154 Collecting nemesis

My collecting nemesis

It is true--at this stage of my life I should be shedding things, not collecting things. I have purged a great deal since I retired but I still cannot pass up one thing: Reading Figures!

I could blame it on my parents. They gave me my first one, a lovely Hummel of a child reading. Does anyone still collect Hummels? They gave me several Hummels, but Little Scholar (I had to Google it) started it all.

I kept most of my readers in my office at the library while I was working so, of course, that invited gifts of more reading statues.

Several touched me very much. One was from a dear man, Ben Tennyson, now departed, who was a long-time library volunteer. He gave me a reading elf long before the elf on the shelf became popular.




Another surprising one came from the owner of the small cleaning crew who worked at the library when I first started working there. As angels go, I think it is pretty tasteful!





I have always been obsessed with Winnie the Pooh so I am proud that I have only one Winnie reader. Of course, I would probably buy a Tiger reader but he is probably bouncing around too much to sit and read! This Winnie is a bank.




The Library Shop at Handley Library carried some reading figures at one time. Here is one of the ones that I bought. The monkey is sitting on a suitcase that is a box.


By the way, when I retired, I did give some of my reading figures to the library. But I still have a lot. I will not show them all.

Becky Ebert, Handley Library archivist found these old bookends somewhere. Of course, she found the antiquities!

Jeannette Ewing, who was the Library's business manager, also made dollhouses and sold dollhouse parts. I thought the reader she made me was genius!

I cherish all those gifts and early acquisitions. The problem is that now that I go to yard sales and thrift shops and can't seem to pass up a reading figure.

When they are just a dollar, they don't seem as tacky! I do have standards; however, I would not buy a Precious Moments reader even it were a penny. By the way, I found the one below online offered for $70. To each his own!

But I could not resist these bookends that I found in a thrift store even though the poodles are not reading. They are so retro!

In conclusion, don't bother giving me any tacky reading figures. I can find plenty on my own!

Trish      

By the way, I also came up with the idea for a sculpture of a reader for the bench in the Handley Library Rotunda. Since my mother, Mary Moore, was a great reader and had recently died, I suggested to my father, Fred Moore, that he donate the statue to the library. He loved the idea and had the sculptor, Larry Nowlan, use his great, grand-daughter, Rea Ivey, as the model. A later donor liked this sculpture so much that she hired Nowlan to do the statue that is in the Mike Forman Reading Garden--a little boy reading!

The girl in the Rotunda is named Library Lil after a book of the same title by children's author Suzanne William, who is pictured here.

While we are on my mania for books and readers, I also came up with the idea for the flying readers at the Clarke County Library:

153 Man's inhumanity

“Man’s Inhumanity to Man”

Two things came as a surprise to me. First, in an auction box and contents, I found a 175-year-old annual report to the legislature of Virginia with data for the Western Lunatic Asylum, 1842, Staunton, VA.

The 61-page report is tattered, the pages brittle, but still readable. I read it. Then I had to start googling.  Could that which I read be true? Authentic? Acceptable? I was feeling something between anger and sadness. 

The second thing I thought of was the quotation “man’s inhumanity to man.” I didn’t know where it came from or who said it. Surprisingly, it is from a Robert Burns’ poem wherein he laments poverty, cruelty, politics, and class struggle. It is listed under the poetic genre of “dirges.” 

These two things seemed to have come together serendipitously. Some of our readers have expressed interest in more serious topics than devil-eyed cats and pop songs from our teen years. So, here is a serious topic that I am dumbfounded to realize lasted so long and was so engrained in our society: Lunatics and what society did to them and with them. Horrible thoughts may creep into your minds as it did in mine. Were we no worse than the Nazis who wanted to rid themselves of those found unacceptable?

I am now off my soapbox and the facts can stand for themselves.

Some history to help get perspective.

• 1773 – Williamsburg, VA – first patient admitted to the hospital for Persons of Insane & Disordered Minds and a couple of pictures from the museum that it is today.

Thanks to Patrick Henry keeping his 2nd wife, Sarah, at home in the basement with a slave when she became a danger to herself and her children, the Williamsburg institution did not flourish among the upper classes. The protocol at the institution was “bleeding, blistering, pain, shock, terror, dunking, restraints (strait jackets and dresses).” [From American History/mentalillness/18thcenturyamerica]

• 1792 – New York City builds an asylum

• 1817 – Philadelphia 

• 1824 – Kentucky

• 1868 – Virginia – Petersburg – Central State Asylum for African-Americans (no records exist)

• 1900 – Every state has at least one asylum with an estimated population of over a half million people incarcerated. 

