The Lanyard

By Billy Collins

The other day as I was ricocheting slowly
off the pale blue walls of this room,
bouncing from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one more suddenly into the past --
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sickroom,
lifted teaspoons of medicine to my lips,
set cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift--not the archaic truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hands,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

Taxes, again

This was in an article by the Columbus Dispatch; "The agency also announced yesterday that it is launching a campaign to inform all taxpayers who might face a higher tax bill in 2010 as a consequence of an income-tax cut that was part of the federal stimulus package passed in February." Yes, some "income-tax cuts" do not mean the same thing for everyone.

Letter

Dear Mom,

Some things are better at a distance.

Love,

Jacob

The Luckiest Little Kids I Know

So, mother's day came and went. We had a talk in sacrament meeting where the speaker talked about several kinds of mothers. The first was "mother forgotten", and he talked about all the old people in nursing homes. Well, yesterday there was another case of "mother forgotten" at our house. Mothers day came, and neither of my children said a word about it. Neither of them thanked their mother, gave her hugs or kisses, got a card, or did much of anything to recognize the special occasion.

This is not uncommon. My children are, for the time being, rather unappreciative and ungrateful as far as their mother goes. However, there will come a time when they will realize, as I have realized, how amazingly blessed and amazingly lucky they are. They have the best mother money could buy* (or that could be traded for, stolen, gifted or bartered for). They have an amazingly smart, talented, and good woman as a mother who loves them unconditionally and will help them grow up to be amazing people. She sets an amazing example for them, takes amazing care of them, and otherwise is an amazing mother. She has actually been recently granted a fairly prestigious award as a result of all this. So, that is that. Here's to these two little kids, who as of yet, have no idea how lucky they are.

*So, I have been thinking about this, and if you are lucky, one day you might get some economics/financy thoughts on the outsourcing of motherhood and the conditions under which such outsourcing is not only rational, but good. As a result of having a mother better anything that money could buy, such conditions do not hold my children's case. Some things cant be bought for money.

Learning from the Soviets

So, we're having company come this weekend. So, I asked around at all our neighbors house's, and got loaned enough food to at least make everyone who comes falsely believe we are at least not starving and impoverished. I knew taking that Soviet history class would come in handy some time.

Merry Christmas! in May and Some Mowin'

That's right, folks. We who make up Team Hoopes are not afraid to pull out last year's cousin gift exchange gift in the month of May.  (The fact that the gift recipient wasn't exactly walking at Christmas is not relevant...nor is the weather in Michigan...)  

I announced to the little man that we would go try out a new toy outside that blows bubbles.  He repeated bu- bble (slight pause between syllables) to me and I was so excited!  We went downstairs and opened up his bubble mower, I put it together and we headed out back.  He got right to work!  See for yourself:

Taxes

So, there was a new tax plan suggested on Monday. I am sure everyone here is extremely interested. All the articles I have ready on it were so biased and stupid, I didnt know what to do. I just read this: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-taxes6-2009may06,0,1859318.story It is the first article of this type to link to academic studies, all of which decry the stupidity of the plan. The authors involved are all well known folks--one has some work I am currently basing a research paper off of, and two of the others where at a small tax policy conference I attended several weeks back. I find it fascinating this administration is so anxious to use what "science" says about some issues (stem cell research...), but not about others (tax policy). There is certainly an ethical side to tax policy to which economics cannot speak, but, to the side that it can, this plan is ridiculous and flies in the face of what academic research suggests is good policy.

