Feast

As we approach Thanksgiving, internet news is ablaze with “how-to’s” in assisting with the feast, traditions of the celebration, regional differences, and of course the idealization of the first Thanksgiving held 393 years ago. This uniquely American celebration over time has crossed the boundaries of varied ethnic settlement, to where today most, but not all, celebrations have some similarities. In that sense it representative of the United States. Rather than being a melting pot, the nation is more like a stew, with a combination of some ingredients that meld together while others retain certain unique characteristics.  As it is with our nation's population, so it is with our Thanksgiving dinner.

Representation of first Thanksgiving

Turkey is often the key fare, followed by a potato of some sort, dressing, cranberries, and (hopefully) pumpkin pie. For some reason, even the green bean casserole dish made with soup and French fried onions on top apparently has become tradition. On the radio today, a survey in all fifty states by Del Monte indicated that 77% of people in Wisconsin liked or loved the green bean casserole, and even Donna, the famed U.W. nutritionist, noted that while it is full of calories go ahead and eat it, as it has come to be identified with Thanksgiving. By the way, Wisconsin is second in approval of this casserole only to Kentucky.

Liked or Loved by 77% of Wisconsinites

But there are differences in not only how some of the food may be cooked, but also in what food is served. Some may cook the turkey differently (deep fried, grilled or roasted; brined or not), sweet verse white potatoes, and of course dressing can be made a variety of ways. I think my spouse sometimes thinks of this dinner as not so much a Thanksgiving feast, but a carb-fest. If it were up to her, many of the carb-heavy dishes would be dropped. To me the heavy carbohydrate foods are traditional to the feast and a thanksgiving dinner without them, would not be a thanksgiving dinner. That would be like taking beer and fireworks away from the fourth of July. I prefer to look at the variety of car foods available, including dinner rolls and sweet breads, as a matter of choice. It is not like you have to try everything.

Dressing

What we think of as traditional probably evolves from our own childhood experiences of the feast. For my family, it has been traditional fare, including green bean casserole. Dressing is one of my favorite Thanksgiving foods, and I would watch my mother make the dressing early Thanksgiving morning, and stuff the turkey, plus make a Nesco Roaster full as well. Along with turkey, it is one of the dishes I like to make for the family gathering on Thanksgiving, although in a salute to somewhat healthier food, I now supplant much of the butter, as my mom would have used, with broth cooked from the turkey gizzards.

Roasted turkey

A recent article on the CNN website, had eleven items which will be argued on Thanksgiving. the eleven did not include politics, religion, or the dealings in Ferguson, rather it was heavy items that weigh on all our minds, such as: when to eat; what to do before hand; what to serve for dessert (as if that should be difficult); is shopping on Thanksgiving day acceptable; and in recognition of our modern era, do you allow cell phones at the table. Of course, they note arguing over food also occurs: what is the best way to cook a turkey, to make dressing and what to add to the mashed potatoes. They author of that article suggested a late dinner of six or seven pm, but our tradition has dinner mid afternoon, following a touch football game, which allows for ease of travel for those going a distance. While the author suggested children be seated at a separate dinner table, we have tried, when space is available, to do one large table, although the children tended to gravitate toward on end. When I was growing up the kids and adults were intermixed. For some reason, I was always by my Dad, with my brother Joe across, and years later it occurred to me--we were the three that probably ate the most. Just keep the food coming to our end of the table.

2012 Hovel family Thanksgiving dinner table (photo by author)
Note that not all chairs have been placed at the table

But, our celebration is more than food. it is for giving thanks, and for interaction. Interaction occurred on the first Thanksgiving between Native Americans and the immigrant settlers--the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims were celebrating a successful harvest that year, but of course it was the Indians who had taught them how to fish in the waters of this new land, and cultivate corn. Maybe, if that sharing of the first Thanksgiving had spread to other parts of the continent as settlement occurred a better appreciation would have developed between the European settlers and the indigenous population eliminating some of the strife that would follow.

Map of Ethnicity in the United States

The nation is now primarily occupied mainly be those who are descended from immigrants to this continent. This diversity has given us a symphony of different foods, traditions, and habits, but yet Thanksgiving is a unifying late fall event to recognize that differences are not always bad, that regardless where one is from people are still people. We may have different ideas of how to cook a turkey, or even if to have turkey, but this is really secondary to the fact of a celebration with others. This was recognized on that first Thanksgiving. As much as I may not like the famous green bean casserole, it does not matter to me that it is served, as I do not have to eat it. After all it may mean, even though my spouse may not like it, more dressing and carb laden foods for me. As for Thanksgiving, perhaps Eric Hollis, OSB said it best in his blog: "Thanksgiving...is a hugely important act, and because it is we can't reserve it to just one meal a year." As we gather tomorrow with friends and family let us recall the heritage of the nation, how this one holiday brings different cultures together, show our commonalities, and how we should be thankful each and every day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Note: Unless otherwise noted, all images from Google images.

North to South

There are some truths on which one should always be able to rely.  For example, the sky is blue, the Chicago Bears will lose to the Green Bay Packers, the Pope is Catholic, and that north is north.  When using a compass, the arrow will point to magnetic north, which is not the same as the North Pole.  Some world maps show both the North Pole and magnetic north, but magnetic north is fluid.  The location of magnetic north is dependent upon the inner workings in the center of the earth.  Scientists now think that the earth is nearing a time when the poles will reverse.

