New Thing 66, New Thing Every Day: Visit the Giant Fiberglass Paul Bunyan in Mortons Gap, KY

Since I am mostly stuck here in a living room in Madisonville, KY, I am coming up with fun little things to do for my New Thing Every Day. Today, it was visiting the Giant Fiberglass Paul Bunyan in Mortons Gap, KY, just five miles away.

Here is a great story about the Paul Bunyan -- http://kaleidoscopicwandering.com/2015/11/30/roadside-giant-returns-to-mortons-gap-kentucky/

New Thing 65, New Thing Every Day: Gather a Few Items to Remember My Stepfather

My stepfather is an interesting man -- accomplished, well traveled, well read, philanthropic, and just a good guy. It is a shame that I did not get to know him better over the eight years he and my mother have been married (following a late-in-life whirlwind romance), and now there will not be a chance to remedy that (a good reminder for us all, if we pay attention).

I am not a big "stuff" guy. From my dad, I have a chess board, some photos, and a few other small nicknacks with little real value. The same is true for others I have lost, and I do not hold on to many of my own things with much sentimentality (just my wedding ring, an engraved key chain my wife gave me, and a few other little things).

As a remembrance of my stepfather, Sam Wurtzel, I asked his kids for two items, and they added a third to the list. The items I chose were a watch of his I liked -- nothing fancy, and I suspect it cost between $100 and $200 -- and a cap that I am sure had absolutely no special meaning to him. In both cases, these are things I use in my day-to-day life and my thought is that I will give them their intended use, and remember Sam a bit when I do. The item the kids offered me is basically the same -- something I will actually use and that will remind me of Sam each time I do -- a cigar humidor that he used at least on a weekly basis. I smoke maybe six cigars a year, and Sam's humidor will be used and given a place of honor in my home.

New Thing 64, New Thing Every Day: Visit Ruby Laffoon's Birth Place

Well, my hometown of Madisonville, Kentucky has exactly one tourist site -- former Governor Ruby Laffoon's birth place. Even having grown up here, I have never been there. So that, my friends, is my New Thing for today. It was extremely exciting.

New Thing 63, New Thing Every Day: Spend the Day at Deaconess Hospital

 

Primarily to be there for my mom, and also for my step father, I spent the day at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, IN.

Here are 10+ things about the experience.

1.  Ugh. Hospitals.

2.  Sam is in a coma, but it is important to be here for these things. I hope I would be here, even if others were not.

3.  My mom is such a trooper.

4.  The nurses and other medical folks really do care.

5.  There was so little sleep.

6.  Sam's kids spent the first half or more of the day getting to the hospital from the east coast.

7.  At some point in the morning, I got us breakfast from McDonald's. It was oddly comforting.

8.  The neighborhood surrounding the hospital is pretty depressed. I would have thought the hospital would have uplifted it at least a bit.

9.  So many of my friends have been supportive from afar. Thank you all.

10. Tending to family stuff really puts a damper on my workaholism.

New Thing 62, New Thing Every Day: Rush to Indiana After My Stepfather's Stroke

[Note: This post is a day late, for reasons that should be obvious.]

Here are 10+ things about this experience.

1. My mother called me, crying, from an ambulance, rushing to a hospital 45 minute from our small town, with my stepfather, following a stroke he had at their house.
2. It was my job to find his kids and let them know (they live on the east coast).
3. It took a while because I did not have anyone's phone number (we mostly communicate over Facebook). With Facebook and Google, I got to phone numbers within an hour or so and let everyone know what was happening.
4. The stroke was pretty serious and Sam is not expected to recover.
5. My mom told me not to come, but I was on the road within an hour. I got to the hospital a little before 1:00 am.
6. Because of my physical limitations due to MS, my stepbrother was concerned that I could not help in the ways that would be needed. I explained that my MS does not affect my stamina or energy, and that if there was something needed that I can't do, I have enough money to get someone else to do anything we may need in this situation. Relatively small amouts of money really can solve most short-term problems.
7. There are many, many things at which I am not the guy, but I am absolutely the guy you want in a crisis. That is kind of my thing.
8. Sam's three kids are on planes, rushing to get here as quickly as they can. The prognosis is that he is not going to last, but nobody can tell us when he might go.
9. This morning, I had to tell Sam's sister what was happening. That was a treat.
10. In 2004, I was basically in this same situation -- sitting in a hotel room for a few days, mostly just my mom and me, waiting for my dad to go. In that case, he was on life support and I had to make the call to pull the plug. Definitely not something I would wish on anybody.
11. Thank goodness for laptops and wifi. It could be a few days of sitting here and I have a lot of work to do.

New Thing 61, New Thing Every Day: Attend a Boone County Commission Meeting

In my old age, my disdain for politics grows pretty much every day, but I continue to be fascinated by policy, and local government is where we find most of the policy that affects our day-to-day lives.

Here are my 10+ things about visiting a Boone County Commission meeting

1. It turned out to be a big day, as the commission prepared to vote on moving to the next step of approval for tax benefits going to new company moving to town, Aurora Organic Dairy.
2. A dairy farmer testified about "organic" being a scam, a false advertising term.
3. Someone was concerned about the secretive nature of the process followed in getting the company to move here.
4. There were an awful lot of folks I know in the room -- politicians, economic development professionals, journalists, and activists.
5. Some thought I was there to take a side on the issue, but it was really a coincidence.
6. There was concern expressed about giving money to a company to get them to move here, but not to companies who are already here.
7. The measure to support tax incentives for the move passed unanimously, which was probably a foregone conclusion.
8. As soon as the vote was taken, most of the audience left.
9. Fred Parry did a good job. He holds the seat that basically belonged to Karen Miller for 24 years.
10. No, attending the meeting did not make me miss politics.

New Thing 60, New Thing Every Day: Read Pablo Neruda Poetry

Still alive, Pablo Neruda has been considered one of the world's most heralded poets for decades. I have read some poetry in my time, but not as a habit, and I have never read Neruda. Today, I read a few different things. Here is one you might like.

XVII (I do not love you...)

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.