Our Lady of Paris

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris, better known as Notre Dame, reopened this past weekend following a remarkably fast five year restoration, during a world-wide pandemic which slowed construction, to bring it back to its glory from a destructive fire that ruined the whole roof and collapsed many of the vaults. A magnificent wonder of medieval architecture its construction was started in1163, and completed in 1345, it was one of the most visited structures in the world. It is considered the geographic center of France from which the road system is numbered. But, it is more, as even highly secular France saw the need for its restoration as it symbolizes the country, and a Christian past, more than any other landmark, including the Eiffel Tower. 

Restored Interior
Source:  BBC

This symbolism goes back to the medieval era, when cities and towns vied with each other for cathedrals or basilicas for the greater glory of God and the church. As French author Bernard-Henry Levi wrote at the time of the fire about the Cathedral-- (Notre Dame is) "the France of the Resistance, of Europe, and literature. It's the Gothic holiness and the softness of the Seine. Faith and beauty. Aragon and Hugo. This morning, in the face of the gigantic fire? Hugo said: 'time is the architect but the people are the mason'." The Eiffel Tower lacks the history of Notre Dame in the events it has held over the years. From its significant destruction during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, Napoleon crowning himself, or its bells ringing as it was freed from German occupation, it has seen destruction and restoration over the centuries. While under the control of the French government it is still a religious place of worship, and for its significance, both religious and secular to be recognized in France of today says something of its draw to the population. It is a reminder to us of the power that buildings have in our world.

Front of Notre Dame, Nov 2024
Source: AP

Structures represent ideas and provide a sense of the tangible to concepts that lack physicality, the ability to touch. The attack on the US Capitol on 6 Jan 2021 is not so much about the building being violated by rioters, but rather by the attack on the idea of the three branches of a democratic-republic form of government of the United States set forth in the Constitution. Tangibility is also why people do not wish to see a parish, sometimes in their family for generations, closed. The parish church is representative of the values they hold, or held to their heart. It is a reminder of what were once often key events in a persons life--baptism, confirmation, marriage, and funerals. 

Western Rose Window
Source: AP

Buildings are part of human nature. We make them, we destroy them, we restore some of them. They are part of our being and an expression of our values. Noted geographer Yi-Fu Tuan once wrote that space becomes place when we endow it with value. Buildings become place by the memories they bring forth, by what we treasure from them. As secular as the French, and the west, may be, they still recognize the importance this structure plays as place. Place is embodied in the building, or site, but it is the values that are expressed that create the place. 

Archbishop of Paris Knocking for doors to be opened
Ritual where the Bishop takes hold of the Cathedral

Places do not have to be buildings, but as buildings go, this is a wonder. From its large stain glass windows, made possible at the time by building innovations such as flying buttresses and the rib vault, to the works of art contained within. It original roof was referred to as "The Forest" for each of its over 1,000 beams was from a single oak tree in France (in the 12th century sourced from a then 52 acre woods). Its restoration using oak was remarkable, due to a couple factors. First, an intense study of the roof structure for a university thesis which detailed the structure, followed by laser 3-d imaging. Second, as the forest preservation work of the country of France that allowed straight knot free oak to be once again obtained. Cut down and hued by hand, the forest was restoration followed the same old joinery techniques. Today, the forest was replicated often using similar techniques. One thousand trees for the roof, and another 1,000 for the recreated spire.

Baptismal Font, present time design
Source: AP

For its restoration CNN, writing on Dec 5, found similarity of numbers: "After more than 2,000 days’ work – involving 2,000 people, 2,000 oak trees and 2,000 features restored or rebuilt – the world got its first glimpse of “Our Lady of Paris” last week...." The chief architect for the Cathedral has said he first thought the five year time frame could be met when he saw the decent condition of the windows, and the organ. Interestingly, some new stain glass windows will be installed in 2026, representing images of Pentecost. The new windows, opposed by the Historical Commission, were apparently first suggested by the Archbishop as a manner to reflect the restoration, and that suggestion was accepted by the French President. Some sources say it was President Macron who first suggested some new windows, so I am not sure what is authoritative in the instance.

The fire brought to the fore abilities lost in a time where computers now take the duty of where and how to guide a saw to cut wood. The beams were hewed by hand, and cut by hand. Every stone, every piece of tile was inspected and cleaned. Some stone, marble and tile replaced. A great deal of tuck pointing occurred. Man of the famous gargoyles, which actually date from the 18th century, are new. More than 1,000 works of art were cleaned. Matching and comparable Lutetian limestone had to be found to match the original stone quarried in and around Paris during the original construction. The stone for restoration was sourced from France’s Oise region and cut in Gennevilliers. Barges were used to float the stones down the Seine to near the Cathedral. 

Evening of Dec 7, right before Reopening Ceremony
Source: NBC

Back in 1990 when my wife and I visited the Sistine Chapel a major cleaning and restoration had just been completed of what is perhaps the most famous artwork in the world--Michelangelo's frescoes.  Drawing controversy, including our tour guide, who said it went too far with its bright and vibrant colors, the thought was that bright colors were not possible at the time. The same claim has been made about the cleaning of not only Notre Dame's art, but its stone and tiles. Hundreds of years of candle soot and air pollution darkened the works of art (paintings here, frescoes in the Sistine Chapel) the stone and marble. For some reason, perhaps relating to modern negative views of the medieval era, people seem to think that everything was dark and bleak. But, they did have vibrant colors and the masters used it well. I think our tour guide and those who complain about Notre Dame need to take a deep breath and appreciate what was done hundreds of years past. People complain the whole of Notre Dame is now too clean, gone are the dark tones to which they had become familiar, replaced with a majesty that takes its rightful place for the French. It is once again anticipated to be one of the most visited buildings in the world, as they now anticipate 15 million people a year to visit.

Contrast Apr 2019 to Nov 2024
Source: AP

The Cathedral, owned by the government was falling into a state of disrepair, and it has now been transformed, but beyond that there are some positives first, a thousand works of art buried below the floor have been recovered, a task of digging the floor out would not have occurred without the fire.  No one has explained how they got there, perhaps it was during the reign of terror. Second, the fire has allowed, with the restoration new smoke and fire detectors and some suppression systems to be put in place, particularly in its new forest. Third, it has seen a revival of old masonry, woodworking, stain glass and other crafts, yet bonding old with the new.

Ceiling
Source: Notre Dame de Paris

The restoration is not inexpensive, I have seen varied cost estimates from $737 million to near $1 billion. The funds have been privately sourced from people the world over. But, lets put cost into perspective: the football stadium in Los Angles for the Rams and Chargers, completed a few years ago, cost over $5 billion. Granted, this is not as large, and is not a fully new structure, but, on the other hand, it is 860 years old. I doubt So-Fi stadium will last even 75 years. Every stone, every joint had to be cleaned and inspected, and if doubtful replaced. The new religion of the United States is sports, as can be seen by the value to construct new sport stadiums; remember space becomes place due to our values. Then there is the destructiveness of war.  Conflicts go against the beauty and majesty of Notre Dame and what it has represented for most of its 860 years than war. The United States has contributed, depending upon source, over $89 billion to $183 billion to Ukraine for its war with Russia. This does not include money from other countries, mostly in Europe, to Ukraine. As of March 2024, Western Countries have pledged over $380 billion, mainly military aid, to Ukraine. As for Notre Dame, people from over 150 countries have donated 846 million Euros to its restoration.