Magnetic pole influence

A NASA article notes that over the past 20 million years, the earth has settled in a pattern of pole reversal of every 200,000—300,000 years.  The last known pole reversal was 781,000 years ago, so in geologic time frame, we are due for another pole reversal.  If the poles reverse, my compass will no longer point north, but instead will point south.  If you were to take your compass and hop in Doc Brown’s DeLorean, and go back in time 800,000 years, you would find the compass pointing south.  If you went back 500,000 years ago it would be located in the north, similar to what is today.    The magnetic field, however, is important to more than our compass.

Cross section of the earth

The earth’s magnetic field is due to the big ball of iron that is located at the core of the earth, and that core is surrounded by a layer of molten metal. Changes in core temperature and the rotation of the earth swirl this liquid, molten metal and create the magnetic  field.   As the core’s temperature changes the boiling in one part of the outer core slows down and releases fewer charged particles.  This weakens the magnetic field.  The European Space Agency (ESA), has been tracking magnetic field and other data from its Swarm satellite.  The magnetic field produced by this activity rises up to 370,000 miles above surface of the earth.  This protects us against solar and cosmic radiation.  ESA reports that large weak spots in the magnetic field have popped up over the Western Hemisphere.  A weakened magnetic field could lead to higher cancer rates as solar and cosmic rays penetrate the atmosphere and reach earth.  Perhaps we in the Western Hemisphere need to be more careful outside, but this is particularly true if you are a red head.   

Map showing alteration in magnetic field, blue it is being reduced
red indicates where field is increasing

NASA reports that magnetic north has moved northerly by more than 600 miles since the early 19^th century.  (Magnetic north was never aligned, at least in modern times, with the North Pole.)  Explorers of that era precisely located magnetic north.  However, it is now reported that the movement of magnetic north  is about twice the rate than it was about 100 years earlier.  Physics.org notes that evidence would appear to indicate that the magnetic field slowly fades out before reappearing with the poles reversed.  So the weakening in the Western part of the globe has some scientists wondering if we are in the midst of an upcoming pole reversal.  However, the magnetic field over the Indian subcontinent has been strengthening. 

This image indicates the movement of magnetic north

What is interesting is how scientists were able to find evidence of pole reversals.  It is not like it was written down nearly 800,000 years ago in a cave in France, or a rift valley in Africa the last time it happened.  They know this from studying rock layers.  As you recall from early science there are three types of rocks, igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary.  Igneous rocks are formed by the flow of lava and lava contains metal oxide particles.  These metal oxide particles when cooled will essentially be frozen in the direction of the prevailing magnetic field.  By studying past lava flows, hopefully hot upset by earthquake activity, scientists know the historic position of magnetic north.  Rocks of the ocean floor and in Italy have been studied, and to date they point to 170 magnetic pole reversals during the last 100 million years. 

Volcanic spring which contains metal oxide particles

Are they occurring more frequently?  If the last one occurred 781,000 years ago, it would seem not likely since the average spacing is about 588,000 years between reversals over the 100 million year time period.  If you wish to really get back in time, it is also thought that there have been more flips between 500 million and 1.5 billion years ago, than 1.5 to 2.9 billion years ago.   Why is this occurring?  One explanation is that the inner core is slowly growing as the outer core cools and solidifies.  They theorize that as this occurs the pole flips would occur more frequently.  The idea is just like a bigger prostate restricts the urinary tract leading to less output, so too does a larger core become an obstruction to currents in the fluid outer core, leading to a less stable magnetic field.  A less stable magnetic field apparently leads to more pole reversals.

Standard field compass

Fortunately, the historical record does not seem to support any doomsday scenarios where mass destruction of life on earth was affected by a pole reversal.   Geo-physicists have studied oxygen isotopes in the rock to believe that the pole reversal does not affect the rotation of the earth.   However, modern society was long in the distant future when the last reversal occurred, and the population of the earth has become dependent upon electricity, and it is possible that communication systems and power grids would be most at risk.  Then again, these systems, as we were told, were not to have survived intact in Y2k. (To me Y2k was conceived by some IT people as a IT full employment act.)  So, if this is to occur, over what course of time does the reversal occur?  One article, in Scientific American, quotes the manager of the ESA Swarm project as saying “Such a flip is not instantaneous, but would take many hundred (sic) if not a few thousand years.”  However, Paul Renne, a professor at the University of California at Berkley in earth and planetary science, says in Techtimes.com, that their study of rocks and data indicated that at least the last one “had to have happened very quickly, probably in less than 100 years.” 

The movement of magnetic north should not disrupt
the delivery of goods on Christmas

So perhaps in my grandchildren, or even children’s life time, they will see magnetic north become south.  Perhaps their cell phone may not work for a while, and they may be more susceptible to cancer due to the weakening magnetic field.  The poles should still be the poles, the sky will still be blue, and contrary to what some in the US church hierarchy may think, the Pope will still be Catholic.  While we can always hang on to some certainties, I would not want to be the person out for a backpacking trip and have my compass is giving me the wrong bearing.   

