An open letter to Maine's next Governor....

   With approximately ten weeks until election day, the airways are sure to be filled with campaign rhetoric and commercials. And as with the 2010 election, Maine has multiple candidates running for the Office of Governor. (Remember 2010, there were five candidates,) The candidate that is elected has an important job and we owe it to every citizen in Maine to insure the best candidate serves as the state's leader.

   The past four years has not been the smoothest of sailing in Augusta with individuals and political parties struggling to gain control or keep control. often forgetting who they were elected to represent. Politics, both in Maine and across the nation has become a 'money business' with thousands of dollars being raised in order to “win.” But the real question may just be....in the end, who loses?

  Over the past several weeks I have had the opportunity to travel across different sections of Maine, to regions I have not visited for several years, I was very surprised at the changes, both in the landscape and the attitudes of the people; the vacant buildings and empty store fronts, the anger and frustration.

    We have all heard the discussion of the “two Maine’s”, but unless you drive it, you do not get a true appreciation for the differences. I could even argue the case for maybe three or four Maine’s. Take the trip along Route 2 west or up and down the coast and you get a perspective on just how different the regions of Maine can be.

    For example, few short miles north out of Bangor and you notice immediate changes. Traffic is almost non-existent. What traffic there is travels well above the new speed limit. Standing along the side of the road, at the edge of the wooded areas are deer searching for food, even at this time of year. Maybe they were just curious about those traveling the interstate on this particular day.

   A car had pulled off to the side of the road with a flat tire and it was nice to see that someone had stopped to help them. Who says Maine folks aren't helpful.

   In contrast, a trip south is very different. More traffic moves along just as quickly. There are more towns, places to shop and fast food stops. And generally, there are just more people!

   As diverse as the landscape is, so are the people and their needs. It must truly present some difficult challenges in governing. Laws and legislation can not be a “one size fits all’ approach. Maine is more than a city like Portland or a town like Patten. I would not say it costs more in some areas than other. What I would say is that the costs are very different. I sincerely hope  the leadership in Augusta realizes this fact. These are financially challenging times. There is a need to find ways to become more efficient and effective in providing needed services regardless of where one lives.

   Ten weeks and counting. But I would like to take this opportunity to write an open letter to the next Governor of Maine even before the results of the election are known. So here it goes....

Dear Governor,

   The people of Maine have  elected you to serve as our Governor for the next four years. You will have spent thousands, maybe even millions of dollars, for the privilege and the honor to serve all the citizens our state, including those who may not have voted for you.

   I hope at some time you will look back and think about the dollars spent by all the candidates and how those dollars may have better serves those in the State who struggle each day to put food in the table, gasoline in the car in an effort to get to work or pay for their medical bills.

   Before beginning the new term, there are four suggestions I would offer for your consideration.

   First... I would encourage you to travel around the state, visiting shopping malls and small 'mom and pop' convenience stores, attending a ball game or two at a local school and stop in a grocery store and purchase a week's worth of groceries. See how many people pumping gas or walking the aisles of the local Hannaford recognize who you are. The challenge is going to be to pull this off without fanfare and an entourage, just you in a pair of LL Bean boots, a flannel shirt, jeans, and a Red Sox cap.

   Second..... Before the first day of taking office, travel to three places in Maine where you have never been. Take along a camera and snap plenty of pictures. Pick out your favorites, frame several of them and hang them in your office to serve as a constant reminder of the other Maine. On the back of each picture record the date you visited and the location. After your term is over, revisit the sites, taking the pictures with you, a kind of 'then and now' experience. While in office did you really make a difference?

   Third......Visit several elementary classrooms and senior citizen homes in some of the most rural parts of the state. Talk with the kids and the seniors, take notes and draw your own conclusions about Maine's future ten years from now.

   And finally.... gather a group of common, everyday citizens and invite them to lunch or dinner. These guests are not members of the House or Senate, members of the Cabinet or members of a political groups or organizations. Not your good friends. They are regular, ordinary hard working Mainers, men and women, young and old. The topic for discussion. 'What will Maine look like ten years from now?' Sit back and just listen! Often the “beginning of wisdom begins with silence.”

