Mouseketeers

I must confess that there are times when I can be a little…extra, and not in a good way. Take yesterday for example.

When I arrived at the office I noticed that we had finally caught the mouse we had set traps out for near the Keurig machine. I could very easily have picked up the trap and walked it out to the dumpster around the corner with no fanfare. I actually considered that option for maybe two minutes, but then I realized what a goldmine I had stumbled upon. At that point I went to work.

First, I went on a tour of the office, making special stops at the desks of Lindsey and Brenda to make sure they were aware of the catch. To say that they were not happy with this news would be to engage in a massive understatement. Several curse words and physical threats were hurled my way. Talk about shooting the messenger??!!

The next step was to take a couple mouse selfies…

Then it was time to put our high dollar digital printer to work. The resulting 8x10 portraits made for the perfect surprise gifts for the ladies at various locations around the office throughout the rest of the day.

Out of an abundance of caution I have decided to take a personal day…

Naming The Trip

As of this morning at 10:00 am, our 2023 Maine itinerary has been finalized. We already had secured the six week summer leg months ago, but this morning closed the deal on the three week Fall adventure. Here’s the plan…

We will arrive on gorgeous Quantabacook Lake on the 30th of June where we will spend two weeks at the lovely Summer Dreams:

Then, on the morning of 14th of July I will paddle all of our boats and gear south along the shoreline to our single favorite Maine cabin of all time, the unprecedented, never to be duplicated, Loon Landing:

Four weeks later we will be forced to pack everything up and head back to Short Pump, where I will be expected to work for a mere six weeks before we do it all over again. We will arrive at a new cabin (for us) called Vacationland:

We will be staying at this beauty for three weeks, from September 23rd until October 14th. This place is on a body of water we last stayed on in 2016 called Hobbs Pond.

So, there you have it. In case you’re keeping score at home that would be 9 weeks in Maine for the Dunnevant’s in 2023. Just in case you’re thinking that this seems a bit excessive, you are probably right. The only good thing I have to say about the amount of money this obsession is costing me, it is still cheaper than buying a place, and until the ridiculously inflated real estate valuations up here come back to earth, this will be an every year thing. At the end of the day, its only money. What good is money if it can’t be used to purchase joy? 

The only job left now is naming the trip. Pam has taken to naming each of these jaunts to Maine. In 2020 she named our fall trip the Loon Landing Leaf Peepers. In 2021 it was the Quantabacook Quintuple, while 2022 turned out to be known as Six Loon Summer. Her excuse is that she needs a name for the shared picture albums that she creates to hold the thousand photographs we take. I’ve come up with all kinds of suggestions over the years but she rejects them all…Catching Fish and Bouncing Checks, Recklessly Spending the Kid’s Inheritance, and my personal favorite…Pretending That Lucy is a Grandchild. 

“What is man that you are mindful of him…?”

I have always loved this photograph. It was taken in July of 2018 at Pemaquid Point Lighthouse on the Coast of Maine. It does a nice job of capturing the feel of this special place. You see the vegetation in the foreground, the great expanse of rock and the churning azure water. But what makes this particular shot so special is that man standing on the edge of the rocks on the far left. At first glance you might have missed him but without him its just another picture of The Point. With him, you realize how immense this majestic place really is, and just how small and insignificant is man.

The Psalmist asked the question of God, “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” Good question. When I read news stories about men who shoot their neighbors in the head for running a leaf blower, it’s tempting to answer the question with, “Man is a piece of shit.” But we are more than just the worst among us. Each and everyone of us is much more than the worst mistake we’ve ever made. We are all mixed bags of wretchedness and nobility. Still, when contemplating the size and complexity of the world along with our smallness its hard to find your place. The poets tell us that we are nothing more than a mist, a vapor, and our life nothing more than a breath. This photograph would appear to be Exhibit A in this regard.

But my faith teaches me that there is something unique about human beings that separates us from all of the universe…we were created in the image of God and each of us has a living soul. We have intrinsic value. We are not lichen or rock or tree. Much more is expected of us, much more than killing each other because we ring the doorbell of the wrong house.

When I was younger I had a hard time finding my place in the world. I struggled to find an answer to the What’s the meaning of life question. Becoming a father is what caused the universe to make sense for me. From that point forward I knew exactly what the meaning of life was, to nurture these little creatures into loving, caring, contributing adults. But in doing so I discovered other purposes for my existence. It wasn’t enough for me to care only about my own children. I needed to help others with their children because I needed their help with mine. That meant that I needed to care about their schools. I needed to pay attention to the neighborhood. I needed to start helping out with Little League and volunteering at church. I discovered that life is not and was never meant to be a spectator sport. The one thing that needed to be guarded at all cost was the dignity of each and every human life. If everyone I meet bears the image of God, I can do no less.

