Visiting the Temples of Learning

I guess that title is a bit overstated, but it works with the picture. This is a reading room in one of the libraries at Boston College. We visited BC and Boston University last week with Colleen, who is entering her junior year at high school this fall and should start thinking about colleges soon.

We made a quick trip to Boston to visit campuses and spend some time with friends from the Tyler Place who live south of Boston. We drove up on Wednesday and came back Sunday.

The summer college visit set-up seems to be a meeting in a lecture room where a large group of parents and kids hear from an admissions officer and a student (or a panel of students) about the school. There's a chance to ask questions and then campus tours in smaller groups led by students tour-guides.

I notice that the prospective students don't ask as many questions as they should; parents ask quite a few. In some cases, perhaps they should sit back and let their kids do the asking. The student guides, on the other hand, are not shy at all; they can't be and also have that job. They are generally outgoing and impressive kids who represent their schools well.

There is a cynical part of me that finds these young men and women just a tad too high on their schools, but I keep that part hidden. These are nice kids.

BC and BU are lovely schools, if rather different from each other. BU is much larger and more urban. BC is a smaller suburban school, set off by itself. I could see my daughter at either; but the choice is hers and there are many more schools to consider. The cool thing is that we have started the process that will lead eventually to her selecting a college or a university.

It's another step taken.

Seventh Golf Game of 2008

Andy, Rich and I played a storm-interrupted 18 holes at The Rookery Golf Club today.

We had to scamper off the course from the 13th hole when a huge thunderstorm that had been passing south of us paused and started drifting our way. It never hit the course full-on, but most of the golfers out there decided it was a good time for a short break; a beer and a hot dog.

Andy said, as we raced towards the clubhouse, "I have a rational fear of lightning."

I played badly, scoring an unacceptable 121. I want to apologize to golfers everywhere, to Ben Hogan, to the Calloway Golf Company and to the people of Scotland.

Golf is a mental game. You can destroy your swing by thinking about it too much. The first tee is the worst place, sometimes. You tee off in front of a "starter" who watches you, clipboard in hand, and seems to be thinking about just how much you are going to slow-down the flow of golfers. And there are usually a group of golfers behind you, waiting their turn, and watching every move you make. And so, you think about it. And thus you swing can be... rough.

So I flubbed my first drive and I tried too hard on the subsequent shots to make up for it. And I tried to be too fast, thinking about the group behind us. I started poorly on that first hole and never quite caught up over the next 17, though there were a few shots, here and there, to make me proud.

And yet I still had a very good time. I made small adjustments and fixed things a little. I had shots that felt and looked great. And I spent time with friends.

Sixth Golf Game of 2008

Andy, Rich (from Connecticut), and I played the Man O'War course at Glen Riddle, just west of Ocean City, Maryland, today. Rich and his family were down to visit and Andy and his crew. When they come to visit, it often means a golf-orgy for Andy and Rich; I'm pleased to join in sometimes too.

Glen Riddle Golf Club is part of the a large golf and residential development built on the old Glen Riddle Farm. This was the home of champion thoroughbreds Man O'War and his offspring War Admiral, who won the Triple Crown in 1937. Another of his offspring sired Seabiscuit.

There are two golf courses, named for the two most famous residents. They partly incorporate the old training track, which serves as a long sand trap at one point. That's my ball in that trap in the picture. In the background is an old starting-gate.

I don't recall which hole this was, but it was typical of my game today. I hit a solid, straight, if not hugely long first shot. My second was very nice as well, but fell short of the green (into the sand there). This is how I approached many holes; the problems started here. In this case I hit too firm out of the sand and flew over the green. I had to chip back on, and my putting is only so-so. The result, a two-over 6, if I was lucky. On other holes I was tentative on my chips and fell too short.

I ended with a 111. Andy kindly said that he thought I'd played better than that score. That was nice of him. I enjoyed the Glen Riddle course. Lots of challenges and changes and surprises.

In Mahaffey, PA

We spent only about an hour in Mahaffey, Pennsylvania; we had a long drive back to Delaware. But I'm glad we stopped.

We found our way (with thanks to directions from my cousin Don Mahaffey Weaver) to the Borough of Mahaffey graveyard. There's a monument to Robert Mahaffey in the center of the graveyard. It is surrounded by several sets of Mahaffey family plots. There's a lot of history here.

The town of Mahaffey, the Borough, is quite small. The downtown, such as it is, is next to a bridge across the upper reaches of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. There is a restaurant, a gun shop, a funeral home and a few churches.

