I was 11 yrs old when the first James Bond movie premiered 50 yrs ago today. Dr. No was the title. I was later that spring to see it at a drive in movie in the nearby town of East Greenbush New York. Later in my life I would start to read all of Ian Fleming's novels. There has been tons of items written about Bond in the last few days concerning this celebration day. I doubt I can add much. This now icon of the secret agent genre has been much studied , sifted through , items sold at auction talked about. This fictional character starting in the declining yrs of The British Empire going through the cold war and the sixties to the fall of the Berlin wall to our age of terrorist fears he has been with us. All my life. I suspect he will out live me. I guess to me he has become that mysterious uncle or whispered about relative we know from a distance. Someone who seems to spend time in the shadows. There are in reality people like this ,, like the seal teams etc. So my compliments to his creator and movie producers for the fantasy of the glamorous shadows. It's been a great run these 50 yrs.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
September 18th 1969: The Day I Changed
I don't really like talking about myself in this Blog. I prefer to more report. But on this day I have decided to speak for a moment about a personal day long ago in my self history. On this date 43 yrs ago I returned late from an expanded summer vacation and a failed business opportunity to Maple Hill High School in Schodack N.Y. 12033. I wanted to drop out get a GED and end my relationship with this brand of formal education. Well it didn't work out I had returned home to angry and rather frustrated parents. Through a combination of threat and some bribery I was brought around to going back for my senior yr. So on this date I returned about two weeks late. This date if you research it has not been a day of great historical impact. But it was for me. I was to find out over that school yr how many people conspired to get me to return. Martin Singer , Dr. Kimoblot my Aunt Marian etc. Singer was my guidance councilor and he smoothed the transition. So that strange combination of arm twisting and gentle conversation I returned to a place I had not been to in over a yr. The previous yr I had been in a boarding school. Within a week I somehow changed or matured enough , whatever , to settle in. Through friendship and good people I resolved to push on in a newer direction. So in an odd way this was one of the most important days of my life. In my future career in Human Services and Education aware of it or not I often encouraged people to find a day of resolve and move on and regroup and go forward. A day like Sept 18th 1969. So I wish to simply say thank you to all those who were there for the guidance and especially friendship. A common day in America but a most uncommon one for me. The day when the gears were set in motion for a full life to come.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Graduation 1970:To Jessica and Essex
Well....as I promised to you young ladies the requested blog you asked me for. First , once again congrats on your upcoming High School graduation. Enjoy this it only comes once and you will have memories your entire life. This morning on this overcast day I walked along the deserted beach and wondered what I might say. I for one usually disliked graduation speakers even though I have heard ones from a Supreme Court Justice to a photo journalist. All sound similar. I have asked 2 people who I graduated with if they remember who our commencement speaker was at Maple Hill High School in Schodack NY. some 40+ yrs ago. None do including myself. So let me attempt not to say what countless others have said even though I am sure I will.
1. Let me set one thing straight.....I did not graduate with a bunch of Hippies. By 1970 there were few and there never were that many to begin with. We may have had longer hair and may have leaned from a slightly different lifestyle as our parents but as most kids we were more conventional than we would admit. I don't care what one might see on say the History Channel or in the new movie Men In Black3......the yrs of the 60's did not last as long as people remember.
2. I graduated outside in the back of our school as is and was our custom there. Every year they build a platform with stairs that assorted educators and guests sit. It was over cast and people worried we would be stuck in the old gym bld boiling hot. We made it through. Weddings and funerals and graduations all want good weather.....I suspect you will for yours. Trust me it will be fine.
3. If you look {and I have} at graduation stats and trends you will discover that since I graduated in that old yr of 1970 millions less are finishing high school. Not a good trend.....so when you graduate some of the type people I might have graduated with will not be there. Some people that did not have a positive school experience managed to hang in to get some sort of diploma. All hail my generation.......and I am worried about you generation because of those trend lines.
4. By the way speaking of your generation of your graduating class remember this.......you may never see many of those people again. You both as I went through grade school with your class. They will hang out somewhere in your recessed memory. Take a couple of moments........look around and try to look at everyone. As I once said in a blog a couple of yrs ago , one thing I discovered I missed , was knowing that large a number of people for such a long period of time. You may very well not have that sort of extended group of citizens around you again. Even if there is a facebook world of the future. So , even if you did not like them or ignored them or had only a casual passing by , take a quick peek. People deserve that much of a nod after all those yrs.
