A Young Gardener Just Thrilled The Hell Out Of Me

Keynote speaker Ian McKenna wowed and
inspired us at the Gardener's Supply Company
annual meeting last month.

Last month, my employer, Gardener's Supply Company in Burlington, Vermont, held its annual meeting.

We're an employee-owned company. Everybody who works there, including me, has a stake in it. So the annual meeting is a great chance to look over our financials, see where we've been, learn where we're headed.  

Each annual meeting features a keynote speaker, almost always somebody from outside the company who gives us inspiration and information meant to propel us forward and keep doing what we're doing.  

This year's keynoter was, of all people, a 13-year-old kid named Ian McKenna from Austin, Texas. He was easily - by far- the best keynote speaker we've ever had at Gardener's Supply.

Some background: Gardener's Supply is big on giving back to the community. That's one of the reasons why I work there.

I know the following is a shameless plug, but bear with me. It's good. This year, we're promoting something called Garden To Give. We're inviting our customers - anyone from newbies to hard-core gardeners  -  to agree to give away some of their summer produce to food shelves and people who just need food. Many of us Gardener's Supply employees are taking the pledge, too.

So, back to our 13-year-old kid. His altruism started in 2012 when his younger sister, then in first grade, was in school talking about Christmas traditions around the world, but one girl in the class burst into tears.

The girl said, "Santa's never come to us, he hates us because we're poor."

Ugh.

When Ian heard that story, he and his family decided to show up on Christmas morning at the girl's house with a carload of toys and food.

That had such an effect that a few months later Ian found out a student at school only ate breakfast and lunch provided at school with no dinners because the family was too poor, he knew he had to act again.

So he started a garden at Oak Hill Elementary school, and that people who were hungry could come there and collect fresh produce. He also opened a garden at another school, and in the first year grew 750 pounds of vegetables.  The next year, it was over 1,000 pounds of food.

I'm as guilty as anyone in my garden. Sometimes I surprise myself with more produce than I can handle. I give some away, or live on a diet of, say, string beans for a week to get through the harvest. Or, sadly, some food gets thrown away.

I'm not sure I will grow a giving garden exactly like the one highlighted on the Gardener's Supply how-to website. (I'm not the biggest fan of kale)

But surely I can give something - produce, time, volunteer work, money.

If Ian can do that much good, maybe I could at least do a fraction of it. If Ian as a teenager pulled off this much good stuff, we can all do a little, right?

Here's a video from Laura, from her YouTube channel, Garden Answer, with more on Garden to Give:

Gospel At Hurricane Shelter Is Just The Right Light In Moment Of Darkness

Victoria White (in the white dress) gave Hurricane Harvey
evacuees a needed and incredibly helpful dose of gospel
this week in Houston. 

Sorry I haven't been around much on this here blog thingy. I've been focusing on Hurricane Harvey on my sister blog, Matt's Weather Rapport.  

Today, I'm back with, well, a Harvey update.  

In a video that's gone totally viral, a group of gospel singers led by a woman named Victoria White lifted spirits in a Houston-area evacuation center. 

I'm definitely not a religious man, but you've got to find comfort where you can. Kudos to Victoria White for providing this totally needed dose of medicine to a roomful of people who had just reached the lowest point in their lives.

The video of what happened is below. (Kleenex alert with this one.)  Notice how the people in the shelter join in on the song. They all needed that.

After the video went viral, White had the following to say. Again, I'm not religious but this woman speaks the truth!

"I had no ide this was being recorded, but God had a plan!... Not only did He want to love on those gathered in Lone Star Expo Center who suffered loss at the hands of Hurricane Harvey, but He wanted to love on people across the world who were dealing with tbier own personal storms! That's the kind of loving God we serve - the kind who is equally concerned for the masses and the individual."

I'm not trying to get political here, but if I did believe in a God, White's version is the one that seems closest to reality. And not the God some so-called religious leaders espouse.

Thank you, Victoria White and the rest of these gospel singers. You brought a glimmer of joy to the people in Houston who needed it most. And we all need a glimmer of joy now and then even if our lives are going pretty well.

Well done,  Victoria!

Here's the video:

Dog Gets Beautiful Sendoff, Military Honors For Service To U.S.

Cena and Lance Cpl. Jeffrey DeYoung. Cena, a brave military
bomb sniffing dog, died this week and was given complete
military honors.

