Turning a chapter in history and our lives

For those of us who are slightly past the half century mark in age, and beyond, a chapter has turned in our lives.

We share a common point in history, November 22, 1963. I was too young to remember John Kennedy’s 1960 election over Richard Nixon, but I was old enough to remember watching his flag draped, horse drawn casket.

Our age group has seen the Kennedy name as an every day part of our lives for as long as we can remember. Eunice Shriver’s death just a couple of weeks ago and now Ted’s yesterday mark the end of an era.

Yes, I know, there is still one surviving sister, but it was John, Bobby, Teddy and Eunice that were the public face of the Kennedy clan. Say what you will about the Kennedys. Agree or disagree with their politics. You still have to recognize that August 25, 2009, in many ways officially marks the passing of a generational torch.

I had the opportunity to meet Senator Kennedy and his first wife, Joan, during his 1980 campaign for president. One of the perks of being a newspaper reporter in small town Iowa during a presidential election year is that you meet a lot of presidential candidates.

While it’s less true today with the mega-million dollar campaigns we now see, it was especially true in 1980. Any presidential candidate passing through Oskaloosa, Iowa, population 12,000, made the effort to meet with the local newspaper.

I rode in the back of the Kennedy limo with Senator and Mrs. Kennedy, just the three of us and the driver up front. I wish I could tell you that I found him terrifically intriguing and charismatic but, to be completely honest, Mrs. Kennedy was far more charming and engaged in the conversation.

The feeling I received from Kennedy was that, by 1980, he had fought so many political wars, with so many high-powered individuals, that he really didn’t see a challenge in meeting with a 20-something reporter from a small town newspaper located out in the middle of a bunch of cornfields.

Kennedy faced many challenges in that campaign. Not the least of which was running against an incumbent President from his own party. But I’ve always had the feeling that one of the reasons he didn’t gain more support was that he failed to understand and connect with Iowans on a personal level. He was accustomed to large campaign rallies and operating at a level 10,000 feet above the ground which wasn’t the grassroots type of campaign that Iowans expected at that time.

Oddly, that is in stark contrast with his political career. He was a dedicated voice for the underclass and a tireless public servant who accomplished many things during his career.

For those of us in the 50-plus age range, his death closes a chapter that began with John Kennedy’s election, and continued through his assassination, the dreams of Bobby Kennedy’s Presidential campaign and his assassination, the joy that Eunice Shriver brought to millions of mentally handicapped individuals via the Special Olympics and other efforts, and through Ted Kennedy’s long and storied career.

A new generation picks up that torch today. They would be well-served to bring with them the dedication and spirit that the Kennedys brought with them.

A little antique prop work

Ok... here's a quick one. Thought I should get it out before the Harrison Hilltop's current production is over.

My daughter volunteered to do props for the theatre's latest production, Long Day's Journey Into Night.

She was running out of time, and options, and needed an antique phone. I was getting a little tired of building things around the house, so volunteered to help with the project.

Instead of spending upwards to $200 to get a genuine antique phone, we made one.... you can see it in the photo.

I did the woodwork and she did the staining and adding and creation of the additional pieces.

I can honestly say that this was done with blood and sweat. I managed to shoot a nail (nail gun) through the wood and into my finger. Still don't know how that happened.

Finger is a still a bit sore but I'll survive. The inside of the phone has a particularly dark stain. Oh well.

Harrison Hilltop does some interesting work so if you're looking for some good theatre, take it in.

Chalkboards... not just for classrooms

At the risk of sounding indelicate, I hated the view of my bathroom door as I sat on the toilet.

It wasn't the door as a whole, just the color: Silver. The door is a bifold mirrored door that faces into the master bedroom so the view inside the bathroom was of the back of the door which was just plain ugly.

So I painted it black. Oh, but if you've read the many preceeding posts in this blog, nothing is as it seems.