5. It is stated that I graduated in an angry time in America. True.....the Kent State shootings were only a couple of months before as was the first Earth Day. Our era of protest caused an anger to grow. We were divided along political ,racial educational, demographic lines. Guess what.....we still are. To be honest I believe we are more divided , angry than we have been since Reconstruction. Just remember......this stuff does not keep it's shape. Events morph the wave we ride. Try not to be to shocked 20 yrs from now. As Kurt Vonnegut one of my generations most read authors stated more tan 45 yrs ago......The only thing history teaches us is to surprised all over again.
6. Between final exams and graduation you will be at an odd cross roads......to late to start and to early to finish. Sort of like 10:00 pm at night. So see a couple of friends , get your hair done and be prepared that once graduation is over that place you have spent so much time at is no longer yours. When you leave the parking lot with I presume your parents that is it. You can't go back to that home again. It belongs to the next set of graduating classes. You are now history at that place of education just as I was 42 yrs ago at Maple Hill High School.
7. What you start out as will not be what you are later on. If I could tell many of my classmates of my Human Service part of my life and especially of my yrs as an Educator I think many would be shocked. Hudson Hawk at the head of a classroom full of people doing the teaching and training thing. So you never know. Don't be shocked.
8. My graduating class was......ready.......very white. Yours is less so. Be prepared for a more cultural blending........it is inevitable. Just look at the demographics.
9. I ended up attending my only High School reunion more than 20yrs ago. I am not sure why but a few months later I talked with a buddy on the phone who attended as well. We both discovered we had the same odd emotion. We would be working at our desks , He in NYC and I upstate. An odd feeling would sort of hang over us and we would usually put down our work and daydream about the event and of high school. Sort of like an odd psychological cloud would be there. Mixed emotions. We were both glad that it did not last longer than it did. and dissipated after a time. Such is the power of memory and high school. We will die with those tattoos some where in our consciousness.
10. By the way I received a small academic award at graduation. The VFW Gold Star Mothers Award. I have just remembered that. What a long time ago.
So , I need to wrap this up.......I am sure that I will think of something later I should have said but this is it. After a round of graduation parties I attended with a couple of friends , one of which I still have. Remember it was 18 yrs old drinking age then so I had a few. I arrived back home around 1:30 am. The glow of graduation was still with us. It was a warm June night and the clouds of earlier that evening were gone. It was a star lite sky. I remember noticing as I got dropped off in my driveway. We all shook hands , a final congratulations. I went inside quietly , got quickly into bed. My bed room windows were open. The night seemed quiet and easy. Off in the distance , a car burned rubber from a standing start. We were free to move on.
1. Let me set one thing straight.....I did not graduate with a bunch of Hippies. By 1970 there were few and there never were that many to begin with. We may have had longer hair and may have leaned from a slightly different lifestyle as our parents but as most kids we were more conventional than we would admit. I don't care what one might see on say the History Channel or in the new movie Men In Black3......the yrs of the 60's did not last as long as people remember.
2. I graduated outside in the back of our school as is and was our custom there. Every year they build a platform with stairs that assorted educators and guests sit. It was over cast and people worried we would be stuck in the old gym bld boiling hot. We made it through. Weddings and funerals and graduations all want good weather.....I suspect you will for yours. Trust me it will be fine.
3. If you look {and I have} at graduation stats and trends you will discover that since I graduated in that old yr of 1970 millions less are finishing high school. Not a good trend.....so when you graduate some of the type people I might have graduated with will not be there. Some people that did not have a positive school experience managed to hang in to get some sort of diploma. All hail my generation.......and I am worried about you generation because of those trend lines.
4. By the way speaking of your generation of your graduating class remember this.......you may never see many of those people again. You both as I went through grade school with your class. They will hang out somewhere in your recessed memory. Take a couple of moments........look around and try to look at everyone. As I once said in a blog a couple of yrs ago , one thing I discovered I missed , was knowing that large a number of people for such a long period of time. You may very well not have that sort of extended group of citizens around you again. Even if there is a facebook world of the future. So , even if you did not like them or ignored them or had only a casual passing by , take a quick peek. People deserve that much of a nod after all those yrs.
5. It is stated that I graduated in an angry time in America. True.....the Kent State shootings were only a couple of months before as was the first Earth Day. Our era of protest caused an anger to grow. We were divided along political ,racial educational, demographic lines. Guess what.....we still are. To be honest I believe we are more divided , angry than we have been since Reconstruction. Just remember......this stuff does not keep it's shape. Events morph the wave we ride. Try not to be to shocked 20 yrs from now. As Kurt Vonnegut one of my generations most read authors stated more tan 45 yrs ago......The only thing history teaches us is to surprised all over again.
