A Foggy, Foggy Day

It was a foggy day today in Delaware. This was the countryside west of Dover at about noon.

It was so foggy that our local TV newscasters dedicated fully the first five minutes of their 10:00 p.m. newscast tonight to video of the fog, a special weather report, and several reporters along several fog-bound roads across Delmarva telling us gravely to slow down, be careful, and watch out for puddles.

Yes, it was a major weather story in our area tonight. Not as serious as tens of feet of snow, as in the mountain west; mudslides, as in California; or a tsunami. But a serious story none-the-less.

Fog!

Fare Well, Tim Fannin. And Thanks!

Arts school principal planning move to Florida (Delaware Wave Newspaper)

Here's a story on Tim Fannin's pending retirement from his position as principle at the Southern Delaware School of the Arts (SDSA).

Tim's been there since the school started seven years ago. So has my eldest daughter Colleen; she's now a seventh grader. My youngest, Christina, is a third grader and my wife Karen is in her second year at SDSA as a special education teacher.

Tim's a good man, and I think he's been a good principle. We probably don't agree on much in most parts of life, Tim and I, but I think we mostly agree on education. At least the on-the-ground, in-this-school-building ones.

I can say that my child has blossomed academically and artistically in the school he's run for seven years.

I wish him well, and say "thanks" for helping start what is a wonderful, successful school.

Serenading the State House

Today was the first day of the 143rd Delaware General Assembly. Colleen helped open the proceedings in the state House of Representatives as part of the Southern Delaware School of the Arts 7th and 8th grade choir. Karen was along as teacher, chaperone, and sound engineer. I took time off from my job across the St. Jones River from Legislative Hall and wandered over to listen, watch, and take pictures.

That's what Dads do.

The kids came up by bus and, after they cleared security, cooled their heels in a meeting room just off the House Chamber. When I got there, some of the other parents were wandering around wondering how to get into the Chamber to watch.

The House Sergeant at Arms and his crew were fairly stressed trying to make sure that the families of all 41 of the elected Representatives had a place to sit in the Chamber or in the Gallery above to watch their wives, husbands, moms, dads, daughters, or sons sworn-in to their two year terms.

There were no seats to be had and no standing in the back. In the end, we were able to watch quietly from the doorway of the room in which the kids had been kept. We were off to the side and way in the back, but able to listen, watch, and take pictures.

That's what Dads do.

The kids opened with the Star Spangled Banner. They sang Amazing Grace, and a Broadway tune. They closed with a medley of patriotic favorites. They sang well, despite the cramped and crowded conditions. They sounded very good.

Credit is due to their music teacher, Lou Ann Hudson. I enjoyed watching her helping the kids through the music. At one point, she had to slow down a group of boys with good voices but a tendency to rush the tempo. She reined them in and prodded the rest of the choir back into rhythmic line and brought them home in one piece.

Normally, Legislative Hall on opening day is the last place I want to visit. The first day is a day of ceremony; a time for the Senators and Representatives and their families. The real work begins the next day.

But with Colleen and her classmates performing in the House I had to be there. To listen, watch, and take pictures.

It is, after all, what dads do.

We Return to Oak Orchard

Saturday, Colleen was off at a church youth group sleep-over, so Karen, Christina and I decided to try a new restaurant. We chose Serendipity, a new restaurant on Indian River at Oak Orchard. On this aerial photo/map, the restaurant is located along the shoreline, somewhere between the labels for Riverdale Park and Oak Orchard.


(Map created using the Delaware DataMIL).

We had heard good things about this restaurant, and we always try to check out the new eateries during the off-season, so we headed out Route 24 from Lewes towards Millsboro and down to Oak Orchard. The place was very nice. The decor was classy, the room was comfortable, and the food was very good and very plentiful.

This is a restaurant I would like to return to; especially during daylight hours when I think the view across the River will be rather nice. The place does breakfast and lunch, and may be far enough from the main drag of the beach resorts to make it a possibility at least in the early part of the summer season.

It was interesting to head back to Oak Orchard. I had been through there a few times doing "field" tours when I was at the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Oak Orchard is home, further inland, to the annual Nanticoke Indian Powwow and remains a region of Sussex County that is home to members of that tribe. The Nanticoke Museum is just up the road. We've made it to a few of the annual Powwows and I have gotten to know some of the leadership of the tribe through work.

I also understand that the area was home to a thriving orchard industry in the early part of the twentieth century, before chickens and tourists became the dominant economic sectors in eastern Sussex County.

What I found fascinating driving through the area this week-end, though, is the extent to which this place has remained a small waterfront village, even in the face of exploding development all around it. A major, gated community, the Peninsula, is going in just to the east, on the other side of Emily Gut. And, if I remember correctly, there was a site plan under review in 2004 for a development (The Moore Farm Project, 196 residential units on 56.71 acres ) on that rectangular farm field covered by the label for "Captain's Grant Mobile Home Park" above.

And yet, the waterfront remains pretty much as it was. I wonder how long it will last?

Joe McHugh, I Salute You!

I see that Bethany Beach Mayor Joe McHugh has decided to step away from the helm after seven years leading the town and twelve total on the town council.

Working in the State Planning Office, I'm privileged to get to know a number of elected officials in Delaware, and occasionally to work closely with various Mayors.

Mayor McHugh has been a class act and a very nice guy to work with. I'm sorry to see him go, but glad that he gets a chance to enjoy his retirement more fully.