Images from Google Images

A Flower in the Brown Band

In 1918 the Armistice between the Allies and Germany to end the Great War, now known as World War I, took effect at 11:00 am of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year 1918.  Like too many conflicts, the Great War began from a series of missteps, misunderstandings, missed communications, and missed opportunities to end it before it began.  Today has become larger than Armistice Day as it was first known.  In the United States it is now known as Veteran’s Day, to honor all those who have served their country.  There is no greater symbol of the Great War than the poppy which was popularized in the poem “Flanders Fields” written by Canadian Doctor John McCrae. Why did the poppy become such a powerful symbol of such a terrible series of events and battles?  While the color of the poppy recalls the blood that was shed in this engagement, it seems to me the poppy is also a symbol of hope.  How could a flower in a sea of devastated landscape not provide some hope?  In the wet, dark trenches any sign of life was probably an event to which the men looked forward.  To understand is to see the contrast between devastation and the flower, between death and life, between war and peace.

Flanders Fields

Methods of war in 1918 were different than that seen with the blitzkrieg and speeds of World War II.  It mainly involved trench warfare, with sides making little headway but realizing great casualties.  Between battle lines there lay a vast waste zone; but for men and rats, little survived.  Any one reading the great work of this war, All Quiet on the Western Front, or having seen Hollywood movies of the war, a most recent being “War Horse”, the images can tell more than what this writer can describe.  Although to set an image of the landscape produced by a war 100 years ago, let me turn to the words of an American mercenary, James McConnell, who would fly for the French in 1916 and describe what he saw over the battlefield of Verdun:

Immediately east and north of Verdun there lies a broad, brown band ... Peaceful fields and farms and villages adorned that landscape a few months ago - when there was no Battle of Verdun. Now there is only that sinister brown belt, a strip of murdered Nature. It seems to belong to another world. Every sign of humanity has been swept away. The woods and roads have vanished like chalk wiped from a blackboard; of the villages nothing remains but gray smears where stone walls have tumbled together... On the brown band the indentations are so closely interlocked that they blend into a confused mass of troubled earth. Of the trenches only broken, half-obliterated links are visible.

Alexis Helmer

From August of 1914 until November 11, 1918, this described the battle fields of the Great War.  Accounts tell us that, in contrast to the cold of war, the weather in Belgian Flanders was unusually warm in 1915.  Locals, still needing to make a living, would plant their fields early that spring, some up to near the lines of battle.  The red field poppy would grow at the edges of grain fields.  While the plant is an annual, it will reseed itself for the next year and bloom once again from seed in earth disturbed.  Ground disturbed on the field of battle would see poppy seeds germinate, grow and flower.  It was the view of these flowers in 1915 which would catch the attention of John McCrae.

Accounts vary on where McCrae wrote the poem that has come to represent a war  One has it being on the rear step of an ambulance, another after the burial of his comrade Alexis Helmer, and another account, by his commanding officer, had him writing it between arrivals of groups of injured soldiers.  We do know that he wrote it in early May 1915 near Ypres, by what is termed the Ypres Salient, a portion of the line that bulged into German lines leaving this section surrounded on three sides.  Helmer was killed on May 2, a Sunday morning, by a German mortar which tore his body apart.  He was buried later that night.  As the brigade chaplain was away attending to other duties, Helmer's graveside burial, at least of those body parts able to be collected, was conducted by John McCrae.  It is reported that he conducted a simple service using part of the Church of England’s “Order of Burial for the Dead.”  Helmer had a simple wooden cross to mark a now long lost grave in the Ypres Salient. 

Dr John McCrae

While a Canadian man may have written the poem in Belgium, it was an American women, in New York, who would popularize the use of the poppy as a remembrance of those that died.  She came across the poem, two days before the Armistice, in an issue of “Ladies Home Journal” while between work at Hamilton Hall where she tended to needs of service men coming and going from the Western front.    The poem in that issue was titled “We Shall not Sleep” an alternative name to “In Flanders Fields.”  She would decide then to wear a poppy to remember those who had given their all in the war to end all wars.  But, she would also search part of New York and eventually find red silk poppies that she would give to attendees of a war conference at Hamilton Hall.  To Moina Michael, the poppy was more than a symbol or recalling the dead of the war.  She viewed it as a symbol of optimism.  The war had ended and peace had now come over a war weary world.   Maybe it was presaging the shift of power for the old world to the new, but it is interesting that a war in Europe has a symbol set forth in a poem by a Canadian, with the symbol popularized by an American.

Battlefield of the Great War (World War I)

One symbol of old Europe would be the Tower of London.  A prison and symbol of terror in its own right,  it housed and saw the executions of Thomas More and others.   But, this fall it has its moat (August until November 11) filled with ceramic red poppies.  It displays one red poppy for each of the 888,246 persons from the British Empire, like Alexis Helmer, who had perished in the Great War.  It is a remarkable and haunting reminder of the human cost of war.  The poppy, while having a red color that reminds us of the blood that is shed in times of war and police actions, is also a symbol of hope-- that from fields thought barren due to battle new life can arise.  Peace can overcome strife. 