   The next four years will be filled with challenges, but with challenges also come opportunities. With the help of others, create a vision for the future, for all Mainers, young and old, rich and poor, and realize that while you will not see this vision fulfilled within your four year term,  know that you played a key role in getting Maine's future off to a great start.

   Congratulation on your successful campaign and best wishes for the future of Maine.

Sincerely,

JKL

His mother must be so proud...

   I usually try to stay away from topic that involve politics or world events because I generally am not that well informed, being informed only by the news reports on television and what I read in the paper. And having been part owner and associate editor  at  a local newspaper, I have a good sense of how accurate that information can be.

   But the circumstances surrounding the cold blooded murder of James Foley and the reign of terror by radical groups around the world has continued to haunt me this week as I wonder what kind of world and society my grandchildren and future generations will inherit.

   The mother of the young man, and I assuming it to be a young man, standing over James Foley before his death, must be very proud of his actions and accomplishments. Perhaps he was a high school graduate, or an auto mechanic, a lawyer, maybe  a useless society dropout or just an outright killer and terrorist.

   She must be so proud that he hides his face behind a mask so that no one, except her, is able to identify him, thus insuring his continued safety and lowering the risk of possible death at the hands of others in a world that seems to be spinning out of control. Deep down inside she knows that she could not survive the death of a child or family member at the hands of a cold blooded murderer. Or does she?

    She must be so proud that his cowardly act has given him world-wide attention, his masked identity plastered on newspapers and television screens around the world, a popularity and recognition every mother (and father) wishes and dreams for their child. Who could be more proud?

   His mother must be so proud as she watches the American news and the interview being conducted with the Foley family as they struggle to understand the reasons for their loss at the hands of her son and yet, through their tears and sadness, are still filled with pride by their son's achievements and accomplishments: a teacher, a believer, a friend to others and one with a commitment and vision to building a better world. Only a mother can understand and feel the pain they must be experiencing on the one hand and their pride on the other,

    The mother of the young man behind the mask must be very proud that he gave up the opportunity to go to medical school or help find a cure for cancer and save tens of thousands of lives, instead joining a group that has no respect for education or for people with different beliefs and political points of view, who have little respect for children and families and whose daily routine consists primarily of kidnapping, torturing and the raping of women and young girls. 

    She must be very proud that her son is part of a culture and society that rules by fear and intimidation, with bombs and bullets, instead of respect, understanding and the importance of tolerance.

    She must be very proud to know that at some point and time her son could fall victim when his value and usefulness is no longer needed by those he currently serves and she stands side by side, fighting back the tears, with the other families who have lost family members in the senseless struggle to gain control of the world.  Maybe then she will truly understand the pain and sorrow felt by the Foley family, the pain and sorrow felt by other families who have lost loved ones at the hands of her faceless, nameless, cowardly  son, a son who now lies at the bottom of a shallow grave, no longer the terrorist hero, but instead, just another dead.... son.

   Perhaps then she will be so proud......... 

Back to school shopping...

   It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that school will be starting up within a few short weeks for most of the school aged children across the country. The kids are complaining about how fast the summer passed. Parents, on the other hand,  are complaining about how long the summer was this year, with seemingly more rainy days than usual and maybe fewer activities for the kids.

   The television air waves, the local newspapers and even my mailbox are filled with back to school advertising. And is the average cost to outfit a kid for 'back to school' actually $300+ this year? I mean really.... how much do a couple of notebooks, a pencil or two and a couple of erasers really cost. But then, back to school shopping has probably changed over the years.

   A small store on Main Street has decorated its front window with a back to school display. The display includes a new pair of jeans, a T shirt with some type of logo on the front, a bright blue fleece jacket, a notebook or two, a laundry basket, some laundry detergent and a couple of boxes of cookies and snacks. A laundry basket! Are kids doing their laundry at school now?

   As a former school administrator one of my favorite days of the year was the first day of school. The kids would arrive at the school yard very early, eager to see their friends and show off their new clothes, new sneakers.and brightly colored backpacks and exuding an excitement and enthusiasm that you wanted to “capture in a bottle” and save for later in the year, like February.

