Christmas in July

 

Both of my parents grew up on farms near the city of Hastings, Minnesota.

The Brennan homestead stayed in the family until the mid-1960’s, when my dad's younger brother sold the farm and moved to Forest Lake, Minnesota.

The Stenson farm has a much longer history.

After renting a small home near what is now Highway 61, Martin Stenson and his young bride, Amelia, had saved up enough money to buy a home of their home. The house that they settled on, located on what used to be Rural Route 3, was built in 1896.

 They borrowed some money from a relative, and moved in sometime in the fall of 1929 - just before the stock market crashed. Somehow, they managed to hang onto the farm during the Depression years, and Martin and Amelia stayed in the home until the early 1960’s, when they moved into an apartment on Vermillion Street in Hastings.

At that point, Martin transferred ownership of the farm to his son Harold, who worked for a seed and feed company in downtown Hastings.

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2009/10/voice-from-grave.html

A few years after moving into the farm, Harold’s first wife, Bernie, died suddenly from a rare medical condition at the age of 27, leaving Harold to raise 5 children. With help from his sisters, he raised some great kids, and he prospered.

When he was in his 60’s, he met a woman named Bernie Kimmes at a local restaurant. At that point, she was a widow with six children, and the children from bath families got along well. So well, in fact, that his daughter Kay, and her son Willie, eventually got married. Since they liked to do things in style, they got married on a sailing ship in the Caribbean in 2002, and a bunch of us celebrated with them at my cousin Pat’s place in Minnetrista shortly after the wedding.

Harold and Bernie developed a strong relationship, and they got married when Harold was 65 years old. They remained married until 2005, when Bernie passed away at the age of 80.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/twincities/name/bernardine-stenson-obituary?pid=3335615

Starting sometime in the 1960’s, the Stenson clan started a tradition of having Christmas on the farm, and the tradition persevered for a number of years. When the Stenson and the Kimmes families merged, the logistics of all those people in an enclosed space became problematic, so the celebration shifted to July, and it became Christmas in July. The new tradition lasted until 2013 or 2014, which is when Harold moved to a senior facility in Hastings. After Harold passed on in 2017, at the age of 95, Christmas in July went dormant for a few years.

The COVID pandemic dashed any hopes of getting together again in 2020, but the dream still had not died.

In March of this year, I got an invitation from my cousin Jon, who owns a farm in Hudson, and he announced that he wanted to host this year’s Christmas in July. Since Sharon and I live about 1500 miles from Hudson, we knew that we would not be able to attend. However, since I had been using Zoom to teach classes for most of the school year, I decided that connecting with Zoom would be workable. Sometime in May, I set up a Zoom meeting, and sent the coordinates to my cousins.

On the morning of July 2, I started the meeting, and anxiously waited for the arrival of my cousins – who did not show up.

Apparently, the folks in Minnesota had difficulty getting into my Zoom meeting, but one of my cousins had set up a meeting of their own – and it worked. As a result, I was able to talk with a variety of my cousins for about 90 minutes, and I was also able to take a brief tour of Jon’s farm.

The old farm stayed in the family until the fall of 2018, when the house and 5 acres of land were sold. Wisely, the Stenson children kept the reaming acreage to avoid paying capital gains taxes, so the Stenson legacy at the place lives on, even though the Stensons no longer live there.

https://www.redfin.com/MN/Hastings/11851-Neal-Ave-S-55033/home/146253084

Will there be another Christmas in July celebration next year? Time will tell, but I sure hope so. It was a LOT of fun chatting with cousins that I had not seen for YEARS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

the Cleveland Guardians

 

 The Aunt Jemima brand was launched in 1888 by the Pearl Milling Company, but has been owned by the Quaker Oats Company since 1926.

About a year ago, the image of Aunt Jemima started disappearing from come of the syrup bottles, and in the near future, the name itself will disappear, and be replaced by “Pearl Milling Company”.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Jemima

Uncle Ben’s was founded in 1943, and was the best-selling rice in America for more than 40 years. Last year, the company announced that it was changing the brand’s name to “Ben’s Original”.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben%27s_Original

The Washington Redskins football team was founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves, but it changed its name to the Redskins the following year. The franchise moved to Washington, D.C., in 1937. The team won the 1937 and 1942 NFL championship games and Super Bowls XVII, XXII, and XXVI. Washington has finished a season as league runner-up six times, losing the 1936, 1940, 1943, and 1945 title games and Super Bowls VII and XVIII. With 14 division titles and 24 postseason appearances, they have an overall postseason record of 23–18. Their three Super Bowl wins are tied with the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders, behind the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots (six each), San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys (five each), and the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants (four each).