There is a town park, Scout Community Park, according to Google, though I saw references to a Mahaffey Park which was to host a fireworks show that evening. Scout Park includes a ball field, always a good sign in a small town.

I'm glad we had a chance to visit Mahaffey. It's a part of the history of a distant branch of my family, but I've been studying family history for a while now and I was excited to see the place.

Looking Out Over Johnstown

We made a flying visit to central Pennsylvania this past weekend. We were there for a family event in Karen's family and took the opportunity for just a small amount of looking around.

We drove out on Friday. Interstate 70 in western Maryland was packed and reduced to a crawl. After ghosting over one mountain at 10 mph behind a truck, we abandoned the interstate system and hooked up with the old National highway -- US 40. We took that through Hagarstown and then took back-roads out to Breezewood and on to Johnstown.

On Saturday, we had a family lunch at the City View Restaurant, overlooking Johnstown. The restaurant is next to the Incline Plane which carries people and cars up and down a substantial hill. We took the ride down; then back up. For a flat-lander, like me, this sort of elevation play is great fun.

Sunday, we took a quick ride up north from Johnstown to visit Mahaffey, the Borough founded by a second cousin of my great-great-grandfather. It's a visit I've been thinking about. I'll have a few photos from there later.

I will say that it was very interesting, and it was fun. And it was a great excuse to do more driving on two-lane highways in the hill country.

Fifth Golf Game of 2008

Andy and I played 18 holes on a hot Saturday at Pine Shore golf course, near Ocean Pines in Maryland. Pine Shores is a small, mature course that is adjacent to the larger and newer River Run course. It is less expensive and more laid back; that's what we were looking for.

Andy has been off the course for a couple of months for health reasons. He was not sure how his game would react and didn't want to be part of a foursome with folks we don't know and who might have paid a great deal for their game. He's polite like that; I just look to see if the people we play with have a sense of humor before I start swinging.

In any case, Pine Shore was the right course for us on this particular week-end. It is short -- par 60 -- but challenging in a way that only mature courses can be. It has trees that have grown up as part of the course layout, rather than having been carved around. And there are rolling greens. We don't see rolling greens so much on the newer courses.

I started rather poorly, but shaved strokes off the back nine and finished at 91. I had a few pars and only one bad blow-up. I find that I can achieve a decently straight, if short, golf shot if I don't try to hit too hard and if I accept that my lower back issues mean an odd, twisty follow-through.

It feels funny when I do it right; which, if you think about it, is an apt description of golf.

New Wheels. No, Not a Hybrid

I've bought a new car, a Scion xD. We've become a three-driver family this summer and so now have a third car. This will be my car, and it is not a hybrid; that is a major change for me.

I've driven Toyota Prius hybrids for most of the present century. My first was a 2001, the first version that was available in the US. I was, I think, the second or third to have a Prius in Delaware. I replaced that with a second generation Prius in 2004.

I love our 2005 Prius, it is a roomy, comfortable, efficient and clean car. But we are at a point where we need a car for our daughter to drive. We could have found her a used car at one of the dealerships, and we looked a bit. But I didn't really want to buy a used car (my personal bias, I guess). And, if I'm going to buy a new car, it won't be for the young driver; it's going to be for me. We recently replaced Karen's car, by the way.

So I started looking for a small, efficient, and inexpensive car for my commute. I did some research, test-drove a few models, and settled on the Scion. It presents a nice balance between efficiency and features. The Scion is a sporty little thing but you sit up fairly high, which I like. The styling is sharp; a colleague described the front view today as like a Japanese anime character. I can see that.

I'm pleased with the stereo and its integration of both satellite radio and the Ipod. I think this will be a nice place to spend my commute.

I'm a bit sad that there isn't a new version of the Prius, or something even cooler, ready for me to buy this year. I like having cutting edge cars and now that so many Priuses are on the road I feel a bit overtaken (of course, it is a good thing to have more hybrids out there).

Why can't I have an all-electric car, with a big battery, lots of energy recapture technology (regenerative breaking and such) and a skin made up entirely of photovoltaic cells? I don't need hydrogen, thanks, and I'm ready to start ending my dependence on oil (not "foreign oil," mind you, all oil).

I'm here, I'm not queer, but I do like to buy cars. Who will sell me my real e-car? Anyone? No? I guess I'll have to wait. I'm happy to play in my little blue Scion for now.

Changes Have Been Made

The column on the left side of this blog was just getting too long. Changes had to be made.

