Tuesday, December 5, 2023
Friday, November 17, 2023
Harvardinates
John Leverett, first secular President of Harvard (1708-1724), used Harvardinates (sons of Harvard), instead of Sons of the Prophets, to refer to Harvard alumni. That was his way of saying, we educate all men, not just divinity students (yes it was boys only at that time). This is the story of opening up Harvard, and all higher education in North America, to a wider audience - which is still a trend in progress.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CND89PZS
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CND89PZS
Wednesday, October 18, 2023
Deco
My first impression of Galesburg, last year, was that Halloween decoration had entirely replaced Christmas decoration, since I couldn't imagine how Christmas could in any way compare with how extensive the Halloween decoration was. By the time both were over, though, I had to admit that they were about equal, and Christmas had the advantage of having its deco left up for four or five months afterward.
But even equal is a significant change from when I was growing up, and it means that such things as skeletons are ubiquitous throughout Galesburg neighborhoods this time of year. And some of the light shows are amazing: orange and purple, and combinations of orange and purple lights, skeletons, disembodied statues, blood, demons, ghosts, etc. It's impressive. Some of them are very impressive.
So here's my analysis of why this has happened. Small towns are generally prone to decorating; this is true nationwide. So if you move to a small town from a larger city (where people don't have time, or don't trust their neighbors), or from a rural area (as we did), you will generally be impressed by how decorated a small town can get. It's a feature of living in a small town. But in recent years, enthusiasm for all church attendance and religion has waned, especially since the churches lined up behind Trump, an obviously sleazy and corrupt character. People have less enthusiasm for their general allegiance to Christianity although the allegiance might still be there; at the very least it is complicated by mixed emotions. For the same reason I am hesitant to fly a flag since my wife says it will be interpreted as allegiance to Trumpish, i.e. sleazy, corrupt & misogynist, values. I disagree on this: it's only pro-USA, but you can't tell someone how to interpret a symbol.
I personally don't see the joy in decorating and celebrating death, with skeletons, ghosts, or anything else. But I'm just not generally a decorating-type person anyway, and was never big on Christmas stuff either. I will say, though, that Halloween is less complicated in terms of how it's interpreted. Everyone knows what a skeleton is and what it means. Everyone's afraid of death. You don't have to be on one side or the other to get grossed out by a kid statue with a sword stuck in him and blood coming out. You can get behind this kind of decoration without the world making political judgment on you or blaming you for the oppression of GLBTQIA and women. You can lean toward the skeletons, or the blood, or the ghosts according to your preference, with no special baggage about the commercialization or the politicization of religion.
It's actually fun to see as you drive around and there are some places, like Losey, where you have to pay attention to the road instead of give these enormous, well-made displays the attention they deserve. Now's the time. Take a cruise around, especially at night. I'd like to document these so I could come back here and tell you where there's a good one, but, that may have to wait for another year.
But even equal is a significant change from when I was growing up, and it means that such things as skeletons are ubiquitous throughout Galesburg neighborhoods this time of year. And some of the light shows are amazing: orange and purple, and combinations of orange and purple lights, skeletons, disembodied statues, blood, demons, ghosts, etc. It's impressive. Some of them are very impressive.
So here's my analysis of why this has happened. Small towns are generally prone to decorating; this is true nationwide. So if you move to a small town from a larger city (where people don't have time, or don't trust their neighbors), or from a rural area (as we did), you will generally be impressed by how decorated a small town can get. It's a feature of living in a small town. But in recent years, enthusiasm for all church attendance and religion has waned, especially since the churches lined up behind Trump, an obviously sleazy and corrupt character. People have less enthusiasm for their general allegiance to Christianity although the allegiance might still be there; at the very least it is complicated by mixed emotions. For the same reason I am hesitant to fly a flag since my wife says it will be interpreted as allegiance to Trumpish, i.e. sleazy, corrupt & misogynist, values. I disagree on this: it's only pro-USA, but you can't tell someone how to interpret a symbol.
I personally don't see the joy in decorating and celebrating death, with skeletons, ghosts, or anything else. But I'm just not generally a decorating-type person anyway, and was never big on Christmas stuff either. I will say, though, that Halloween is less complicated in terms of how it's interpreted. Everyone knows what a skeleton is and what it means. Everyone's afraid of death. You don't have to be on one side or the other to get grossed out by a kid statue with a sword stuck in him and blood coming out. You can get behind this kind of decoration without the world making political judgment on you or blaming you for the oppression of GLBTQIA and women. You can lean toward the skeletons, or the blood, or the ghosts according to your preference, with no special baggage about the commercialization or the politicization of religion.