6. Between final exams and graduation you will be at an odd cross roads......to late to start and to early to finish. Sort of like 10:00 pm at night. So see a couple of friends , get your hair done and be prepared that once graduation is over that place you have spent so much time at is no longer yours. When you leave the parking lot with I presume your parents that is it. You can't go back to that home again. It belongs to the next set of graduating classes. You are now history at that place of education just as I was 42 yrs ago at Maple Hill High School.
7. What you start out as will not be what you are later on. If I could tell many of my classmates of my Human Service part of my life and especially of my yrs as an Educator I think many would be shocked. Hudson Hawk at the head of a classroom full of people doing the teaching and training thing. So you never know. Don't be shocked.
8. My graduating class was......ready.......very white. Yours is less so. Be prepared for a more cultural blending........it is inevitable. Just look at the demographics.
9. I ended up attending my only High School reunion more than 20yrs ago. I am not sure why but a few months later I talked with a buddy on the phone who attended as well. We both discovered we had the same odd emotion. We would be working at our desks , He in NYC and I upstate. An odd feeling would sort of hang over us and we would usually put down our work and daydream about the event and of high school. Sort of like an odd psychological cloud would be there. Mixed emotions. We were both glad that it did not last longer than it did. and dissipated after a time. Such is the power of memory and high school. We will die with those tattoos some where in our consciousness.
10. By the way I received a small academic award at graduation. The VFW Gold Star Mothers Award. I have just remembered that. What a long time ago.
So , I need to wrap this up.......I am sure that I will think of something later I should have said but this is it. After a round of graduation parties I attended with a couple of friends , one of which I still have. Remember it was 18 yrs old drinking age then so I had a few. I arrived back home around 1:30 am. The glow of graduation was still with us. It was a warm June night and the clouds of earlier that evening were gone. It was a star lite sky. I remember noticing as I got dropped off in my driveway. We all shook hands , a final congratulations. I went inside quietly , got quickly into bed. My bed room windows were open. The night seemed quiet and easy. Off in the distance , a car burned rubber from a standing start. We were free to move on.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Stoll Brewing Company: Troy New York
This small study of local upstate New York brewing started last fall on a small secondary road in the Town of Schodack New York in Rensselaer County. Graw Road to be exact which is barely a one lane road in the southern part of the town near the Columbia County border. I was digging at an old burned out barn foundation once located on that road. The barn which was burned as part of a South Schodack Fire Dept. drill in 1975 still has foundation stones and I believe dates back to the early 20th Century. I discovered an old piece of bottle glass , somewhat charred but still in legible condition. The glass a mild aqua color had an raised emblem of what appears to be an eagle in flight. I also discovered near by part of the bottle neck. Same color. Kept it in the bag and as time permitted over the winter I attempted to discover the origin and or use of the bottle fragment. After some Google and a search through antique bottle books at our local public library along with a trip to a dealer in the Central New York area to view a complete bottle I believe I can say with 95% certainty that this bottle was from The Stoll Brewing Company of Troy New York. Let me run down some history for you.
1. Stoll was founded by a Jacob Stoll in1855 and it was in operation until 1920 at the time Prohibition was enacted. They made a soda called Stollo for a time but closed circa 1923.
2. The Stoll name goes way back in America , the first mention seems to be when a Stoll landed in New Amsterdam in the 1650's.
3. This brewery was typical of America in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Numerous small breweries doted the landscape. In the New York capital region alone back then one might find Stanton which served a bock seasonal bock beer and a half & half. Wagner Bros beer and a Mahoney's Creme Ale.and in Albany Dobler just to name some.
4. At least into the early 20th century they got their hops from central New York. Delivered on the Erie Canal waterway. Cooperstown was a major hops growing region untill a crop disease wiped out much of the production around the turn of the 20th century. I have found hops growing wild in the Canastota and Skaneateles region of central New York which may very well be from that era of cash crop farming.
5. Beer was brewed in local areas mainly because most beer does not age well. Fresh beer was best when it came from a local brewer.
6. Now the question arises , what kind of beer did the Stoll family brew. For this I have a first person source. Peter Stoll who was an English teacher in my home town of Schodack NY at Maple Hill High School from circa 1968 to 1975. He was a great grand nephew of the brewing family. I and a couple of high school friends knew Peter on a semi friendly basis and even knew him somewhat socially in the summer of 1970. If my memory serves me correctly he told us that they brewed a classic German Pilsner. It had more of a hop taste because extra hops were added in formulation as a preservative. Remember refrigeration was mainly from ice in that time period.