Ceramic Poppy display at the Tower of London

On this November 11, our thoughts go to veterans both dead and alive, particularly those who served in the Great War, and our other conflicts. Personally I think of my Dad who served in WWII, and my brother-in-law who served in varied conflicts in the Mid-east and the Balkans.  These conflicts, of course, unfortunately show that the Great War did not lot live up to President Woodrow Wilson’s claim of putting an end to all wars. Interestingly, it was the armistice begun almost a century ago that perhaps did more than any other factor to lead to the rise of a fanatic to take power, leading to a conflict even more costly than the Great War a generation later. Yet, we still look to the poppy to represent those who have been called to serve the nation.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

(poem by John McCrae)

 Photos from Google Images

Heads Up

The head, in particular the face, of a person is their most distinguishing characteristic. It is the aspect which is the focus of a description. A sketch artist will draw the face, a portrait is mainly of the face, and if you happen to have been sufficiently dishonest, you will find your face on the FBI most wanted list. A height, or weight may be given, but the focus is on one’s head. The head and face are more than a set of eyes, ears, hair, skin, nose and mouth. Facial expressions often yield a clue as to your reaction to some news, as will the look in your eyes. George Bush (43rd) said he could look into Vladimir Putin’s eyes and see his soul. Our facial expressions and the look in our eyes can give a sense of our character. But so too can the way one will wear their hair (both head and facial), along with any ornaments—think ear rings, or nose rings, or even a tongue pierce. All work to give an expression of yourself to others.

Face piercing

Ornamentation is not a creation of modern society, but goes back to early times of the human race. Perhaps even some now long distinct hominid lineages used body ornamentation. Anthropologists will find skulls of an early lineage or human and apply the tricks of their trade, combined with modern science, to produce what a person may have looked like. A most recent example is KennewickMan (Smithsonian). The skull and much of the skeletal remains of a man who lived 8900 to 9000 years ago were found along the Kennewick River in the state of Washington. Such recreations assist in giving us an idea of early settlers of that area of the nation, and of our ancestry. Kennewick man has Polynesian or Asian features. The thought is that humans, after moving from Africa, migrated across the Bearing Strait and headed south to populate what is now the western US. Discovery was not only left to the Europeans. People come in all shapes and sizes The features of our face, can help give a clue to our ancestry.

Recreated face of Kennewick Man

Living in Australia at or perhaps 4,000 years before Kennewick man were a group of people who had skulls with a markedly different shape than that of the standard homo sapiens. Even though located in geologically recent material the shape of the skull would lead to a competing theory to the out of Africa dominant idea of human evolution and travel. As reported by the BBC, the skull, discovered in 1925, “with its flat, sloping forehead and prominent brow ridge” looked distinctly primitive. In fact, it was claimed, it was a homo erectus, a hominid line that lived from 2 million to 140,000 years ago. If this claim was true, it would upend science placing Homo erectus to within about 10,000 years ago, or the age of the Wisconsin glaciation. Discoveries of other similar skulls would sharpen the debate among anthropologists. The multi-origin theory went questioned why otherwise would the skulls look so much like a long-thought died out line if it was not Homo erectus? What the multi-origin proponents failed to recognize is that while the brow and forehead were shaped like the long lost Homo erectus, its brain case was narrower, but larger—features more similar to the humans of today. Flattening the skull accentuates the brow.

Skull of a Homo Erectus

Replica of Cohuna Skull

This posed the question, was the head purposely shaped like this. This idea first arose in the 1970’s. We know the human skull is rather pliable, particularly in the first year of life. Think of the debate of placing sleeping baby’s on their back. This practice would cut down on deaths due to Sudden Infant Death syndrome, but would lead to an increase in plagiocephaly, or flat head syndrome. To adjust to the size of the brain of today’s human the skull had to become pliable. Our brains our larger than what they should be for animal of our size. Hence, the skull has to adjust to the growing brain.

Example of plagiocephaly

Each culture has its own idea of what is beautiful. It is known that in pre-Columbian America, skulls were manipulated to be similarly shaped as the Cohuna skull in Australia. The pre-Columbina skulls were accomplished to offset the elite in the culture. Similar skull shaping practices occurred in 19th century Nicaragua, and in the Chinook and Cowlitz tribes in 19th century North America which was believed to be a sign of freedom for these North American Indian tribes. Undoubtedly, these cultures did not know about Homo erectus, and were not out to copy the skull shape of the long dead lineage. Anthropologists can speculate and create theories about why 9,000 to 14,000 years ago a group of people in Australia manipulated to reform the shape of the heads of their young children. If the reasoning applied to more recent cultures is true, they did so for cultural reasons, to set a group apart from others within their society. Or, as the BBC reports, it is a concept rooted in cultural achievement, or the belief in the unfinished self and that the newborn must be improved. 

Out of Africa theory on world settlement

Setting apart from the main group is not unlike the ornamentation we see today, whether it be fancy mustache, manicured long finger nails, tattoos or pierces and rings. Maybe the wearer believes that they are improving their body, and the concept of the unfinished self is continuing 14,000 (or more) years later. While the wearer of these varied ornaments may feel it is a description of themselves, their true character is more than skin deep.  Our character is part of our soul.