I'll start right off that this post has a high Kleenex alert, so get your tissue ready for this one.

We all know that us Americans must really take care to honor our military veterans. It's a cliche, I know,  but an important one. 

This week, proper honors went to a veteran named Cena.

Cena was a bomb-sniffing dog during combat in Iraq, serving honorably and bravely with Lance Cpl Jeffrey DeYoung of Muskegon, Michigan.

According to MLive:

"During that time, DeYoung carried Cena across rivers. Cena kept DeYoung warm during cold desert nights. DeYoung threw his body over Cena's while under heavy fire from the Taliban. And when DeYoung lost seven friends during the course of three weeks, Cena was there to comfort him."

Except for a four year separation, when DeYoung was redeployed separately from Cena, they've pretty much always been together. DeYoung says the companionship has lasted all of his adult life.

For the past three years, Cena and DeYoung were back home in Michigan, still the tightest of military buddies. True brothers in arms.

Recently, Cena, age 10, was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. This tight bond between Cena and DeYoung would have to end, at least in this physical world. Cena had to be euthanized.

Here's what DeYoung wrote on Facebook the day before Cena passed.

"Words cannot convey what I'm feeling and thinking. I want to run away and not face what I must do. But he needs me to be strong and set him free. He has blessed my life with love and admiring.

Because of him, I got to have a family. Because of him, I was able to live. May God forgive me for what I do tomorrow. And may the Lord greet you with open arms and a nice ear scratch.

Goodnight my friend, goodnight my brother. May you rest your head tonight knowing how loved you are and how dearly you will be missed."

In the last of countless acts of kindness DeYoung showed toward Cena, he made sure the dog was given full military honors at a ceremony in Michigan this week.

Cena went for a last ride in an open Jeep so he could feel the wind on his face one last time. Then, Cena and DeYoung boarded the USS LST 393. Cena was euthanized and Taps was played.

Hundreds of mourners turned out to the ceremony.

I think I speak for millions to thank Cena and DeYoung for their service. 

Here's the video:

A Letter To My Young Nieces In The Era Of Trump

My nieces Sydney and Alex are "nasty women"
in the best possible and young women like them
will get us through the Trump years, just you wait. 

This open letter is to my nieces Sydney and Alex, who are super sharp college age young women. This letter, from an old white man in Vermont who is thinking about Donald Trump, is also to all young women and girls.  

Dear Sydney and Alex: 

With the election of Donald Trump, you might not feel like this is a great time for a woman to rev up her young adult life.

Once again, old white men decided that a woman's place is not in the House, Senate or White House, but someplace subservient. Which of course is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Oh sure, there were many reasons Hillary Clinton was not elected president, but her being a woman was one of them, as we all surely know.

This time, the old, white men who had such an influence on selecting a president brought us one that really doesn't appreciate women, to say the least. The misogyny during the campaign was breathtaking.

Women are right to worry about what a Trump presidency will bring. Women are right to worry about the future. After all, the Powers That Be seem to want to go back to the days when women were truly considered second class citizens.

But you'd be wrong to give up in despair.

This is a setback, definitely.  But remember, Syd and Alex, you are "nasty women." You know what I mean. During one of the debates Trump snarled that Hillary Clinton is a "nasty woman." Women embraced that moniker as a badge of power, strength, purpose and morality. All of which made me cheer joyfully.

The nation remains full of young, nasty women, like you, and your numbers are growing.  This old white guy knows that what the nation needs more than anything is legions of nasty women.  The more the better.

Here's the dirty little secret: Old white men who voted for Trump are VERY afraid of nasty women.

Because women, particularly the "nasty"ones, are what will get us through this situation. Your uncle Jeff and I are a gay couple, part of one of the groups targeted as not worthy by some of the Trumpeters. Jeff and I and other LGBTQ people aren't necessarily the principal targets here, at least compared to Latinos, Muslims and African Americans, but we've nonetheless been put on notice.

Nasty women like you also know that love Trumps hate. Alex, I'm particularly happy you posted the following on Facebook:

"To Donald Trump, Mike Pence and their supporters.
I am a woman and I love you.
I support black lives matter and I love you.
I am a feminist and I love you
I am Christian and I love you."

What this tells me is all the nasty women like you, Alex and Syd, will be the ones that lead us out of the darkness in a purposeful, peaceful way.  I wish old white guys like Jeff and I would finally realize that it's always women who make things work when things go to hell.

