Ruminations on a Quiet Tuesday

Contrary to a Tuesday morning 69 years ago today, which I certainly do not remember, but which has nevertheless influenced my life greatly, this morning for us is a gentle and warm day of thought, pursuit of individual interests, and time spent together at home and perhaps on a neighborhood jaunt. While Kathryn sews, I write.

The changes imposed on the world by Pearl Harbor

Sixty nine years ago!! The beginning of World War II, in a formal way, for the United States. We had been involved before this, promoting ourselves as democracy's arsenal and underwriting the valiant efforts of the British. The attacks on Pearl Harbor sucked us into the conflict in ways unimagined by the Japanese and by the German's who declared war on us as soon as they heard the news of the Japanese infamy. While thought to be a nation of indulged, selfish, cowardly materialists, we proved to be a formidable foe from the outset. Our young women and men surged to military recruiting offices to respond to the call and to retaliate. Our business might united, partially under the leadership of my Uncle George, to become a design and construction colossus, turning out massive stockpiles of war materiel for every ally, even the Russians. Even though the viciousness of the conflict over the next four years, led to revenge atrocities performed by our military, especially in the Pacific, we largely came through this gargantuan conflict with our values intact. We had raised a standard of service, help, compassion, and freedom envied and sought after by almost all of the modern cultures of the world. The Marshall Plan basically resurrected Germany from the potential of decades-long struggles with poverty, famine, and desolation. We governed Japan back to a competitive, humane, free society. Russia, on the other hand, under the "leadership" of Stalin, influenced the communist leaning world to isolate themselves in the long, bitter cold war, which though thought to be officially over, still resonates to some degree in a few countries, such as China, North Korea, Russia itself, Cuba, and Venezuela.

The evolution of the role of America and the Military

When Eisenhower left office after an interesting, productive presidency, he, whose background was military, warned us to avoid the tentacles of the coming military/industrial complex. He coined the term to name that growing relationship where arms manufacturers enticed military and political leaders to purchase the latest, greatest military technology to once and for all put the power to end all wars in the hands of US leadership. Since the late fifties, there has always been the touting and acquisition of the latest new weapon. A book titled "Grunts" exposes the deceit and costs associated with this path, and the expense to the country of following it, not just in dollars, but in the destruction of the bodies and souls or our front line military. Today, we live in a country where our military budget exceeds that of, as some claim, all other nations combined. Our congress and senate demand the latest military hardware, offered by the arms manufacturers as that weapon which will finally replace the front line soldier and put an end to conflict and slaughter. The threat of nuclear annihilation has not stopped the front line slaughter. The newest aircraft technology, including Stealth aircraft, has not. Drones have not, nor has satellite imagery, nor any other created weapon of the past 60 years. Yet, we keep spending. Our current financial crisis and resulting political warfare, in which comity and compromise have been ground into the dust of politics at its worst, seem unable to do anything but agree on the need for an outrageous, unjustified, and continuously unsuccessful purchase of the wares of military hardware suppliers. And what happens to the front line soldier? These men and women, called on to invade foreign countries, called on to route the "enemy" in street to street, house to house, battles, are undersupplied, under protected, under treated if wounded, and often ridiculed if the real wounds are not physical but psychological. I cite as examples in the Iraq war the lack of body armor for the troops, the lack of armor and protection for the humvee's, the Walter Reed Hospital debacle, and the sluggishness of the Dept. of Veterans Affairs to meet the needs of those who coming home, wholly or partially intact. And yet our politicians continue to buy the latest gadgets and have no intention of reducing the military budget. Frankly, our foes are winning. They entice us to fight in their homelands. We have no idea where the enemy are or who they are. They kill us at will. And we spend our nations financial and human resources at a rate leading directly to moral and economic disaster. The future is indeed bleak!

And Now?

Now that I have that off my chest, let me return to the topic of the blog, Ruminations on a Quiet Thursday. It seems that we have been running constantly for the last several months to play the Alzheimer's symphony. We speak at meetings for the Elderly. We speak at meetings of those who provide services to the elderly. We appear on TV. We have radio interviews. We review films. We meet in Support Groups, We help Kathryn's National Committee meet their objectives. We have our own support group of Early Stage Recipients and Care Partners. We talk with friends. We read about ALZ. We exercise and eat the way we do because those regimens are thought to slow the advance or maybe even encourage the building of new neural pathways. We listen to pitches about supplements thought to be helpful. We examine our personal papers and investments in preparation for what may be coming, as best as we can predict it.

But, of a sudden, there is a lull. We looked at today's calendar. We looked at the calendar for the rest of the week and month. We see exercise. We see Utah Watercolor Society. We see dancing. We see a few social gatherings. But, for the rest of the month, there is literally nothing on the calendar, other that 2 support groups, until the end of the month when we go to California for support of the Alzheimer's float in the Tournament of Roses Parade. We see time to paint, to write, to dance, to walk, to relate, to think. And we welcome the new visitor, one we shall call "calm and pleasant pursuits." Hence this Blog.

What Has Been Done?

For the record, I would just like to record what we have been doing. Ted Capener worked with us to prepare us to be interviewed on his program, Utah Conversations. That will air this coming Sunday, on Channel 7, PBS, at 5:30 pm. We participated in and talked at a Utah County gathering of seniors, encouraging them to become more aware of the coming Alzheimer's tsunami, and about how we have responded to our own reception of the disease primarily with openness. Kathryn participated in the Washington DC announcement of the Maria Shriver study on Women's and Alzheimer;s, by giving the opening remarks at the conference organized to discuss the book on the day of its announcement. We have been interviewed by Jennifer Napier-Pearce for a story on KUER about Alzheimer's. This was aired four times on Sunday, 12/5 and Monday, 12/6. Wonderful comments. Last night, we spoke on a panel reviewing a film we had just seen called "I Remember Better When I Paint." And we, primarily Kathryn, of course, was the subject of a wonderful article and terrible picture in the Desert News, called "Life After Diagnosis," authored by our dear friend, Elaine Jarvik.

What's Next?

Not much. Ted Capener's program shows Sunday. We go to support group tomorrow. We go to California on the 26th. Kathryn's YUPO paintings may be featured on the cover of the catalog for next year's Gala. There may be an art show of the work of Alzheimer's Artists at the Peter Moore Gallery. We will have once a month phone calls from and with the Early Stage Advisory Group. We will go to Washington DC next May, seeing the Lloyd's either on the way or in DC. Nothing else specific on the agenda. So, what's next, for the most part? Living, loving, reading, writing, painting, walking, enjoying and learning to dance in the rain. There is much of life after diagnosis.