It's actually fun to see as you drive around and there are some places, like Losey, where you have to pay attention to the road instead of give these enormous, well-made displays the attention they deserve. Now's the time. Take a cruise around, especially at night. I'd like to document these so I could come back here and tell you where there's a good one, but, that may have to wait for another year.
Saturday, October 14, 2023
Tuesday, August 22, 2023
For later use
Here's an interesting development:
Knox College announces plans for new Green Oaks multipurpose field station
In short, I think it's a good development.
Knox College announces plans for new Green Oaks multipurpose field station
In short, I think it's a good development.
Friday, August 18, 2023
Big Weekend
Heart of the summer, and, Aug. 18-20, lots of things going on here in Galesburg. I'm proud of the town for doing the best it can to entertain us resi-nts with high-quality small-town things to do.
The two that interest me most are the Heritage Days re-enactments out at Lake Storey and the Car Show downtown where I presume all the fine old cars will be parked all along the fine old downtown.
What I like the most about Galesburg is that it reminds me of growing up in Toledo Ohio in the 1950s. Kids still play out in the yards and the street. People still hang around outside in the good weather. The downtown gives the impression of being a downtown, such that even if you are a block or two off Main Street you are still downtown. And finally, a lot of people know each other, so you often see people visiting along the streets and outside the various establishments.
It has been losing population over the last few decades; most places have. In fact only the college towns and some places like Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming have really been gaining ground. Much of the US is experiencing a major population decline as whole swathes of young people either choose not to have children, or can't because they just aren't finding each other. I'm not sure what that's about entirely but it's covered up significantly by immigration and the fact that the young people now filling our schools and even playing on our streets are more likely to be not from the traditional families that have been in this town forever.
I didn't mean to turn this into a reflection on what Galesburg is evolving into, but I'm grateful that, as a town, it is still watching out for us and putting on the dog, so to speak. I read a scathing indictment of the City Aldermen getting lawyers and having us pay for it, to defend themselves against the consequences of their own shenanigans, but, I don't want to get into that here as I'd still like to see it more simplistically at least for the moment.
My son came here for about a month, to recover from a bizarre experience and rebuild his life, which is basically in Chicago. While he was here I tried to persuade him to move here, but, no dice. He's too invested in Chicago and it would be too dramatic a change for him to do that. Nevertheless, the experience got me a little different perspective on Galesburg as I basically tried to sell it to him. He enjoyed it while it was here. It will always, however, probably be his parents' place, not his, and a place to rest, away from the city's hustle. I was able to say to him, why go back?
The two that interest me most are the Heritage Days re-enactments out at Lake Storey and the Car Show downtown where I presume all the fine old cars will be parked all along the fine old downtown.
What I like the most about Galesburg is that it reminds me of growing up in Toledo Ohio in the 1950s. Kids still play out in the yards and the street. People still hang around outside in the good weather. The downtown gives the impression of being a downtown, such that even if you are a block or two off Main Street you are still downtown. And finally, a lot of people know each other, so you often see people visiting along the streets and outside the various establishments.
It has been losing population over the last few decades; most places have. In fact only the college towns and some places like Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming have really been gaining ground. Much of the US is experiencing a major population decline as whole swathes of young people either choose not to have children, or can't because they just aren't finding each other. I'm not sure what that's about entirely but it's covered up significantly by immigration and the fact that the young people now filling our schools and even playing on our streets are more likely to be not from the traditional families that have been in this town forever.
I didn't mean to turn this into a reflection on what Galesburg is evolving into, but I'm grateful that, as a town, it is still watching out for us and putting on the dog, so to speak. I read a scathing indictment of the City Aldermen getting lawyers and having us pay for it, to defend themselves against the consequences of their own shenanigans, but, I don't want to get into that here as I'd still like to see it more simplistically at least for the moment.
My son came here for about a month, to recover from a bizarre experience and rebuild his life, which is basically in Chicago. While he was here I tried to persuade him to move here, but, no dice. He's too invested in Chicago and it would be too dramatic a change for him to do that. Nevertheless, the experience got me a little different perspective on Galesburg as I basically tried to sell it to him. He enjoyed it while it was here. It will always, however, probably be his parents' place, not his, and a place to rest, away from the city's hustle. I was able to say to him, why go back?