I used chalkboard paint. So not only is the black much more attractive than the silver, it's also highly functional.

I can use it to draw cartoon images, leave intriguing limericks... "There once was a man from Racine who invented a loving machine....", or other wittiness... "For a good time call 555-....".

Or I can even use it to draw large images to add color and flair to the bathroom walls.

So, if you're ever by the house and have the pleasure 0f using my bathroom, feel free to sign in.

I'm not a plant person

I'm not a plant person. I take no enjoyment in tending to my yard. That's pretty evident by looking at it.

The mowing gets done. The weeds get whacked every couple of weeks or so. There's one tree on the whole property and it's about eight feet tall. I'm thinking it might be getting too tall.

There are some plants of some kind in a bed that stretches about two-third of the length of the front of the house. They're the kind that don't get very high.

The weeds in the bed were much taller than the plants. I'm not big on pulling weeds. I whack them off with the weed whacker at the same height as the plants.

So it will come as quite the surprise to those who know me that I just spent the last couple of hours re-potting several of my house plants. I know it surprised me.

But, they needed it. The plants were actually my wife's along with a couple that were gifts when she died three years ago.

I tried to kill the plants off last summer when I moved to the new house. I kept them in the garage from July and well into November. I watered them ever couple of weeks, or so, depending on when I remembered.

To my surprise, the darn things lived. At that point I felt sorry for them and decided if they wanted to live that badly I would move them indoors and at least make an effort to care for them.

The biggest problem with them is that they are all in basket-style pots which definitely does not go with the contemporary feel of this house. So I finally broke down and bought some new pots, more in fitting with the style of this abode.

I spare no expense on my pot acquisitions... purchasing them from WalMart, TJ Max and Goodwill.

I had no clue how to go about this task so I do what everyone does in this technological age... I Googled it and found a video on YouTube.

I dutifully went to Wally World and purchased some of that fancy potting soil. I didn't have the rock that the video said to use to cover the hole in the bottom of the pot so I cut some metal up and bent it to fit the bottom of the pot. Hope that works.

I manage to kill the African Violet. Visions of Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and leaches went through my mind for some odd reason. I really didn't do it on purpose, it just sort of broke off from the roots in my hand. I buried it in a small ceremony... I threw it in the garbage can.

All in all, I think I did an ok job for my first attempt. I suspect that there will be at least one more of the poor fellas that won't survive the procedure.

But, I've watered them, put them in indirect sunlight and will do my best to continue the resuscitation. Say a prayer for the little guys.

Did I tell you that I'm not a plant person?

Reality show fever

Ok, now I know what it feels like to be on an HGTV reality show.

I scheduled August 1 as the date for an open house party to finally show people this house I've ben living in for a year now. Of course, that meant I had to get projects done.

For the last month I've felt like I was on one of those reality shows, with time running out and the clock about to strike the finishing hour. I was still building things two days before the party and spent the entire day before the party cleaning up the wreckage that had been created from all of the construction.

One of the projects, actually two, I finished up last week were the cabinets in the basement. One is a media center/cabinet and the other stores all of my wine and other bar glasses.

The media cabinet is approximately seven-feet long with a large storage area. The fronts on the two doors are made from styrofoam and cut in a geometric pattern to mimic the fireplace front upstairs.

The area where the television is, is just screaming out for a large flat panel but that's going to have to wait for another day... I already have flat panel upstairs.

The top of the bar glass cabinet is about 12 feet long, extending over a small refrigerator on the right side. It's difficult to see in this photo but there is lighting under the top that lights up the top shelves of glassware.

There are two display cases built into the top of the cabinet. Both are lighted and covered with plexiglass. I liked the idea of having something colorful in the cabinets so we painted the inside of glass ornaments and put them inside the cases. Later, I can always change this out and display some collection, put a theme to go with a specific holiday or any number of things.

The room is far from finished but it is well finished enough to use and has become a very comfortable place... I'll cover that later.