Visions of Paradise 167 (july 2011).pdf

Visions of Paradise

#167

Visions of Paradise #167

Contents

Out of The Depths............................................................................................page 2

Patriotism

The Passing Scene.............................................................................................page 3

July 2011

Wondrous Stories ............................................................................................page 6

The Air We Breathe ... Blue Mars

Halcyon Days .....................................................................................................page 9

Penney ... Kennedy ... Dengrove ... Kresovitch ... Buff

On the Lighter Side..........................................................................................page 17

Jokes by Lloyd Penney

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Edited and published by Bob Sabella

E-mail bsabella@optonline.net

http://adamosf.blogspot.com/

http://visionsofparadise.blogspot.com/

Available online at http://efanzines.com /

Artwork: Taral Wayne (cover) … Brad Foster (p. 6) … Regan (p. 18)

✪

Out of The Depths

On the 4 th of July, it’s hard not to think about patriotism . There’s a loaded word for you. It

means different things to different people, some of whom, in my opinion, totally misunderstand

it. I was having a conversation with two acquaintances awhile ago, and one of them made the

comment, “Anybody who does not think America is the greatest country in the world does not

deserve to live here.”

The other person replied, “I totally agree with you. I am such a patriot.”

Huh? Is that what patriotism really means, believing America is the greatest country in the

world? And does being a good citizen necessarily require that you unequivocally believe

America is the greatest country in the world?

First of all, how do we possibly determine America’s greatness? I have never lived in any other

country; in fact, I have never been in any other country for longer than two weeks at a time. Can

that possibly be sufficient length of time for me to adequately compare that country’s greatness

with America’s? And what about the nearly 200 other countries that I have never visited?

But even had I visited them all, what criteria would I use to compare greatness? Standard of

living? The residents’ treatment of each other? Education level? Poverty level? Crime rate?

Cultural level? Average life expectancy? Military might (God help us if that’s a factor)?

I am very comfortable living in America. I enjoy its standard of living and its multi-cultural mix.

But I realize there are areas where this country could definitely improve. Such as the political

divide that pits liberals versus conservatives for the purpose of improving each group’s material

comforts at the expense of other Americans. Such as the out-of-control crime rate (one of the

highest in the world). Or the overall attitude toward education (far from one of the highest in the

world). What about intolerance (as represented by the flap over the “Trade Tower mosque” a

few months ago)? What about the greed of politicians and big business at the expense of average

citizens? What about the attitude of the rich towards the working class, as indicated by the

political fights in so many states where legislatures refuse to increase taxes on the rich while

seeing nothing hypocritical about cutting salaries and benefits of middle class workers? What

about the rudeness of many people towards others (just go for a short car ride and you'll see an

indication of this)?

I like America, and I hope to spend the remainder of my life living here, but without explicit

criteria it would be jingoist of me to arbitrarily state that it is the greatest country in the world.

And you know what? I don’t give a darn whether America is the greatest country in the world.

What I care about is how many people concern themselves with trying to make America as good

as it can possibly be. How many people volunteer time to social services? Donate money to

charity? Treat other people as equals? Make political decisions based on what is best for

everybody rather than just for myself? Truly care? Anybody who claims that America is the

greatest country in the world, and does none of these things, is hypocritical and, in my opinion,

are the people whom I do not wish to live in my country.

✪

The Passing Scene

July 2011

Thursday 7/1 we met Alan & Denise at the Chinese buffet, and afterwards Alan took my two old

computers to wipe the hard drive and then rebuild them to either give away or sell. He also gave

me a spare USB extension since I did not have sufficient outlets on my computer.

Friday 7/2 three of our former math colleagues came for lunch, so we had a good time sitting and

chatting about–guess what?–school! Sadly, the school is falling apart primarily due to the totally

incompetent principal. Not only is she clueless, she is also lazy and spends her entire time sitting

in her office doing her graduate work, while her ass’t principals are also incompetent, while

getting neither support nor training from the principal. The students are out of control, partly

because they know they can do virtually anything they wish since there are few penalties for

outrageous behavior. And people really believe that eliminating tenure and instituting merit pay

for teachers will actually improve American education when so many administrators–who are

not under the political gun–are so damned incompetent.

Sunday 7/3, during a lull in three days of rain Jean and I washed the side of the house using a

long extension brush which reached as high as the eaves. However, it started pouring as we were

doing the last side. Yes, we both got soaked. ☺

Monday, the 4 th of July, we went to Mark & Kate’s house where they barbecued a fresh ham on

the grill. It tasted very good. I made baked macaroni and cheese, and Kate also made

homemade ice cream sandwiches (which were delicious because of the wonderful cookies she

made). Only 6 people were there, including Drew and us.

