Ready to take a break

The last couple weeks have been interesting. For global readers, this blog originates in Johnson Creek, Wisconsin (USA). For those in 'Creek - it's true, this blog has intermittent and regular readers from around the world. Hang on a second while I check the list... Here it is:

Canada
Singapore
United Kingdom
Philippines
Kuwait
Malaysia
United Arab Emirates
Sweden
Australia
France
Guam
Portugal
Italy
Ireland
Brazil
and even though it didn't come up on my stats software, there may be a potential reader in Kyrgystan.

Granted 90 percent of 'Fieldtrips' readers are from the USA and 70 percent of those are from Wisconsin. Almost all of the readers also read CreekNews the intermittent cyber newspaper/magazine that tries to keep up with the local news.

One of the things I like about the news field is that it is 24/7. But for the first time in a long time I feel like taking a break. Not a vacation, but a real break to step back and look at things. Not that I'd assess things differently upon return. Just a step back to look, like a sculptor who steps away from his work to take a good look, a writer who sets aside a manuscript before editing it. Like a sailor who drops all sails and throws out a drogue after an unforeseen gale slams a near upset - giving skipper and crew a chance to reassess, and for pulses to return to normal.

There are several curiousities that have accumulated of late, and they need to be considered.

As those who are in the 'Creek area know, several issues have arisen lately. THe issue of a new public safety facility for the Fire Department and EMS has ridden a rollercoaster. A site is chosen, then discarded, a design is chosen then discarded, a new site is chosen then a new design is accepted then both are discarded...

A new school issue went before the public along with a decision on school operating costs. Those two offerings were defeated at a 4 to 1 ratio.

(In one way I feel very good about Tuesday's decision: It is very unlikely that this showing at the local polls had any influence from any voting machine manufacturers. The number of people who voted clearly reflected the number of votes cast, so there is every reason to believe that - unlike the November vote in Florida and Ohio - the polls reflected the actual wishes of the people, and that is something to celebrate. But that's another blog.)

But there are some points of confusion...

You've heard those sometimes curious sets of silly questions that go, "Why does the drive-up ATM have instructions in Braille?" or "Why is a quickly avoided mid-air collision called a near miss instead of a near hit?" or "Why do people use the term 'hot water heater' instead of just 'water heater?'"

In that vein here are some questions:

Why does it appear that people don't care if the Fire Department and EMS are properly equipped until their own house is on fire or their loved one is having a heart attack?

Why do people say they value education, but really don't find that value to be worth...oh...let's say paying for?

and here's a good one...

Why won't people do their homework to get or check facts, but will spend plenty of energy, time and yes sometimes money to spew inaccurate opinions? "I'm going to wait until a loud person says what I want to hear...because I live on Fantasy Island...Boss, de plane, de plane."

Oh such silliness - as the toddler character 'Stewie' on the animated television program 'Family Guy' might say in his demonic British accent, "Eerie isn't it? Almost like seeing the future."

Well, I don't know if 'Creek needed a new school or not. I DO KNOW, based on published data, that students learn in the best possible environment. Additionally, the local information was reliable, because I am paid to observe this and other schools' operations in meetings on the behalf of the public who cannot or don't wish to attend.

I also KNOW that the operating expense need is very real, NOT because a school board is just spending everyone's money to have a good time. Hell, as a group, I can't think of any organizations or individuals MORE FRUGAL than the typical school board. But the loud people sure can get the attention of the rest of you who don't do your homework on these issues. (One could conclude that you're not in favor of supporting education because you look in the mirror and say "Heck, look how far I've got without one.")

The FACT IS the amount of money a school in Wisconsin can levy is limited to the district valuation formula and a 1.5 percent increase annually. This FACT was in place while health insurance companies decided to have a sudden increase of 25 to 35 percent (as they did six years ago, and five years ago, and four years ago...and...) with impeccable timing pushing most districts 10 to 15 percent over total budget.

That's right ladies and gentlemen, that money is collected by the schools on behalf of the health insurance companies. It doesn't even go near anything having to do with education, makes a sharp U-turn and zing! Off it goes in a premium check to the health insurance companies.

(Speculative conversation of insurance company execs in smoke filled conclave: "Hey, here's a way to collect money from EVERYBODY and put the blame on the schools."

The TRUTH is nobody has ever given a reason for the outrageous increases in those specific costs, although some I contacted gave excuses. And it is only one extreme example.

Meanwhile teachers and programs have been cut, and teachers have made concessions in health benefit coverage.

As Jefferson resident Dr. Stoner, member of the Jefferson School Board said last year, "It's as if they back an armored truck up to the school every month for the insurance premium funds."