Washington's former Redskins name and logo generated controversy over its history, with many criticizing the term "redskin" as racially insensitive to Native Americans. Despite years of refusal from the team to change it, pressure from several NFL and team sponsors eventually led it to be retired in 2020 as part of a wave of name changes in the wake of the George Floyd protests. The team temporarily rebranded as the Washington Football Team and will adopt a permanent name in 2022. The team is valued at about US$3.5 billion according to Forbes, making it the eight-most valuable team in the NFL and the 19th-most valuable sports franchise globally

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Football_Team

The Kansas City Chiefs were founded in 1960 by Lamar Hunt, but the original name of the team was the Dallas Texans. In 1963, the team moved to Kansas City, and the name was changed to the Kansas City Chiefs. There are no plans to change the name of the team – for now.

The Atlanta Braves started out as the Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869, but changed to the Boston Red Stockings in 1871. In 1911, the name changed to the Boston Braves. In 1953, the team moved to Milwaukee, where they had their top farm team, the Brewers. In 1962, the team was sold to a Chicago based investment firm, which started shopping for a larger market. In 1966, the team moved to Atlanta.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_Braves

The tomahawk chop was adopted by fans of the Atlanta Braves in 1991. Carolyn King, the Braves organist, had played the "tomahawk song" during most at bats for a few seasons, but it finally caught on with Braves fans when the team started winning. The usage of foam tomahawks led to criticism from Native American groups that it was "demeaning" to them and called for them to be banned. In response, the Braves' public relations director said that it was "a proud expression of unification and family". King who did not understand the political ramifications, approached one of the Native American chiefs who were protesting. The chief told her that leaving her job as an organist would not change anything and that if she left "they'll find someone else to play."

The controversy has persisted since and became national news again during the 2019 National League Division Series. During the series, St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher and Cherokee Nation member, Ryan Helsley was asked about the chop and chant. Helsley said he found the fans' chanting and arm-motions insulting and that the chop depicts natives "in this kind of caveman-type people way who aren't intellectual." The relief pitcher's comments prompted the Braves to stop handing out foam tomahawks, playing the chop music or showing the chop graphic when the series returned to Atlanta for Game 5. The Braves released a statement saying they would "continue to evaluate how we activate elements of our brand, as well as the overall in-game experience" and that they would continue a "dialogue with those in the Native American community after the postseason concludes." The heads of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Cherokee Nation both condemned the chop and chant.

During the off-season, the Braves met with the National Congress of American Indians to start discussing a path forward. Subsequently, the Braves released a statement announcing that discussions were still ongoing about the chop, but the team name would not be changed.

 We need to talk about the Cleveland Indians. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Indians

The team was founded in 1894, and was originally known as the Grand Rapids Rustlers. When the team moved to Cleveland in 1900, the name was changed to the Cleveland Lake Shores. In 1914, the team was re-named the Indians, in order to honor former player Louis Sockalexis, a native American. At the end of the 2021 baseball season, the team name will change to the Cleveland Guardians, and Chief Wahoo will be retired as the team mascot. The team's new name references the "Guardians of Traffic", four Art Deco sculptures gracing the city's Hope Memorial Bridge.

https://nypost.com/2021/07/23/cleveland-indians-change-nickname-to-the-guardians/

 For some of our fellow citizens, all this political correctness may be unsettling, but it is the right thing to do. One of the songs in “Fiddler on the Roof” is a song titled “tradition”. The singer is proud of the fact that his fellow citizens adhere to traditions, but readily admits that he has no idea how they started. Changing the names of sports teams and consumer products is just another way of demonstrating that acknowledging or traditions is fine, but we don’t need to be bound to them forever.

Fiddler on the roof - Tradition ( with subtitles ) - Bing video

it's Greek to me

 

So far, I have studied six languages. Besides English, I studied Latin, Spanish, German, ASL and Mandarin. All of them are in use today, but the use of Latin requires a broader explanation.

When I was in elementary school, all of the masses I attended were performed in Latin. That was still true until I was a sophomore in high school, when the 2^nd Vatican council allowed mass to be said in the local language.