Recreated Homo Erectus

 

Now we are Eight

Life has a way of throwing us curve-balls.  Every family is touched by some type of tragic or terrible event, or vagary of existence that you wonder whether or not life is actually fair.  It is not unlike being the middle child in a large family, you never know what comes your way.  I am one of ten children born to my parents, but not all ten lived at the same time. The last two children in the family were born after the untimely death of our brother Leo.  For almost 50 years we were a family with nine siblings.  The passing of my brother John to cancer in mid-August of this year has now reduced that number to eight surviving siblings.  Eight very different individuals where the shared physical traits can pale to those differences of personality and temperament.

Sunflower display created by Carolyn Hovel at
this years family picnic in honor of John

Large families have some advantages.  As children there was never a lack for someone on which to pick.  Of course if you were the one who was picked on, it could be a different story.  A large family can be an advantage when one is suffering from a terrible scourge, such as cancer.  My brother John, who passed away just over two months ago from cancer, recognized this quite well.  His posts on his cancer fight often focused on what family meant, not just his wife and two daughters, but his brothers, sisters, and his nieces and nephews.  The large family has produced a fair amount of cousins.  While I only have one first cousin, my children have many more.  John recognized a special talent in each of his children and their cousins.  Among John’s many attributes was an ability to see the good, and recognize the talents and gifts of each individual.  But, it was not the size of the family that was its strength.  It was actually the special values and traits of each family member, which John so well recognized, that allowed him to find strength in the family.  John had a special way of relating to his nieces and nephews.  Perhaps it was his outlook on life, or perhaps it was his having coached girls’ soccer for so many years that he learned the interactions with the millennial generation.  With all the drama that teenage girls produce, he must have had the temperament of a saint. Whatever it was that helped him relate, it was likely aided by his level of intelligence and observation skills. Given this, it was fitting that his pall bearers were nieces and nephews. 

Nieces and nephews as pall bearers

Being in a large family also means that there are more eyes on the street.  You never know where you may see a family member.  One story illustrates this quite well.  While I was in high school, I went out with a group of friends, and we caught a late night snack at what was then a Lums Restaurant on East Washington Avenue, near what was then Kmart (now Hy-Vee).  Forty years ago I could eat late at night, with no need to worry about pounds, or even worse, acid reflux.  While enjoying this late night snack, in walks John and a young lady.  Perhaps it was me not wanting to intrude but I simply nodded as I left, but my friends were more curious and some engaged in conversation with John and his lady friend.  Bad knees and all, John would often join us in games of football or some other activity, so my friends knew him quite well.  The next morning, we did what all good Catholic families would do, and go to church.  Mass was followed by a large breakfast which my Dad would make.  The fare was usually pancakes and bacon or sausages with orange juice.  The two youngest would demand, and receive, chocolate chip pancakes, often in the form of a bunny.  Anyway, my mother was a typical mother and would worry about her children, even if they were of legal age.  There was something unusual about that morning, however. John was not at the breakfast table, and in fact, he never came home the night before.  I did not know this until that time, but my mother and father, with their bedroom facing the driveway, had an uncanny knack for being on top of things. I guess with all the boys they had, they had this sixth sense.  Of course, my Mom, like most, also had eyes in the back of her head. Anyway, Mom was going on and on during breakfast on whether or not John was alright, because he had not come home that evening.  If I heard it once from her during breakfast, I heard it twenty times.  I have never been the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I knew enough that I had a dilemma.  Do I mention that I saw John and then get the third degree, or do I let my Mom worry? Being the dutiful middle child, I tried to take a middle route.  It was probably after mention #18 that I said under my breath, to no one in particular, “I saw him last night.” 

Selection from one of John's emails, displayed at his wake

At a boisterous breakfast table I partially had the hope that my statement would register, but perhaps not fully.  But, it did register.  I suspect breakfast that morning was not as loud as in the past due to Mom’s ruminations about her little boy.  (John did not earn the less than endearing nickname “Runt” from our older brothers for no reason.)  When asked again to repeat what I had said I did so, but adding a new wrinkle—“I saw him last night, and he was with a girl.”  The addition of the last part had its intended effect of Mom realizing that while he may now be safe, there were other reasons with which to worry.  It also put an end her verbal wondering, but I am sure a whole series of questions were floating around in her mind.  Interestingly, I really do not recall much of any specific reaction from either of my parents that Sunday morning.  What information Mom was able to get out of John when he eventually made it home, I do not know.

Sunflower, symbol of the Triumph fund
(Google images)

At that age John was already well experienced in talking like a lawyer.  I think it was a gift with which he was born and cultivated throughout his life, so I am sure he made some case to Mom about why it was easier for him to spend the night in Madison, than to travel home.  I don’t know many people who can come close to winning an argument with their mother, but John was probably the closest. 

John received grade school sportsmanship award
(Newspaper archives online)

John may have been the runt of the family, but he would make up for his smaller stature by his quick wit, and his more impressive knowledge base.  He was also quite an athlete, earning honors at the pool hall in downtown Sun Prairie, likely Sun Prairie’s version of Minnesota Fats.  He also played a hard game of ping pong.  He was the proud owner of a 3M bookshelf game called “Facts in Five” in which you had a category and had to relate five facts.  He put his knowledge of bureaucracy to good use, for when the time came to create one’s own category he would do so with acronyms.  He would then bedazzle us with some bizarre nomenclature for a little known government agency.  In the pre-internet days it would have us going to the dictionary or encyclopedia.  Whatever sport, or activity he was in he did not like to lose, and would find some way to sneak a victory from what we thought may be certain defeat.  I had this happen first hand a number of times when we played table hockey—you know the game--the one with the over sized puck and thin men controlled by sticks underneath the playing surface.  I am sure it was a common game in northern households.

