Vacation – a many splendoured thing
by Kathryn
Urick
Published Wednesday July 30, 1986
Kathryn’s Korner - The Daily Tribune
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Today introduces a regular column by Kathryn
Urick, Ames resident. Urick’s column will
deal with issues about and of interest to seniors. It will appear on a monthly basis on the
Senior Scene page)
When I returned recently from a two-week vacation, I wanted
very much to just sit and stare, reliving all those
many splendoured things I had enjoyed with loved ones
in Michigan and Ohio. That’s just what I did – I forgot all about
the crumpled, wrinkled, scroungy clothes that were
still unpacked. I recalled the fun things and smiled again and felt sad at some
sad things. My reverie was
short-lived. I remembered that I had to
write this article – facing a new copy editor seemed scary, especially since I couldn’t think of
anything to put down on paper. Remember
that many of the best authors write about their own experiences, I said, “Ha,
why can’t I?” – so I did.
Too many pages would be needed to describe the entire
vacation, so I’ll start with a sad experience, and get that over with:
- It was
sad to watch people living on waterways in Michigan, where the water is
its HIGHEST IN 100 YEARS. I
wondered how these owners of waterfront properties could stand it. Every day the members of a family would
literally “push water” with their boot-laden feet, to a central pit where
a sump pump sent it through a hose back to the lake, only to have it wash
back over their seawall on their property where all heavy sand bags would
be dislodged again. I thought this
was sad. And there seemed no
practical answer – some declared the engineers at the Great Lakes end were
to blame.
- As a
guest at an Ecumenical Sanctuary celebration in downtown Detroit, I ob
served and listened to many people express their own joy in providing
Sanctuary for a lovely little family from El Salvador. They were celebrating two years’
Sanctuary with Raul, Valeria, Ernesto and Liliana. Professional people
these – Valeria a pediatric nurse.
Raul a teacher of Spanish in a high school in Detroit. Ernesto and Liliana
were their seven – and nine-year olds.
“… there were some who simply said, “Yes,
We will open the door. We will take
in someone and help.”
- As an
Origami Japanese paper folding addict, I tagged along with two other
addicts of the art, my son and his wife.
Climbing to a third floor one hot evening in Ann Arbor, we found
three rooms of people, all eager to learn some new models. A 9 –inch electric fan struggled bravely
to keep us comfortable and was not doing a very good job, but we forgot
our discomfort as we learned to make an interesting Origami model – a
camera – made with colored, shiny, foil paper – with a six-inch square. It even clicks – it really does. No printed instructions forced us to
keep directions in our heads. Even
I DID – and to prove it I’ll teach anyone who wants to learn. A real fun thing for kids.
- A
PEACE group from Ann Arbor, held a meeting in the coffee shop of the freight house
in Ypsilanti, Mich.,
the site of a great farmer’s market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I was present. An old player piano, restored to good
condition, sat along one wall – but there was no time for music, as we
were introduced to the “COVENANT FOR A WORLD FREE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS.”
The aim of the group is to show
“how the threat of nuclear holocaust is connected to our daily lives.” The group is endorsed by other Peace
groups. To name just a few: the Gray
Panthers, Physicians for Social Responsibility, First United Methodist Church,
Ann Arbor, Peach-Study/Action Group and other well documented groups. A booklet and updated pages supplied us with
the names of 30 high powered corporations (all familiar names) who are engaged
in producing component parts for nuclear weapons. Are you shocked to suddenly realize that we,
the consumers , are supporting nuclear arms when we
buy such products as: Nutrasweet, Equal, General
Electric light bulbs, Bostitch staplers, Magnavox
radios, Raytheon ranges and stoves and many, many more.
Elderpersons
can play a part by writing letters to the presidents/executives of these
corporations (I have the names). You may
smile and say what good is one letter.
I, for one, would rather do something and fail than to sit and do nothing
and succeed.
REMEMBER THE NESTLE BOYCOTT?
There are still lots of dragons out
there to slay and I just thought of another brand of light bulbs I can buy.