Friday, July 14, 2023
One Year Report
A year has passed since we moved to Galesburg; we moved here right around July 15. I just came back from a whirlwind, week-long trip back to New Mexico, so I'm in a better position to know why I moved up here and how much I got from actually doing it. The family is overall much better up here; people have at least a chance of finishing school.
The biggest difference frankly is that the rivers have water in them. I like how the rains pound us, the rivers rise, then it all goes back to gentle green grass and corn growing like crazy. This "knee-high by the fourth of july" thing is just a kind of expression that makes you feel like it's a good summer, because it's always more than knee-high, as far as i can tell, unless you're a schmuck and didn't plant it until june. it's so tall and rich at tha moment that I'm wondering if it's in danger of being pounded by these storms, which, it seems to me, might ease up around late July. I'm not totally sure how it works. But I can tell you, New Mexico is dry as a bone, and although they are used to it, and I even got used to it at one point, there's no real getting used to living in a place that is not meant to be lived in, or which you can't live in without robbing the aquifer of its only life.
As for Galesburg, I find myself frustratingly silent as, having fit right back into the midwest culture, I'm hesitant to speak about things I don't know much about. I really admire the neon-green-jacket people, fixing the lights, taking care of the roads, etc.; they seem unusually competent up here. Down in the mountains we didn't really have them, and my neighbors used to drive around with chainsaws just so they could clear the roads if they had to. I found this out of my league; I couldn't use a chainsaw very easily, much less carry one around in my truck. Here it's nice to have people taking care of the roads, and the EMT, and everything one might need. I'm not really afraid of this storm wiping out power, as I would be in NM; loss of power there was always at least a 4-5 hour ordeal and sometimes more. And even there, the utility guys were good; it was just that there were so many fewer of them, and so much more land. And the mountains made the wild elements wilder.
Galesburg tries to give its people something to do. Now that it's summer, I see this, and I like it. There are just enough of us here in this one town that it's worth their while to have a few concerts and events. And if I can get organized, I'll attend a few of them. Once again, I can't speak too much about what I don't know. I've been pretty busy here with family events, and haven't really got out all that much.
I was not crazy about that haze that hung over for about a week. Glad that's gone, and good riddance, I'll do fine without more of that. Fresh air is a requirement. I guess I should count my blessings. We have it most of the time, and there's no way I'll move out to the Pacific Islands.
The biggest difference frankly is that the rivers have water in them. I like how the rains pound us, the rivers rise, then it all goes back to gentle green grass and corn growing like crazy. This "knee-high by the fourth of july" thing is just a kind of expression that makes you feel like it's a good summer, because it's always more than knee-high, as far as i can tell, unless you're a schmuck and didn't plant it until june. it's so tall and rich at tha moment that I'm wondering if it's in danger of being pounded by these storms, which, it seems to me, might ease up around late July. I'm not totally sure how it works. But I can tell you, New Mexico is dry as a bone, and although they are used to it, and I even got used to it at one point, there's no real getting used to living in a place that is not meant to be lived in, or which you can't live in without robbing the aquifer of its only life.
As for Galesburg, I find myself frustratingly silent as, having fit right back into the midwest culture, I'm hesitant to speak about things I don't know much about. I really admire the neon-green-jacket people, fixing the lights, taking care of the roads, etc.; they seem unusually competent up here. Down in the mountains we didn't really have them, and my neighbors used to drive around with chainsaws just so they could clear the roads if they had to. I found this out of my league; I couldn't use a chainsaw very easily, much less carry one around in my truck. Here it's nice to have people taking care of the roads, and the EMT, and everything one might need. I'm not really afraid of this storm wiping out power, as I would be in NM; loss of power there was always at least a 4-5 hour ordeal and sometimes more. And even there, the utility guys were good; it was just that there were so many fewer of them, and so much more land. And the mountains made the wild elements wilder.
Galesburg tries to give its people something to do. Now that it's summer, I see this, and I like it. There are just enough of us here in this one town that it's worth their while to have a few concerts and events. And if I can get organized, I'll attend a few of them. Once again, I can't speak too much about what I don't know. I've been pretty busy here with family events, and haven't really got out all that much.
I was not crazy about that haze that hung over for about a week. Glad that's gone, and good riddance, I'll do fine without more of that. Fresh air is a requirement. I guess I should count my blessings. We have it most of the time, and there's no way I'll move out to the Pacific Islands.
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