John making it to the top of the family pyramid
(photo by a family member)

Even though I was the middle child, I was associated with the younger children in the family.  Growing up, John was part of the “older boys.”   He was part of that group whose reputations well proceeded us in high school.  Leo Martin, would have been the son to bridge the gap between the older boys (of which John was the youngest) and us younger children, but he would leave this earth at the young age of four due to a terrible accident on USH 51. As we grew older, John would become the bridge with the older boys.  Even before his illness, family was important.  After our Dad died in 2003 there was talk of whether or not we should end the family picnic, which our brother Mike has dutifully arranged for many years in Stevens Point.  John was one of the most vocal (when was he not vocal?) in retaining the family picnic. 

John was too ill to make it to the family picnic in person this year, but he was present in his spirit.  Perhaps it was one of his last gifts that most of us were assembled for the family picnic in Stevens Point, when news came down that his cancer had progressed to encapsulate a majority of his liver.   The strength of the family was not shown simply in its numbers on that day, but in values and attributes John would recognize and appreciate.  While we have differences in our personalities, politics and purpose, there are also some core values that we share, the most important likely being the meaning of family.  John was instrumental in keeping that meaning alive and well.  His death will not dilute the meaning of family, but strengthen it.  His lived life with a strong sense of purpose which has taught us all lessons.  He had an uncommon courage, which was a privilege to see in action.

Grilled sweet corn, one of the ever present foods
at the Hovel family picnic

We are now eight.  We do not know what the future holds, but I do know that Thanksgiving, Christmas, the family picnic, and our other host of gatherings will be experienced in a different manner over the next twelve months, and in the years after. 

John would have been 62 years of age today.  A life cut short, a husband, father and brother who is missed, but whose life lives on in the memories of his family.

Full moon.  Photo by Joseph P. Hovel

Neighborhood--How to Create Walk Appeal

One of my children, who lives in Minneapolis, has commented that he walks further to get to the bus stop to get to work, than what the walk from our home to the high school he attended had been. He often was driven or drove to high school (although in large part this was more due to sports). This experience may relate to a few factors, first that he is older, but second is the walk experience. Urbanist Steve Mouzon says that a 5 minute walk is a myth, and that people walk for miles in central Rome, London, Florence or many other well designed historic cities because the walk has variety, it is appealing. Of course, given the traffic in those cities it is probably easier, and perhaps quicker, to walk. Mouzon further notes that ¾ of a mile will be walked on a good American Main Street. For my son, a walk to high school was probably not as appealing as the walk he now takes to get to the bus stop. Walk appeal is interplay between the physical form and our psychological experiences. Form affects our senses and our mind view; it can provide a sense of place, or it can leave us apprehensive. This post, the fifth and last in a series on neighborhoods will explore what can be done to promote walking. Prior posts have given much information in this regard, and this post will reiterate some of the big picture aspects, but also focus on some of the nuances. The fourth post looked at why a Minneapolis neighborhood works and the third post examined the problems of walking in a Wisconsin village. The second post dealt with a small city in a time of transition as it became a suburb and the possible effects that has on social capital. The first post dealt with a neighborhood as a sense of place as a building block of our larger communities.

Sidewalk along four lane McKee Road in Fitchburg, WI
Not a very pleasant walk experience
Image 1

A public sidewalk along Fitchrona Road looking north.
Target parking lot is to left
Image 2

Red Wing, MN downtown.  Notice the building fenestration and lack of building articulation
this forms a nice street wall, and creates a pleasant walk experience.
 Of course, being a historic downtown, the street is a state highway, and sees a great deal of heavy traffic.
Image 3

Walking was the first viable human form of transportation. In our post-modern world the sub-urban form of development of the past 60 or 70 years has placed cars over feet, streets over sidewalks, and a form of development which makes it undesirable, if not treacherous, for walking. A newer diet option is the paleo diet, where a person eats a diet more attuned to the diet of our long ago ancestors (harkening to a hunter-gatherer way of life) rather than eating grains, dairy or other highly modified or processed foods. The idea is that the genetics of our 21st century human bodies have not had sufficient time to adapt to eating the grains, dairy and processed foods that have become part of human settlement over the past few thousand years, and that a diet reminiscent of long-ago ancestors is more appropriate for the genetics that apparently have not caught up to settlement-level agriculture. Similarly, recent medical research has shown that sitting is the new smoking and that the genetics of the human body are not meant to be in sitting positions for most of the day. The ever present desk job, now prevalent in our economy, is not healthy. While some harken in diet and posture to an era of early man, we continue to build neighborhoods and cities that are auto-dependent and where walking is difficult. To provide an appealing walk, a neighborhood needs more than sidewalks and paths as part of its infrastructure. Land use, form of buildings, and design elements are also important in setting walk appeal.