Ukraine War, US contributions
Source: Ukraine Oversight

Is the cost of preserving a United Nations World Heritage site worth it? I would have to say yes. The world would be a different place without Notre Dame, after all it drew 12 million visitors a year before the fire. People are attracted to see that building. France would lose part of its tie to a historical past that helped frame the country, if it were gone. If the US Capitol, or the state capitol were damaged by fire, I like to think they would be restored. If hundreds of billions of dollars can be spent on destruction and mayhem of war, is a billion so bad for a building that represents a nation's soul? France watched as the bells were put back in the north tower. People awed at the use of the largest crane in Europe placing the new spire, reconstructed like the one built in the 1800's, put back in place. The sad emotions expressed at seeing the fire in April 2019 is now replaced with admiration at what masons, woodworkers, architects, artisans, and other contractors have been able to undertake in such a short span of time. The original builders would look in wonder at the new construction methods, cranes over windlasses, computers over rulers and triangles. The original construction was a mark of human achievement, to be undertaken, and rebuild a knowledge base of the original methods is also a marked achievement. I have to think the original workers would be pleased to see Our Lady of Paris smiling once again. The smile of Our Lady produces a light within a world darkened by war. Such glorious structures mark a measure of human achievement and like Our Lady, we all can do with some good news.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

Nov 15, 2024 Our Lady of Paris Statue being returned 
to the Cathedral, as 1,000's joined and watched.
Spared by the fire, even though surrounded by rubble.
Source: NBC

Turkey Day

We are now almost a week beyond Thanksgiving, that uniquely American day which now involves football more than gathering with family and friends. Even though the NFL has co-opted Thanksgiving and other holidays, does not mean the lack of turkey to eat. I was in charge of cooking the turkey this year, and my wife encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone and cook it the way our neighbors do. For some reason, I found myself out of my comfort zone a few times this past holiday weekend.

Turkey is the main staple of Thanksgiving, and it is a big business, such that almost $1 billion is spent on turkeys for Thanksgiving. That amount makes a great deal of sense when one considers that 88% of the US population will consume turkey on Thanksgiving. My wife's sister and her husband and their family are one of the 12% as they had smoked ribs for the feast. If they are concerned about tryptophan putting them to sleep, turkey gets a bad rap as many other foods have higher levels including some seeds. I have to realize that not everybody likes turkey as much as I do. 

Sleep factor
Source: WI State Journal

Minnesota is the top turkey producing state in the nation, hence when the bird flu strikes it can decimate a population and rapidly spread. What I find interesting is that of the top eight turkey producing states four are in a north-south line generally west of the Mississippi River (the river starts in central MN, but I will consider it west for the most part). These  four states are Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas. I am not sure what factor led to this, but it is not likely climate or geography since climate is more similar by latitude than longitude. It could be the spread of turkey innovation. I am surprised that Illinois is not a greater turkey producing state, since the Bear's organization seems to hire them on a regular basis. 

Topo turkey producing states
Source: WI State Journal

What was not regular was the way I cooked the turkey. For all of my previous turkey cooking years, which is many, I cook it at 325 degrees (f) and regularly baste the turkey. My plan was to start cooking it in our oven, and later in the morning haul it to Sun Prairie in our Nesco roaster, where dinner was being held, to complete the cooking of the big bird. In place of cooking at 325, the plan changed at the urging of my wife. I first cooked it at 500, for about 25 or 30 minutes, and then turned the heat down to 350. Our neighbors recipe also calls for the use of a turkey triangle, to cover the breast, but leave the legs, thighs and wings exposed. It was not unusual for me at 325 to let the turkey brown and then cover it. Starting the turkey at the time of a 325 oven, was part of the plan since I did not know how long the Nesco roaster, which I pre-heated would hold its heat. I covered it with a towel and blanket to retain the warmth on the half hour dive to Sun Prairie. I think it took less than twenty minutes to get back up to the 350. Not knowing how much it would cool down, or take to get back up, I kept my timing, even with the new recipe at 325. In the end, the turkey completed cooking faster than the time dinner was planned, so I turned it down to warm and it actually stayed it was moist for dinner, which is a good thing. My wife complained about the left overs we ate on Tuesday night as being too dry. Perhaps sitting in the fridge for five days affected its moisture level.

Thanksgiving was the first of two turkeys we had that weekend. We were invited to Golden Valley, MN, the main turkey producing state in the nation, for the weekend. We departed Friday and came home Sunday. Friday, my son had smoked a turkey in the cold 10 degree weather, and then warmed it up in the oven the next day. It was really quite good. I do not recall ever having had smoked turkey before. 

Thanksgiving Day facts
Source: WI State Journal

I have never been to a fancy Thai restaurant before(, but we treated our son and his wife on Friday for his Dec 4 birthday) at a restaurant of his choosing, and he chose Latitude 14 in Golden Valley. It was quite good, and I went out of my comfort zone and ordered food which had ingredients I never heard of, it was a pad Thai. I also, went out of my comfort zone and added fried tofu. Then there was eating cranberry sauce my youngest son had made with some type of home-grown Scotch pepper. I hardly ever eat cranberries and hot food makes trouble with my digestive system, but this was quite good and not too hot. It had just the right spice level for me, which may be too little for other palates. 

The oddest thing was a soft drink my son's boss at Best Buy had given him--a Jones soft drink that was to mimic turkey gravy. Those of us who have had to prep for a colonoscopy, agreed with the first commentor that it was like the colonoscopy prep drink commonly used, and to which you add Crystal light lemon flavor. 

This Thanksgiving was adventurous for me, at least in terms of food. After a pleasant time in Minneapolis, the cold weather put a damper on outdoor activity, which I am limited by bad feet anyway. Coming home was pretty uneventful, except for the 15 mile long backup just beyond the Hwy 12 exit at the Dells. The backup did not show up on our car or my wife's phone GPS before we got stuck in it. It turns out it was caused by an Asian brand vehicle traveling about 45 or 50 with a small young woman leaning forward, both hands tight on the steering wheel at 10 and 2, as if she was scared to death of driving. I have to think she was out of her comfort zone more than I. The backup was long and slow. I kind of get it, a woman that appeared out of her comfort zone in heavy traffic and made the traffic much much worse by going so slow. I do understand that someone may not wish to push their Korean nameplate car too much, especially in cold weather, knowing how little tribulations they can take, but 45 or 50 caused a significant back up, such the person would have been better off taking back roads. Years ago I saw simulations, by WISDOT, of what a slow vehicle can do to cause a traffic back up and this was a fit to that simulation. 

For some reason I do not get as nervous driving in Minneapolis/St Paul as I do down to Chicago. Driving to Chicago reminds me of the line in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, when the Sean Connery character says to his son Indy, "My boy, we are pilgrims in an unholy land." I suppose it is the never ending traffic, or maybe the signs when I was younger of the Mayor's photo plastered all over the place.

Photo of former Chicago Mayor Richard Daily
"The Boss". Obtained for me in 1975 by my deceased 
Aunt and Uncle, Jeannie and Leo Sweeney

Turkey day began with me being out of my comfort zone in cooking and ended with a driver out of her comfort zone in I-90/94. I am still alive to live another day. To top it off, I only watched one half of a football game, preferring being with others than watching the Lions-Bears, or Cowboys game. Who would have thought that I would get out of my comfort realm on turkey day?

The Night

It was early in the morning, I am not sure what time, because I did not want to look at my watch, that lights up like ET. Nor did I want to try and read the bedside clock. I realized my breathing, due to congestion, was not soundless, but I did not think it was too loud. My wife thought otherwise. She got up to leave the bedroom and go downstairs. This is a story of what she does at night.