You know, Rosie the Riveter in World War II. The labor organizer Mother Jones. The simple, honest grace and intelligence of Anne Frank and young Nobel prize winner Malala Yousafzai. The "when they go low, we go high" moral clarity of Michelle Obama. And so, so many others.

You will surely get down and depressed at times during the Trump era, but let me explain something else:

I don't normally lecture young women this way, but really, listen to your mother. She's a strong, assertive, smart woman who's trained you well to take on the world. She's a really nasty woman. Thank God.  And you're lucky to have a father who insists on letting you be you.

Everyone should be so lucky.

In her gracious concession speech, Clinton spoke to you, and girls much younger than you:

"Now, I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling but someday, someone will - and hopefully sooner than we might think right now.

And to all the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams."

Hillary Clinton was wrong about some things, but she was so very spot on here. Clinton, like me and your Uncle Jeff, understand the world needs you and all the other nasty girls and women more than ever.

Pop star Katy Perry, a strong woman in her own right who backed Hillary Clinton, is correct when she tweeted after the election. "The revolution is coming," and "Rise up."

I can feel that revolution approaching in a thunderous roar from millions of wonderful, nasty women.

It's up to you, Syd and Alex, to be part of this coming revolution of young women who will finally change the world for the better. I know it will happen.

Your Uncle Jeff and I can't wait to see what you do.

Love, Uncle Matt.

Super Soakers Prevent Fire Tragedy

One of the kids who squelched what could have
been a dangerous fire with Super Soakers 

The call to the West Fargo, North Dakota fire department seemed dire:

A blaze was starting to crawl up the siding and balcony support of an apartment building. Toward the apartment where a home bound, disabled man on oxygen lived. A man who couldn't escape or fight the fire on his own.

The fire was catching some decking on fire, too. A propane tank from a grill was just feet away from the flames.

The fire trucks raced to the scene, only to find no fire. Just the smoldering remains of a planter destroyed by flames, some melted, burned siding on the building and some charring on the deck support beam, and a deck that was partly scorched.

Oh, and some kids with Super Soakers.

The kids had been playing with the Super Soakers when the spotted the flames. They turned their guns on what had been a growing fire to keep it at bay until the firefighters arrived.

Devin Darnell had attacked the flames from below the deck with his Super Soaker, says television station WDAY. His friend, Katelyn Simon opened fire on the blaze from a neighboring deck.

"I was squirting at it and there was sparks and stuff falling down," said Devon.

Another kid called the fire department and neighbors banged on doors, alerting residents.

West Fargo Fire Chief Dan Fuller said he was really surprised and pleased by the kids' firefighting efforts. "It got into the siding, it got into the decking. We were probably minutes away from having a real, real serious fire," Fuller said.

But the Super Soaker kids prevented that from happening.

After the excitement was over, the West Fargo Fire Department brought the kids to the fire station for a tour and a pizza party.

Dr. Henry Heimlich, Who Invented Heimlich Maneuver, Uses Heimlich Maneuver To Save Friend

Dr. Henry Heimlich, who invented the Heimlich maneuver
to rescue people who are choking, finally got the chance to
try it himself at age 96. He saved the life of an 87 year old woman.  

Dr. Henry Heimlich saved countless lives, no doubt about it.

You recognize his last name.

He invented the Heimlich maneuver, where you basically grab a choking person from behind and compress their abdomen to make them cough up whatever is choking them, thereby saving the choking person's life. 

Dr. Heimlich is now 96 years old and lives in a Cincinnati, Ohio assisted living facility, but he's still doing pretty well.  

Recently, in the dining room, an 87-year-old woman at a dinner table at the facility started choking on a piece of hamburger that got stuck in her throat.

Heimlich rushed over, performed the manuever that made him famous, and the hamburger dislodged from the woman's throat.

She's just fine now, thank you.

Who knows how many thousands of lives Heimlich saved when he invented and broadcast his method. But it was the first time he had the chance to try it himself.

I'm so glad he did -- successfully - before he died so now he understands how gratifying it must be to save another person's life, up close and personal.

"That moment was very important to me. I knew about all the lives my maneuver has saved over the years and I have demonstrated it so many times, but here, for the first time, was someone sitting right next to me who was about to die," Heimlich told The Guardian newspaper. 