SmartCode Neighborhood in Fitchburg, WI
Notice building relationship to street, and lack of drives as served by an alley
Image 4

A neighborhood should also provide a variety of services—recreation, education, food and some basic retail to a resident. Retail stores today seem to desire a much larger trade area than in the past (see post 2), which means that walking is often not as viable. In post 3, I suggested that a half mile radius may be more appropriate for an ability to walk to other uses. In terms of the large picture, a variety of uses is one key to walking. After all, you need a destination. Jeff Speck, author of Walkable City has noted ten keys to walking and one those is having a destination. Ewing and Cervero (in 2010) completed a meta-analysis of the literature dealing with travel and the built environment. Many authors on the subject simply build off of well understood principles of urbanism and walkability. What a great way to earn a living—pointing out the obvious. The open-source SmartCode attempts to promote walkable neighborhoods by controlling form of development, and then looks to land use control. In most zoning codes if they control form of development it is secondary to specific land use control, which is the opposite of the SmartCode. As an open-source document, the SmartCode has been reviewed and revised by a large number of persons. The code came about from looking at the traditional forms of development (pre-World War II) and how that organic development type formed walkable neighborhoods and cities. In that earlier age, downtowns of smaller cities were still the place to be (see post 2 regarding the transition that took place). Larger cities would have neighborhood retail areas, an example being the Atwood Avenue—Winnebago Street area of Madison, WI.

Single family home in SmartCode, Fitchburg, WI
Notice garage setback and limited drive width near sidewalk (10')
Image 5

Downtowns of large cities are usually very walkable, but in the recent past they often lacked housing which is an important starting place for a walk. Live, play, educate, work—these words would denote a good neighborhood, but today many neighborhoods provide one and may be two of these features, with few provisions for a variety of occupational choices. Neighborhood retail and shopping areas are critical to providing uses for residents to walk to, and unfortunately (as pointed out in post #3) grade configuration and location at a periphery discount the ability to walk. Likewise, as intimated in the second post, traditional downtowns and neighborhood shopping areas have been replaced by power centers and big box stores.

Air photo of Target store in Fitchburg, WI
Notice the developer "outlots" at the top of the image.
Image 6

Power centers and big box stores demand large parking areas, often sized to handle the black Friday crowd, leaving the lots with much extra pavement for the vast majority of the year. But the problem is not necessarily the amount of the parking, but its location between the street and the building. In this situation a walker has to traverse through an inhospitable parking lot, often more than the length of a football field, to get to the front door. It is a walk even less exciting than getting to McFarland’s middle school. Further, the public sidewalk with a street on one-side and a parking lot on the other is one of the most unappealing walks to which a person should be subjected, and quite frankly it is not often accomplished. Thus, a walk needs to be appealing.

View looking west along Target store
Image 7

View of sidewalk looking to Target store
Image 8

Street view of Red Wing, MN
Where would you rather walk here, or the view in Images 7 & 8?
Noticed the lack of articulation, and differing facades which enhance the walk appeal
Image 9

Traditional neighborhoods and Rome have a common appeal that is often discarded today-- connectivity and size of blocks. Smaller blocks, say with a perimeter of 2000--2200 feet allow for greater connectivity of streets, and a block size that assists with walking, and which helps to disperse auto traffic. The term block had typically been associated with a one side distance of 660 feet. (Although there is great variation in block length over a variety of US cities with some having blocks up to 900’ in length.) It actually seems counterintuitive that this would work for walking, because with this block structure you are crossing streets more often, which would seem to delay the walk experience. But, a few main issues are at play that makes the smaller block perimeter appealing to a walker. First, it offers choice in terms of direction and a grid street pattern offers a multitude of ways to reach a destination. Second, crossing a street gives the walker a sense of progress. Finally, as Speck (2012) notes, smaller blocks produce more streets and more streets disperse traffic making the streets less wide and thus safer.

Multifamily SmartCode Building in Fitchburg, WI
Notice how it fronts the street.  This was just completed in August
 and street trees will be installed next year.
Image 10

The traditional main street provides a variety of factors which give us forms that have been lost in our push that bigger is better. First, the buildings are close to the street and in so doing they create a wall of the outdoor space. This street wall is an important psychological tool to the mind in the formation of space—and how it views, and creates how we get a sense of place. Additionally, the narrow store fronts common on many main streets change the view of the walker, and this is much more exciting and appealing to the walker than a long blank wall. A walk of 300’ along the concrete block wall of a Target store (see Image 7) seems to take much longer than a 300’ walk down a traditional main street (see image 9 as a comparison to image 7). Even though on a main street you may stop more often to view window displays or take in the sounds and the smells of the neighborhood. Imagine the pleasure, and titillation of the senses due to walking by a bakery. Wider sidewalks along a busy street allow for both perusing of the store windows and the walker who wishes to pass by. On a street in a traditional downtown a parking lane and street trees help separate the traffic lane from the sidewalk adding a sense of security. But, street trees also enhance the walk appeal besides the separation from traffic. The driveway in front of a big box store effectively functions as a roadway, but the lack of a parking lane and street trees negatively affect the walk experience along the very blank front wall of a Target or Walmart. Those of us old enough to remember will recall the art of window displays in traditional downtown stores, and its on-site advertising appeal to the pedestrian.