The next morning as I woke up tired from her leaving the bed. She disrupted the nice cocoon of hot air around my body, which made it difficult to fall back to sleep. She went downstairs, and it turns out she was wide awake. The next morning she simply stated I was snoring too much. I will admit I am not as quiet a breather as she is, in part due to cartilage that was removed from nose surgery years after I suffered a few broken noses playing football. I did not get the surgery until I was married, because, well, my breathing kept my wife awake. Apparently, it still does. She has, however, been a light sleeper. I would get home late from Tuesday meetings, often early Wednesday morning and she would have woken up with the garage door being opened, or the door from the garage to the house. I am sure it was not my clodhopper feet which have gotten almost a size bigger since I retired. I realize that my loss of height is going to my feet.

But, this is not about changes in the physical body. While awake she made mental notes of what she would have to do the next day. My takeaway is that my breathing assisted her in her chores for the next day, providing an ability to make mental notes of what she would have to do.  Being a Land Girl, she got right to the tasks that morning. They were probably all finished within a half hour.  I like to think I made her more productive and I should probably be thanked for having woken her up with what she defines as snoring. I think I was in twilight zone, and the snoring was just some heavy breathing.  

One time when she was pregnant, so many years ago, and could not sleep, her nesting instinct kicked in and she made many jars of apple pie filling. I guess this shows I am a sound sleeper because I did not hear anything. She also has tendency to hear weird noises in the walls or in the fire place. I tend to think it is an animal or two on the roof. Although, I do have to admit some noises sound awfully close. I did see a mouse coming out of a corner piece of siding years ago, and since then have placed stainless steel wool in the bottom of the corner pieces. At times, she complains about noises in the chimney and I have even gone outside to examine, and the next day up on the roof to check the flu for the chimney, only of course to notice everything is intact. 

She can be rather funny when going to sleep. At one point she is covered up and twenty minutes later maybe the sheet is left as a cover. She pushes the covers off, then will complain that I pulled them all to my side, when I insist she pushed them on to me, and I pushed them further off. She produces much more heat than I do at night, and perhaps that is one reason why I could not get back to sleep. Not only did she disturb my cocoon of heat, but my furnace went away. All I have to do, is just lift the covers from between us to allow her body heat to flow over. She is that way when walking. A few times in the past few weeks she would get back from her walk and talk about how nice it is outside, only for me to then go biking, and wonder how biking in cold and damp 25+ mph wind is nice. Tuesday was a good example, it was 23 degrees with a windchill of eight above, and she talked about how nice it was on her walk with the neighbor ladies, except, she said, in Lewis Park by Lower Mud Lake. I decided to bike indoors.

What is cold to one is not cold to another, and of course biking at over 12 mph and closer to 15 mph, on average, has a much different effect on the body than a walk at four or five mph. Even though we are not moving in bed, I toss and turn much more than she does, she is the one who gets too hot. I think her body just produces too much heat, in other words, I have a hot wife. One never knows what occurs with my wife at night. Downstairs making lists, making pie filling, getting upset over animal noises she says she hears on the walls. The night is simply a different time. We now have much longer nights as we approach the winter solstice and I wait her next night time finding.

Cleaning the Carcass

It was large as a purchased and dressed full chickens go, half again as large as the four pounders one finds in a standard grocery store. Purchased at an outlet of UW Provisions in Sun Prairie, the good-sized chicken was cooked up by my wife last week Friday. The chicken was tasty and, with just two of us, provided a good amount of left overs for the coming week. Yet, at six pounds, my wife was apparently concerned that too much would be eaten which would cut into the leftovers, here is that story.

We were cleaning up the kitchen after the delicious meal using that large six pound chicken. I usually put away the food, while my better half loads the dishwasher. I was innocently putting away the meat that had been cut off the chicken, and grabbing a bit here and there to eat while putting it into a container, and getting ready to cut the remainder of the meat off the bones. I usually do the cutting off the bones. This time, however, the wife saw me eating a few small hunks of previously cut meat, and commented to the effect that the way I put food away there will be not much left for a meal or so. To add insult to injury, she then added she would cut the meat off the bones. Who am I to argue, so I let her do that while I put away the remainder of the food. 

Chicken Carcass, Google images

I am not sure why she all of a sudden became concerned, because it is not like I have not picked out a few juicy, small pieces of meat to eat when cutting off meat or putting it away on other chickens or turkeys. At six pounds, I think a few more small hunks of meat was not going to make the difference between a third or fourth meal from the large chicken. 

As of this writing we have had three meals from this scrumptious chicken, with one serving remaining. Yet, there will be more to come in the future. After taking the meat off the rest of the chicken she cooked the carcass. My hyperactive wife, rather than putting the denuded carcass in the fridge, decided to cook it down that night to obtain broth, which she froze, in order to have for soup in the future. She makes excellent soup from a chicken or turkey carcass, and next week, with Thanksgiving we will have a second carcass she can cook down. There are few comfort foods as effective as chicken (or turkey) and dumpling soup on a cold dreary winter day. I realized, that as much as I make fun of her hyperactivity, I am a beneficiary. I don't think many people cook down carcasses much anymore. She is a Land Girl through and through. If she was a bird, she would be a hummingbird, never able to sit still. I am surprised I have not gotten dizzy watching her move around the house in a strong purposeful manner, always tending to something. 

When the turkey is cooked and the Thanksgiving meal eaten, I suppose I will attempt to clean off the turkey carcass, and in the process perhaps gobble a few errant chunks of meat. Her recent comment, makes me think I have to be clandestine eating the errant chunks when I clean off the turkey. Clandestine is not my strong suit as I am sure I am more Maxwell Smart than James Bond. It is challenging enough with a woman who senses and seemingly sees everything. I am sure she has eyes in the back of her head. I always wondered with those back of the head eyes, how she could see through thick red hair. I have yet to figure that out. My trials of cleaning the carcass, and perhaps snacking on a few errant chunks of meat, will continue, unless otherwise instructed.

Dog Sh#% Tree

Several years ago, when I could still take my long walks, I had noticed a dog sh#% odor while I walked along Exchange Street, a few houses south of Farwell.  At first I thought there was a good amount of doggy do around, but after a few daily walks, I realized it was a Gingko tree on a lot. While the tree is a nice yellow color, its odor in the fall is horrendous, and to say it smells like one stepped in dog sh#% is putting it mildly.  Since I had to stop walking due to feet problems almost four years ago, I had avoided the dog sh#% smell of that tree. That is, until this year.

The Big dog sh#% tree on Exchange Street

This year, I started swimming a few days a week. I usually bike to swimming, and the road to the pool, takes me by that Gingko tree. Fortunately, on a bike, I do not have to put up with the putrid smell for as long as I had when I walked. Several years ago, I tied the strong odor to the leaves, which never seem to be picked up by the homeowner until late in the season, if at all. I thought it was rotting leaves. This year I looked up what produces the smell and it is actually an odor produced by a covering on the female tree seed pod, and the smell comes out following the first frost. So it is tied, in a sense, to leaf change and drop. The frost triggered odor is not pleasant. One website says it to be similar to rancid butter or animal excrement. Another source compares the odor to vomit. Well, sometimes the odor is so strong it does want to make me vomit. 

I can see myself peddling along the road, on the new laid (two month old asphalt) and discoloring it with vomit spread along the white gutter and curb as the rancid, dog sh#% smell just was too strong for my overly sensitive olfactory sense, and caused a negative reaction. 

Gingko Leaves on Exchange St Sidewalk

Yet, even with this horrible smell, Gingko trees are recommended for a street tree due to their ability to withstand certain conditions and their brilliant yellow fall color. As a Purdue University website says: "Ginkgo trees are valuable street trees because of their low susceptibility to smoke, drought, or low temperatures. These trees grow slowly and perform relatively well in most soil types provided they are well-drained. The leaves turn a vibrant​ yellow during autumn but drop soon after its brilliant fall color is observed." The problem is that as a young tree one cannot tell the difference between a male and a female Gingko. Luckily, today one can select a cultivar that is a male only tree. 