In a way, attending mass during my elementary years was a bit like watching a magic show, especially during those times when incense was being used. The priest faced away from the congregation and chanted out phrases in a language that none of us understood, and the burning of incense imparted a bit of mysticism to the ceremony, not unlike Shakespeare’s “bubble, bubble, toil and trouble”.

Virtually all of my fellow students at the Catholic high school attended thought that the two years of Latin that we were required to learn were a total waste of time. The faculty explained that learning Latin improved our study skills, which I thought was a pretty flimsy excuse.

I later learned that 60% of the words in the English language are based on Latin words. English also contains a number of words that are French or Greek in their origin. Unless you are a native speaker, you’ll discover that the many goofy rules in the language make it difficult to learn how to speak English, which has been the official world business language for over 200 years.

British colonialism spread the English language around the globe as it was administratively imposed on the non-English speakers in these colonies. English started to become increasingly influential on the world-scene at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. The Versailles Treaty of 1919 was drawn up not only in French (the diplomatic language of the time) but also in English. The US’s powerful political, military and economic position in the second half of the Twentieth Century meant that English became the main language of communication in such organizations as NATO and the IMF. The following facts from the British Council website reveal the current widespread use of English: English is spoken as a first language by around 375 million and as a second language by around 375 million speakers. Around 750 million people are believed to speak English as a foreign language.

Surprisingly, Latin is still in the news today.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/07/18/metro/pope-restricts-latin-mass-some-boston-catholics-respond-with-praise-some-with-frustration/

Some Massachusetts Catholics are denouncing and some are extolling a move by Pope Francis on Friday to restrict celebration of the Latin Mass, the church’s standard form of worship until the 1960s, in what the pope says is an effort to unify believers.

The edict allows bishops to regulate the Latin Mass in their dioceses, but adds certain conditions to the rite’s celebration that will in effect curtail it. The decree, for instance, mandates that, from now on, new priests must get Vatican approval in order to say the rite.

The document also calls for bishops to ensure that people who attend Latin Masses do not “deny the validity and the legitimacy” of the Second Vatican Council, which initiated worship in local languages.

Francis said he made the decision after a survey of the world’s Catholic bishops last year indicated that the Latin Mass was a source of division in the church. His action reverses the work of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who loosened rules around the Latin Mass in 2007.

The Latin Mass has become a focal point in the conservative-liberal culture war between US Catholics, which parallels divisions in the country at large. Traditional forms of worship like the Latin Mass generally are favored by conservative Catholics, while left-leaning Catholics typically prefer more contemporary styles of prayer.

For the Catholics who want to hear mass in Latin again, there are cities other than Boston where they can do that. The link below lists most of them. Of the countries listed, the United States has the most venues, at 658.

https://www.latinmassdir.org/

if you want to take a step back in time, you will be interested to know that Google Translate recently added Latin as one of its choices. As a result, the first five paragraphs of this article would look like this:

Ita longe, et sex linguis studuimus. Praeter Anglis, ut linguam Latinam didicerunt, Hispanica, Germanico, ASL & Mandarin. Omnia quae in illorum usum hodie latius explicandum autem Latinae linguae usus postulat.

Cum in ludo litterario erat, ut omnia vulgi facta Attendi et latine. Verum tamen est quod dum fui in alta schola a sophomore cum concilio Vaticano II 2 liceat massa ut dicitur in loci lingua.

Et ita quoque perdurantes unanimiter in mole me elementa exordii annorum eram aliquantulus magica ut vigilo a ostendit, praecipue per ea tempora esse solebant, cum thure. Aperta sunt verba a sacerdote in lingua canuntur multitudinem nemo intelligitur aliquid impertiri mystica ad adolendum incensum ritum haut Shakespeare "Bulla niti laboribus laborumque".

Alio modo virtualiter omnes conservis meis fabulam narrat princeps schola alumni ad Catholico putaverunt duos annos Latine discere, quod requiritur in summa sunt perditio tempus. Melius explicavit et latine nostri facultate discendi studium solers quod cogitavi erat enim pulchra tenues inexcusabiles.

Ut postea cognitum est, LX% sunt verborum in lingua Anglica secundum verba Latina. Et anglicus continet numerum verborum Graecorum quae in Gallica vel originis. Nisi sint nativi latine loquitur, youll 'quod plures inveniunt eam RETUNSUS praecepta in lingua Latina loqui quam difficile est cognoscere, qui fuerit in negotium mundi officialis lingua est super CC annis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

habla espanol?