Bethany Beach has been well served by Mayor McHugh. I wanted to take a moment to applaud him, and wish him well.

This is Minor Stuff Now, Given the Tsunami

Still, I wanted to say again at this moment in American political history:

Poop.

When Did We Become a Cargo Cult?

The other day Karen, the girls, and I went to a movie and stopped by the local Cracker Barrel for dinner. Yes, I know. Consider, though. We have young(ish) kids and need a place to eat that we can get everyone to agree on. At least we don't have to go to McDonald's as often as in the past.

Anyway. As I stood in line to pay our check, I found myself looking up at all the stuff they hang from the ceiling and walls. They have boat motors and lard presses and lanterns and instruments and and a great deal more. Even, if you are lucky, cranberry sorters. This is a key part of their business. There's a guy in charge of all this and they do an admirable job cataloguing it all on-line.

And it's not just Cracker Barrel that decorates in American detritus. Consider Applebee's. Or Ruby Tuesday's. Or TGI Friday's -- just to stay in the restaurant realm. American diners seem to like to surround themselves with evidence of our consumer history.

I couldn't helping thinking, as I stood there, of the Cargo Cults I read about as a child in National Geographic Magazine. These were quasi-religious groups, on small Pacific Islands, that developed a certain level of worship around the astounding wealth of modern materiel dropped onto their Islands by the military during World War II. The military moved on, but the stuff remained and became a center of culture, if not religion, on the Islands.

Now, here we are. Decorating our restaurants with our left-over stuff. I guess I rather like it; I feel like I am eating in an almost museum.

Then I noticed the antique iron hanging above the customer part of the cashier's station. I decided to pay quick and get out of there.

A Walk in the Park to End 2004

Matt, Bob and I took our kids for a ramble in Cape Henlopen State Park on New Year's Eve.


The Cape is the southern shore of the entrance to the Delaware Bay. In World War II it served as a part of the coastal defense system, as Fort Miles.


Delaware's State Parks folks are working to restore parts of Fort Miles as a living-history museum, much as they have done so well with the Civil War prison island of Fort Delaware, further up in the Delaware River. At the moment, there are just a few guns and deteriorating barracks buildings.


Guns, as mechanical artifacts, are cool.


I would guess that this 155mm Howitzer, with Carriage, dates from 1955.


The Cape is dotted with watch towers, from which spotters would be able to guide the fire of the big guns. One is still open to the public. It provides a wonderful view of the Cape, the Bay and breakwaters, lighthouses, and Lewes.


Back in the woods there are a number of WWII-era bunkers. I believe these were used to store the ammunition for the large coastal defense guns.


The Walking Dune is one of the Cape's most interesting features. It's one of the largest dunes on the east coast.


Cape Henlopen State Park provides a fine example of what the flora and fauna of this area is supposed to look like.

Tsunami

It occurs to me that I have written nothing about the Tsunami that struck people all around the Indian Ocean this week. The simple fact is that the fact of this tragedy is so permanently in our minds this week that it seemed un-needed to point it out. Also, the scale of this loss of humanity is so huge that I have not really felt able to get my mind fully around it.

I could offer links to news feeds about the situation. I could offer links to sites gathering donations to help the people of the region. All that is available elsewhere. You don't need my help to find information or opportunities to help.

After several days with the story, however, I think it's time for a moment of reflection. I can't help thinking back to the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. I found myself wondering this week whether our reaction to this disaster measures up to our reaction to those attacks.

The loss of life is so much larger in this case, but the September 11 attacks were here, in our land. The dead in 2001 were victims of attacks by other human beings, while the Tsunami was an act of nature, an impersonal fact of life on a planet with tectonic plates, earthquakes and oceans.

That someone could willingly act to murder several thousand people still seems a larger fact than the reality that when the oceans rise, tens of thousands die. I mourn more for the larger group of victims, simply because there are more victims of the Tsunami. But my grief over the fact that the ability to murder on a mass scale exists among humans is just as large.

Finally, we should all remember to be humble in the face of the power of nature.

Work, Work, Work

I've just republished my main work web site, the web site of the Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination.

I've been working on transferring the content of the site over to the new page design all this week. This week, the slow time between Christmas and the New Year, is always a great week for me to do the sort of job that is best done when the phone is not ringing quite so much. I can multi-task, but some jobs are best done with a single-minded sort of craziness. This is one of them. It's dull, head down, locked to your PC, slog-through-it work, but satisfying when you come out the other end with a newly updated and fresh-looking site.

For this update, I have adopted the "common look and feel" web templates created by the folks in the state's Government Information Center. They manage the state's web portal and have tried to come up with a standard web page design that gives visitors a sense that they are on a web site that represents the whole of state government, while maintaining a sense of individual agency identity.

I have long designed my own sites, and I take pride in creating sites that look professional and work for the visitor. There comes a time, however, when pride should be set aside. In truth, I'm only setting aside my pride as a graphic designer, which is not my greatest skill-set anyway. I still take pride in providing a site that is rich in content and constantly updated.

Using Blogger, and its perfectly workable templates, have helped remind me over the last few months that it really is all about the content, more than the design. It's a lesson I learned early in my career, but often forget. Bells and whistles really only serve to deafen us and block out the important things. Heaven knows there are enough web sites already that prove this true,

So. I have tried to maintain the most useful pages, and to improve several pages. A site redesign is a rich opportunity to prune and reshape and I'm working on that part now that the main pages are up and functioning.

Hopefully, when everyone else comes back to work, they'll have a pleasant surprise.