While the seed produces this strong pungent odor, the seed kernel is highly valued in parts of Asia as a food source. Further, some Gingko extracts are said to help improve short-term memory and concentration. The problem is, according to Purdue, when those seeds fall, the odor will last two months. Hence, that terrible smell is around for longer than it should be.

One of a series of Gingko Trees
at the local library.

The first time I came across the odor I looked at the ground wondering if a pile of dog sh#% was nearby. I then looked back, and wondered if by chance I had stepped in some. Some people are not good at picking up their doggie doo. The doggie doo piles are more prevalent in the spring with the snow melt as lazy dog owners avoid picking up their dog's sh#% in snow. Given the prevalence of the odor on subsequent walks, I related it to the leaf change. I guess I never got close enough to see if there was any fruit on the tree; and why would I? Purdue University has several Gingko trees on its campus, many of them female, and recommends students avoid stepping on the fruit as the odor will follow them to class being on the bottom of the shoe. I don't recall, but maybe there were some Gingko leaves, with fruit underneath that I could not see, and had the unfortunate situation of stepping on some seeds which would allow the smell to come along. 

One never knows what will produce a strong odor in nature. Here it is a female seed pod. Hopefully, the people who walk the smell makes dog walkers think they do not have to pick up their dogs doo, since they may think a good amount of other doo is around. In one of the Mighty Duck movies, a prank is pulled on some thieves by filling an old lady's purse with doggy doo, and the putting a few dollars sticking out of it and placing it in the crosswalk, as a not so pleasant find for the person who desires a few dollars. In McFarland it is not doggy doo, or a purse filled with it, it is just a Gingko tree whose pods smell like dog sh#%.

Rent-a-Priest

In the fall of 2019 the US Bishops began their ad limina visits to the Vatican. The Amazon synod had just concluded, and their was much angst by leaders of the US Bishops in regard to two recommendations of that synod gathering. The two issues were, quoting from the National Catholic Register: "calls for the ordination of married men as priests and for women to be considered for diaconal ordination." Parts of the Amazon go over a year to be visited by a priest. Hence, the region felt, and I suspect continues to feel, that more needs to be done to allow the sacraments to the disenfranchised members in far flung regions of the earth. The US church has more capabilities, which many a diocese in the developing countries lack, so in the US the priest shortage has been mitigated by foreign priests, what I refer to as rent-a-priest. However, the effectiveness of the rent-a-priest program is now challenged by US immigration rules.

Amazon Synod, Opening Mass, 9 Oct 2019

Some foreign born priests are very good. Others are difficult to understand, and some tend way too traditional going against Vatican II. We have a priest from India serving the St Cletus pastorate after Fr Kelley was moved to a different pastorate in Southwest Wisconsin. This foreign priest's English is understandable to me, and he says a good mass and has a good homilies. He was in the US for several years serving in far Southwest Wisconsin, left to go back to India for a few years and then came back to the US about two years ago. I often prefer the priests from India, even difficult to understand, to the young radical traditional priests who do not know how to give a somewhat decent homily (much less a good homily), and with their method of saying mass making it about them and not God, but that is another story. The foreign priests I have heard say mass usually say it in the way that we had become accustomed until the young rad trads showed up, bent on destroying parishes. Foreign priests, however, require special immigration documents. The visa issue is not new, an internet search turned up articles well over a year old.

The R-1 Visa program many are under allows them to be in the US for five years and then apply for permanent status or go home. The problem according to the Milwaukee and Madison dioceses is an interpretation made by the Biden Administration last year. For the news reports see the Channel 3000 news report for the Madison Diocese here, and for the Milwaukee Archdiocese a WTMJ news report here. Quoting from the Channel 3000 news report:

The problem according to the Diocese of Madison is that priests applying for permanent status are being met with a backlog after the Biden administration removed a special categorization for immigrants applying from central American countries. This action has placed everyone else's wait times in the same boat as those countries applications, putting wait times for everyone else close to 14 years, according to Bishop Donald Hying.

WTMJ reported a five year plus time frame to obtain the EB-4 visa: 

As a result, the employment-based, fourth preference (EB-4) visa that used to take one year to receive now could take more than five years to get. According to the State Department, the EB-4 is not just issued to religious workers, but also to special immigrant juveniles, certain U.S. government employees, certain international organization retirees, and certain international broadcasting employees, among others.

Archbishop Listecki, per WTMJ,  has sent a letter to congressional representatives asking for their assistance in which he noted: “We urgently seek your help addressing these issues, not only for the sake of religious workers and their employers, but for the many American communities that rely upon them for a wide range of religious and social services,”  He was also more blunt, with WTMJ saying and quoting him: 

"The ministry of the remaining parish priests will be stretched thinner,” said Archbishop Listecki. “This flies in the face of Congress’s intent when creating the Religious Worker Visa Program: to ensure religious organizations in the United States have access to needed workers to carry out their wide-ranging religious and charitable activities, consistent with the First Amendment and the freedom of religion." (Bold by author)

According to the Channel 3000 news report, the Madison Diocese has about 30% of its priests as foreign, and those foreign born priests affect about 60% of the parishes. The St Cletus pastorate, with one priest from India, has five different parishes, and due to the rotation of saying mass at each parish, his presence affects five parishes. The realignment Bishop Hying undertook, by creating pastorates, was to attend to the shortage of priests, but now all of a sudden the diocese is once again concerned.  A sad reality, that I have noticed, is that foreign born priests are given the assignments which require a good deal of travel, and have to handle many small parishes. One example, in 2017, while camping at Day Lake near the unincorporated hamlet of Clam Lake, we went to mass at a small, beautiful little log church near Clam Lake. The priest from India was hard to understand, but he was kind enough to print out his homily so we, and the 12 or so others, could read along. I recall seeing that he had to say at mass at four parishes, one mass at each, spread up to more than an hour apart. I recall his secretary saying they he had to travel over one hour to at least two of the parishes. I don't think Clam Lake is affiliated with that grouping any more, and the Diocese of Superior website does not even have a link for its location, as it does other churches. Who knows if it is even open. Can you imagine traveling over an hour and back, on the icy back roads of northern Wisconsin to get to a rural out of the way small church? Although, it is probably better than travel in the Amazon. 

The US Catholic Church's reliance on foreign priests is now challenged by the change in the US visa program, which raises the question of whether rent-a-priest is a sustainable program.  A US diocese may pay the foreign country diocese, which those small impoverished dioceses like as  revenue source. Nigeria has many priests, some of which make their way to the US. The Madison Diocese has mainly priests from India and some very conservative traditional priests from Spain. (The Spanish priests seem to wish to fate of Spain, as a once Catholic country, onto the US as they have been successful at destroying some parishes; you can read about one parish experience here.) Many US bishops, rather smug at those 2019 ad limina visits, did not wish to see anything that could affect the single all-male clergy and the privileged clerical status they enjoy. Hence, their concern with the two proposals by the Amazon Synod. The US hierarchy cared little of the situation in the Amazon or elsewhere. If you do not think clericalism is a problem one needs only to come to the Madison area and see the young priests in their soutanes, little birettas, and other clerical garb that is common place, and marching and acting like they are king of the hill. They keep to their own little groups living in an alternate reality. 

