One of my favorite walking paths on the Campus of Southern Illinois University is the path around the Campus Lake.  Even though I have traversed the well worn trails for many years…yet they constantly seem new to me.  I am struck with the paradox that has happened many times before and once again is occurring.  The Sate of Illinois is in an abysmal budgetary mess.  This has happened primarily do to the poor management and oversight of previous and current governors and legislatures.  Although extreme budget cuts have been transpiring since the latter 1980s until the present, the latest proposal by new governor Rauner is a draconian cut in excess of 30% for the SIU Carbondale Campus.  This unconscionable  proposal, should it be endorsed by the legislature, will leave such gaping holes in the quality of education that students receive, and the support systems in place to ensure that quality, that the deterioration of the  continued academic viability of the University will become a forgone conclusion.

Southern Illinois University, in days gone by, was often referred to as the second jewel in the crown of Illinois.  The first jewel in the crown was the University of Illinois.  In 1948 Southern Illinois Normal welcomed a new president Delyte Morris.  Dr. Morris transformed what was a small teacher’s college into an internationally respected University with a campus at Edwardsville, Illinois, a Medical School at Springfield, a Dental School at Alton, and a School of Law on the Carbondale Campus.  His plan for vitality and growth included reaching out in the very impoverished southern Illinois region to people who had not been thought of as candidates for a college degree, and causing blue collar families and farming families to send their first generation children to SIU.  This happened while at the same time students from over seventy nations attended the beautiful rural Carbondale Campus.  SIU became a miracle of academic growth and quality and fulfilled the vision of a college education for everyone who sought it…and not just the privileged elites.  This vision exemplified by the G. I. Bill and the strength of character of former statesmen of the past was seen as nothing less than the key to the future success of our nation.

The spring fever that is two fold is first the extreme thoughtless budget cuts brought forward by our elected leaders…with no rationale thought as to the outcome coupled with the paralyzing fear in the hearts of students, faculty, and staff as to their academic and financial well being.  While the second example of spring fever on the Campus is much more settled and unchanging…that being the beauty of nature on an exquisite Campus.

As I have written in an earlier blog Dr. Morris was as concerned about the beauty of the natural surrounding of SIU Carbondale as he was about it’s academic strength.  SIU’s spring beauty illustrates the optimism of a famous campus that was built where no one thought it could exist and the cycles of that natural beauty are not subject to the political whims or hidden agendas of fickle politicians.

For the past fifteen or more years our family has made our annual trek to St. Charles, Missouri the Friday after Thanksgiving for the profound purpose of entering the Christmastide of Charles Dickens.  St. Charles is the third oldest city in Missouri and was founded in 1769.  It was the first capitol of Missouri from 1821 to 1826.  Its’ cobblestone streets and quaint ancient shops are a joy to behold at any time of the year but the festivities surrounding Christmas add an ethereal glow to the hamlet.

In an effort many years ago to escape the crush of shoppers and general stress associated with Black Friday we visited for our first time in the late 90’s.  Our spirits were elevated, when we had no more than began our day, by being encountered by Tiny Tim and his doting father Bob Cratchit.  The streets were adorned with victorian Christmas decorations, marching bands, and carolers.  Have you ever tried roasted chestnuts?  A tall man in authentic attire for the time is roasting them in what I am sure must be the manner prescribed in victorian England.

Children and children at heart eyes sparkle as they interact with the many diverse characters depicted including numerous Santa Claus, St. Nick, and others from all over the world.

After attending for many years we thought our sons must surely be tired of the same destination each year and decided not to go.  We quickly found that they were not only disappointed but indeed some of the shine from our Christmas festivities had been diminished by our untoward abrupt change.  Nevertheless we returned the next year and every year since.  Aaron and Jonathon are now in their thirties…but still we look forward to our annual holiday tradition of St. Charles.

The Christmas season is undoubtedly my favorite time of the year for a multitude of reasons but none more important than the additional effort…if but for a short while…of peace on earth and good will good will to our fellow pilgrims on our shared life journey.