 

Father Junípero Serra, a Spanish Franciscan missionary, founded the first Catholic mission in California on the site of present-day San Diego on July 16, 1769. After Serra blessed his new outpost of Christianity in a high mass, the royal standard of Spain was unfurled over the mission, which he named San Diego de Alcala.

Serra came to Spanish America in 1750 and served in the Sierra Gorda missions and then in south-central Mexico. A successful missionary, he was appointed a member of the second Spanish land expedition to Alta California in 1769. When the party reached San Diego, Serra remained with a few followers to found California’s first mission. The rest of the expedition continued on in search of Monterrey harbor, which had been previously used by Spanish sailors. Although the explorers failed in their aim, Serra succeeded in finding Monterrey in 1770, and there he founded his second mission—San Carlos Barromeo.

Appointed president of the Alta California presidios, Serra eventually founded a total of nine missions, stretching from San Diego to present-day San Francisco. The Franciscan fathers built large communities around their missions, teaching Christianized Native Americans to farm and tend cattle, and directing their work. These agricultural communities enjoyed a considerable autonomy from first the Spanish colonial authorities and then the Mexican government, but with the coming of the Americans in the mid-19th century most were abandoned.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-catholic-mission-in-california-dedicated

Human history began in California began when indigenous Americans first arrived some 13,000 years ago. Coastal exploration by the Spanish began in the 16th century, with further European settlement along the coast and in the inland valleys following in the 18th century. California was part of New Spain until that kingdom dissolved in 1821, becoming part of Mexico until the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), when it was ceded to the United States under the terms of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The same year, the California Gold Rush began, triggering intensified U.S. westward expansion. California joined the Union as a free state via the Compromise of 1850. By the end of the 19th century, California was still largely rural and agricultural, with a population of about 1.4 million.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_California_before_1900#:~:text=California%20was%20part%20of%20New%20Spain%20until%20that,Gold%20Rush%20began%2C%20triggering%20intensified%20U.S.%20westward%20expansion.

 

California has a population of around 37 million people. California’s population is 12% of the entire US population. According to a study done by American Community Survey, 42.6% of people in California above the age of 5 spoke a language other than English at home. 

California has over 200 languages spoken in the state. English is the most spoken language with Spanish being the second most spoken. In California there are over 100 indigenous languages which make the state one of the most linguistically diverse regions on the globe.

English is the most used language in California with an estimate of 20,379,282 speakers which translates to 58.8% of California’s population. English became the official language in California after it was passed in 1989 due to the passage of Proposition 63. English is the language of education, business, and commerce as it is understood and spoken by a large population. Spanish or Spanish Creole is the second most spoken language with 10,672,610 people, which is 28.46% of the whole population. 

Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese, has 1,231,425 speakers which are 2.80% of the whole population. Tagalog, a language native to the Philippines, is the most common language spoken in California after Spanish. Tagalog is spoken by an estimated 796,451 residents who constitute 2.20% of the California population.

 https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-most-spoken-languages-in-california.html

As of today, 32 states, including California, have English as the official language, which is also the case in the 5 U.S. territories. However, there is NO official language for the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Official_languages_of_U.S._states_and_territories

In all, there are roughly 350 languages that are spoken in the United States. Even before Europeans came to this country in the 1600’s, there were at least 300 different native languages that were spoken.

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-official-language-of-the-united-states.html#:~:text=1%20The%20United%20States%20has%20no%20official%20language.,350%20languages%20are%20spoken%20in%20the%20US%20today.

I’ve studied six languages (Latin, Spanish, German, ASL, Mandarin, and English) but I am only fluent (somewhat) in English. However, since 35% of the population in Tucson is of Hispanic origin, having the ability so speak Spanish would be useful, even though Google translate can make it easier to communicate with people who speak ONLY Spanish.

Since our country is truly a melting pot, I am of the opinion that we do not make English our official language. Oddly enough, England itself does not have an official language, but there are 67 sovereign states and 27 non-sovereign entities where English is the official languages.

http://www.emmc-imae.org/wp-content/uploads/Map-of-countries-where-English-is-an-official-language.pdf

A person that speaks two languages is called bi-lingual. A person that speaks three languages is called tri-lingual. A person what speaks many languages (think Pete Buttigieg or Pope Francis) is called a polyglot.