• Staunton, VA. Summer 1928. With the heavily traveled Valley Turnpike, Staunton became a prime location for easy transportation of patients. Taking note that the Catholic Al Smith was resoundingly defeated by Herbert Hoover and the depression was imminent, fewer people could cope with personal problems at home. The handicapped were an at-home hardship. The asylum started out in “resort style” with patients planting flowers and taking walks in sight of the architecturally beautiful building. It is the new Western State Hospital.

• But before this lovely building was erected, there stands the information in the 1842 report. There were 152 residents: 75 maniacs, 25 melancholics, 6 epileptics, 3 homicidal, 6 suicidal, 13 monomaniacs/fanatics, 20 demented, 3 idiots, 1 insane. (p. 23) The cost to the State of Virginia was about $53,000 with an average patient age of 36 years. (p. 28) The medicines used were laxatives and opiates. (p. 39). Men worked on the “farm” producing hay, corn, oats, and potatoes which realized about $1000 income while women were “engaged in sewing, spinning, knitting, housework, and in other occupations suited to their sex.” (p.39) [I promised I would NOT say anything!]

• In 1924, Virginia passed the “Eugenical Sterilization Act” where patients at Western State were allowed to be forcibly sterilized. There were too many patients, too little room, only 40 slots for women, and the communities of Virginia needed protection from these undesirable people. This law was not repealed until the early 1970s.

• The women of Western State: many of the women were institutionalized due to their opinions, unruliness, and inability to be “controlled by male-dominated culture.” [History of Psychiatric Institution/18th-19thcenturies] Men – husband, father, brother – could send the women to these facilities as men had the “last say.” No doctor, no battery of tests was needed. 

• Here is a partial list of reasons for commitment:

Raises some questions, doesn’t it. Some make no sense at all.

• · By 1940, some 20,000 mentally ill had been sterilized “to prevent the procreation of criminals, idiots, imbeciles and rapists.” [MotherJones.com/mental- health/America]

• If sterilization wasn’t enough, from 1936 to 1950, over 50,000 frontal lobotomies were performed. 

• Electroshock therapy was also used and is still in limited use today.

• · 1946 – After WWII, President Harry Truman signed a Mental Health Act creating the National Institute of Mental Health. Drug therapy becomes the “new” protocol. 

Notice you can get your own sample!

• 1963 – JFK signed a Community Mental Health Act for federal funding to communities to provide their own care. Never fully funded due to Vietnam War costs.

• 1965 – Today’s issue raises it head for the first time. Medicaid! Many of the half million patients were now eligible for nursing homes when the Medicaid bill passed.

• By 1977 - 650 community health facilities were serving 1.9 million mentally ill. 

• 1955-present - Better drug treatments:

• A 2004 study suggests the 16+percent of prison inmates were diagnosed mentally ill – approximately 325,000 people. This same study shows there were only 100,000 psychiatric beds in public and private hospitals. 

• 2012 – Obama signs a bill to eliminate the word LUNATIC. 

 [I had NO idea! Glenne]                     

152 Back to tennis

Back to tennis

I have had a love affair with the game of tennis since I was a teenager. My friends and I would hang out at the local courts at the high school hoping to catch a glimpse of someone we were eyeing as a potential boyfriend. We would play a few games, flirt, play a few more, flirt--you get the picture.

We even went to great lengths to get on the courts. Once we were locked out of a court that we often frequented that was in the next community. That didn’t stop us--we climbed over the fence that had to be at least 20 to 30 feet high. Fencing had been added above the regular size door--no idea what that was about. We proceeded to play our usual games. At least an hour later, the persons who had reserved the court arrived and were rather shocked to see the lock still on the gate and us inside the court.

Of course, we never told our parents about climbing the fence and sort of trespassing. At that time, the coal companies owned many of the recreational areas and generally opened them to the public. At least we thought they did!

I eventually married one of the guys I had actually hung around with at the high school courts so we both had the common interest in tennis.

Jamey and Anne -- my athletic children

This love affair with the game continued through adulthood when I started attending clinics and playing whenever I could. The children took up the sport so it became a family activity. Both children played on the high school teams and our son went on to college tennis and became a teaching tennis pro.

Tennis pals -- Pete and James

The family also spent countless hours watching tennis either on TV or at the courts. We even took the family to Wimbledon as a graduation trip for our son. When our son-in-law joined the family, he was surprised at how many hours we spent watching tennis on TV especially when Wimbledon was broadcast when we were on a beach trip. 