Thoughts About Purpose(s)

For some reason this afternoon I was remembering a funeral I attended last summer while Jeff was in Italy. A professor in the IP&T department at BYU had been in declining health for some time and passed away on July 1st. I regret that I never took a class from Dr. Inouye, and wanted to share something of what he said regarding our field of study but that certainly applies to life in general:

How should we define Instructional Design and Technology (IDT)? What is the meaning of our discipline? What is the meaning of our profession? A first step toward answering this question would be to determine which of our many goals and purposes is our central, or ultimate, end. What is our central mission and toward what should our efforts be directed? Until we could agree on a central concern, defining our field would be impossible. An inability to define IDT would be unfortunate, indeed, for no other success could compensate for a discipline's failure to understand its fundamental nature and reason for existing. “If one does not know to which port one is sailing,” said Seneca, “no wind is favorable (1969).”

These questions give me a lot to think about.  They remind me of a scripture I love, cited by President Ezra Taft Benson in this talk:

In the final letter recorded in the Book of Mormon from Mormon to his son Moroni, he gave counsel that applies to our day. Both father and son were seeing a whole Christian civilization fall because its people would not serve the God of the land, even Jesus Christ. Mormon wrote, "And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God." (Moroni 9:6.)

When we can point our work and energies towards a purpose, we can accomplish great things.  The trick is to discover what our purpose is, and to have a desire to not rest until we meet it. Mormon points out this need for proper perspective very nicely, I feel, and I hope that I can be able to endure well all that comes my way as I learn what my "labor to perform" truly is.  

Trip to Holland

So, we recently took a trip to Holland, Michigan to the Tulip Festival. Here are some pictures, in no particular order. Rebecca rode like a champ. She ate several times in her carseat, and fared well during the 5 hours of total driving we did.

Jacob enjoyed riding on a carousel at the place we went, Windmill Island Gardens. It was pleasant, as once we paid to get in, everything was free, so, we just walked on and rode the antique Dutch carousel.

Here is Stacey, with some of the tulips. Also, note the baby she is holding. That is Rebecca.

Here is Jacob, sitting on top of me, in front of the only authentic operating windmill from Holland here in the U.S.(note the ease of being the only thing in an obscure category). They actually grind wheat with it, and we ate a product of that grinding (I would tell you what it was, but it had some weird Dutch name we can't recall).

Here is Jacob looking at some of the tulips. On the way there, the two children had lunch, and rather than feed Jacob peices of a banana, like he gets most days for breakfast, I just gave him the whole banana. He liked it. Here is a panorama of the whole family in front of the Grand River (I would say it was only a great river, at best) in Grand Rapids, MI. While there, we visited the Gerald Ford presidential museum. His library is a couple blocks from our house, so we decided to visit his museum. Here is Jacob in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall. And finally, Stacey et al. in front of the sign for the musuem, proving we really went there.

This Post Dedicated to my Mother in-Law

So, now that Rebecca has been alive for a month and a half, Stacey finally decided to trust me alone with her. Stacey decided she would trust me with Rebecca long enough for her to walk out to the mailbox and get the mail (about forty five seconds).

So, Stacey was gone, and Rebecca started crying. I didnt know what to do. Usually, I just tell Stacey to make the baby stop crying, and she does. With Stacey gone, I started to panic. I thought about calling my mom to ask what to do. But, I decided I was all grown up, I could figure it out. I got to thinking, and thought, "Jacob is home all day with Stacey and Rebecca. He should know what to do." So, I found Jacob in the bathroom taking all toilet paper off the roll (which I was glad for, otherwise I would have had to do it myself). I explained the situation, and he told me that Rebecca was hungry, and to feed her. I looked a little scared, and he realized I had no idea how to do that. So, he said he would show me how. So, we went downstairs, and he got the boppy, mixed up a bottle, and started feeding Rebecca. He was very good at it, and explained step by step what he was doing and why. He was very patient with me as I asked questions. Finally, he determined I would probably be able to try it. So, he let me try my hand at feeding my daughter.

I did pretty well, if I do say so myself. He helped me with the angle a bit, and was a good coach. It really was exciting to feed my daughter for the first time, like the time a couple years ago when I fed myself. Feeding people is exciting.