The woman, Patty Ris, wrote Heimlich a note, saying, "God put me in this seat next to you," reported the Cincinnati Enquirer. 

Heimlich and Ris shared a celebratory dinner together the next night. No choking was involved.

Heimlich is still fit for his age, swimming three or four times a week at the center's swimming pool and making frequent excursions out to see the symphony and other cultural events.

Still, let's face it. He's 96 years old. Not some 20 year old athletic stud. Which proves that anybody can learn and use the Heimlich maneuver.  

David Bowie Took Us On An Otherworldly Journey To Become Ourselves

The cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" album

Much has been made in the past couple of days of the late, great David Bowie's influence on all us "weirdos" out there.

Through all his personas over the decades, the vibe was that if you were an outsider, somebody that was unusual, seemingly from outer space, that was cool. Be yourself.

I guess that's why space and space travel often played such a role in Bowie's music.

Another maybe more important aspect I detected in Bowie's music was a sense of urgency,  along with that otherworldliness of the music.

Not only was Bowie telling us we didn't have to fit into neat little boxes set up by society, but it was urgent that we NOT fit into these boxes. We had to stop trying to fit into these artificial boxes. Now if not sooner.

That sense of urgency was mostly noticeable in the musical arrangements in Bowie's music.

A classic example is in my favorite David Bowie song, "Heroes," the title track to his 1977 album.

The video for that song is at the bottom of this post.

He's certainly checked off the otherworldliness part. In the video, he's in mist and shadows, an apparition from another world.

The music in the song to me inspires visions of being in some fast moving rocket ship, stars outside sweeping by as we go to God knows where in the universe.  He's taking us on a journey to another world. Maybe a trip that really takes us to ourselves.

Tbe music and lyrics in "Heroes'' pushes us on with an urgency and determination. Against all odds, we can be heroes, just for one day.

Wouldn't it be wonderful, no matter what the situation, if any of us could be heroes just for one day?

It's metaphorical heroism in this song. It invites us to come out of the shadows, from outer space, and present ourselves to the world as we are.

As the emphatic lyrics of "Heroes" says, "We can be us, just for one day."

The music in "Heroes" is also ethereal. It almost puts you into a trance, draws you in to the ability to be yourself. To embrace your oddball mind. Just for one day. And another. Until it's forever.

My gay, ADHD - addled brain is writing this blog post. So yes, I'm "weird" or an "outsider" or something like that.

Bowie helped create a world in which that is all OK. For me, and for more and more people around me.

If you come down to it, we are all weird outsiders from somebody's perspective.  Bowie helped give us the courage to recognize our outsider status. He turned our weirdness into something cool

As we remember Bowie, we should all make sure we are truly us, as we are,  just for one day.

Here's the "Heroes" video:

Two Rescues, One And A Half Happy Endings

Checking the weird news sites this morning, we have word of two rescues. One was creative and successful, the other was just the right thing to do, but ended badly for the rescuer.

This boat was dead in the water and going to
go over the falls when a helicopter crew thought
"wind: and pushed the boat ashore with
the breeze from their rotor

In Norway, a boat's engine failed after the vessel hit some rocks. The current was taking the boat toward a dam spillway, and things looked mighty grim for the boat's two occupants. They were doomed to go over what amounted to a chaotic, deadly falls at the dam.

Luckily for the boaters, a police helicopter was nearby. No, it wasn't a traditional rescue. They didn't have ropes and such to hoist the boaters up onto the helicopter.

The helicopter did have rotors, of course. So the enterprising rescuers used the wind generated by the rotors to blow the boat safely onto shore. Hey, it wasn't traditional, but it worked.

Here's the video to show how it all worked:



Meanwhile, in Ontario, Canada, a Walmart employee on her way into the store to begin her shift said she saw a man lock a dog in a car on a hot, sunny day. She waited a few minutes, but when the guy didn't come back for awhile, she called police to rescue the dog.

The dog is fine, it turns out. The Walmart employee, Carla Cheney, not so much

The Walmart employee said she was fired that day for not following protocol and calling the cops for the hot dog.

This woman said she was fired from
Walmart after calling police to rescue a dog
locked in a customer's  car on a hot day.  

Walmart counters that Cheney got fired for other reasons.

Based on the articles on this, it seems although they didn't come right out in say it,  the problem was Cheney was rude to the customer. I guess you have to be nice to everybody when working in retail.

Even when they're killing their innocent dogs.