7. Upstate NY had a fairly large number of German and Slovak immigrants and breweries often served their cultural tastes. Schenectady NY had a taste for instance for a more Polish or Slovic beer with companies like General Electric hiring these groups.
8. The brewery was located at 42 Spring Street in Troy which according to my GPS is now Spring Road. I have traveled there in early March. It is now a tree lined area with no sign of foundations.or building.
9. The bottle has an eagle on it flying over a beer barrel. The barrel has an S embossed on it. The words The Stoll Brewing Company is embossed over the eagle and Troy NY under the barrel.
10. Stoll like the majority of breweries never came back from Prohibition. Their brew master had died in the late twenties and the exact formulation has no doubt been lost to time. Even recently the formulation for brewing Schlitz beer which was once the most popular beer in America in sales was lost and had to be reformulated after only a few yrs of non-production.
Generally speaking , mainly the larger brewers came back Anheiser Bush being a prime example.
11. Of course we have come full circle in a real sense. Now in America we once again have many small micro breweries. Serving a diverse taste of the public. From The Brooklyn Brewery to The Pump House Brewery in Albany a distinct and diverse beer or ale is being created. We have returned.
So my thanks to Peter Stoll wherever he is. R.P. Kunicki for his Brooklyn Hops growing knowledge. Canastota NY county historian.
1. Stoll was founded by a Jacob Stoll in1855 and it was in operation until 1920 at the time Prohibition was enacted. They made a soda called Stollo for a time but closed circa 1923.
2. The Stoll name goes way back in America , the first mention seems to be when a Stoll landed in New Amsterdam in the 1650's.
3. This brewery was typical of America in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Numerous small breweries doted the landscape. In the New York capital region alone back then one might find Stanton which served a bock seasonal bock beer and a half & half. Wagner Bros beer and a Mahoney's Creme Ale.and in Albany Dobler just to name some.
4. At least into the early 20th century they got their hops from central New York. Delivered on the Erie Canal waterway. Cooperstown was a major hops growing region untill a crop disease wiped out much of the production around the turn of the 20th century. I have found hops growing wild in the Canastota and Skaneateles region of central New York which may very well be from that era of cash crop farming.
5. Beer was brewed in local areas mainly because most beer does not age well. Fresh beer was best when it came from a local brewer.
6. Now the question arises , what kind of beer did the Stoll family brew. For this I have a first person source. Peter Stoll who was an English teacher in my home town of Schodack NY at Maple Hill High School from circa 1968 to 1975. He was a great grand nephew of the brewing family. I and a couple of high school friends knew Peter on a semi friendly basis and even knew him somewhat socially in the summer of 1970. If my memory serves me correctly he told us that they brewed a classic German Pilsner. It had more of a hop taste because extra hops were added in formulation as a preservative. Remember refrigeration was mainly from ice in that time period.
7. Upstate NY had a fairly large number of German and Slovak immigrants and breweries often served their cultural tastes. Schenectady NY had a taste for instance for a more Polish or Slovic beer with companies like General Electric hiring these groups.
8. The brewery was located at 42 Spring Street in Troy which according to my GPS is now Spring Road. I have traveled there in early March. It is now a tree lined area with no sign of foundations.or building.
9. The bottle has an eagle on it flying over a beer barrel. The barrel has an S embossed on it. The words The Stoll Brewing Company is embossed over the eagle and Troy NY under the barrel.
10. Stoll like the majority of breweries never came back from Prohibition. Their brew master had died in the late twenties and the exact formulation has no doubt been lost to time. Even recently the formulation for brewing Schlitz beer which was once the most popular beer in America in sales was lost and had to be reformulated after only a few yrs of non-production.
Generally speaking , mainly the larger brewers came back Anheiser Bush being a prime example.
11. Of course we have come full circle in a real sense. Now in America we once again have many small micro breweries. Serving a diverse taste of the public. From The Brooklyn Brewery to The Pump House Brewery in Albany a distinct and diverse beer or ale is being created. We have returned.
