Sat - January 8, 2011
Willowwood is Moving
This blog is moving to a new
home
While all the old stuff will remain here for the
foreseeable future, new posts can be found at willowwood.posterous.com,
which has some advantages for me and for readers.
Posted at 11:24 AM Read More
Mon - June 16, 2008
Maiden Voyage
We finally got our kayak in the
water!
Yesterday we were determined to actually start using
our kayak. With Father's Day events and kayak preparations (getting the boat
down, cleaning it, finding equipment, putting the rack on the car, etc.) it was
about 7:45 p.m. before we actually got into a nearby lake. We each took it out
for about 20 minutes and then headed home as the sun was
setting.
We'll be getting a second kayak very soon, so we can both get out on the water at the same time!
We'll be getting a second kayak very soon, so we can both get out on the water at the same time!
Posted at 09:08 PM Read More
Sun - January 6, 2008
Persistent Vegetative Nation Bumper Sticker
Now you can order a bumper sticker
featuring this catchy phrase!
Last month I posted a brief entry featuring the
phrase "persistent
vegetative nation", and Janice suggested it would make a good
bumper sticker. I designed a sticker at Zazzle.com and ordered one for Janice.
Now a (slightly modified) version is publicly
available for purchase for
$3.95.
Graphic design is not my forte, so feel free to customize the design, create something new, or whatever, either at Zazzle or by other means.
Graphic design is not my forte, so feel free to customize the design, create something new, or whatever, either at Zazzle or by other means.
Posted at 05:27 PM Read More
Tue - December
11, 2007
Persistent Vegetative Nation
This will be very brief. After thinking
of the title phrase, I just had to share it.
Now, I'm not insisting that there is currently any
such thing as a persistent vegetative nation.
It just seems like a phrase with a lot of potential. So many layers of meaning.
A country might tend toward some such direction. Something to think about,
that's all.
Posted at 08:24 PM Read More
Sun - September 2, 2007
An Eventful August
There were lots of things going on here
last month.
The reason I didn't post anything in August is that
there was too much to write about, and not enough time to do the writing. We
had visitors, remodeling projects, storms and other events liberally sprinkled
across the month. Apart from the storms, it was all good stuff, and even the
storms brought much-needed rain (and then more rain). Eventually I may manage
to post some photos and additional details about some of what went on, but
here's a summary of our busy
month:
Aug. 3-4 - Iowa Trip: We drove to Decorah, Iowa to attend the Friday wedding of a close friend's son. Along the way, we visited Seed Savers Heritage Farm a few miles north of Decorah, and made a short side trip to the little town of Spillville to see the Bily Clocks Museum and Antonin Dvorak Exhibit. The wedding itself was in a beautiful old church in St. Lucas, and the reception was in Decorah at the Hotel Winneshiek Opera House. We stayed the night at another hotel, visited the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah on Saturday, and made a few other little stops before heading back home.
Aug. 7-10 - New Siding: A crew arrived on a Tuesday morning to replace our siding, soffits and fascia. They finished the job on Friday afternoon. New rain gutters and downspouts were to come the following week.
Aug. 11 - Windstorm: At about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday a thunderstorm hit, with winds around 70 mph and maybe two inches of rain. Nearly every yard in our neighborhood suffered major broken tree branches. We were lucky that our worst break was a branch about four inches in diameter in the middle of the Amur maple in our front yard. The branch was caught in the tree, so I spent considerable time cutting it apart with pole pruner and pole saw to get it all down. It left a large hole in the middle of the tree's canopy, but the loss isn't conspicuous unless you're standing pretty close. Only a few hundred yards farther south, many people were not so lucky, with whole trees broken or uprooted.
Aug. 13 - Another Storm: This time the wind was not so bad, but we got about another two inches of rain. The back-to-back storms brought an abrupt end to drought conditions that had persisted through spring and early summer.
Aug. 14 - New Gutters: Now that we were getting rain again, it seemed timely that the installers for our new rain gutters arrived and prepared the house for the next storms.
Aug. 15-20 - Janice Visits (Part I): Our daughter came for a visit from Atlanta. Her trip was timed to allow her to spend August 17 and 18 at Carleton College, participating in planning for her class reunion next year. She was able to make time to stay with us for a few days, and to visit friends and family.
Aug. 17 and 20 - Bathroom Demolition: I spent large parts of these two days tearing out the deteriorated tile and wallboard around our bathtub, to prepare for their replacement.
Aug. 18 - Becky Visits: Our friend Becky was in town from Two Harbors, Minnesota, and spent a Saturday afternoon with us. One highlight was a trip to the Visitor Center at nearby Lebanon Hills Regional Park
Aug. 18-19 - More Rain: More storms brought us a couple more inches of rain. In southeastern Minnesota, these storms dumped as much as 15 inches of rain, causing tragic record-breaking flash floods that killed seven people and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Aug. 19-20 - Janice Visits (Part II): I picked up Janice at Carleton just as the rain was ending on Sunday. We spent the afternoon at home with her, and then we all visited Peg's parents. On Monday (while I was tearing the bathroom apart), Janice visited other relatives, and I took her to the airport in the evening to send her off to Atlanta.