   It was easy to identify the parents of kindergarten students. In many cases the kids would jump out of the car or off the bus and race to the swings while the mothers and some fathers would stand in the middle of the driveway, tears streaming down their faces, hands waving goodbye as if for the last time ever, and the school custodian passing around boxes of tissues.

   All of a sudden, what they had come to realize was that their life and their child's life was going to change dramatically for at least the next twelve or thirteen years. For the first time, their son or daughter's future was now, not only in their hand, but was going to be 'shared' with the teachers and personnel at the school. ( And maybe the most important person, the one each child got to know first in school, the school secretary, of course!!)

   Although it has been many years since I was in school, out of a habit and maybe with a little bit of nostalgia I often will go 'back to school' shopping too. I usually only buy a new pair of sneakers to replace the ones I wore cutting the grass all summer, replacing those now a light shade of green from the grass and caked in mud.

   But 'perspective” and age has given me a somewhat different view of items to be included on a back to school list,  ones you won't find in any Target or WalMart circular. Maybe it's more of a 'commitment list' to insure that a son or daughter, a grandson or granddaughter, or the children in your community  receive the best education possible for the next twelve or thirteen years.

   First on my list is to show support, encouragement and interest each and every day. Like mom or dad going to work each day, your job, as  student, is to go to school and learn as much as you can. And if you don't get it all the first day, that's OK. You go back tomorrow and the day after and the day after.

    As a parent it is important to know that teachers are well trained, that learning is the primary goal for each student, regardless of their individual abilities and that each and every student is treated with respect, regardless of who they are or where they come from.

   As a parent (or grandparent), being involved in school activities, visiting or volunteering at school on a regular basis and talking each night about what happened that day tells your son or daughter that you care about what they are doing. After all, you  only have  the next twelve or so years for thos talks. After that, they  really are on their own.

   Take five minutes away from the television and the news to help solve the math problem. No calculators allowed with this one! So..... this is the new math!

   Find out who the bullies are. We all know schools have them. In fact, bullies are part of every day life, even at the office.Don't they learn that bullying skill in school? (That's a topic for another day.)

   Provide a place, a special place, that becomes their own, to study and do homework. Decorate it with pictures and items that become part of the positive school experience. No cell phones other electronic distractions here.

   And if there is no homework to be done? Fifteen minutes of reading may be a good substitute.

   No question...Back to school shopping can be fun, It is always nice to get new things and show off to our friends. Isn't that why we buy new cars? But the beginning of a new school year is more just about buying things and showing off. Here is a interesting idea and I would challenge any major chain or department store to accept the challenge......

   After mom or dad purchase some back to school clothing and/or supplies at the beginning of the school year, keep the sales receipt.Tack it to the refrigerator.  At the end of the ranking period, go back to the store manager, sales receipt in hand,  with a report card or a good report from the teacher or school, maybe an honor roll certificate. In turn, the store manager gives the student a $20 gift card toward the purchase of additional school supplies for the student and maybe one for the school too. School budgets are tight these days!

   It's easy to sit back now and pontificate about what should be done and not be done. Did I do everything right when my kids were in school? For sure ..NO! But  despite some things I might do a different way if I were to do it over again, each of our daughters has grown up to become very successful in their individual way and my wife and I are very proud of them. By taking an interest in your child's school experience, it  might produce the same results for you. 
   Perhaps the "back to school sales" could  serve as a reminder that while new backpacks and sneakers may be important, so is taking an interest in what goes on in the classroom each and every day.

   Now....... about those new sneakers. I like the red ones!!!!!!

Twelve words you may want to add to your vocabulary...

   What do you get when you combine a bit of British humor and word history? You get some very strange sounding but very descriptive words that may just deserve a place in today's world of fractured and misused American vocabulary.

   I can not take credit for the research of these words as an article literally popped up on my computer the other day under the category of 'Thought for the Day.” But after reading the article, I thought some of these words were worthy of sharing and if sharing isn't communicating, then you can call me a mumbudget.