Weekly matches took place with friends at local clubs and parks. I am not sure when this slowed down, but it seemed to fade slowly.

As the years went by, I never got back into the game that I loved so much. My career, family obligations, and other diversions kept me away. Reaching my seventh decade, I thought it was unlikely I ever would return to the game.

About a year ago, a friend asked if I played anymore. She had a group that needed a substitute for their team. I jumped at the chance thinking this would be a great way to get back in the game.

And boy did I ever get back! The average age of the members of the group is 85. The oldest just hit 90 this year. They play twice a week for an hour and a half and never cancel. I thought it would be an easy entry back into the game. Not!! These ladies are serious, competitive, and know the game inside and out.

It was an adjustment at first as some of them serve without tossing the ball. They don’t mess around and don’t give an inch. You play the entire time, rotating partners. They play indoors so no time is wasted switching sides. You have to be on your toes and vigilant for every shot. They have run my socks off many times!! But I love it and admire them for their tenacity and drive. Plus they are very kind and endearing.

I really look forward to the phone calls to ask me to sub. Sometimes I have to turn them down due to prior commitments or going out of town, but I always play when I am available.

I think my game has improved since getting back on the court. I have always had visions of playing better than I do, even when my son started beating me at age 10. With a lot of luck and determination (no athletics ability whatsoever), I might make a decent showing.

Hopefully I will be walking on the court at their ages if I am lucky enough to reach the 80s. All I know is if they can do it, then I should strive to do it. Thanks ladies for giving me hope!

Nearly Tennis-savvy Frances          

151 Uniting ancestors

Uniting Ancestors on Findagrave.com

What a great way to spend Father's Day--linking grave records of my family!

I registered on findagrave.com so I could enter or correct information on cemetery records. "Find a Grave's mission is to find, record and present final disposition information from around the world as a virtual cemetery experience." (from the website) Right now, the site says there are 162 million grave records available to search.

I started off with my parents' graves--their urns are together in a columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery. 

It was great fun to add pictures to the record.

You can also leave virtual flowers on a record. I think I will start putting new flowers each Mothers' and Fathers' day. 

To link a parent, child or spouse, once you have the privilege to do so, you 

simply enter in the Find a Grave memorial number of the individual. The changes are pending until they are reviewed and approved.

When I went to my father's mothers entry, I realized that her relatives are buried all around her in the Peru Cemetery (Peru,pronounced PEA-roo, Kansas, southwest of Wichita). So I added her photo and then linked her to her parents.     

Grandmother Moore died when my father was just six so my Grandfather remarried and he and his second wife are buried in Missouri. So more linking! Find a Grave allows you to list multiple spouses. My grandfather is not listed in the above record because all edits are reviewed and do not show up until approved. Some edits seem to take a long time to be reviewed while other edits are immediately accepted.

I started in on my mother's family, but have not found her parents and most of her brothers and sister in Find a Grave. Lucky for you, you don't have more tombstones to view!

My husband (I haven't started on his family yet, either.) and I are childless, but I am hoping a few of our nieces and nephews and cousins will find this useful sometime in the future. Isn't it odd that we plan to be cremated with ashes sprinkled, yet I am obsessing on burial sites!

Trish                        

150 Summer fun, not!

Summer Fun Is an Oxymoron 

(for those of us who hate the heat!)

Okay, Dear Readers, SUMMER is not even officially here – not until Wednesday, June 21.

                      I didn’t like summer as a child. 

                      I like it even less now. 

                      This picture says it all.

I sound a bit like a Dr. Seuss character:

I do not like sand; I do not like bugs; I do not like sweat; I want no hugs!

Today it is 87º with 77% humidity. I don’t really feel like thinking about a blog. I believe my brain has shut down. Nothing clever. Nothing creative. Not even anything prosaic. I got nothing! Oh, yes, I do have my folder AND some cute cartoons my spouse reminds me. If you are a fall or winter person, too, I hope you will get a chuckle from my effort.

From the folder here are some oxymorons (contradictory terms) that I have gathered. And you may remember I really like lists, especially with a cartoon or some visual attached – so you end up with a new Listicle!

[Side note: Listicle is now an accepted word in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary!! Ta Da!]

1. 

2. Living dead – isn’t this a movie or TV title?

3. Now then – don’t we all use this one?

4. 

5. Sweet Tart – candy!

6. Taped live – oh, yeah, sure!

7. Rolling stop – sorry, officer!

8. Original copies

9. 

10. Exact estimate – what you get from your contractor?

11. Jumbo shrimp

12. Small crowd – as in “three’s a crowd?”

13. Least favorite

14. 