And of course there are the normal increases in expenses. Now really, you and I are paying more at the gas pump, right? Do you think the schools have a special magic energy resource?

As this gets written the current bill for the war in Iraq is $160.4 billion.

Let us consider one billion of something...anything. Fellow blogger Cosmo McMoon who writes the Freedom File blog pointed out that one billion seconds ago it was 1959, one billion minutes ago Jesus was walking the Earth, one billion hours ago humans were pretty much begining to come into their own on the planet. BUT one billion dollars was only 8.5 hours ago for US government spending.

Do a little more homework and you'll find Wisconsin's portion of that $160.4 billion spent on the effort in Iraq if divided per capita would have provided more than 46,000 teachers in state schools for a year. (Does the state need that many teachers? Probably not, but there would have been less of a need for an operating expense decision at the polls Tuesday.) But nobody is being loud about that spending. Nobody is using fact OR loud inaccuracies to question those priorities.

Nobody wants to pay out any more of their earnings than they must for anything, but it is the nature of this nation to jointly support things that we value. Not only do EMS and Fire Department personnel volunteer to be called out at any hour in any conditions to help you and your family and your neighbors, they also pay taxes.

Yep, there is no question that a new school would be a chunk of change, and I won't try to argue the FACT that schools have a positive influence on local growth which in turn brings down taxes and increases the standard of living and makes the facility a tangible community asset - data based info, by the way. (I know some people have trouble with things like facts and truth.)

I'm not independently wealthy, especially while trying to get two college students through school and closer to pushing them out of the nest..."Okay my children, if you're reading this '...Fly, be free,graduate from college, test your wings, buy and eat out of your own refrigerator...!'" And remember that each school board member and each teacher and administrator also pays taxes (and many have children in college nearing the edge of the nest, too.)

Here's the way I see it. Somebody paid for me to have an education, many of those people at that time may have moved from a different community to the town where they paid for me to have a school and education. Since then many may have moved on, indeed many of them may not be living anymore, period. I have moved from that community, and instead of paying any compensation for the education I got in my hometown back to that hometown, I pay that compensation to the local institutions. It may be after I move on if I choose to, or maybe after I'm gone entirely, but the students who benefit from the education I help provide them with now will be responsible for making sure that the young people where they choose to live have an adequate education.

In the meantime, I know I can look eye-to-eye with myself in a mirror and say "I value education."

'Eerie, isnt it?'

Best to all,

Lloyd

WPDC works toward Saturday's Peace Walk

Members of the WPDC work on signs for Saturday's Peace Walk

Members of the Watertown Peace and Democracy Coalition are staging a peace walk Saturday March 19 at noon.
The group started from a core of four members and over the past six weeks had grown to more than 50 Watertown citizens. Organizers note that usually about 25 show up at their weekly meetings.
The goal of the organization is to rally the quiet majority and raise community consciousness, according to the coalition web site.
Coalition members have narrowed their concerns from several current trends in the government. While ongoing government military policies remain a primary point the group feels the need for media reform, campaign finance and election reforms, and oversight of corporate responsibility.
“In general, we share a concern over indicators that democracy is slipping away,” said WPDC member Bill Reichertz.
According to a group spokesperson Tom Depies, the peace walk is the first in ongoing efforts to help provide related information to the public. He noted that next month the group will be hosting a presentation by George Martin, program director of Peace Action Wisconsin.
Scheduled for 6 p.m. April 23, Martin who recently returned from a visit to Iraq will speak at the Riverside Middle School large group instruction room. His presentation will be on “The Reality of Iraq.”
Saturday’s peace walk will begin at noon, and according to WPDC members they will begin gathering in the public parking lot on Water Street across from the Watertown Public Library. The walk route will be from Water Street east on Main Street to eighth street, return west on Main then heading south on Church Street to Bernard Street and returning to the Water St parking lot.
The coalition has made an abundance of signs expressing there views, and welcomes anyone with similar concerns to join them for Saturday’s walk.
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Best to all,

Lloyd

The Value of Education: It doesn't cost, it pays

In the world of finance a few people get lucky and hit it big in a short period of time, but investment counselors agree that most people make safe gains by staying with their plan over the long haul.

So it is with education and schools. It is a solid investment that is proven directly tied to economic development. It can't be considered a short term investment, nor a temporary one, although there are near immediate benefits. But it is a good and wise investment in not only the future of your children, but also wise for anyone with an interest in the social and economic enhancement of a community.

This is simple research-based information. One good example is from the book, "Smart Money: Education and Economic Development," by William Schweke (published by the Economic Policy Institute).
 