Aug. 22-25 - Bathroom Remodeling: The crew doing our bathroom work arrived on a Wednesday, installed new wallboard, faucet and tub surround, and finished on Friday afternoon. I spent most of the next day painting the bathroom.
Aug. 26 - A Family Wedding: We went to the wedding of our nephew Ben and his bride Lindsay, celebrated in a beautiful outdoor ceremony at Scherer Gardens, just a few miles from our home.
Aug. 27 - Another Storm: Another early-morning storm hit, again with winds up around 70 mph. This time there was less damage close to us, but plenty in other parts of town. Combined with all the other storms, this brought August rainfall to a new record for the metro area.
Things have now settled down a bit, both in terms of weather and more personal events. We still need to wrap up many finishing touches for our home-improvement projects, but we're hoping September will be less eventful than August. The simple fact that I found the time for this blog entry is a sign that the pace has already slowed.
Aug. 3-4 - Iowa Trip: We drove to Decorah, Iowa to attend the Friday wedding of a close friend's son. Along the way, we visited Seed Savers Heritage Farm a few miles north of Decorah, and made a short side trip to the little town of Spillville to see the Bily Clocks Museum and Antonin Dvorak Exhibit. The wedding itself was in a beautiful old church in St. Lucas, and the reception was in Decorah at the Hotel Winneshiek Opera House. We stayed the night at another hotel, visited the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah on Saturday, and made a few other little stops before heading back home.
Aug. 7-10 - New Siding: A crew arrived on a Tuesday morning to replace our siding, soffits and fascia. They finished the job on Friday afternoon. New rain gutters and downspouts were to come the following week.
Aug. 11 - Windstorm: At about 3:30 a.m. on Saturday a thunderstorm hit, with winds around 70 mph and maybe two inches of rain. Nearly every yard in our neighborhood suffered major broken tree branches. We were lucky that our worst break was a branch about four inches in diameter in the middle of the Amur maple in our front yard. The branch was caught in the tree, so I spent considerable time cutting it apart with pole pruner and pole saw to get it all down. It left a large hole in the middle of the tree's canopy, but the loss isn't conspicuous unless you're standing pretty close. Only a few hundred yards farther south, many people were not so lucky, with whole trees broken or uprooted.
Aug. 13 - Another Storm: This time the wind was not so bad, but we got about another two inches of rain. The back-to-back storms brought an abrupt end to drought conditions that had persisted through spring and early summer.
Aug. 14 - New Gutters: Now that we were getting rain again, it seemed timely that the installers for our new rain gutters arrived and prepared the house for the next storms.
Aug. 15-20 - Janice Visits (Part I): Our daughter came for a visit from Atlanta. Her trip was timed to allow her to spend August 17 and 18 at Carleton College, participating in planning for her class reunion next year. She was able to make time to stay with us for a few days, and to visit friends and family.
Aug. 17 and 20 - Bathroom Demolition: I spent large parts of these two days tearing out the deteriorated tile and wallboard around our bathtub, to prepare for their replacement.
Aug. 18 - Becky Visits: Our friend Becky was in town from Two Harbors, Minnesota, and spent a Saturday afternoon with us. One highlight was a trip to the Visitor Center at nearby Lebanon Hills Regional Park
Aug. 18-19 - More Rain: More storms brought us a couple more inches of rain. In southeastern Minnesota, these storms dumped as much as 15 inches of rain, causing tragic record-breaking flash floods that killed seven people and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Aug. 19-20 - Janice Visits (Part II): I picked up Janice at Carleton just as the rain was ending on Sunday. We spent the afternoon at home with her, and then we all visited Peg's parents. On Monday (while I was tearing the bathroom apart), Janice visited other relatives, and I took her to the airport in the evening to send her off to Atlanta.
Aug. 22-25 - Bathroom Remodeling: The crew doing our bathroom work arrived on a Wednesday, installed new wallboard, faucet and tub surround, and finished on Friday afternoon. I spent most of the next day painting the bathroom.
Aug. 26 - A Family Wedding: We went to the wedding of our nephew Ben and his bride Lindsay, celebrated in a beautiful outdoor ceremony at Scherer Gardens, just a few miles from our home.
Aug. 27 - Another Storm: Another early-morning storm hit, again with winds up around 70 mph. This time there was less damage close to us, but plenty in other parts of town. Combined with all the other storms, this brought August rainfall to a new record for the metro area.
Things have now settled down a bit, both in terms of weather and more personal events. We still need to wrap up many finishing touches for our home-improvement projects, but we're hoping September will be less eventful than August. The simple fact that I found the time for this blog entry is a sign that the pace has already slowed.