The whole idea of foreign priests to the US raises a few issues. First, it deprives the host nation of clergy. While some of the host countries seminaries are full, that does not mean they have an excess number of clergy per 1,000 population since they baptize more children and have more adult converts. From a numbers standpoint, such host nations have fewer priests per 1,000 population than does the US.  Second, it is pure and simple unequitable and unjust. Pope Francis preaches about a poor church for the poor, but he has done nothing to assist the poor in the Amazon with their faith journeys. What would people in the US say if they had to wait more than a year for a mass, and the now even rarer baptism or wedding? Wealthy countries on the other hand can rent-a-priest to see that the shortage of clerics is mitigated and mass and the sacraments are more readily to available to many in the US more than once a year. If the host diocese does not get money, the priest usually sends a portion of his more substantial US salary back to the home diocese. 

Archbishop Listecki makes the case that the foreign priests are required to "carry out their wide ranging religious and charitable activities." It seems a rather broad statement, and I would suggest that the ordained are not required for all the duties encompassed in his statement. If priests are so important to the religious and charitable activities, should not more sustainable clerical solutions be implemented? Should a smug US hierarchy now embrace what was recommended by the Amazon synod?  The situation highlighted by Archbishop Listecki on the need of priests to carry out religious and charitable activities shows how dependent the US and world-wide Church has become on a single all-male clergy. This also shows the need for dioceses, and the Vatican, to think of new ways of being Church if they are going to continue to rely on the single all-male priesthood. For over fifty years people have been praying for more priests, and perhaps the Holy Spirit has given options, to which the all-male clergy and hierarchy does not wish to hear. 

In a generation or so the US the priest shortage may not be a problem. Few young families are in church. Mass attendance is mostly populated by older persons. Attending mass, I feel as if I am the youngest 10% of those gathered. If this trend continues, this will lead to parish closures and consolidations making the remaining faithful drive further and further to find a mass or obtain a sacrament, or likely just leave and go to a nearby Protestant church. Hey, but in a developed country at least we have paved roads. In Tanzania it took over an hour to travel 12 miles on a rutted dirt road to get from Old Maswa parish to St Peter's parish in Nkololo. The parish priest at St Peter's travels by motorcycle to his outlying parishes where he has often to spend the night.

In his Into the Deep project, Bishop Hying noted a few main reasons for establishment of pastorates. Reduce the workload on priests, spending too much on buildings and infrastructure, get 50% of the masses at 50% or more capacity. They have cut masses by almost a quarter, but so far nothing has been done on parish closures or building consolidation.

The Catholic Church has more issues than decline in mass attendance. It has a major issue in people leaving the church (an 18% decrease in affiliation from 1998 to 2018), a mass that fails to meet spiritual needs (78% of people who move an evangelical church said this was the main reason), it has problems with transparency and trust due to the abuse crises (which took away any moral authority the institution had left), it has issues with the number of nuns and priests, and it has issues with relevance in a changing world. It needs to break out of its old methods and ways of doing things to become more creative in personnel and in empowering the laity. 

The rent-a-priest program is now seen as challenging to many dioceses, due to immigration laws. Time will tell if the US will continue on its preferred path of clericalism or embrace ideas as expressed by the Amazon synod. The US Bishops response is to blame the government for the rule interpretation rather than to think of creative ways to address the issue. They may just wish to wait the situation out, as in a generation the shortage in the church may well be of laity and not priests. Who knows, perhaps US priests will be part of rent-a-priest program going to Africa or East Asia in a generation or two. 

Along the River

It is one of the greatest rivers in the world, traveling over 2,320 miles from its source at Lake Itasca in Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans. It is referred to the Mighty Mississippi and that nickname is due to its hard working nature with dams and levees that keep goods flowing up and downstream. Its tributaries are also hard working, one example being the Wisconsin River. The Wisconsin River meets the Mississippi at Prairie du Chien, WI, most notably at Wyalusing State Park which offers grand vistas, from the top of its wooded bluffs, of both rivers. This is the story of a overnight trip to Iowa on a small section along the river (about 57 river miles, from Effigy Mounds to Dubuque). 

Dubuque, IA National Mississippi Museum and Aquarium

Rivers have helped form the United States more than any other nation on earth. Two features account for this. First, is the United States has more navigable waters than any other country, and a good part of that is due to orientation of our rivers--our nation's physical geography. While the Mississippi flows north to south, many of its tributaries are generally perpendicular, although many with an angle north.  The simple breadth of the Mississippi watershed from western New York to eastern Montana shows how critical water pathways were to the second reason-- travel and development. Canals in the east often connected rivers. Much of the nation's first cities in the interior were on waterways, as it was the easiest form of travel for the early part of the life of the country. For example, Prairie du Chien can be dated back to as far as 17 June 1673 when Marquette and Joliet came down the Wisconsin River and entered the Mississippi, essentially setting the stage for it to be a trading post. Madison, WI, by contrast was founded in 1836. Water travel was an easy method of transportation and hence many cities built up along the shores. (The problem is there are so many backwaters on the river you really need to know what channel you are in.) Even Dubuque IA was first permanently occupied by a European in 1785. Bands of Native Americans lived and worked along the river establishing part time communities as they roamed sourcing food. 

Tug boat used by a sand and gravel company to
push barges. Oct 20. A family and hired hands lived on the boat
National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium 

The Effigy Mound National monument, about five or six miles north of Marquette, IA, is a testament to Native American heritage in this important location. Water, trees, game, and minerals (lead) provided the required sustenance for food and housing. Sadly, as many effigy mounds that are preserved, it is thought many more have been lost. The mound construction at the Effigy Mound National Monument was accomplished by about twenty culturally related Indian tribes with mounds dating back 1400 to 750 years ago. The most prevalent shape is conical, but there are also good numbers of animal shapes, some over 400 feet in length. We did a hike to the top of a bluff overlooking the Mississippi to see several burial mounds. The mounds are thought by many archaeologists to have been choice hunting and gathering territory, although evidence is sparse making this mostly conjecture. Some mounds, however, are closer to river level, the Sny-Cagill mound group being one example. The Mississippi, due to both changes in precipitation and man-made alterations, sees an increase in water threatening some of the lower elevation mounds.                

Effigy Mounds Oct 21
Effigy Mounds National Monument

Towns along the river, are subject to flooding too. Regardless, some have developed an almost mythical quality, enhanced by writers, such as Mark Twain. While much has been written about the Great River, even more has occurred on its waters and along its shores. The lore of the towns is told in its remaining infrastructure. Dubuque has massive old red brick buildings in its downtown, not far from the river, with beautiful old brick warehouses nearby. It is a testament to better economic times now past. A few old buildings have been repurposed, some into the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. From old boats, to river aquatic life, from old machines that made the engines to ocean life, it is a great place to visit and learn. Each building has a story to tell of what came before and what has since occurred. Sprawl and big boxes often negatively affect such downtowns and it is rare to find some still thriving. 

View of the Mississippi River, looking upstream Oct 21

As we passed through McGregor, IA to the Effigy Mound National Monument, my mind swept into a time to about 140 years ago when my great grandfather Martin Hovel would make the trip from Manly, IA to McGregor with a wagon full of wheat he and his wife had harvested. I suppose the wheat made a journey to a processing mill. Unlike Spillville, IA which had a few processing mills at the time, Manly has a rather level topography and thus lacks the streams to produce a good mill, and likely informed his travel of over 116 miles (present day quickest route; his journey at say 5 mph is a 24 hour journey, which required a week of travel). He may have been sending his wheat to a distant city by boat for sale. Yet, McGregor's downtown faced the river, with one side somewhat empty or a few old manufacturing or warehouses, and the other side still populated with the old downtown appearance of two or three story buildings up to the street edge with offices, shops and eateries. We don't do development in such compact forms anymore. While this method of development is infrequent today, there is an irony in how people tend to like the experience found in a traditional downtown, where meaning and walkability reigns over dispersion in an auto-centric development. Commercials for politicians or adverts for towns do not focus on the strip mall or the big boxes, but on a historic downtown. 