A person who speaks only one language?

An American.

 

In case you are wondering, “Mayor Pete” speaks 8 languages (including English) and Pope Francis speaks at least 7.

https://www.the-sun.com/news/1979430/pete-buttigieg-joe-biden-languages/

 

 

Timothy Leary's dead

 

"Legend of a Mind" is a song by the British progressive rock band the Moody Blues, and was written by the band's flautist Ray Thomas, who provides the lead vocals. "Legend of a Mind" was recorded in January 1968 and was first released on the Moody Blues' album In Search of the Lost Chord. It was the first song recorded for the album.

The original promotional black-and-white film for the song was filmed on location at Groot-Bijgaarden Castle near Brussels in Belgium.

The song's lyrics are about 1960s LSD icon Timothy Leary. Leary was an advocate for the use of LSD, enjoying its spiritual benefits, with one of his catchphrases being "Turn on, tune in, drop out."

The song is perhaps best known for its opening lines: "Timothy Leary's dead / No, n-n-no he's outside looking in" which allude to Leary's use of eastern mysticism (most notably the Tibetan Book of the Dead) to frame the psychedelic experience.

The song's lyrics describe both Leary and the effects of LSD, such as:

He'll fly his astral plane
Takes you trips around the bay
Brings you back the same day

as well as:

He'll take you up,
He'll bring you down.
He'll plant your feet back firmly on the ground.
He flies so high,
He swoops so low.
He knows exactly which way he's gonna go

If you want to watch the promotional video for the song, just click on the link below:

THE MOODY BLUES-R.I.P. RAY THOMAS-LEGEND OF A MIND (TIMOTHY LEARY'S DEAD)-1968 - YouTube

 

 Despite rumors to the contrary, Timothy Leary was NOT dead in 1968. In fact, he lived until 1996. At that point, seven grams of Leary's ashes were arranged by his friend at Celestis to be buried in space aboard a rocket carrying the remains of 23 others, including Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, space colonization advocate Gerard O'Neill and German-American rocket engineer Krafft Ehricke. A Pegasus rocket containing their remains was launched on April 21, 1997, and remained in orbit for six years until it burned up in the atmosphere.

Leary's ashes were also given to close friends and family. In 2015, Susan Sarandon brought some of his ashes to the Burning Man festival in Black Rock City, Nevada, and put them into an art installation there. The ashes were burned, along with the installation, on September 6, 2015.

Timothy Leary faced a variety of legal trouble during his lifetime. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was arrested 36 times worldwide. President Richard Nixon once described Leary as "the most dangerous man in America".

 

Leary believed that LSD showed potential for therapeutic use in psychiatry. He used LSD himself and developed a philosophy of mind expansion and personal truth through LSD. After leaving Harvard, he continued to publicly promote the use of psychedelic drugs and became a well-known figure of the counterculture of the 1960s. He popularized catchphrases that promoted his philosophy, such as "turn on, tune in, drop out", "set and setting", and "think for yourself and question authority". He also wrote and spoke frequently about transhumanist concepts of space migration, intelligence increase, and life extension (SMI²LE). Leary developed the eight-circuit model of consciousness in his book Exo-Psychology (1977) and gave lectures, occasionally billing himself as a "performing philosopher."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Leary

 

By now, you are probably wondering why I have a sudden interest in Timothy Leary, and the answer is simple.

AARP.

The current issue of the AARP Bulletin contained an interview with Michael Pollon, author of “This is Your Mind on Plants”. 

In 2013, he started reading about experiments using psilocybin (LSD) to treat cancer patients. The vast majority of the people in the experiments received enormous benefit from the drug. Most reported a powerful, mystical experience, and losing their fear of death. It also reduced anxiety and depression.

In recent years, psychedelics have gained legitimacy from a variety of sources. Recently, Francis Collins, the head of the National Institutes of Health, published positive statements about psychedelics.

 

Harvard Health Publishing published an analysis of the drugs in June of this year.

According to the publication, there IS evidence that using psychedelics CAN be used for medicinal purposes. 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/back-to-the-future-psychedelic-drugs-in-psychiatry-202106222508

 

Unlike Hunter S. Thompson or Timothy Leary, I’m not advocating that anyone should use illegal drugs, but from a practical standpoint, how much harm can marijuana, or other drugs, do to a terminally ill patient?