legislature”. After the meeting ended, a man and woman approached me with expressions of deep concern on their faces and said, “You shouldn’t disparage yourself like that by using a word like radical.” I thanked them for their concern on my part, and then referred to Google re this word. “Definition of radical – (especially of change or action) relating to or affecting the fundamental nature…denoting or relating to the roots of words.” They replied that they had thought it meant something along the lines of hostile and irresponsible.  I suggested that they check out the base of the word.  “Rad” means to go the root, as in radish.”  It’s one of those words that we have allowed the right wing to sabotage.

As a lit major, I love words.  So do I love people who are taking the time to get out and get involved to save our nation and planet?

U.S.

Guns:  If what happened in Las Vegas is not sufficient motivation for Congress and the state legislatures to enact strong weapon control, I can’t even begin to imagine what would

Hurricanes:  Puerto Rico is a protectorate of our nation whose people are citizens of the U.S. just like we are and, therefore, equally entitled to emergency services as we residents of Maryland and the other 49 states are.  Clearly they have not been treated as equals.

REFLECTIONS ON OUR PLANET BEYOND THE UNITED STATES

In a recent TV interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates concerning his latest book “We were eight years in power” to which I referred at the end of the section above on Baltimore, My Home Town, the interviewer asked him what he sees ahead for our nation.  Ta-Nehisi replied, unfortunately though without hostility “Chaos”.

Reading The Washington Post and other publications during the past month, “chaos” tragically appears to apply to our planet as well.

GERMANY            RUSSIA       FRANCE            U.S.         BURMA    CHINA

         

NORTH KOREA    MEXICO          SPAIN (Catalonia)         BANGLADESH   

“SAUDI ARABIA:  In my recent reading of the Washington Post, this is the only nation from which we received very positive news.  Women in that nation will finally be allowed to drive!

REFLECTIONS ON OUR UNIVERSE

This year our planet’s autumnal equinox occurred on September 22 at 4:02pm.  When I checked Google for a better understanding of this phenomenon, I was moved by the beautiful description of the similarity between light and darkness both within us and within the universe.  That led me to strengthen my resolve to limit my time before the TV now awash in “dark” news. We already never turn on the TV before six, with the exception of weekend baseball, basketball, or football for Lloyd.  I believe it’s very important to be aware of what’s going on in our nation and planet. I also believe – or rather KNOW – that we can damage our very souls by too much “sitting in front of the TV and watching,”

We decided to invite a few like-minded friends over to observe and venerate the time when the sun crossed the equator, heading south. A few moments before four o’clock we gathered on our back deck facing the sun.  The clouds dispersed just in time for a super quick glance through our sunglasses.  Some had brought a poem or story to read.  Some spoke their own few words.  Some remained quiet.  Each reading helped us to “get it” at a deeper level, the cycles of darkness and light in our universe and within ourselves.

THE WASHINGTON POST           SEPTEMBER 28, 2017

“Gravitational wave from black hole collision is sensed in U.S. and Italy”

“When two black holes merged 3.8 billion light-years away, their violent union sent shock waves through space and time.”

…and it is not unusual for me to experience a month as an extremely long time.

.....

I now end this message with a stronger than usual clear and deep realization that everything, absolutely everything, is connected in our universe.

 “Pools of sorrow, waves of joy

Are drifting through my open mind

Possessing and caressing me

Across the Universe

~Lennon and McCartney

Be well and love life.

Past issues of this newsletter can be found on my blog at http://lizbobocolumbia.blogspot.com/.