Inn we stayed at, Guttenberg, IA
It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
One would have thought they could have tried a siding color 
to match the limestone for the upper addition

The compact nature of many towns along the river was formed by both transportation (ie walking) and geography. Guttenberg, IA, where we spent the night, is a nice old small town of 1800 persons. Yet, it is fairly narrow, but it is long as it stretches in the flatter land between the river and the bluff which rises to its west, likely flat land that was formed by flooding of the river over many centuries. Like McGregor, it has a nice downtown. We stayed at an old button factory, which stamped buttons out of mollusks harvested from the river. The variety they punched and created was quite amazing. The building, was constructed out of locally quarried sandstone. A few other downtown buildings are out of sandstone, most, however, are out of red brick. The picturesque nature of the small towns is a testament to an age when development type mattered to meet the needs of individuals and families in a compact, walkable nature. Guttenberg's age is told in the buildings along the river. A small dingy restaurant, called the Fish Shack is appropriately named. Access is by creaking wood, unlevel stairs down to the river edge where the old fish shanty sits right on the bank with water right outside. I can imagine this as an old stopping point or a small fish market where fish were brought in and sold in the wooden structure that made up the shack. While we did not eat there, the food is highly ranked. There were four places to eat within two blocks north of where we stayed. 

View from Effigy Mounds National Monument

Guttenberg appears almost nondescript as you travel on Hwy 52 along its western edge, where it sees today's cultural influences by having a marina and even a Kwik Star. They have a small brewery at the edge of downtown, in a site with a new constructed building, showing that the craft beer craze is even in IA. A couple blocks east of the brewery is the river, and this area forms Guttenberg's downtown, and its older section with an old Catholic Church, rectory, school and parish hall. Yet, there is evidence along 52 of an older city, such as a small restaurant in a white wood frame building, Rausch's cafe. The cafe, as my wife said, takes one back to a Norman Rockwell age. Its small counter was populated by elderly and a few middle aged persons. If you wanted coffee you served yourself. If you wanted the restrooms you had to walk outside to the backside of the building and hope it was unlocked. The grill and cooking station was visible from the counter. Rausch's claim to fame, which is memorialized on a bronze colored plaque on one of their chairs which I could see a table over from where we sat, was having played host to President Obama in August 2016. Small town America is present in Guttenberg, which I am sure is why Obama ate there. How better to indicate yourself as a man of the people than a small town in Iowa? 

Above: View of downtown Guttenberg, looking to river,
the downtown also stretches north and south on a couple streets
Below: lunch counter at Rausch's Diner (courtesy of Toni) Oct 21
A real life Norman Rockwell type of scene

As we travelled the ridgetop of parts of Hwy 52 to Guttenberg, we both found an understated beauty in the rural landscape. Farmland of corn or harvested corn stalks contrasted with the green alfalfa in the contour cropping which draped down the hillsides, while the color of the hard wood trees provided an accent. All fit together in an Iowa version of an American quilt. As with Winneshiek County, there was little in the way of exurban sprawl as one finds in Dane County, or Waukesha County. This part of Iowa, like Winneshiek is part of the driftless area, better known in Wisconsin than in eastern Iowa. Bypassed by the Pleistocene glacier, it provides deep valleys where streams have cut away the limestone and sandstone bedrock layers. 

North of Dubuque on Hwy 52, Oct 20

The unique physical geography creates a stunning visual backdrop to the river. The bluffs and ridges stand as a backdrop to the cultural geography of farms, small villages, and transportation structure to a time long past in a whirlwind America we find today. The physical geography also shaped and formed the cultural geography. The hamlets, small villages and cities have a skyline dominated by a church spire or two, perhaps joined by a grain elevator. Most communities we find today now lack a Rausch's cafe, with those being replaced by a Culver's or other fast food joint. As we outsourced production overseas, so to has the nation moved its retail to indistinct big boxes at the periphery of a city dominated not just by massive parking lots, but also by a Menard's green, a Walmart blue, or a Kohl's brown. Some of these retail manifestations now face their own difficulties as monster Amazon warehouses spread in strategic locations across the nation as online shopping dominates. It is heartening to know that we can find an America many of us baby boomers grew up within these small hamlets, villages and small cities of areas like rural Iowa. A nostalgia envelopes, reported by writers such as Mark Twain, but still present today as we visited sites and scenes along the river.

View of Ridge near Guttenberg, Oct 20 

South of Guttenberg, Oct 20

Sunrise over the Mississippi, Oct 21

Photos by author, unless otherwise noted

Bugs and Critters

We have all seen damage done by certain bugs and critters. We see it in gardens, homes and vehicles. There are common bugs, like ants, some do not do much damage, others do. On the other end of the spectrum there are small mammals, like mice, rats, and even chipmunks. Then there are large mammals like deer. I tilled my garden and overseeded the soil with annual rye grass, but it appears as a miniature battle ground with craters all though out, likely, I believe, a testament to squirrels and perhaps some others looking for or burying food. 

Collards which have been eaten

Food is the main reason for the damage, either burying it like squirrel, or sourcing it. A few years ago when we were camping in our small RV, my wife said she heard a gnawing sound when we were in bed. I never heard the sound, and thought it much like the mysterious "noise in the chimney" that she says she hears. The following year, when camping we were trying to use the propane to heat water to shower, and we kept getting a red heat warning. It was in the nineties, so I waited for the warmer part of the day to take a shower, as the water warmed to near air temperature. After the trip, a close inspection showed that part of the outer rubber propane line had been eaten. It was not all the way through, but just enough of the outer rubber layer to set off the warning due to change in pressure. The dealer said ground squirrels, chipmunks, like the propane odor. We covered the line with a copper mesh and covered some of the electric wires with plastic conduit. We also take fox urine granules with us, but at another campground, after spreading them around the base of the camper, we noticed chipmunks running around the bottom frame like a race track. A neighbor had mice damage to the wiring in his year old vehicle. 

Deer eaten Hosta

But it is also garden produce that is affected. We had an infestation of cabbage worms on our collards, although they did not affect the kale as much, that I kept under control for part of the year, by use of a natural organic control method, but in the fall, many leaves were just plain stripped and skeletonized. Stink bugs may also have contributed. I have planted gardens and have had ground hogs shred off Brussel sprouts, turkeys dig up melon and squash plants, only then to eat the seeds I planted. The turkeys even took row covers off. This shows, that damage is not limited to small critters. I have to say, however, the small caterpillars/bugs got the better of me in the fall. 

Small creatures cause their share of the problems too. There is the now infamous infestation of mice at Rock Island State Park. The mice were so prevalent, that a person used a baseball bat to kill over 100 of them while at the campground. The mice were eating tents, and footwear. They got onto boats and chewed wiring and cushions.  The small furry creatures snuggled down in sleeping bags. Hence, the DNR closed the campground several days earlier than normal. They blame a mild winter for the significant increase in the mouse population, and that normal predators, such as snakes, could not keep up. Some refute the DNR's claim of the mild winter, saying that campgrounds over 35 years ago on other islands in cold climates had significant infestations of mice like Rock Island had (has) this year. Of course, that does not answer why the mice were not apparently so abundant in the spring and summer as in the fall, or if they were, they were not at the campground, as the main reports came out in the fall. Maybe next year there will be more snakes due to the amount of mice available for food. You can see an article, and also a video, on the infestation (you may have to scroll down) at this link. The DNR will hope for a harsh winter and then let the predators perhaps take their due course. 