15. Passive aggressive

16. Unbiased opinion

17. or Samuel Goldwyn – didn’t know he was so clever!

18. Not quite an oxymoron, but how could this list be complete without a Yogi Berra-ism?

19. Clearly confused!

20. Genuine imitation - think Louis Vuitton knockoffs or

21.

22. 

Thanks for bearing with me this week. And, on a final note, our ice cream has “freezer burn.”

Stay cool. Glenne                    

149 Nail Savvy

Nail Savvy

Who knew!

I don’t remember the luxury or the availability of a pedicure and manicure in my younger years and well into my fifth decade. Somewhere along the way during the last decade or so, I became familiar with the amazing and relaxing procedure afforded at nail salons, that seem to be popping up on every block.

Was I totally unaware or have the services become more prominent? I am not sure, but I know it is something I enjoy about once a month, especially in the summer. The massaging chair, the extra care to make sure nails are ready for viewing, and other amenities, including a myriad of nail colors, music, TV, and drinks. All this make it very appealing.

This new world became part of my routine after my daughter, daughter-in-law, sisters, and granddaughters exposed me to this wonderful experience I had no idea existed. I must have been walking around with blinders on and not realizing what the potential could be.

I look forward to this luxurious time when I have no responsibilities, no cares, and sink into the magical chair that massages up and down the spine – this is an added bonus that I had no idea existed at these nail salons.

Most of them are about the same – foot soaking baths, hot wax on the legs, several types of lotions and potions. All of this is completed in the same order by very polite nail technicians who often engage in personal conversations and try to get you to have more services. I rarely opt for a manicure but I do love the pedicure. It is hard to say no to some of the technicians who try so hard to please.

After I became totally sold on my monthly visits, I came across an article that gave a history of the progression of the popularity and growth of nail spas.

About 40 years ago, the actress Tippi Hedren of “The Birds” movie fame, helped to start this trend. A BBC reporter told the story of how Tippi helped Vietnamese refugees in California find a skill and become trained as nail technicians.

In 2015, fifty-one percent of those in the nail business in the United States were of Vietnamese descent and some were directly related to that first group of women inspired by Tippi, according to the BBC web site, bbc.com.

That certainly sheds a new light on the culture of the nail salon and gives me a good feeling to think that refugees from Vietnam were given a chance to earn a living and start a business.

That military conflict defined the lives of many of us who attended college in the 1960s. Waiting to hear who was drafted or if someone got a high lottery number were factors hanging over our heads. I can still see the horrible footage as so many of them tried to escape as the U.S. and other countries pulled out.

Thank you Tippi, not only for enhancing a service that so many of us enjoy but also for affecting the lives of those who needed it!!

I will continue to enjoy this service and have learned how to navigate the salon world. Now that I am retired I can pick an afternoon in the early part of the week that is usually slow at the nail salons and enjoy the time almost totally by myself with little conversation. If you haven’t tried it, give it a whirl. You won’t be disappointed!

Nail savvy Frances

148 New conspiracy theories

I was going to write my blog yesterday but instead I dealt with an explosion of tissue lint in the washer and dryer. That is when I realized I too (like everyone else in today's world) could have MY OWN CONSPIRACY THEORY!

While I was shaking, rubbing, and cursing the idiot (me) who left numerous tissues in a blouse pocket, I could hear those little tissue voices plotting and laughing: "Bury yourself down deep--she'll never see you, Chortle, Chortle!"

Tootsie Inspecting the Lint! (A picture of just lint is Boring!)

The only difficulty with claiming MY OWN CONSPIRACY THEORY is that it seems to be widely shared. Turns out there are many folks obsessed with this problem. Suggestions ranged from soaking the laundry in hot water or in aspirin dissolved in water (what!) to using dryer sheets in the dryer (not perfect) to getting out the old tape and sticking it on the lint.

When you Google Dust Bunny Conspiracy, many images appear. My favorite is below. I added the text because I know that's what the dust bunnies in my house are plotting!

And Google Lost Socks Conspiracy for some great thoughts: for instance, lost socks turn into Tupperware lids, the lint in the dryer trap is actually cremated sock remains, and the dryer steals your socks to free house elves (Huh?). Anyway, there were some great cartoons:

I could go on with knives that nick, toilets that go berserk right before house guests arrive, vacuum cleaners that seem to clog every five minutes, computers and printers (don't get me started!), hangers that want to hang CLOSELY together, but that is only today's beef!

I do feel much better!

Not too Savvy Trish