The book summarizes that education at all levels is an investment worthwhile. Writing about primary and secondary education he notes:

Research shows that a high-quality education increases the earnings of individuals and the economic health of their communities. Some believe, however, that increased public investment will not necessarily improve the quality of education offered. But recent studies show that education spending can have a direct, positive impact on the business climate and can improve the success of at-risk students, whose contributions to the economy are critical for achieving a high-value/high-wage economy in the 21st century. Such spending will have a greater chance of success if coupled with specific reforms, such as smaller class sizes, greater access to technology for at-risk students, support for teacher training and innovation, and improved accountability structures.

Schweke also attributes human and social costs to a lack of investment in education, citing areas that lack educational resources and drawing correlations to increases in crime rates, drug use, gangs and basic family stability.

Education has a direct impact on specific values in the work place, indicating a more immediate return on investment with the educational dollar. One of the most immediately visible returns is the proven increase in productivity when education is a priority within a community.

The Congressional Joint Economic Committee Study published in 2000 and titled Investment in Education: Private and Public Returns reaches one of its first conclusions in relating the impact of an investment in education on the labor force:

The most direct way that education affects the labor market experience of workers is by increasing their productivity, thus increasing their earnings. The more education individuals acquire, the better they are able to absorb new information, acquire new skills, and familiarize themselves with new technologies. By increasing their human capital, workers enhance the productivity of their labor and of the other capital they use at work. If higher levels of productivity reflect higher levels of human capital, which are in turn primarily a result of increased education, then a positive relationship should exist between educational attainment and earnings.

The report also states that education not only has a direct result on income, but also improves the quality of employment.

As it turns out, attributing numbers to the correlation between good and higher education and economic growth has become easy to realize. Other research confirmed this finding. Edward Denison undertook one of the most comprehensive studies on the effect of education on economic growth. Denison estimated that education per worker was the source of 16 percent of output growth in nonresidential business.

In another study done for the Rand Corporation, 21 percent of the growth in output from 1940-1980 was the result of an increase in average schooling levels. Estimates of the effect of human capital on economic growth in the United States mostly range from 10 to 25 percent, although some recent evidence disputes this finding. But the specific number is definitely a positive and continuing trend.

The joint congressional study points out:

By improving the productivity of American workers, education increases the wealth of the United States. To illustrate the magnitude of the effect of increased educational levels on economic growth in the United States, consider the effect on gross domestic product (GDP) if educational levels had stopped rising in 1959. In real terms (chained 1992 dollars), GDP rose from $2,210.2 billion in 1959 to $7,269.8 billion in 1997. If one were to assume that increased education levels contribute 16 percent to economic growth, and that this education improvement did not occur, the result would be that in real terms 1997 GDP would be lower by approximately $1,260 billion dollars, standing at just over $6,009 billion in 1997.

But it turns out that the intangibles that follow as a return on investment in education have been known since before we were a nation. Traditional concern about the educational opportunities of the poor, as it has evolved in the American context, has resulted in the public provision of education. The public provision of education predates our independence beginning in 1647 with the passage of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's first schooling legislation. A tradition of state guidance, but local financing and control has characterized American public education for the majority of the past two centuries.

When not tapping out a blog article, I'm often doing internal marketing consulting for a portion of a large company.  An ongoing struggle is convincing powers at all levels that investing in quality in process, productivity, parts, production and service is worthwhile. I'm not sure if I can take credit for the term, but people have gotten used to me saying, "Quality doesn't cost, it pays." This appears to hold true with education. It is a good deal and a worthwhile investment - it doesn't cost, it pays.

Sometimes the public loses sight of the nature of education, and is blinded to the fact that the best route away from poverty, the best route to a better standard of living, the best way to prevent crime, the best way to ensure commerce and peace - locally and globally - is to make an earnest investment in education.

"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."  -- a line often attributed to Mark Twain puts the matter together in a concise nutshell.

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Best to all,

Lloyd
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Lloyd Schultz

On the learning environment

Informed decisions on seemingly difficult local issues often require a view that exceeds daily horizons.


Cutting to the chase


There are activities that are more difficult in certain environments.  Some have trouble writing in a noisy setting, icing a wedding cake in hot humid weather or reading in subdued lighting and many more. 

And so it is with the modern school facility. It is a site to return and repeat experiments, a place to rehearse, a place to perform, a place conducive to learning, a central resource location, and a place to share experiences and pass on information. In short it must be conducive to learning.

The age of a building can be a relative thing. The Cathedral at Chartres and its exquisite stained glass windows can be no better. It serves the purpose it was originally intended to serve, and remains an example of the best of what a cathedral can be in artistically representing the architectural standard for a place conducive to worship. It is spiritual in nature. It is not transient. It was built to last.