Critters digging in tilled garden soil
overseeded with annual rye

Friends, a couple, are docents for a week in August at the Rock Island lighthouse. They went up Oct 11 to help close the light house. He talked to my wife a bit a week later, and while by the lighthouse they were more dispersed, he said there were so many mice at the boat landing that the ground moved. What a welcome sight for visitors. The mice apparently know their food source--people.

The problem is that with climate change and the increasing number of invasive species, more challenges are presented for famers, foresters, gardeners and groundskeepers. I recall the first year I noticed a Japanese Beetle in my yard, I do not recall the year, but I know what occurred. That year for the first and only time, I had planted a pole bean, a blue lake variety, and also planted blue lake bush bean. Blue lake is my go to variety, that I have been growing for years. The Japanese beetle skeletonized my the pole bean, but did not attack the bush bean. Since, we have them in raspberries, on trees, and flowers. They love to dig into the closed bud on a rose bush. Plant choice is one way to help control, but that can only do so much.

Control of large mammals is a big problem. Case in point--deer. This year they have eaten plants in my yard they have never touched before. They would eat some, but not all hosta plants, but now all types are eaten. They ate anemone, tomatoes, peppers, pretty much everything but plants you would not mind them eating--burdock, bishop's weed and others.  I am not sure what the issue is. In the spring I figured it was that the nearby wetland area was too wet with all the rain, but with little rain since mid July, that should be better for their habitat. I think there are a couple issues, first, too many deer and the population in the village likely increased over the last mild winter. Second, they have found better vegetation in our yard than they find in the wetlands or nearby wild areas. That likely means it will be a problem for some time to come now that they have become accustomed to our delicious plants. 

I suspect with increased globalization, changing weather, and fewer available predators in suburban areas, we will continue to see increased damage from bugs and critters, not to mention the larger mammals. This poses a problem for gardening and requires more labor to better manage the infestations. Bugs and critters have probably been a nuisance for a long time, but invasives, like the Japanese beetle, may lack predators.  

 

Mining to Packing

It was the fall in the 1880 when a 33 year old small statured man left behind the brilliant colors that enveloped the Towanda mountain range in northeast Pennsylvania to go deep underground into the wet, dark abyss of Barclay Mountain. The dank coal seam walls swallowed the light of his lantern, as he entered this hostile and demanding environment with an oil lantern, pickaxe, shovel, and lunch pail. This was not his first or last trip into this mine. This man is my great grandfather John Charles Sweeney. The only known photo, circa 1900, is a family group photo. He is in a black suit (see below photo, man kneeling) and appears to show that he weathered well his years of hard labor. To his left is a young boy, who is my grandfather, Leo Francis. John C Sweeney joined many other Irish immigrants in the mines of northeast Pennsylvania. The 1880 census simply identifies his occupation as "mining coal." This is a post of how the John C Sweeney family moved from the small towns of northeast Pennsylvania and their mines to the large city of Chicago and its packing houses, which allowed the family to step up socio-economically.

Sweeney Family Photo, c 1900
Family archives, from JR Sweeney

Mining was the industry in 1880 of the company town known as Barclay, PA. Today, some refer to this region as one of "Endless Mountains." It was one of five company towns in that area that housed mine workers and provided for some of their needs. In 1889 Pennsylvania produced almost 82 million tons of coal, outpacing the next closest state by almost 70 million tons. At the time few likely knew the Barclay mine was past peak in production as it closed about 1890. John Charles turned 33 years old on 24 June 1880. John C along with other men and boys dug coal for the nation's growing industries, to provide fuel for cooking and heating homes in the United States, and to power the locomotives of the railroads. Coal was as necessary to the nation in that era as oil and natural gas are today. At least one of John's sons, starting about age 12, would join him in the mine; a not uncommon occurrence for this era. A quick look at a few pages of the 1880 Barclay census confirms a number of children working about age 12 or 13, many in the mines. 

Barclay, PA mines (Partial map)
Courtesy of Penn State University

After Barclay, the family moved to Arnot, PA, another coal mining town 25 miles to the west, where my grandfather Leo Sweeney (my mom's dad) was born in 1893. The Arnot coal was of high grade for coke furnaces in the production of steel. The family, in 1899, would find themselves in Chicago.  The family lore is that John James, the oldest son of John C and his wife Bridget (nee Cleary), was sent to Chicago to look for work opportunities. This likely occurred sometime after 1896 (birth year of youngest child Dora, who was born in Arnot), but before 1900. A poem by my grandfather indicates it happened during a strike, so the trigger may have been the 1899 strike at the Arnot mines that started in May and involved 1,000 men (Labor History, and Leo F Sweeney, undated poem). 

Erie Railroad Depot, Arnot, PA, C 1908
Courtesy of Blossburg.org

Family lore provides that John James was about 12 at the time of his trip to Chicago, but born in 1877, that would put his move to Chicago in 1890. It is possible that John James did move at age 12 or 13, and lived with his aunt and uncle in Chicago for several years before the rest of the family moved. The poem, however, says that "a short while later, John wrote and said 'come out,' the prospects here are very bright, we'll succeed without a doubt." I suspect, the lore of the Sweeney family over time conflated the age John entered the mine (age 12 or 13) with his trip to Chicago, which additional evidence points to as being 1899. The year 1899 for arrival in Chicago corresponds, not only to the year of the strike, but also to the timing on John C's 1914 death certificate which indicates he lived in Chicago for 15 years. The family was recorded in the 1900 census as living in Chicago, with John C's occupation identified as a laborer. Two days after the recording of his 1900 census information he would be 53 years of age. He would have had backbreaking, hard labor in a Chicago packing/slaughter houses which, at the time, made Chicago the butcher of the world.  

Barclay Mine
Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution

Over twenty years ago PBS had a several part documentary on the city of Chicago. I missed most of the series due to night meetings at work, but I would get filled in by a coworker. Chicago, is known as the Windy City, not for the gusts of wind off Lake Michigan, but for its politicians. It is also known for being a city of muscle to go with the bravado of its political class. Famous for for its pizza, architecture, gangsters, the "Chicago accent", and of course what has been the Packers favorite whipping boy for over twenty years, Da Bears, all of which add to its storied past. Al Capone grew up near my mom, and my Uncle Joe once dated his niece. Likely realizing she had a great deal to pray for, Al's mother was a daily mass attendee. Chicago is also known for its former stockyards and meat processing when it was the butcher of the world. An October 1, 2024 post about my mother noted how her family story is an American story of immigration, melting pot, and changes in occupations from laborers to white collar. From the PBS report (and other documentaries) one would never think working at a packing house would allow for economic advancement. 

Arnot--Blossburg and Barclay Mine areas
Courtesy of Penn State University

The PBS story, is similar to other documentaries and books (The Jungle by Sinclair Lewis) which told of how bad the Union stockyards were. The smell, the working conditions, injuries, the often immigrant labor in the butchering sections for low wages all are part of the plot. If a person left employment, there was another to quickly fill the spot. I recall mentioning the PBS story to my Uncle Joe Sweeney, my mom's youngest brother. Uncle Joe had a way of putting things into perspective, and he noted to me, during the PBS run, that it was the stockyards that allowed the Sweeney family to better provide for the family and which in turn provided their children better opportunities. In other words, for at least the Sweeney family, the packing houses provided advancement from the unskilled labor class. It is too bad PBS failed to even mention the economic advancement to be had from the packing houses, perhaps because it was not part of their agenda. Credit for expanded opportunity, which led to advancement, also goes to the educational, employment and other economic opportunities in Chicago compared to the small mining towns of Pennsylvania. Harvard economist Edward Glaser, in his 2008 book Triumph of the City, makes a compelling case about the wealth and prosperity generated by cities for lifting varied classes of people, and in so doing destroying long-held myths and misconceptions of urban areas. 