So my thanks to Peter Stoll wherever he is. R.P. Kunicki for his Brooklyn Hops growing knowledge. Canastota NY county historian.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The Beatles: A Day In The Life: 1967: WPTR Radio Bootleg Story
Last Sunday while watching the latest episode of Mad Men which takes place in 1966 they finally play a Beatles song....Tomorrow Never Knows. News reports say Lions Gate Productions payed one quarter of a million dollars for the rights to use this song. The song was perhaps the most radical and different of any of the Beatles song book. But hearing that song for the first time in yrs sparked a latent trivial memory from a distant adolescence. It was circa February 1967. Music rumors of a new and very different record album being produced. in England by the Beatles and George Martin. At that time no one really can remember from whom came a bootleg copy of a long and unusual Beatles production.....It was called A Day In The Life. About 7 stations in America obtained this copy. One such station was a major 50,000 watt AM station WPTR in Troy NY. Without much fanfare it began playing primarily in the night time hours and then filtered down to occasional day play. It seemed odd at the time that no one else was playing it. But it was The Beatles. And it was a different R&R song. A taste of something to come from lets face it the most important group of the second half of the 20th Century. After about two weeks of play it suddenly disappeared as quietly as it had appeared. What I was to discover later was The Beatles and more importantly their lawyers had discovered the bootleg was being played on select stations. Cease and desist threats issued and the bootleg rendition was gone. Of course the song would be on Sgt. Peppers issued in June of the same year. My thanks to H." Skip" Peters former DJ for some additional information on this subject. A happy trivial memory of time past and when The Beatles ruled much of popular music.
Monday, April 16, 2012
The Oarsmen Society : Secret Society
I like to explore a number of topics , one area of interest I have worked on in the last seven yrs has been discovering more about a small college secret society called by the deceptive name Oarsmen Society. . Deceptive because it has little or nothing to do with the sport of competitive rowing. I do have a family member who is associated with the group and have been able to dig from that point. There are a number of such societies the most well known and most speculated on is of course Skull and Bones of Yale. Past Presidents and captains of industry have been members. Shrouded in secrecy it goes on as have others with names like Scroll & Key. So what follow are a few basic facts I have uncovered by my various searches.
1. It was started by 3 students and a couple of facility at post war Cornell University circa 1947.
2. It was an essentially a brotherhood designed to give aid and underpinnings to a selected student body of essentially post war GI's and others entering on the GI Bill after the return from the recent war.
3. It provided a support type environment and as the small society evolved a philosophic base for ones life actions.
4. All most all the original group had Masonic or similar ties within their family ties.
5. What evolved after 3 or 4 yrs was a small compact society with a ritual for entering and various social forms for continuous membership while attending college.
6. One of their social events is a monthly dinner usually held on a Sunday.
7. You enter in your Junior yr and continue into the Senior or post graduate yrs.
8. Somewhere in the later 1950's their general outlook of living was codified. The Book as it is sometime referred to was written oddly by a long deceased actor named Jack Carson. He is perhaps best known for being in the movie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He played Paul Newman's older brother. For a good fee he codified a basic philosophy on conducting ones life. A functional take on life and potential conduct. I have not seen it all but it has lines in it such as"that distant sound you hear is the onrush of time." I was told it was about 25-30 pages.
9. At some point in the early 60's they expanded by facility from Cornell to select other colleges or universities. This has ebbed and flowed over time but the best I can fathom is there are chapters at St. Lawrence University , Mount Holyoke College with a few members at Williams and at one time Colgate.
10. They were all male into the late 70's when females began to be admitted on an on again off again basis for a few yrs.
11. They ran into recruitment problems in the late sixties and all most ceased to exist but with a financial gift from 2 members they were able to continue. A trust was set up by a C.C. Nott at the Bank of New York upstate division in Albany which in some form exists today. Nott it is rumored is a Bonesman.
12. Ones membership is apparently lifelong , once an Oarsmen all ways an Oarsmen.
13. There are upon occasion reunion type dinners held about every 3 yrs usually in NYC.
14. Oarsmen may very well have ties to other groups such as S&B.
15. One small "suggestion" that members carry on is that on the second Thursday evening in February during the dead of winter between 10:00pm and 1100pm ones takes a small moment to review the past yr and their lives. Contact a former member , have an honest talk. Or just spend some quiet personal time thinking it all over.
16. They acquired a Latin Motto somewhere in the 1950's probably from Jack Carson. Simply....Animo non Astutia. They also have a symbol which is 3 circles in a triangle shape , it was apparently based on a DeMedici family symbol They also apparently borrowed a number symbol from Skull & Bones 322. It goes back to Greek legend it is told.
17.. Membership roles are held closely but it is a strong rumor that one member is Erin Burnett currently of CNN. Apparently there is atleast one current member of congress that maintains a quiet membership.