But schools serve a dynamic group of students and teachers, where new ideas are explored daily, or hourly. And if new ideas are to be presented to an ever more sophisticated group of students in an ever more sophisticated world, then the facilities must be able to adapt to those educational needs. 

Additionally, as more programs are mandated by legislative bodies, often no matter what the enrollment numbers, facilities will need to accommodate those changing requirements.

In a report on the impact of inadequate school infrastructure on student performance, David Branham, Ph.D of the University of Houston Center for Public Policy (click) cites several correlations. Simply put, the report studied 226 public schools and found that poor facilities have a direct impact on student abilities.

According to the report:

Specifically, schools in need of roof repair, schools with a high percentage of temporary buildings, and schools with inadequate custodial staffs will have lower attendance rates, higher drop out rates, and lower accountability ratings than schools without such structural problems.

The report goes on to say that people initially vote for school issues based on what they perceive as their own best interests. "That being the case," Branham writes, " it makes sense to discover what those interests are. In other words, if voters can see that school infrastructure has an effect on student achievement, then they may make a more informed vote on bond initiatives that support school infrastructure."

The state of Florida implemented a constitutional amendment recognizing the impact of class size on education, and requiring that different ages and programs have space and teacher/student ratios that optimize an educational experience.

A report on the amendment rationale, which includes input from the American Institute of Architects, recognizes that school expansion has not kept pace with population expansion, and also states that there was a gap in school spending compared to other growth related areas.

A part of the report states:

According to the Florida Chamber of Commerce’s New Cornerstone Report published in 2001-2002, Florida’s population expanded rapidly in the 1990s from 13.1 million to almost 16 million in 2000, a gain of nearly 18%. In addition, the Chamber reported that between 1991 and 2001, the K-12 expenditures in Florida did not keep
pace with either inflation or the rate of student growth. What has
resulted from this shrinking financial support is a construction
and maintenance backlog that has the potential to cripple Districts
as their physical plants age and they struggle to address the immediate concerns of campus overcrowding. With the Class Size Amendment added to the equation - which state economists estimate will require 30,000 more classrooms – there is potential for losing focus of the importance of a quality learning environment.

The Florida report also notes that there is a direct impact on teacher satisfaction related to work environment, which could have an impact on teacher contract matters.

Still another report on the funding of schools in Tennessee notes that the impact of a school environment has historical evidence.

The report, entitled "Do K-12 School Facilities Affect Education Outcomes?" states:

As far back as the 1920s, industrial research established the
relationship between environmental factors and employee
productivity and morale, but these lessons have not been applied
widely in educational settings. In recent years, however, the
importance of school facilities has been increasingly recognized.
There are now eight states where the courts have explicitly made the funding of capital facilities a part of education equalization remedies.

School facility factors such as building age and condition, quality of
maintenance, temperature, lighting, noise, color, and air quality can
affect student health, safety, sense of self, and psychological state.
Research has also shown that the quality of facilities influences
citizen perceptions of schools and can serve as a point of community pride and increased support for public education.

Wisconsin too has looked at its school facilities. A joint research paper done for the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) and the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA) surveyed state schools. The research paper found interesting information about the age and condition of schools in the Badger State

It notes that three-fourths of Wisconsin's public school buildings were built before 1970, nearly one-fourth before 1940. About two percent were built in the 19th Century. Most of the existing buildings were constructed during the 1950's and 1960's. These buildings have been the target of considerable criticism because of their relatively poor construction. A 1989 study of the nation's school buildings by the Education Writers Association concluded that buildings of this age are "wearing out quickly and have severe repair needs. . . Many construction experts say the buildings were intended to last only about 30 years. If so, their time is up" (Lewis, et. al, p. 2).

The Wisconsin research concludes:

Furthermore, in our focus on numbers and quantitative measures, we must not forget the human dimension. Ultimately, we need to keep in mind that the 172 buildings judged inadequate by the principals in Wisconsin have an enrollment of nearly 75,000 students whose lives are affected on a daily basis by substandard school facilities.

While school facility matters are dealt with across the state and nation, at the local level the faces of individual students and teachers come into focus. We are no longer dealing with statistical figures and graphs, we are dealing with your children and my children. None of us think of our children as a statistic. They are the growing future. We urge them to be the best, to pursue the most, to aim high while learning conditions may be less than optimum.

Music teachers cannot expect students to learn on a mangled instrument. Ag teachers cannot demonstrate germination, photosynthesis or plant growth if seeds are planted where there is no light. So it is with students in all subject areas. It is essential to have the environment and tools that will maximize the odds for student success.