I have replaced the lists of Delaware blogs, political blogs, media blogs and other blogs with a shorter, simple blogroll. For a while now, I have tried to link every Delaware blog I can find (using del.icio.us) and listing them all (at least the active ones) in the sidebar. Too long.

I have instead limited the side-bar blogroll to sites I visit regularly, sites by good friends, and sites by people I admire. I have included links to longer lists of Delaware, non-Delaware and media blogs that have caught my attention. I will continue to update those lists.

I also moved photos of my folks' fiftieth anniversary party from an old HTML page I created in 2004, before I found flickr, to a special flickr set. That let me delete yet another left-side link; a small victory in blog-decluttering.

All Politics Is Local?

There's an interesting on-line discussion this week on several sites about a race for a state representative seat in Kansas. Sean Tevis, an IT guy from Olathe, Kansas, is running for the 15th District seat in the Kansas House.

He's a Democrat challenging a several-term incumbent Republican and he's making a strong on-line pitch that includes an xkcd-style infographic about his reasons for running and his fund-raising approach. Told he needs to raise $26,000 for the run and that the traditional approach is to find 52 people to donate $500 each, he has decided to try instead to get 3,000 people to donate at least $8.34 each. And his web site is set up to do just that.

This approach has attracted notice on several web sites nationally, including on metafilter, where Tevis has been a member for many years. He didn't post the link himself, but he has joined in the discussion and seems to be listening to criticism and suggestions from the many commenters. There's a lively discussion which is generating some contributions and is helping Tevis refine his thinking on some issues.

My interest increased when I looked at the District map and realized that Tevis is running to represent the downtown portion of a town that my great-great grandfather helped found, where my grandfather was born, and where I still have some distant cousins.

As of this morning, he's almost half-way to his goal of 3,000 contributors and he's now known to a wider, and growing, group of politically interested voters. Not all of them, however, are local.

I have Succumbed

When we rolled-over our family of cell-phones this summer, Karen and I decided to get unlimited texting. Colleen, being a teen, seems to have lost the ability to talk on a telephone and communicates entirely by SMS text message. So it made sense for us to become texters ourselves.

Even though we are old.

As a result, I have decided to finally look into twitter. I never thought twitter would be a format that worked for me as a browser-based writer. Twitter is designed to allow users to send short-form updates -- "tweets" -- limited to 160 characters. I have never been "short form."

Still, I don't like to post on Mike's Musings from my machine at work. Sometimes I think of things I'd like to post during the day, but don't feel that I should. So I have signed up for twitter and added a "Random Thoughts" box at left that I can populate from my phone.

God forbid you should ever have to be without my, um, thinking.

So Long, Ollie, and Thanks for All the Memories

Olive Riley passed away this week-end. She was 108 years old and had been, for the last few years, "the world's oldest blogger."

As I write this, all links to her blog are failing; my guess is her site is getting hit with too much traffic as news of her passing spreads. With luck, things will settle down soon and the site will be accessible.

It's something of a stretch to call Olive Riley a "blogger." She was visited regularly in her retirement home by a punk kid of 70-something who interviewed her and transcribed the interviews to a blog site. But her site was a rich mine of memories and history as seen from the eyes of a normal woman, leading a life in Australia for all of the Twentieth Century.

Her blog was one of the great treasures I've found on-line. I'll miss her, but I was glad I had a chance to get to know her. Rest in peace, Ollie.

Seen From a Train

I took the train to Albany, New York, this afternoon for a two-day USGS-sponsored meeting of State GIS coordinators. The train was no more expensive than flying and it was easier and more comfortable to take the train from Wilmington than to drive to BWI or Philly and deal with the full airport drill.

The second part of the trip was a ride up the east side of the Hudson River. It was late afternoon and I had a nice view of the river and the many bridges that cross it between New York City and Albany.

Despite the dirtiness of the window I was next to, I decided to spend the trip grabbing what photos I could. There was a series of bridges, there were boats, a castle, and views of the river.

It was a very pleasant few hours.

Fourth of July, Bethany Beach

We were in Bethany Beach for the Fourth of July parade on Friday. We were with my folks, three siblings and their spouses, and a clutch of nephews. It was great fun.

The Bethany parade is always a long, loose, sometimes casual affair. It features a healthy dose of politicians, small bands, decorated cars, family floats, loads of beauty queens, and masses of kids on decorated bikes.

We were treated to Senator Tom Carper (D), Congressman Mike Castle (R), and some local leaders. Sussex County Councilman George Cole and Dewey Beach Mayor Dell Tush rode together.