Market St, Anot, PA c 1910
Courtesy of Joyce Tice website

The Chicago Union Stockyards, at over one square mile in area, opened on Christmas day 1865. It used principles of the assembly line process to butcher a variety of animals, although mainly cattle and hogs. For example, it would take a farmer, so a documentary said, eight to ten hours to butcher a cow, but the stockyards could do it in 39 minutes. Often cattle would be loaded for transport to the eastern markets, and as ice cooling and refrigeration advanced they slaughtered more and more in Chicago sending animal parts to the east for refinement to meet local markets, or sale. Large packing houses like Amour and Swift processed meats for sale around the nation--think hot dogs. These large packers were said to be predatory by under cutting independent butchers unless they sold the meat products from one of those large suppliers. It brought affordable meat to a demanding public. Daniel Boorstin, writes that  "In the Old World, beef was the diet of lords and men of wealth. For others it was a holiday prize. But American millions would eat like lords." (Boorstin, The Americans) While the documentaries complained about the packing house use of pretty much all animal parts as human food, fertilizers, cosmetics, or other products (the byproducts is where the money was made), that only seems a sensible approach, particularly in a world today concerned about waste. It makes no sense to diss a company for using the whole animal, the use of the whole animal should have been applauded. 

Chicago Union Stockyards, 1890 
Courtesy of Library of Congress

After arriving in Chicago, John C and perhaps some of his children, found employment in the packing houses/stockyards. John C as a mid-fifty year old laborer must have found the work trying for an older man, although he likely thought the work was better than that of being stooped over in the dismal coal mines of Arnot. His son John, in 1900 is listed as a file clerk, but in Pennsylvania he worked in the mines as a boy and the story is he was "small enough to slip into the narrow shafts and place dynamite." (John Coffey, grandson of John C, in a letter to Dominican order regarding his aunt Sr. Emmanuel's family) The dangers, smells, odors of the packing house may have been less than the dangers of the mines, which often included death to some miners and their sons. In 1900 no occupation is identified for the oldest child, Mary. However, son Charles (b 1881) is a foreman in a cooper factory. Son Joseph (b 1885) is a laborer at 14 years of age. Daughter Ann (b 1883) sews. The remaining four children starting with Lucy (b 1887) on down are attending school.

Chicago Union Stockyards, cattle pen, 1900
Courtesy of Library of Congress

The packing houses were horrendous, but they provided an opportunity enhanced by the big city itself. My Sweeney family lifted themselves out of the mines of Pennsylvania. From John C's death certificate we can see that by 1901 he was a foreman at the packing house. He held that position until 1908, when at, or about, the age of 61 he took a job as a file clerk in the packing house. This moved him off the slaughter house floor with its blood, guts and grime to an office position. He held this position at the time of his death at 67 years of age. He died 15 years after the 52 year life expectancy of a male in 1914. While the documentaries focused on the labor in the slaughter houses and the stockyards, they said little about the professional classes: accountants, logisticians, financial analysts, transportation economists, lawyers, purchasing and sales agents, typists, stenographers, and clerks required for such a large operation. Records, of purchase and sale, transport costs, where items came from and went, and a whole host of other incurred costs required the services of an educated and developing white collar class. A diversified economy provides for a greater emphasis on an educated class. This is part of the triumph of the city--an ability to gather, educate and skill the increasingly diverse labor pool demanded by industry. John C, moved from the slaughter house floor to a file clerk. We should remember, however, that any honest labor should not be denigrated, and it was hard honest work that John C provided for much of his life.

Chicago Stockyards, 1935; etching
Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution

John C found opportunity in the often denigrated packing houses, which saw him open greater opportunity to his children and grandchildren, and their ability to join the upwardly mobile nature provided by the raw capitalism present in Chicago at the time. As the nation grew, so too did the economic status of many of its public. This also occurred in the Sweeney family. The oldest son John, who started working in the mines, became the owner of several independent meat markets, although he lost all during the Great Depression. My grandfather, Leo was a bank clerk (WWI draft card 1917), and a real estate agent (1920 census) before being employed by his brother John.  He was employed by his brother in the wholesale and retail meat industry. John released my grandpa his job during the Great Depression, and that occurred on one Christmas Eve. Given  that Leo is shown as a meat wholesaler and retailer in the 1930 census, I wonder if it was the Christmas Eve of 1930, but I don't know for sure. Family letters indicate that Grandpa Leo was securing a good cut of beef to bring to Sun Prairie for Easter dinners in the 1950's, showing that his knowledge of the industry stuck with him. Later, John J would find work with a meat wholesaler, while my grandfather moved on to other endeavors including working for the Latz Foundation to publish a book on the Rhythm Method of birth control. 

Book published by Latz Foundation
My grandfather worked for Latz Foundation
in publishing this book

The intractable rhythm of time has changed the landscapes that would have been recognized by John C over 120 years ago. The small town of Barclay is no more, rendered obsolete when the mine closed, its only remaining feature is an unkempt cemetery containing some decaying headstones and the bodies of individuals who died during their time in Barclay, including fathers and sons lost in mining accidents, showing, in part, why the average male life expectancy was and only 44 years of age in 1890. John C's infant son, Michael died in 1880, but is buried at Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Towanda. Infant deaths also added to the low life expectancy. Arnot still exists, but it is a remnant of its former self. The expansive Union Stockyards and packing house complex of Chicago's southside, which occupied over one square mile of territory, has been redeveloped. It is said a few small meat packers are in the area, but slaughtering is now done elsewhere. Such is the way of the world, where change seems to be the only constant. Change is what occurred in the Sweeney family, as they moved from laborers to clerks to managing editor (my Uncle Joe Sweeney), sales representative (my uncle Leo Sweeney), and flight services (my aunt Connie). My mom was educated to teach English, but marriage and kids came along, placing her on a different, but more important position of mother to ten. 

Google Map of Leo Sweeney dwelling at 
7335 South Prairie Ave, Chicago 
and Al Capone residence 

As I wrote this, it occurred to me that just 110 years and two weeks ago, my great grandfather John Charles died (Oct 2, 1914). I look not just at how the landscape has been altered over time, but also how the human condition in the family has changed. I was able to retire at age 60. As I write this, at age 66, I am still younger than great grandpa John C was as a file clerk at the packing house when he passed away at age 67. in 2023, a US male's average life expectancy is now just over 73 years. I recognize that John C had a much more difficult life than I have had. He came over from the old sod, and while mining was difficult work, it would have better than starvation due to genocide of the British Empire. He was able to allow his children, even with the great depression, grandchildren and great grandchildren to live a better life than he had endured. 

Present day Google image of 7335 S Prairie Ave, Chicago

The decision of John C Sweeney and, independently, Bridget Cleary, or their parents, to emigrate to America, was crucial. John and Bridgett's joint decision to move from rural Pennsylvania to Chicago opened up opportunity and allowed the family to advance economically. My grandfather Leo, and his wife Amanda, of limited means, but greater opportunity, were able to put their four children through Catholic grade, high school and college. They received an education necessary for advancement. Education was an important value to the Sweeney family. Life would be completely different for John C's descendants than for himself. His move from the mines to the packing houses may not have represented a major change in economic status at first, but it opened up opportunities better found in the growing city of Chicago than the lost mining towns of Pennsylvania. The move from mining to packing, and rural to urban, turned out to be good for John C's descendants, and I believe for him and Bridget. 

Note: Sometimes his name appears as John J, but I chose to use John Charles, as John C is what is on his death record.

For additional information on the Barclay and Arnot (Bloss) mines see: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~pasulliv/SullivanCountyHistoricalSociety/Barclay.htm

https://www.joycetice.com/jmtindex.htm