It is a national concern that really comes down to common sense. Everyone needs a location where they can study, exercise, play, perform and socialize, yet currently we have a tendency to shoot for the lowest common denominator in educational facilities. At the same time we say that we value education. Should school be any less accommodating than the areas where we work or pursue other interests? If anything it should be superior.

Why is a 50 year old school considered old? Because it was likely built with the scope of education that was prevailing at the time of its design.

It is time to see the facilities for education the way the designers, builders and supporters of structures like the cathedrals of Europe. When education is again seen as more than finite as an ever changing and never ending endeavor, planning and building for education will appear less transient as well.
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Best to all,

Lloyd

A Little Tennyson

Like certain pieces of music that stir memories and transport one back to a different time and place, poetry revisited can agitate those thoughts past and nearly put you back in an exact spot and date. As the mess in Vietnam was heading to a less than spotless final page, many of us still holding draft cards breathed a collective sigh of relief along with a world that was simply fatigued by that sad chapter.

During that time by near accident I came across a portion of Tennyson's Locksley Hall that among its trochaic couplets spoke of a hope for the future in the aftermath of a senseles protracted tragedy. It surfaced recently, again by near accident, and I share it with you readers.

Best to all,

Lloyd

from Locksley Hall

(ca. 1840)
by
Alfred Lord Tennyson

. . .

For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be;

Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,
Pilots of the purple twilight dropping down with costly bales;

Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rain'd a ghastly dew
From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue;

Far along the world-wide whisper of the south-wind rushing warm,
With the standards of the peoples plunging thro' the thunder-storm;

Till the war-drum throbb'd no longer, and the battle-flags were furl'd
In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world.

There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe,
And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law.

. . .

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Looking back at 2004, one week at a time...POW

It's time to look back at 2004, if you wish. And I mean 'look back' at the year in pictures, one week at a time. More than once I have set aside a photo of the week for a year as a personal project related to photos in my work, and my passion for photography and photojournalism.

This time I share it with CreekNews and Fieldtrips readers. The picture of the week project (POW) becomes a challenge, not because I have to make sure that I have taken pictures every week -- there are an abundance of images from both work and my personal photo efforts -- the challenge is picking the one that stands out from the rest taken during that week. In work and in personal shooting, the equivalent of 10 to 30 rolls of film in images (both on film and digitally) are shot during an average week.

There is about a five week gap mid-year, due to a catastrophic failure of an external hard drive which stored about two years worth of all my digital images. I had let those five weeks of POW images lapse before the hard drive died, and still not sure if I will be able to reclaim the rest of the lost images - (making me revisit the digital/film debate - even though I have always maintained an affinity for film. But that is a topic for another blog.)

Many CreekNews/Fieldtrips readers may be in the POW images. You can check by clicking the link below. I'll see you there:

Lloyd's 2004 POW Project

Addendum: It appears that two images from the early part of the year have disappeared, due to either operator error (me) or some glitch in the server database. You will be able to see the images in the 'thumbnail' form until I can track down the originals and upload them once again.
Best to all,

Lloyd

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

The editorial below written by Frank Church did the world a favor in 1897, by affirming the existence of Santa Claus for eight year old Virginia O'Hanlon. To her, and to untold numbers of children then and since, it confirmed that a character existed in the lives and minds of children.

But for all of the former children who have grown up during the ensuing century plus, the simple response from an editor at a newspaper that faded out of existence many years ago (although a new New York Sun started publication in 1999) illustrates the importance of keeping a child-like wonder in our lives at all ages. It is the fertile ground from which creativity stems, the anticipation of good and joy flourishes, and the potential for an example of caring can blossom for all.

The red-suited character has roots in one religion, but the characteristics elicited are supported by nearly all belief systems. And while we pursue them through differing traditions, they maintain a common thread that could be a formula for the benefit of all.

Here is the language as it was printed in the New York Sun:

IS THERE A SANTA CLAUS?

We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of "The Sun":

Dear Editor:
I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says "If you see it in "The Sun" it's so."
Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon
115 West 95th Street

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

F.P. Church

New York Sun, September 21, 1897

Thanks to Virginia O'Hanlon and Frank P. Church: Some background on the editorial

Fieldtrips readers can see a clipping of the original column by clicking here.

Francis P. Church’s editorial, “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” was an immediate sensation, and went on to became one of the most famous editorials ever written. It first appeared in the The New York Sun in 1897, more than one hundred years ago, and was reprinted annually until 1949 when the paper went out of business.