   Haven't figured it out yet? Someone who might be considered a 'mumbudget' is one who keeps quiet, someone who doesn't talk much, say a great deal or use many words. Now I know that I can be pretty quiet at times, but a mumbudget?

   If someone calls you a fripperer, don't be offended. A fripperer is one who may spend their time on the weekend going to yard sales or at the local antique auctions, buying up old things and making them almost like new. There's about 150 of us, fripperers, who get together on Sunday mornings trying to outsmart and outbid each other for those “must have” items.

   After recently doing some repair to my lawn mower, my wife shouted to me from the basement. “You've done it again, You have another grinnow on this shirt and it won't come out.” A grinnow is a stain that  won't come out and …..yes I'll admit it, I have been known to splash a bit of oil or paint on some of my, hopefully, older clothes. But this one looks like it is going to join the rag pile!

   I had a bit of surgery on my knee the other day. As I sat in the sofa, recuperating from the event of the morning, Lucky, our family dog, knew something was not right. I had not taken him to the park for his afternoon run and I was still feeling a bit loobily. And yes, the word means pretty much how it sounds..... a bit awkward, uncoordinated, just plain loopy,

   Lucky, sensing my somewhat abnormal behavior, decided to snudge with me on the sofa for the remainder of the afternoon, curling up next to me and joining me for an afternoon nap. But he was bound and determined to rest his head on my knee. Maybe he thought it would help take the pain away.

   This little setback has forced me to be a bit flexanimous for the next few days, no biking, kayaking or jogging for awhile. This was an unexpected obstacle, a temporary curve ball you might say. But the key to someone who is 'flexanimous' is their ability to look at the bright side to things. What a great time to catch up on all those television shows we have been recording, and maybe a brief nap or two. And the lawn, it will have to wait a few more days before the next cutting. It will give the neighbors something to talk about.

   While doing a bit of shopping in the local food store, I literally ran into a friend with my shopping cart, a friend I had not seen for a while. As we spoke, he shared with me that he had changed jobs and picked up some extra work to help pay the bills. He had dropped off the social grid, working many extra hours per week, had not been on the golf course this summer yet and was “just plain exhausted. He had become a 'mucker'. Circumstances had forced him to lose his balance in life. Golf, seeing friends and spending time with his family had been taken over by increased work and earning money to insure he could pay the bills. And each morning, he tells me,  he wakes up before dawn and worries, worries about his family, his friends, his job. And the British had a word for that too.....uhtceare.

   Now we all know that through life, there have been people who have tried to undermine us at one time or another, often at work and most of the time we know who they are or were. Maybe they were jealous of something or wanted to make us look bad. But every so often we come across someone who is friendly and pleasant to our face, pretending to be a friend when, in reality, they were actually a secret enemy, a backfriend. Gives a different perspective to the expression that “the enemy you know may be better than the backfriend you don't know.”

   Speaking of enemies, as the summer begins to wind down, the political campaigns are beginning to get into full swing and the November elections are just weeks away now.

   There are some candidates running for office who are argute; meaning witty, sharp and very persuasive and very committed to those they serve. But unfortunately there are others who fall into the categories of shrewd and unprincipled. The early Brits referred to them as snollygosters. These folks, in addition to sometimes being mean and nasty, tend to be those who are constantly giving their opinions and beliefs on subjects they know either very little or nothing about, a practice called ultrcrepidarianism. Anyone you know? My biggest problem with ultrcrepidarianism is.... being sure to spell it correctly. ( Can you imagine trying to text message this word?)

   Over the years, regardless of the language or the country, words and expressions come and go and what we say and how we say it seems to change as often as the Maine weather. And the lesson here for all of us is to be just a bit more 'flexanimous.' Right!

Sometimes it's funny the things we remember.....

   As I was 'cruising' up and down the aisles of an upcoming auction I noticed a trend. Sure, there were the old items, the ones you would expect to see at an 'antique' auction. But there were items that I remembered as a kid, items not dating back to the later 1800's and early 1900's, but instead, the 1950's and 60's . I hope that doesn't make me an antique too. But I was surprised by how vivid and sometimes funny some of the memories were as I looked over a few of the items that would be up for sale.