Red Wing, MN
Served by an alley, there are no drives to disrupt the walk appeal
Image 11

Red Wing, MN
Notice the parking, street trees, and flower baskets which enhance the downtown and
its appeal to the pedestrian.
Who is the cute red head in the foreground?
Image 12

Big Box stores can actually be accomplished in a more traditional pattern. Many big box stores have strip malls or an ever present national restaurant chain sitting near a major street. Developers refer to these smaller lots sitting in front of the big box store as outlots. These stores, however, could be attached to the big box in a liner building fashion creating separate store fronts, and placing all users along the same street. Parking can be placed across a street, which is no wider (if not actually more narrow) than the drive aisles commonly placed in front of a big box store. It is similar to the concept of placing liner retail stores at the street level of parking ramps. More pedestrian friendly methods can happen. It simply takes a different way of thinking and design. This way of thinking is seldom chosen because developers, large retailers, and policy makers are creatures of habit and seldom vary from their model.

Example of liner buildings.
LaCrosse, WI has used liner buildings with parking ramps
Image 13

The shops in an old downtown were usually accessed by an alley, which meant that driveway crossings of a block were less common, accentuating the pleasure of the walk, increasing the store fronts in a block, and reducing the worry of cross-traffic. Parking was provided on street. Is on-street parking for customer’s sufficient in this situation? When part of the population can walk, traditionally it was shown that it would function. In addition, Retail expert Bob Gibbs notes that most shopping trips, particularly in the day of the internet are 15 to 20 minutes, providing sufficient turn around for on-street parking stalls.

Multi-family building in Fitchburg, notice its articulation, with insets of about 6'
This can work counter to a good street wall form as shown in Images 10-12
Image 14

Parking off an alley also provides for better street fronts in residential areas. This can work for both single family and attached row houses. More difficult, however, is parking for single family homes not served by an alley. Traditional neighborhoods solved this by placing the garage at the rear of the lot, and a narrow, one car width driveway along the side of the house. Lots were narrower in that day than they are today. (Today the cost of public lot improvements runs about $500 a lineal foot of street frontage, ($250 per side of street) so narrow lots would seem to make more sense in this day and age.) The suburban pattern provides for two or three car width driveways, making for a rather unpleasant walk experience. Rather than using homes to form the street, the street is formed by wide drives and car parking. Rather than having the home as the focal point of the lot we get snout houses where the garage is the focal point. Rather than having a front porch to welcome visitors, the front door is setback along the garage. Given that American’s prize their cars so highly, garage domination should not be unexpected (and like the move from front porch to back yard deck is a descriptor for an increasing insularity), but it provides a decidedly less pleasant street and walk experience.

Single family homes served by an alley so there are no driveways to
disturb a walk
Image 15

Snout houses with wide drives (about 20') which can disturb the walk experience.
Image 16

Of course, not all blocks will have complete building fronts, and there are likely to be some parking areas. In such cases, good design can make a difference. For example placing the parking at or behind the setback of the building, and using a screen wall, even over landscaping, adds permanence in creating an enclosure for the pedestrian and in dividing the public (street) realm from the private realm. The enclosure is important to the psychology of the walk and the walk appeal. This type of enclosure is an important component of the SmartCode, and in seeing a street with apartment and row houses built under the SmartCode one can feel what it is the code wants to accomplish. The feel of a walk is important, but is difficult to describe, and that is likely due to our perception.

Notice the screen wall which helps form the street wall and obscures parking
The block wall works much better than the adjoining landscaping
Image 17

Use pf proper design elements make a big difference in whether a building helps provide walk appeal or works against such appeal. Highly articulated buildings provide less sense of enclosure and affect the fee one can get from walking, than from a building with a straight or much less articulated front. The sense of enclosure is an important part of the walk experience. In addition, buildings at a human scale, say about four stories, are better for the walk experience than skyscrapers. You will find downtown's of large cities filled with skyscrapers, and they create the skyline, but neighborhood centers are best with buildings at a human scale. There are ratios to be applied to building to street width to create enclosures, but they are not met in the world of today’s suburban one story buildings. Simple design elements are also important, such as well accomplished cornices, store front windows, and fenestration. In fact, traditional architecture is rather straightforward with a simple elegance. Architects today seem to have to prove their worth, but in so doing they take away from the elegance of simplicity that created the downtown form on which we look so highly.

Single family homes in SmartCode, with garages setback, and 10' wide drives
Not quite as walkable as an alley home, but much more so than a snout house
Image 18

We have moved away from a form of development that provided security, walk appeal and created a sense of place at a micro-scale for a pedestrian to one that places the pedestrian in a position behind the movement and parking of cars. We concentrate traffic on a few major streets, rather than allowing it to distribute in a grid system. We have lost the simple elegance of building construction in the past using fenestration and cornices to enhance buildings, rather than overly aggressive building articulation, and buildings with no relation to the public realm created by the street and sidewalk. And, our suburban form has produced neighborhoods which lack destinations. The walk my son has to his bus stop has an urban form that places buildings closer to the street, and car access if not off an alley has narrow drives. The form of development he passes by creates a sense of place, and provides progress as he walks in his Minneapolis neighborhood as compared to McFarland. His neighborhood in Minneapolis has more walk appeal, and that is one reason why he does not mind walking a greater distance to his bus stop.

Photos by the author