Both of the Democrats vying for election as Delaware's next Governor came by. Jack Markell was walking and shaking hands, including mine. John Carney was riding and waving. I caught his attention and Lt. Gov. Carney gave me a wave and a smile. "I wave and smile on command," he said (or something like that). Both gents looked like they were having a fine time.

Neither of the Republican candidates were in the parade.

Miss Delaware was among the several pageant queens on hand. They ranged from a very young Little Miss ... Somewhere to a more grown-up Mrs. Delaware.

I came across Miss Delaware's blog recently. She was crowned in June and started blogging a bit later. I took advantage of the opportunity of the parade to remind her not to let her blog get too stale. I have to give her credit; I didn't throw her. She knew what I was on about.

I was standing with a group of my nephews ranging in age from about 6 up to 15. I found myself wondering whether they were more interested in the beauty pageanteers or in the cars they were riding on. I was amused to read Miss D's blog entry from today about her several parade appearances:

After reflecting back on the day, I realized that Donald's car (a 1965 convertible, red corvette) had gotten as many comments/compliments as I had! The quote of the day: "Nice car!!" I guess that's what happens when you have such an eye-catching ride!

Indeed.

What Are You Looking For?

I have a few different ways to track visitors to this site. I'm not too obsessive about it, but I enjoy knowing what's brought people here.

Over the long term, I find I get a steady stream of people looking for information on getting rid of a blood clot. Installing satellite radio in a Prius is also popular as are Delaware's boundary monuments.

And I see seasonal patterns as well.

In the last two weeks, for example, there has been interest in the Fourth of July in Bethany Beach. Since June 22, fifty-eight of Mike's Musings visits were generated by web searches for some combination of Bethany Beach, Fourth of July, fireworks, and parade. That's 23.6 percent of all searches that led to the blog. ("Bethany Beach Fireworks" is the champ.)

There has also been a steady stream of visitors looking for information about the Tyler Place, in Vermont. I've posted reports from there the last several summers, and they are being found by folks researching their own trips, it seems.

We've stopped visiting the Tyler Place, but not because we don't love it. After nine summers, Colleen has aged-out of the Tyler kids' programs. It was time to make room for these other folks. I hope our reports and pictures help them get ready. But we do miss it terribly.

Half a Year of Reading

We're at the end of June, the (more or less) halfway point of the year. This seems a good time to look back over my 2008 Reading Log for a bit of literatural accounting. I read 31 books in the 181 days between January 1 and June 29. That's an average of one book each 5.8 days. (Yes, I know it sounds like bragging, but I'm being anal about this stuff this year.)

Most of the books I read, 27 of them, were from the Lewes Library. Only four were books I own; most of those were gifts. I like my small-town library.

Twenty-eight were fiction. Two were standard non-fiction and one was a book of essays. I enjoy the escape of diving into a fictional landscape. I have always read more of fiction than any other category.

Seventeen were set in the United States and nine were set in the United Kingdom. One was set partially in India and one in Roman Britain.

I read two books set around the US Civil War. Two were mysteries. And two were fantasy. Fourteen were historical fiction.

Delaware Candidates' Web Sites In Focus

The politics-watching blog Political Realm takes a look this week at the campaign web sites of Delaware Senator Joe Biden and his republican challenger, Christine O'Donnell.

The entry is part of the site's "Web Grades" series, which has been looking at campaign sites since spring of 2007 when they reviewed the sites of the many contenders in the presidential primaries. Interestingly, those reviews, more than a year ago, gave top marks to the web sites of John McCain on the republican side and John Edwards and Barack Obama on the democratic side. Maybe there's something to this internet thing after all?

When I started reading this entry I found myself worried that Ms. O'Donnell, demonstrably younger and therefore potentially more hip than Senator Biden, would take the prize for best campaign web site. But I was pleased to find that the Biden site took the prize with a grade of B to Ms. O'Donnell's D-minus.

Neither site includes a campaign blog, which the Political Realm folks called a disappointment. Both had multimedia content, though Sen. Biden's site was considered stronger and more complete. The Biden site also outshone the O'Donnell site in social-network features.

One might question the objectivity of the Political Realm reviewers; they do not claim to be a non-partisan site. However, despite the fact that I am proudly-partisan myself, I do think they take an even-handed approach to reviewing political web sites. They are reviewing the sites themselves and not the candidates. And the criteria do appear to have more to do with communication and interaction than with policy or position.

These Birds Have Flown

The mourning dove who nested this spring in one of our hanging plants has left for the summer, taking her chick with her.