Thirty-six years after her letter was printed, Virginia O’Hanlon recalled the events that prompted her letter:

“Quite naturally I believed in Santa Claus, for he had never disappointed me. But when less fortunate little boys and girls said there wasn’t any Santa Claus, I was filled with doubts. I asked my father, and he was a little evasive on the subject.

“It was a habit in our family that whenever any doubts came up as to how to pronounce a word or some question of historical fact was in doubt, we wrote to the Question and Answer column in The Sun. Father would always say, ‘If you see it in the The Sun, it’s so,’ and that settled the matter.

“ ‘Well, I’m just going to write The Sun and find out the real truth,’ I said to father.

“He said, ‘Go ahead, Virginia. I’m sure The Sun will give you the right answer, as it always does.’ ”

And so Virginia sat down and wrote her parents’ favorite newspaper.

Her letter found its way into the hands of a veteran editor, Francis P. Church. Son of a Baptist minister, Church had covered the Civil War for The New York Times and had worked on the The New York Sun for 20 years, more recently as an anonymous editorial writer. Church, a sardonic man, had for his personal motto, “Endeavour to clear your mind of cant.” When controversal subjects had to be tackled on the editorial page, especially those dealing with theology, the assignments were usually given to Church.

Now, he had in his hands a little girl’s letter on a most controversial matter, and he was burdened with the responsibility of answering it.

“Is there a Santa Claus?” the childish scrawl in the letter asked. At once, Church knew that there was no avoiding the question. He must answer, and he must answer truthfully. And so he turned to his desk, and he began his reply which was to become one of the most memorable editorials in newspaper history.

Church married shortly after the editorial appeared. He died in April, 1906, leaving no children.

Virginia O’Hanlon went on to graduate from Hunter College with a Bachelor of Arts degree at age 21. The following year she received her Master’s from Columbia, and in 1912 she began teaching in the New York City school system, later becoming a principal. After 47 years, she retired as an educator. Throughout her life she received a steady stream of mail about her Santa Claus letter, and to each reply she attached an attractive printed copy of the Church editorial. Virginia O’Hanlon Douglas died on May 13, 1971, at the age of 81, in a nursing home in Valatie, N.Y.

(Background information gleaned from the "Newseum" website and other sources.)

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Best to all,

Lloyd

A Christmas Story (for my children)

"Hey, were you born in a barn?!" 
It's a term hurled sarcastically at the last person in the house to close an outside door, especially during cold weather. 

But somehow, as I was growing, the idea of being born or living in a barn was at one time something quite appealing.

While I've seen marvelously renovated barns turned into homes, barns in their original form have always had a greater appeal. Ever since childhood they have been a place of mystery, simplicity, strength and structure. And a typical Midwestern dairy barn is a place that holds warmth in the winter and can be cool in the summer.

For me, the single most inviting sight during a Wisconsin winter is a dairy barn at milking time. So much so, that when I travel during that magic hour when the sun is hinting its morning return, about to throw back the blanket of darkness as the light turns from a cool blue to a warm gold, I will happen upon a barn warmly lit inside, and instinctively I'll stop along the road and grab a camera. And on those rare occasions when I am sans camera, I'll still stop across the roadway and see that an often lone farmer or herds person has just thrown a switch turning the big common yet unique structure into a lantern.

During a winter morning before first light, that golden illumination throws beams out the lower level windows, like buttresses of light that brace on the crisp surface of surrounding snow. The simplicity and contentment of bovine housed within is shared along with the heat they generate, shared as they telegraph an equally simple excitement at the start of a new day. They know that food is on the way, along with the other needs provided by their human's attention. Yet they have slept soundly without worry that those daily needs will be met, because the barn represents home.

For a decade we lived on a farm west of Watertown,Wisconsin and started a commercial dairy goat operation. You may have read about my early training in music that stressed opera. As it happened the area in that field proving my favorite style turned out to be Bel Canto opera. So it seemed the name Bel Canto Farm was appropriate.

A foundation herd of registered French Alpine Dairy Goats grew to be a comfortable, if not substantial, operation providing milk to a French cheese firm that had established itself near Watertown, because of Wisconsin's dairy state reputation.

And our young family grew. First moving there with our four-year-old son, our two daughters arrived during the decade we lived on Bel Canto Farm.

It was a time of learning and excitement for everyone, and a great time to be a dad. With mom working off farm, dad had the joy of raising both two legged and four legged kids. While a bucolic nature pervaded the experience overall, three two-legged kids and often more than 80 four-legged kids all frequently wanting to eat at the same time provided some feats of multitasking.

And like any dairy farm, the work was seven days a week year round.