I was fascinated by a documentary on HBO last night that was based on the book by Lawrence Wright entitled Going Clear regarding the Church of Scientology.  L. Ron Hubbard the author of the bestseller Dianetics and the creator of a religion… was a complex individual.  The HBO piece went in to some detail regarding his charismatic appeal to his followers and his profound talent in creating a story that countless people have adopted as their faith reality. As I listened to the beginning of the program I was amazed at how rationale it appeared for the beginning disciple.  People were initially drawn to the precepts of Scientology by their desire to better themselves through a process termed auditing whereby they held on to two cans connected to a machine called an E-meter which measures electrical resistance that was described in the show as, “About a third of a lie detector,” where the needle registered emotional reaction to questions posed to them by a church sanctioned auditor.  The psychological proposition is that when the needle indicates a troubling thought in the person being audited that by repeatedly addressing that thought the needle indicates less resistance and subsequently the deleterious thought is finally cleared from the individual.  The goal of this laborious process is going clear or free from negative thoughts that are holding the person being audited back from success in either their personal or professional life.  It should be noted that this unusual process has some similarities to Freudian theory and talk therapy. Former Scientology followers mentioned during the film that what they had joined for the simple reasons of becoming more positive successful individuals and that over the years the religion revealed it’s deeper intentions to be what they would have never bought into if they had known the whole story at the beginning. One of the more bizarre, and not that unusual to more mainstream religions (at least metaphorically), was the formation of a prison camp that people who had fell out of favor with the leadership of the church were sent to for punishment.  This was an area that members were forced to work, according to the documentary, for thirty hours on and three hours off in the most menial labor conditions including scrubbing public restrooms with a toothbrush. Former members also told of their family and friends being forced to disconnect from them when they left the church.  This church edict was a requirement for loyal church members. The accounts became even more strange when former members of the leadership recounted that they were placed in two trailers with bars on the doors and windows and when the leader of the movement told them that they were going to play musical chairs that they fought and scratched to not be the one who did not have a chair when the music stopped…meaning they would have to leave what was termed “the hole”. About this time you are thinking… not in my church…I would not be so foolish as to have my faith walk be subsumed by a mind controlling dictatorial leader in the name of faith.  I would simply say that the process of letting someone do your thinking for you is insidious and could creep upon you while you are otherwise occupied.  For many years I have sought churches that are governed by a board of the church’s members.  No one has all of the answers and to allow yourself to believe that is the start of a long road that ends in a dead end.  If a church leader is making you uncomfortable or singling you out for criticism, especially public criticism, you are in something less than the journey of faith that Christ spoke of. Strong faith leaders welcome the oversight of their congregation and the solid strength of a cloud of witness.  “Power corrupts and ultimate power corrupts ultimately”.

During our recent Western Caribbean cruise we were looking forward to our stop in Belize.  Belize from 1862 – 1973 was called British Honduras and it is the only country in Central America who’s official language is English.  Belize is known as the birthplace of chewing gum.  Belize is 180 miles long and 68 miles wide.

Our bus tour began in Belize City where our very kind guides pointed out the upscale homes and businesses including the home of the Governor-General who is Queen Elizabeth II’s representative as she is the Queen of Belize.  Our guides asked us to note the one police officer who’s job it was to guard the Governor-General and as we passed we saw him doing what appeared to be washing the GG’s automobile.  After touring the high rent district we toured the working district and observed very poor poverty stricken housing.

The Mayan Ruins were thirty miles from Belize City and as we got closer I noticed that we had stopped in the middle of the road for no apparent reason.  Sadly we were stuck in the mud.  After waiting about thirty minutes a accommodating Belizean that was located nearby brought his tractor and pulled us out.  While we waited one of our guides gave us some delicious banana chips to munch on and the time passed easily.

The Mayan Ruins were very interesting.

I could not help but admire the easy friendly manner that the people of Belize greeted us with.  Their appreciation for life and it’s infinite gifts was inspiring.!  Belikin Beer is manufactured in Belize and we were admonished to try some before we left.  I would say in the favorite term of the happy people of Belize it is “unbelizeable”!

Mary Jane and I throughly enjoyed visiting Oahu, Hawaii with our dear friends and family Ira Kaye and Ron.  This had been something I had dreamed about for years and wondered  if I would ever achieve my wish.  As I said in an earlier post Ron had picked out what I considered the perfect beach cottage that was located fifty feet from the pacific ocean.  It was idyllic.  The constant view of the majestic ocean along with the sound of it’s waves beating against the shore were beyond description and I could not believe my good fortune.  Have you ever experienced real life and it seemed like a dream?  This is how the unparalleled beauty of our paradise location impacted my senses.  I can readily see how the overwhelming ethereal beauty of Hawaii could captivate your emotions and compel you to relocate there for the remainder of your life! Ira Kaye and I are rabid Lost fans.  Nothing would satiate our fandom except visiting Kualoa Ranch where many of the scenes in Lost, as well as many other Hollywood movies, were filmed.  The terrain of the Ranch is unworldly.  It looks like nothing you have ever seen.  Jurassic Park was filmed there along with Mr. Roberts and many other film favorites.  We stood behind the tree that that the stars of Jurassic Park stood behind to escape the dinosaurs.

Above is the surreal beauty of the Ranch as well as the tree from Jurassic Park and a foot print from Godzilla with Matthew Broderick.  Also the submarine from Lost.

Kualoa Ranch was such a fascinating place that we took two guided tours and the second was appreciated as much if not more so than the first.  The second was given in an all terrain vehicle that required a big first step to get into.  Our driver and guide told me that since I was a big man I could ride in the front next to him.  I was experiencing terrible knee pain in my left knee pain over our entire stay in Oahu and doubted if I had the wear with all to step the first three feet step into the vehicle…however thankfully I was able to do so with ease.  This was a an extremely bumpy ride!  The roads were little more than mud paths and our driver traversed them as if he was in practice for the Indianapolis five hundred.  This tour was intended to show the participants the wild untamed side of the ranch.