So that is what my research has turned up , a slow but interesting journey. My thanks to my nameless sources , you know who you have been.
1. It was started by 3 students and a couple of facility at post war Cornell University circa 1947.
2. It was an essentially a brotherhood designed to give aid and underpinnings to a selected student body of essentially post war GI's and others entering on the GI Bill after the return from the recent war.
3. It provided a support type environment and as the small society evolved a philosophic base for ones life actions.
4. All most all the original group had Masonic or similar ties within their family ties.
5. What evolved after 3 or 4 yrs was a small compact society with a ritual for entering and various social forms for continuous membership while attending college.
6. One of their social events is a monthly dinner usually held on a Sunday.
7. You enter in your Junior yr and continue into the Senior or post graduate yrs.
8. Somewhere in the later 1950's their general outlook of living was codified. The Book as it is sometime referred to was written oddly by a long deceased actor named Jack Carson. He is perhaps best known for being in the movie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He played Paul Newman's older brother. For a good fee he codified a basic philosophy on conducting ones life. A functional take on life and potential conduct. I have not seen it all but it has lines in it such as"that distant sound you hear is the onrush of time." I was told it was about 25-30 pages.
9. At some point in the early 60's they expanded by facility from Cornell to select other colleges or universities. This has ebbed and flowed over time but the best I can fathom is there are chapters at St. Lawrence University , Mount Holyoke College with a few members at Williams and at one time Colgate.
10. They were all male into the late 70's when females began to be admitted on an on again off again basis for a few yrs.
11. They ran into recruitment problems in the late sixties and all most ceased to exist but with a financial gift from 2 members they were able to continue. A trust was set up by a C.C. Nott at the Bank of New York upstate division in Albany which in some form exists today. Nott it is rumored is a Bonesman.
12. Ones membership is apparently lifelong , once an Oarsmen all ways an Oarsmen.
13. There are upon occasion reunion type dinners held about every 3 yrs usually in NYC.
14. Oarsmen may very well have ties to other groups such as S&B.
15. One small "suggestion" that members carry on is that on the second Thursday evening in February during the dead of winter between 10:00pm and 1100pm ones takes a small moment to review the past yr and their lives. Contact a former member , have an honest talk. Or just spend some quiet personal time thinking it all over.
16. They acquired a Latin Motto somewhere in the 1950's probably from Jack Carson. Simply....Animo non Astutia. They also have a symbol which is 3 circles in a triangle shape , it was apparently based on a DeMedici family symbol They also apparently borrowed a number symbol from Skull & Bones 322. It goes back to Greek legend it is told.
17.. Membership roles are held closely but it is a strong rumor that one member is Erin Burnett currently of CNN. Apparently there is atleast one current member of congress that maintains a quiet membership.
So that is what my research has turned up , a slow but interesting journey. My thanks to my nameless sources , you know who you have been.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Archaelogy of Conversation
One can dig up a variety of items or research a topic that can help one piece together what life and a society was about. Even in a short time frame like 30 yrs a culture can turn over and forget quickly what was once important. So I have come to a moment that now puzzles me. I was talking with a woman today who was manning an information booth at our library. It was funded by a local hospital and was handing out literature about having family dinner time. The actress Jamie Lee Curtis among others have done public service announcements on this topic. You can Google this area , there is a large body of research on this simple but important social topic. The basic message..........sitting down to have family dinners is important to develop everything from language skills to being less prone to drug abuse. It appears from talking with the nurse manning the table that this simple function has become a lost American art. Busy lives etc has caused a large decline in this once common ritual of American and for that matter developed world life. Fascinating. And as I think more about it , I seem to remember a richer more complex conversational life. I have commented on this topic in the past. Honestly I had better conversations in my Junior and Senior yrs in a place called Maple Hill High School than I often have now. I have begun to genuinely feel that a certain beauty has slowly left my life. Decent conversation , a talk that makes me think anew or gains me a new in site into a problem. Now it seems to have spilled over into society that numerous studies from universities from Yale to Syracuse have researched the topic in depth. What this research might not show is I think some people really miss those now more rare moments. Dinner with ones parents or conversations in high school.. And I must say there were people once in my life that I had strong differences with THAT I LOVED. Uncles , aunts , cousins , friends. I truly wish I could take my tools of archaeology and rediscover lost conversation. It would shine a light on what was and the difficult road my country is now on. I realize this is one of the blogs I write which will receive little attention compared with several others I have posted the last couple of years. Sometimes one blogs because one needs to say something to feel better and I now do.
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