Posted at 07:50 PM Read More
Sun - April 22, 2007
Notes on the Virginia Tech Tragedy
Some thoughts from my
perspective
It's been a while since my last entry, for several
reasons. One reason was a week-long vacation trip to Atlanta where Peg and I
visited our daughter and also went off by ourselves to play tourist for a few
days in and around Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. It was a good
trip, and I'll have more to say about it after we get some photos
organized.
We got back home on Sunday, 15 April. I had Monday off for recompression and to catch up on various things, so I was at home when I received the first reports of the horrific events at Virginia Tech. Though I'm something of a news hound, I managed to avoid spending huge amounts of time attending to the dense coverage of the sparse knowledge available that day. Of course, the reports were quite disturbing, and I've thought about the tragedy quite a lot, and wondered whether there was something I could say about it here that would be worth anyone's time reading. I don't think I've got any unique insights, but I feel as though this event is important enough that I can't simply ignore it here.
Tuesday evening I read an entry and comments on the Making Light blog about Christopher J. (Jamie) Bishop, who was killed while teaching his German class. He was the first victim I'd seen identified by name, and learning a few details about him helped me appreciate him as a person, making the tragedy more real--which was at once painful and helpful.
A few hours later, I learned from Weirdbird's blog that she and her husband Tilt knew Jamie Bishop when they all lived in Carrboro, North Carolina a few years ago. Now, Tilt is my son, as most of my readers probably know (since most of my readers are Tilt and Weirdbird) so their moving accounts added to a sense of connection with Jamie Bishop. This sense was oddly enhanced again when I learned that Jamie grew up in Pine Mountain, Georgia, where we had spent part of our vacation just days before the shootings. I have a powerful awareness of a fine life senselessly cut short, and while I know less about the others who were killed, and feel less connected to them, I certainly recognize similar tragedy for each of them.
There has been a great deal of discussion and speculation about how this tragedy could have been avoided. Maybe better campus security, or tighter gun-control laws or a hundred other things could have made a difference. I've wondered about the perpetrator, and what could have made a difference in his life, what might have led to a better end. There is a natural tendency to dismiss Seung-Hui Cho as simply evil or deranged, and there was obviously something seriously wrong with him. Nevertheless, he was a human being, and I don't believe he was doomed from birth to follow the sort of course he ultimately chose. Maybe our understanding of human behavior will eventually allow us to avert nearly all such dreadful outcomes. I certainly don't know enough to say what would have changed his course, or when it may have been too late, but his end is tragic in itself, and much more so because of the many fine people he took from those who loved them, and from all of us.
We got back home on Sunday, 15 April. I had Monday off for recompression and to catch up on various things, so I was at home when I received the first reports of the horrific events at Virginia Tech. Though I'm something of a news hound, I managed to avoid spending huge amounts of time attending to the dense coverage of the sparse knowledge available that day. Of course, the reports were quite disturbing, and I've thought about the tragedy quite a lot, and wondered whether there was something I could say about it here that would be worth anyone's time reading. I don't think I've got any unique insights, but I feel as though this event is important enough that I can't simply ignore it here.
Tuesday evening I read an entry and comments on the Making Light blog about Christopher J. (Jamie) Bishop, who was killed while teaching his German class. He was the first victim I'd seen identified by name, and learning a few details about him helped me appreciate him as a person, making the tragedy more real--which was at once painful and helpful.
A few hours later, I learned from Weirdbird's blog that she and her husband Tilt knew Jamie Bishop when they all lived in Carrboro, North Carolina a few years ago. Now, Tilt is my son, as most of my readers probably know (since most of my readers are Tilt and Weirdbird) so their moving accounts added to a sense of connection with Jamie Bishop. This sense was oddly enhanced again when I learned that Jamie grew up in Pine Mountain, Georgia, where we had spent part of our vacation just days before the shootings. I have a powerful awareness of a fine life senselessly cut short, and while I know less about the others who were killed, and feel less connected to them, I certainly recognize similar tragedy for each of them.
There has been a great deal of discussion and speculation about how this tragedy could have been avoided. Maybe better campus security, or tighter gun-control laws or a hundred other things could have made a difference. I've wondered about the perpetrator, and what could have made a difference in his life, what might have led to a better end. There is a natural tendency to dismiss Seung-Hui Cho as simply evil or deranged, and there was obviously something seriously wrong with him. Nevertheless, he was a human being, and I don't believe he was doomed from birth to follow the sort of course he ultimately chose. Maybe our understanding of human behavior will eventually allow us to avert nearly all such dreadful outcomes. I certainly don't know enough to say what would have changed his course, or when it may have been too late, but his end is tragic in itself, and much more so because of the many fine people he took from those who loved them, and from all of us.
Posted at 02:25 PM Read More
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Published On: Jan 08, 2011 11:25 AM
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Published On: Jan 08, 2011 11:25 AM