Tuesday 7/5, my friend George (the Physics teacher) and his friend Joanne came for lunch. Jean

and I made open-faced pizza and ham-and-cheese sandwiches on whole grain loaves of bread,

plus salad and fruit salad. Because George’s doctor diagnosed him with borderline diabetes, he

has drastically cut sugar out of his diet and lost 30 pounds

Thursday 7/7 was our 32 nd anniversary and it was a busy day. In the morning Jean went to Judy

for a perm, while I tutored my niece Janel for her 9-12 Praxis (required of all teachers). She

needs to pass it since she has been hired for the math department of the local high school as a

special ed teacher, the same department which also hired her sister as a regular math teacher

recently. This will be the third different math department in the county which at one time had

two or more members of the Sabella family. In the afternoon, we went to the YMCA, then to the

pool, after which we went out for our anniversary dinner.

Tuesday 7/11, and Wednesday 7/12 temperatures flirted with the mid-90s, so we spent our typical

afternoons at the pool, which we do 3-4 afternoons per week in the summer. The pool is in the

midst of the woods, so it is actually a bit cooler there. It is also huge and is fed by an

underground stream, both of which make it colder than most pools. Finally, it is uncrowded,

with the majority of people fulltime summer residents living in the bungalows on the property

and only a handful of outside members like us. We usually arrive between 2:30-3:00 and stay

until 5:00. Our friend Kathy arrives there from work around 4:00, and we all go in the pool

when she arrives. She and Jean swim laps, while I swim a bit by myself. I cannot do free-style

strokes right now because of the tendinitis in my shoulder, so I do breast strokes and back

strokes.

Because of going to the pool, we have been making dinners that can have half the work done

before we leave. Monday I stir-fried chicken and broccoli, so I cut everything before going to

the pool. Tuesday I made pot roast and potatoes in the crock pot, so that cooked much of the

day. Wednesday was grilled chicken salad with barley & bean salad (which I made in the

morning). Thursday was macaroni & tuna salad with corn on the cob (which we bought at the

farm near the pool). All were delicious, and not time-consuming.

Because we spend afternoons at the pool, I get less writing done in the summer, but more

reading, so I guess it is a trade-off.

Friday 7/15 we went to the YMCA (which we do 3 mornings per week) and shopped afterwards,

then we invited Alan & Denise to the pool in the afternoon. We stayed there for supper, ordering

at nearby’s Frank’s Pizza. Jean had sausage parmigiana sandwich and I had a spinach and cheese

roll. We also split an antipasto.

Sunday 7/ 17 Jean and I volunteered to work the gate at the pool’s annual Oktoberfest (which is

always in July since the availability of the pool attracts lots of people). It was very crowded, but

our work was easy and we were given free food as a reward, so it was worthwhile. We did have

free time which enabled us to use the pool with Kathy.

Thursday 7/21 we drove to West Chester, PA with our 16-year old popup Starcraft, which we

traded in as partial payment for a new A-liner. The new camper has a hard shell instead of a

canvas top, plus it is roomier with one-minute setup/takedown times rather than 30-35 minutes.

So, in addition to its increased comfort, it will enable us to do more traveling with frequent

overnight stops.

We drove it directly across New Jersey to a campground near Long Beach Island where Alan &

Denise had just arrived. We had made these reservations weeks ago in anticipation of having the

new camper, so we had no way of expecting the temperature to range from 98 o to 100 o the five

days we were camping. As soon as we arrived, we went in the pool which cooled us off a lot,

and we were actually comfortable sitting around a campfire most of the night waiting until Alan

& Denise’s daughter Becky arrived with her young sons Anthony and Dominick.

Friday 7/22 Jean and I met my brother Stephen and his wife Doreen for dinner at a restaurant

The Crab Shack which was good. I had a fisherman’s medley (clams, mussels, scallops and

shrimp) over linguine with tomato sauce. Jean had a fisherman’s platter (scallop, shrimp,

flounder, crab cake) with cornbread and broccoli.

When we returned, Alan & Denise’s other daughter Sarah had arrived and they were having their

annual lobster feast, after which we returned to the pool until 9:00, then we sat around a campfire

until 11:30.

On Saturday, 7/23, Becky made blueberry pancakes for a late-morning brunch, which was very

tasty. The temperature hit 108 0 during the day, the third consecutive day of temperatures above

100 0 . Thank heavens for air-conditioning and the pool!

On Sunday, 7/26, a late afternoon drenching rain lowered the temperature drastically. Our

camper handled the rain well, and overall we were very pleased with it. After Becky and her

sons left, we drove to Atlantic City where we ate supper at Corky’s in Tropicana. Both Jean and I

had half-lb hamburgers with sweet potato fries. Afterwards, she and I walked the Boardwalk–

which is one of the nicest on the shore, along with Wildwood–while Alan and Denise stayed in

the casino and gambled for a few hours.

Monday morning we packed up, then spent a short while in the pool before leaving at 1:00. We

stopped for lunch at a rest area before arriving home at 4:30.

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