The dove appeared in the hanging basket back in May. She was well-hidden while the flowers were alive. When the flowers died -- I didn't want to water them with the nest in there -- she lost her camouflage. At that point, we could see that she had two eggs to hatch.

In the last week or so, a chick appeared and started to put on weight. We watched it carefully. It didn't take long before it was ready to head out. Now our birds are gone.

We found the second egg, unhatched, in the nest. We're not sure why this egg didn't make it. Maybe it wasn't properly fertilized? An unfortunate mutation? Whatever it is, we have to assume that nature knows what it is doing.

This is Just Sad

The Washington Post has a story this morning on the increase in hate-group and white-power activity in response to the candidacy of Barack Obama. In Hate Groups' Newest Target, the Post reports that hate and white supremacist web sites are seeing more traffic and are giving the credit to Sen. Obama.

"I haven't seen this much anger in a long, long time," said Billy Roper, a 36-year-old who runs a group called White Revolution in Russellville, Ark. "Nothing has awakened normally complacent white Americans more than the prospect of America having an overtly nonwhite president."

I'd like to pause here, if I may, and marvel at the idea that someone can be "overtly non-white." Should he be more covert about his racial background? Would it be okay if Barack Obama tried to "pass" for white? I shake my head in disgust, but I have to admit I'm fascinated by the lengths folks will go to, and the pretzilization of the language that they will employ, to try to make a hateful point without seeming hateful.

The story notes the many hate-filled smears that have been floated on-line about Sen. Obama. There's no need to catalog them here, though I should note that they do turn up in the Delaware blogosphere from time to time.

On a positive note (though the term feels wrong in this context), the Post story does point out that the hate groups are also angry with John McCain "for his moderate views on immigration and his willingness to stick with the Iraq war."

And, the Post reports, they have a slight hope for a President Obama because, they feel, that could galvanize the hate groups into action and help them elect a president of their own (like David Duke, who ran for president in 1988 and got less than 1% of the vote). Or, they say, an Obama victory could be the final blow.

"Maybe people see him in office, and it's like: 'That's it. It's just too late. Look at what's happened now. We've endured all these defeats, and we've still got a multicultural society.' And then there's just no future for our viewpoint."

I think the white-supremacist movement is behind the times by a generation or two, frankly. The United States is already, and has long been, a multicultural society. It is what makes us strong. A President Obama would not be the end of "white-power," it would be the period at the end of the sentence that summarizes the historical footnote that was the white-power movement.

New Blog (and New Radio Station?) in Delaware

I just stumbled across a new Delaware blog -- WKNZ - Z88.7fm, Harrington, DE -- which will chronicle the effort of a group of local Christian folk to build and run a "25,000 watt HD Christian radio station."

The blog appeared June 10 after the group got its FCC construction permit. That alone took 10 years; the FCC is a slow beast. How long the next steps will take is uncertain, but the permit itself is a large step forward:

We are humbled, blown-away, and a little over whelmed, but after nearly 10 years, the FCC has finally given us the approval to begin building a very powerful Christian radio station on 88.7fm in Delaware. The tower will be in Harrington and the studios in Milton, DE (at least that was the plan 10 years ago!). We are currently in the process of dusting off those plans. Lots has changed in 10 years!

The blog-writers are Bill, Andy, and Elbert (with an "E"). I think Bill is likely Bill Sammons, who I used to know in conjunction with the Delmarva Poultry Industry and who I recall was leading an effort to found a Christian station some years back. I assume this is he and this will be that station, but I don't always pay as close attention as I should and so may be completely wrong.

There's a survey up now, looking for input on what sorts of things to program. I think I'll take it. I'm not particularly Christian, though the Lovely Karen is a woman of faith and we have friends among the Christians, but I applaud diversity on the airwaves. And I don't think we should automatically assume that a Christian radio station will automatically hew to the worst extremes of the "christian right."

The musical choices could be interesting. I'll make the argument, for example, in favor of playing some of the Grateful Dead catalogue. Seriously. One of the things that fascinates me about the Dead's music is the widespread use of the Bible as lyrical source material and inspiration. And their deep exploration into folk music and folk traditions included mining a vein of moral stories and cautionary tales that could fit in the new station's format.

That's my view, anyway.

Mazeltov! Mama Bird!

We have a baby. The dove that has nested in one of the hanging plants outside our front door has at least one chick.

There were two eggs, though, and we're not sure what has become of the other. It could be that it hasn't hatched, or the chick is well-hidden by Mom. Or maybe that egg just didn't make it. Nature.