It occurred to me that many farmers begin chores early, not only necessarily to be able to use the time when there is daylight to the fullest measure, but also as a built in oasis before unknown storms move across the day's landscape.

Moving to the farm after having traveled a good portion of the planet, the appeal of a lighted pre-twilight barn returned to me. It also occurred to me that an unlit barn was a little less appealing at 4:30 a.m. on a given Wisconsin February morning, so it didn't take long for me to put the lights on a timer set to go on at 4:20 in the morning.

One could think of this time of day - rising, dressing, and heading across a farm yard before daylight - as a lonely commute. But there is a joy in heading out as routine is turned into ritual, and the excitement of the pending day is as simple as that enjoyed by your livestock.

Clad in layers, gloved and capped you pull the door shut behind you, and exhale the air acquired within the house into a great cloud of vapor as you breath hits the clear air. Your next breath is the crisp unspoiled air of a new day before anyone else has had a chance to sample it.

You look up at what will be a cloudless sky. Perseus, Orion, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor greet you in a new position as those constellations perform their annual dance around Polaris. Stepping off on your daily journey from house to barn, the only things you hear are the crunching of crisp cold snow under your boots along with that sound each time you inhale and exhale.

The barn, with its incandescent glow, is like a guiding star, and while family is left behind in the house, there is a singular simple warmth that draws me to the barn. Under any other circumstances one would call a job that takes a person from a warm bed out into sometimes bitter cold weather before daylight to face the mechanical, structural or veterinary unknowns that lay ahead daily a potentially miserable experience.

But as Emerson said, "I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching."

In an almost monastic nature it became a daily procession to a sense of purpose by working in the foundation elements unchanged for centuries. It was a matter of facing each day as a 'shepherd' of sorts, and realizing at some point how factual the formerly symbolic language was when speaking of that line of work, a shepherd,  in Psalms, the New Testament or even Heidi. It was a situation where an entire flock or herd is faithfully dependent.

Upon arrival in a barn each morning a farmer's intuition often tells immediately if something is different. Even before seeing what it may be, I could tell if new livestock offspring had arrived during the night, or a nervous yet faithful greeting would telegraph a problem such as an illness or injury.

Settling into what grew from routine into ritual, one day during the trip 'out to the barn,' without any provocation, I started humming the old Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts". (I don't have a Shaker background, but it is a familiar tune.) Shortly the words returned to me:

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'tis the gift to be free,
'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be.
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
't will be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,
to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed.
To turn, turn will be our delight,
'Til by turning, turning we come round right.

There is a legend in parts of the western world that says at midnight on Christmas Eve animals are given human voice, because those animals present at the birth of Jesus were briefly given this gift to praise the new hope of the world. It's a nice legend, but I suspect it may have had something early on to do with getting younger members of farm families out to do chores the night before a holiday.

One Christmas Eve on our farm - no the animals did NOT speak - was a greater than usual learning experience. But that would be after church. It was an otherwise normal holiday as we were on our way to a Christmas Eve church service. As usual the obligations that church musicians have during the season, coupled with getting three children dressed and everyone out the door on time could be a hectic trial.

Upon our return, as the car swung into the driveway we noticed that someone had left the barn lights on after the evening milking.

After getting the children into the house, to bed and to sleep with all the excitement inherent to Christmas Eve, I volunteered to head to the barn to shut off the lights and to take that ubiquitous opportunity to 'check on things' one last time.

Heading out, the glowing warm light emanating from the barn was counter to the darkness that surrounded it and seemingly the whole world. But the surrounding snow seemed to emit a bluish glow from underneath, and as only this night of the year can provide, there was anticipation in the air that made the trip out to the old structure particularly welcoming.

Crunching through the snow until I stepped into its light, I immediately knew it was one of those moments when something was 'different.' I looked over the two loafing areas and noticed a group of old herd members huddled with their attention riveted directly below a hay feeding rack.

Unlatching the gate, I went over to see what was drawing their attention. Walking past others that didn't really acknowledge me, knowing it was too early for the next milking, they stayed comfortable in their carefully arranged mounds of straw. At most, one or two turned their heads toward me, eyes still shut, then as an afterthought started chewing their cud to an easy rhythm.

Approaching the group on their feet, I noticed that it was a group of the herd's old moms who were helping to clean up a newborn kid. Its mom was in the process of delivering the newborn's twin.

The first one was soaking up the attention of the half-dozen midwives as they licked it encouraging the kid to stand on its spindly legs. I walked back across the loafing pen, through the gate and into the milking parlor. I took off my jacket and laid my suit coat over a rail - still dressed from the earlier church service - I loosened my tie and rolled up my sleeves before grabbing a couple of clean old towels and heading back into the loafing pen.