   For example, there was a small Motorola record player, the one with the special attachment that was designed to play 45 rpm records, the hits of the day. I was not the first in the neighborhood to have one, but I remember I was pretty excited when I got one for my birthday.

   The case was brown leather and was special because, not only could it play 45s, it had a little switch that allowed it to play 33's, 45s and 78s. To this day, I still don't understand why there were so many different speeds. But it was fun to play  the 33s  at the 78 speed.

   I can still hear mother with her words of warning. “You're going to break it,” she would say. But it didn't break and the record player lasted for a few years. Eventually, I stepped up to the 'stereo system', with detachable speakers and all kinds of wires and its ugly white imitation leather case. Who owns a white stereo? I guess I did!

   But in today's music world, it's one size fits all, the CD, and even that is being replaced by downloads from “the cloud” to your telephone. Who knew back then  you would be listening to music on a telephone, a phone small enough you carried it in your pocket.

   Sticking with the music theme for a moment, I remember the first car we had with a radio that was 'factory installed'. Not all cars came with radios. It was a special add-on, just like the automatic transmission. And the car... a 1955 Plymouth station wagon, two tone color, white top and a 'sickly' green body and special bright shinny hub caps. What's a hub cap you might ask? (I think I remember the car having some kind of fins on it too. Looking back at pictures of the 1955 cars, they were really ugly!)

   A few aisles over from the record player was a stack of games. Old games have become popular items these day, especially if they are in the original boxes and in good condition. One of the games in the pile was an early version of a game called “Operation” It may have been one of the first early battery operated games but from the looks and condition of the game and box, someone may have forgotten to change or remove the batteries. Corrosion!

   I don't remember too much about how the game was played and I wasn't sure if the contents in the box was complete, with all the cards, etc, but I wonder how many doctors today got their inspiration by playing “Operation” at the kitchen table, grossing out their younger brothers and sisters. And don't we still have a form of the game 'in play' today? I think it's called Medicare!

   Prompting a childhood memory and still somewhat medically related.. I received a recent post to my Facebook page.....Share If You Remember This....”Mercurochrome”. Mercurochrome was a medicine cabinet requirement of all parents for cuts and other injuries and when applied to a cut, “it burned like hell'.

   Mercurochrome had other popular uses at the time as well. Being red in color, we used it as war paint, painting  our faces when playing cowboys and Indians, a game now consider politically incorrect, but not by everyone!

   I don't think you can buy Mercurochrome anymore, can you? And wasn't there something else called Merthiolate, that, when applied, caused similar pain, it not worse? And it took days and a great deal of scrubbing to wash off.

   Several weeks ago we purchased a box containing an old Girl Scout and Brownie outfit, with all the trimming, the buttons and pins, the hat and beanie. Judging by the age of the dresses, I would suspect that ...yes...today, the original owners of these dresses were probably pretty old, too old to be scouts.

   There was a time when scouting was a very popular activity for both boys and girls. It was a legitimate way to dress up in some type of uniform, memorize the Pledge of Alliance to the flag, sing “God Bless America” way out of tune, learn the skills for surviving on your own in the woods if you got lost and become a expert in sales, marketing and fund raising by selling pop corn or cookies.

   Whether it was Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts, Brownies or Girl Scouts, many of us joined. Even some of the 'cool' kids joined and we hoped their mother or father would pick us up and take us to the meeting so we could ride in their fancy new cars. Those kids always brought the best snacks to the meetings too and besides, it wasn't about going to a meeting, it was about getting out of the house for a while.

   (An aha moment here! The Girls Scout leaders in our town were always the young, good looking moms. I think I just figured out why, on the camping trips, the boys campsites and girls campsites were only a 'stones throw' from each other. Gives new meaning to the term 'naughty' to  troop leader'.)

   It is a bit strange what, where or when something will trigger one of those glorious or embarrassing memories about growing up. There are some we would like to forget and hope never to remember, like the swirly in the boys room for example (not me, of course), but looking back there are some that were quite humorous and can, even today,  bring the hint of a smile or chuckle when we might least expect it.