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 19th 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
…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
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