I made it back just in time to catch the second twin and get it dried off and warmed up as soon as possible.

The midwife goats tried to push me out of the way, both out of curiosity and to remind me that those ruminants had been having babies for centuries without any help from humans. Satisfied that I'd done my best to get the twin off to a good start, I moved out of the way as the old moms moved in to inspect my work and again encourage the little new life to get on its feet.

At the sound of the first diminutive bleat the new mom was on her feet, ready for maternal duties and to show off the new family members to all of the aunts. I stood back, using the second towel to wipe off my hands and arms, and smiled at the scene. We went through it nearly 100 times annually, but it was still special.

The herd members didn't talk that Christmas Eve, in fact the majority didn't even wake up. But those that were awake acknowledging a natural instinct, along with this shepherd of the group, held a simple celebration with this early surprise.

Returning to the milking parlor and on to the milkhouse, I washed up and dried off, rolled my sleeves back down and buttoned the cuffs. After putting on my suit coat and winter jacket I went back out and leaned on the gate looking out at the loafing area as things began to settle back to a sense of normalcy.

The midwives had returned to a spot to sleep, each scraping some straw into some comfortable fluff before one by one they went down on their knees and their back half following, gently landing as they let out a sigh combined with a comforting moan. In a short while their eyes closed and in an almost hypnotic manner they began chewing their cud. The new twins, dry, soft and clean had enjoyed their first meal and were sleeping in the semicircle formed as mom's body and neck stretched around them. She appeared to enjoy a satisfied but alert and well deserved sleep.

I felt particularly privileged to be a part of the celebration in this oasis of light amid the darkness. It was joy in its basic and simplest form. The event happened in the middle of the night, and it was completely unannounced. But now the crisp air filled with the combined smells of good leafy hay and the earthy smells of the barn, as it emitted light out to make absent the immediate shadows, all had a basic energy. An energy that serves as that intermittent reminder that we are all given an adventure that is called life, and during that adventure the simplest moments can be the most exciting and rewarding.

It is something I never became glib or jaded about. A new life -- a kid, a lamb, a calf -- was always something to celebrate, especially under circumstances of such simple beauty. I think it may have been at that point that it became evident the significance of the beginnings of the Christian faith.

Earlier that evening my family and I took part in a very human traditional form of Christianity's celebration of its founder's birth. During that event we sang and played music written by some of history's greatest composers. We all dressed up, and the building was decorated, even though the building is always decorated with symbols of the faith that have developed over the centuries. Icons, paintings and statues have all been the result of artists inspired by faith.

But it dawned on me on that late Christmas Eve that all of the inspired music and art in the ensuing years came in an effort by those artists to express anticipation, excitement and joy of the promise and hope that child was bringing to the world. It is so strong an expression that their talent was inspired to create music played in the largest cathedrals, and art that is preserved in the world's museums, and over the span of time still honors the event and enhances the human condition.

Yet a celebration in that simple warm light amid the darkness made more sense, in the exhilarating crisp air perfumed with the natural scents of life's foundations. It is perfectly logical that the simplicity of this environment was likely similar to the birth place of the one who promised to be the Prince of Peace, a leader destined to feed the poor and heal the sick, bringing the message "Peace on Earth and Goodwill Toward All Men." Such a new life would have to be born under these conditions. Conditions not 'like' the common people, but in humble conditions below the least of us and providing a warm unifying light for the world.

And that light is not exclusive, because the anticipation of good is the Spirit shared by believers of a multitude of faiths and traditions.

As I turned off the barn lights, and, remembering how I'd forgotten to douse them the last time I left, I said under my breath, "What? Were you born in a barn, Lloyd?"

I grinned as I headed up to the house.

There was home, where my family was sleeping briefly before that sleep which can no longer contain the excitement of Christmas morning. I sauntered to the house satisfied that I knew why a common barn illuminated at night had been so appealing all my life.

Stomping off some snow in the warmth of the old farmhouse kitchen, I took off my jackets, then walked through the house, poking my head in on each of our children. (I found that I often did this to assure myself that these young energy generators actually did sleep.) But opening the doors to their rooms and hearing their soft breathing rhythm was the end of 'Daddy Duty' for the day.

In our room, I sat on my side of the bed. A muffled whisper emerged from my wife. "Everything okay in the barn?"

"No problems - two new kids," I whispered back.

After it sank in through the veil of sleep, she mumbled back, "Oh, an early gift..."

Rolling under the blankets, sighing the last breath of the day, I quietly exhaled - "Yep...Merry Christmas."

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Best to all,

Lloyd