Some years I have been better at this than others. Occasionally I have fallen into selfishness, turned a blind eye to suffering and even injustice because I was too busy protecting what was mine. Other times I have been overcome with the scope and scale of evil in the world, and turned inward, reasoning that the pathologies running rampant in the world were too much for one person to solve. But hope is far too valuable a thing to discard. Even if we can only save one from drowning, we must leap in the water, even if that water, like the beautiful ocean off Pemaquid Point seems too much.

Life Was Easier When it Was Harder

Like most people I have a smart phone. This one has a smart calendar which displays itself towards the end of one month and the beginning of the next month. Yesterday, for example, I was informed that the month of May is LBGTQ+ month. I had no idea that was even a thing. I am up to speed on what each initial stands for but not sure what the plus sign represents, however I am 100% certain that I will be informed over the next 31 days of relentless awareness-building. But this was not the only surprising thing I learned about the month of May. I was reminded that my two kids both have birthdays in May…and they will both be squarely in their mid-30’s. How, in the name of all that is holy, did this happen?

 

It feels like only a couple of weeks ago when they were in Little League, just a few days ago we were moving them into dorm rooms, and fifteen minutes ago when they got married. Time flies when you’re living life.

Last night we brought dinner over my in-laws to celebrate my father-in-law’s 86th birthday. After dinner we sat around talking and I asked him some questions about his life. Its something I learned when we were caring for dad after Mom passed away. There is a world of wisdom swimming around inside our parent’s heads. It serves us well to mine it well while we still have the chance. Anyway, I pointed out that he had lived through almost nine decades on this Earth. I asked him which decade of his life was his favorite, and which one was the most difficult. His answers were quite instructive.

For the best decade he picked the years when he was in his late 40’s and early 50’s. He had hit his stride in his career, able to provide for his family, and his three girls were in middle and high school. His every spare moment was taken up with a series of volunteer positions at his church, which included everything from grown-up adult committee assignments, to bringing to life the unforgettable Mario Pepperoni character when he worked in the Youth department. I found it interesting that his favorite memories of life came from a time when he was the busiest.

But when I asked him about the hardest decade he said something especially wise, “I don’t really remember having a hard decade.”

Its funny. I asked my own Dad that same question late one night when he was in the hospital a year or so before he passed away and got virtually the same answer. His favorite decade turned out to be the years when he was working graveyard shifts and attending college and seminary while trying to raise four kids—in other words, the most insane and chaotic time of his life. When I asked him about the hardest decade I thought he would say when he was serving in WWII in the South Pacific in 120 degree heat, but no. I got the same words…I didn’t really have any hard decades, just different.

What about me? What about you?

The only thing I’m sure about is that life seemed easier for me when it was…harder. When you’re busy trying to make ends meet you don’t have time to sit around gazing at your navel, thinking things to death. You don’t have the luxury of introspection. You ponder less, do more. 

There’s a lesson in there somewhere.

They Didn’t Teach THIS in Pedagogy

My daughter teaches English to classrooms of seventh graders in Columbia, South Carolina. Although her job is insanely difficult, stressful and exasperating, there are moments of hilarity. The following is her account of one such moment…

Worst Blog Topic Ever?

What causes inflation? Why does the cost of a good or service increase? Although it has been an eternity since my economics class at the University of Richmond, I still remember the text book definition—“too much money chasing too few goods” In other words, when the demand for something combines with the scarcity of that same something, the price rises. When you think about this for a minute it makes perfect sense. Back in the 1970’s when OPEC had a strangle hold on the supply of oil, they could send the price of gas through the roof by simple turning off the taps, giving the OPEC states outsized power. In perhaps a less complicated version, if there is an explosion over at the Twinkee factory, Twinkee addicts buy up all the remaining Twinkees on the shelves sending their price skyward, since they have suddenly become scarce.

I know what you are all thinking…this might be the worst blog post topic in the history of The Tempest. You all may be right on that point but nevertheless I’ve been thinking about this whole inflation thing a lot lately. In a general sense, I understand how inflation can happen, it being a mechanical rather than a mercurial phenomenon. But lately, I’ve started to have my doubts.

In the aftermath of COVID with all of the quarantines and shutdowns it instigated through western economies, a huge monkey wrench got thrown in the interconnected world wide supply chain. Combining the predictable scarcity of supplies with the unprecedented fiscal stimulus from Washington brought the mother of all examples of lots and lots of money chasing fewer and fewer goods. So far, totally textbook. But, supply chain issues have long ago been remedied. Walk through any grocery store and hardware enterprise in the United States and you will find shelves overflowing with everything from soup to nuts. All the stimulus checks have come and gone, removing the excess capital in the system. And yet, Publix is still trying to sell this for $11.99…

My wife was having none of it. As a savvy consumer she knows that Publix does this all the time, trying to gouge their customers by charging a ridiculous price for a popular item. But if enough people say, “I’m sorry, I’ll pass”, then as sure as night follows day, a few days later that same item is suddenly on sale. Yesterday, Pam’s patience was rewarded when this very same box of Keurig cups cost $7.99. If you’re keeping score at home that’s a 33% discount. So when Pam bought three boxes, she saved us 12 bucks.