The wild beauty of the Ranch was spellbinding.  Now when I watch Lost or many of the shows that were filmed on  Oahu I feel like that I am on the set and have a rich understanding of where the actors are.  The building behind the foliage in the first picture is a movie set for the new Jurassic film premiering this summer.

The extravagant beauty of Hawaii mesmerizes me and thus I leave you with some sunsets.

The author G.K. Chesterton said, “We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty.”

It was during the latter part of last September that Mary Jane mentioned to me that she had found an extraordinary price for a western Caribbean cruise in January.  When we were still working colleagues had admonished me that once I retired I would be happily available for the rock bottom low cruise prices that appear suddenly and have to be utilized by people who have virtually no commitments that burdens their calendars.  Although we have been faithfully looking over the past four years of being foot loose and fancy free…we have not seen that many offers that have caused us to drop everything and jump on board.  The cruise aboard the Emerald Princess disembarking from Houston, Texas and stopping in Roatan, Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel was the wonderful deal that we had been waiting on.

As we arrived in Houston Saturday afternoon, to be certain on being on time for our Sunday afternoon boarding, we noticed how chilly, rainy, and cloudy it was.  Although it was in the forties the Houstonians that we met expressed that they were darn cold!  After a flawless bus ride to the ship we boarded early with no problem.  I could not help but notice the enormity of the vessel, it holds over three thousand passengers, and it is one of the largest in the Princess fleet.  We leisurely toured the stunning ship and were more than ready for the obligatory safety drill prior to setting sail.  As the time for our sail away came and went we suddenly were informed by our Captain that due to fog the Galveston channel had been closed by the Harbor Master.  The Captain went on to estimate that we probably would not be underway before 4am Monday morning.  The fog did not lift until mid morning and we set sail finally at 10am.  Due to the seventeen hour delay, Roatan, Honduras was replaced with Costa Maya, Mexico.

Cozumel was our favorite port.  This lovely island is distinguished by its exquisite beaches and the beautiful crystal clear azure blue water that surround it.  Cozumel is known for its black corral which the residents dive for and subsequently fashion into rare jewelry.  The island’s residents are Mayan.  Our tour guide took us to a small Mayan Ruin that had an original entrance door of no more than four feet hight.  He told us that the original Mayan people were very short but that the Mayans we saw on Cozumel now looked very different due to interbreeding with the Spanish.  He went on to expound on how cold it was and that we were visiting them during their winter.  Although the temperature was 75 to 80 degrees he said that many of the children in the poorer section of the island were coughing and sneezing with colds due to the low temperatures.  During summer our guide told us that most Cozumel residents slept in hammocks very near a fan as the temperatures can be one hundred and fifteen degrees.  Hotel rooms during the winter run $190.00 per night and are booked solid while during the summer the cost falls to $90.00 per room per night.  During our boat tour around the island I counted seven cruise liners in port…while during the summer they have only one per day.

These are scenes from the beautiful rocky shore lines of Cozumel.

Our guide illustrating how low the original door was into the Mayan Ruin.

I was struck with the dignity and easy manner of our guide.  He recounted the original physical strength of his ancestors by talking about his grandfather who is ninety-five years old and still farming.  He mentioned that his grandfather does not need glasses to read the paper while he, our guide does.  He went on to say that when his grandfather comes in from the fields for the day that his wife not only takes his shoes off but goes on to undress and bathe him.

The more that I travel the more I am convinced of the rich diversity of people who inhabit our planet…and I wonder why do we continually fight each other during our short journey together.

As I mentioned in my last post our recent visit to Hawaii afforded us, due to my brother-in-laws careful planning, a beach house directly on the beach.  I could not believe our good fortune when it was apparent that the Pacific ocean would serenade us for our entire visit.  Two elements of nature fascinate me and they are large bodies of water and the sun and how the sun interacts with the water.  I simply do not become weary of watching both.

There is something mesmerizing about the vastness, movement, and majestic splendor of the ocean.  During our week-long adventure we were able to visit many points on the island of Oahu with the three ocean picture settings of; the north shore, which is noted for it’s extremely large waves and rocky shore, Ewa beach, which provided me with a limitless number of digital photos, and finally Waikiki beach.  I remember my first camera which was a Big Swinger Polaroid camera that I received for Christmas when I was a boy and now marvel at the visual clarity and seemingly limitless photo taking opportunity of the current generation of digital cameras.  Photos are really a bit of magic in our all to fast-moving lives where we can for a moment stop time and remember where we have been.

The North Shore.

Ewa Beach

North Shore

Our Hawaiian cousins.

Our beach.

As 2014 draws to a close I hope that each of you enjoy good health and happiness.  Let us try to remember that the truly valuable things in our lives money did not buy.  Is God a capitalist…or would he like for us to learn a better way while we are sojourners on this beautiful Earth?