So, she finished the bottle, was not crying, and I was releived. I went to go take my evening nap, but Jacob told me that the feeding was not done. He explained that sometimes babies need help burping, and I would need to burp Rebecca. He told me that he trusted me enough to hold her, so, he showed me how to pick her up, supporting her head, and then showed me how to burp her. I learned you can't hit her too hard, and just gentle taps will help the burps come out. Here he is showing me how it is done.

It took me a while to burp her, so Jacob did some light reading as he helped. So, after she burped, I thought I was done. Jacob then reminded me that we can't just leave bottles all over the house, and that I needed to put the bottles in the sink so that the maid could clean them later. I looked surprised, having never deposited a dish in the sink, and having previously thought that bottles were disposable. He got a bit impatient, and just took the bottle to the sink on his own.

Then, Stacey got back. She was right to have trusted me with watching Rebecca.

Books

Here is the latest round of books:

The Lion's Pride: Theodore Roosevelt and his family in times of peace and war

Great book. Even more than the subject of a great book, Roosevelt was just an amazing fellow. I listened to books about Lincoln and Kennedy, both of whom were extremely good politicians. Lincoln was, at least by most accounts, an extremely ethical man. But, neither was a model parent. Roosevelt, by all accounts was—his children loved him and he took amazing interest in them. He had an amazing number of desirable attributes, and, I enjoyed very much learning about him.

The Black Swan

Listened to it for a class. Fits in the same kind of category as Blink or The Tipping point—trendy kind of book written for people who think they like to think. It was pretty good. It was referenced in this last Conference.

Lincoln

Enjoyable. I enjoyed leaning more about this president which has practically been canonized, but, which like everyone had problems. Regardless of those problems, he was, by all accounts, an amazing guy, and it was a pretty good book.

The Age of Turbulence

A recent book by Alan Greenspan, this was interesting. He spent a while talking about his life, then talked about the economy. It was interesting to see what he had to say, although it was fairly watered down, being written for consumption by the general public. It is amazing how many famous people he knew early on in his life.

An unfinished life: John F. Kennedy

One of a couple I listened to about Kennedy. An amazingly powerful family with an amazing number of dark secrets. Powerful. Corruption. Interesting that JFK has practically been canonized since.

Diary of Anne Frank

This was interesting book. It had some interesting insights, but, it was mostly interesting to just see how a teenage girl thinks about things. One moving point of the book is the end. I listened to it, and when you listen, you don’t know when the end is coming. So, it was the end of a diary entry, and the book was done. It makes one realize the abrupt finality of so many lives like Anne’s. They were living somewhere, were herded up, taken off, and most died.

Things that are Fun

Putting Rebecca's bottles in the sink when she is finished eating:

Feeling manly after eating Mom's beef stew for lunch:

(this was accompanied by grunting sounds, he was not sad)

Riding with Dad while the girls  stay home and do girly things (like blogging):

Wearing a helmet like Dad:

 

Graduation

Stacey graduated today with her Masters Degree in Instructional Psychology and Technology from Brigham Young University. She has worked very hard and we are very proud of her.

Rebecca's one month pictures

Well, despite my inabilities to feel like I was coping at least on a few days of the last thirty or so, Rebecca has thrived to the ripe old age of one month.  Here she is with her little stuffed lamb, which, like Jacob's brown bear, will probably shrink in size over the next eleven months.  I got her out of bed to take the pictures, thinking that the trip downstairs, the bright lights, and the sitting up position would wake her somewhat, but none of it did.  She even made it back to bed and then finally woke up a few hours later to eat. She's pretty cute when she's asleep, so enjoy!                                  

At two weeks she was 9 lb 5 oz, good and above her birth weight.  Next fat stats to come in a month!  

 

Nice Quote

I saw this today, and thought it was nice.

"You wake up every single day and have a choice as living as a victim or a victor. When you choose to be a victor, you have so much more positive impact on how people view you and the way you want to live your life."

- Patrick Ireland