This brings me to the point of this blog which is, at what point is inflation no longer caused by the laws of demand and scarcity but rather the laws of avarice and greed? I am famous for having no clue what anything costs and as such am a terrible consumer. My wife, on the other hand, knows the price of nearly everything, and although she knows that Publix isn’t the cheapest grocery store in the world it is convenient, clean and well organized etc. But I can’t tell you how many times she has come in the house and said something like, I’m sorry, I’m just not going to pay X dollars for X product. Piss her off enough and she will ditch her brand loyalty quicker than a fat kid on a box of donuts. If enough of us do the same thing, watch some of these prices start to drop. If “Big Grocery” thinks they can get away with making a quick buck by gouging their customers—they won’t hesitate to do so. But what happens if all of us say, “Shame on you. You can stuff that box of K-Cups where the sun don’t shine.”

Look people, I want everyone to prosper. I don’t begrudge anyone making a buck. If prices are up because of scarcity and high demand, that’s one thing. But if scarcity isn’t an issue and demand hasn’t increased, then I am left with the conclusion that a lot (although certainly not all) of price inflation is now a result of old fashioned opportunistic greed. To the extent that we have tools at our disposal to fight back, we need to do so. If that means going with store brands, or buying in bulk at big lots stores, or even ditching your favorite store for that messy cheaper place with the weird parking lot…if enough of us fight back, prices will come down.

The Trust Deficit

Every single source that I use to obtain news of the world has been screaming about the firings of Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson. Apparently it is a big story. Millions of people tune in every night to hear them, I’m told. Everyone who is anyone in the news business has an opinion. The only thing that the two of them have in common it seems is their polarizing personalities. Many people close to me often begin sentences with the words, “Did you catch Tucker Carlson last night?” The answer is always “No”. 

Here’s the thing. Its been probably close to five years now since I have watched either Fox News or CNN or any other broadcast news program. In my office, CNBC runs in the background on the televisions hanging on the walls with the sound off. That’s the extent of my television news consumption. Why? A well deserved trust deficit. Put simply, I don’t believe any of them. More charitably, I believe that the news that gets presented to the public contains grains of truth, but by the time the story gets spun through each network’s bias-filters, the end result isn’t news at all but an editorialized version of the truth. So, how do I get my news? The answer isn’t exactly encouraging or even practical for me or anyone else, but here goes.

The news I get comes from a combination of places, none of which is totally reliable. Each source requires healthy skepticism, and even then, there are no guarantees that I’ve gotten it right. I check out stories found in the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, BBC online, NPR and during a breaking news story, any British tabloid can be depended upon to have pictures and video from the scene a few hours before any American operation even shows up. So, that’s my system. Its not perfect but its the best I can do. Its important to add that I get zero percent of my news from the most ill-named entity in the world…social media.

There is an enormous trust deficit that plagues my interaction with this modern world. I have come to the place where I have lost trust and confidence in practically every public institution in America. This has not always been so. But events of recent years has made it difficult to overcome. Here’s what it comes down to, without trust you become adrift. I don’t trust the Republican Party because of their seeming suicide pact with Donald Trump and obsession with waging culture wars. I don’t trust that the Democrats can govern the country without appeasing the lunatic left among them who seem determined to not stop until the entire country is throwing gender reveal parties with sixteen different colors. I don’t trust government in general but mostly the governments which are furthest away from the governed, ie…I’m kinda ok with Henrico County, less so with the people in Richmond, and far less so those in Washington. The corrupting influences of money and power have proven too much for far too many of those who assume to lead us. I don’t trust large corporations to ever act in anyone’s interest other than their own. I hate the lack of accountability for the thieves in corporate suites who get rewarded for their malfeasance with tax-payer bailouts. The institutional church, large and small, has also lost my trust. The horror stories throughout the Catholic priesthood, as well as the sexual predators within the Southern Baptist Convention have made a skeptic of me. The church that Pam and I found almost seven years ago has been a towering blessing for us both, but I keep my eyes wide open even there.  

You may fairly ask, Is there anything left in this world that you do trust, anything left that you believe in? The answer is “Yes”.

I trust every dog I’ve ever had. I believe in the words of Jesus. I trust the love of God. I believe in the beauty of music. I trust a beautifully written story. I believe in the power of forgiveness and grace. I believe in my family and their love for me. I believe that being kind is better than being right. I believe that a generous life is the best kind of life. I believe that the finest thing you will ever witness on an athletic field is a perfectly executed squeeze play. I believe that my parents loved each other. There is nobody I trust more than someone who is loving and generous to the strangers among us.

But that’s about it. From everyone else…cash only.